Search Results for: itinerary

Landmarks and Baclava : London’s South Bank

March 25, 2015

Since we only had one night in London, we awoke fully rested at the lovely Ampersand Hotel in South Kensington, enjoyed breakfast at the hotel and then headed out to explore. Our flight to Barcelona left in the evening, so we had basically the whole day in London and I knew when we booked the trip that I wanted to spend it wandering along London’s South Bank. In all our trips to the city, we’d never made it to that side of the Thames and I wanted to take in the views of the London skyline from the South Bank, check out the Borough Market and wander for hours…and that’s just what we did.

For anyone heading to London, don’t miss putting the South Bank on your itinerary. I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to get there, but it’s so worth it. We jumped on the tube at South Kensington and got off at Westminster, a tube station that you arise from and are immediately overwhelmed with views of Big Ben and Parliament. We wandered along the Thames to the Embankment tube station and then crossed the river on the Golden Jubilee bridge. After arriving on the South Bank, we just wandered the Queen’s Walk towards the Tate Modern, passing the Globe Theater, with views of St. Paul’s across the River. As you keep walking, the landmarks of London rise on her horizon and it’s a tour of London that’s truly remarkable, the history, the buildings you know from movies, and on a beautiful crisp day like we had, I fell in love with all that is London all over again.

As you continue on, you can make a slight detour and stop at Borough Market, which I’d heard about over and over and never had visited… lesson learned: it will now be a stop whenever in the city. From fresh produce, to meat to flowers, to cheeses to the absolute best Baclava I’ve ever had in my life, the Borough Market is not to be missed. Wander through, grab a snack and then wander back to the South Bank, grab a bench and enjoy your treats. We sat with a view of the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, with blue sky shining brightly, on a cold crisp morning in London eating Baclava, cheesy olive bread and a fresh smoothie and couldn’t have asked for a better adventure in one of our favorite cities.

Don’t Miss on the South Bank

-Views of Big Ben, Parliament and the London Eye

-Wandering around Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre

-The Tate Modern museum

-Stopping for views of St. Paul’s, the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London

-Borough Market

-Views of the Shard

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A Complete Pre-Trip Checklist

February 24, 2015

When we get ready for a trip, especially a trip internationally, I often find myself looking for a complete pre-trip checklist to make sure I don’t forget anything. So here is how I prepare for a trip and what I do at different intervals of time before a big trip – my very own complete pre-trip checklist for you to use as well!

2 Weeks Before

+Figure out what you’ll be packing. I know a lot of people will look at this and say they can do it the night before you leave, but in my experience, a million other things in life will come up right before you leave, so save yourself the headache and the loss of sleep and do this 2 weeks in advance. I go through and grab everything I’m thinking about taking out of my closet, then I go through it and weed it down into however many outfits I need that will fit in my carry on suitcase. I also take photos and write down each different outfit for specific days to make sure I know I have everything I need.

+Save all confirmations. Another thing that will save you so much hassle later, save every confirmation email you have from your bookings. This includes flights, accommodations, experiences, train tickets, etc. Keep a file with all that information that you’ll take on the trip. I also go through and reconfirm everything looks good just to make sure I didn’t forget anything.

1 Week Before

+Get money. I always get some cash in the local currency to where we’re traveling before we leave Portland. If you get it at your local bank, you not only get a better exchange rate most of the time over doing it in airports and you don’t have to pay the fees some of those travel exchange places charge. Plus, it’s one less thing to do when you arrive so you can hit the ground running.

+Alert credit cards. You mostly don’t need to call credit cards anymore that you’ll be traveling internationally but I do confirm if I need to alert them on the websites for the cards that I’ll be taking with me on the trip to let them know I’ll be traveling through the countries on my itinerary. This way, you can be sure that no transaction will get declined due to them not knowing if it’s fraudulent or not.

+Add data plans. Nick and I like to have International data on our phones when we travel for safety reasons and to stay in touch with emails and such. So confirm with your phone provider a week prior to your trip or add it online to make sure it’s all set up.

+Buy toiletry items and check if you need any refills. I like to check a week prior to a trip to confirm what I need to buy in terms of toiletries and small shampoos and such. I also go through and check all my makeup and any other things we travel with to confirm if I need to buy refills or not. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten somewhere and realized my makeup was almost empty, only to have to hunt around in a foreign country for something similar. Do this instead before hand.

5 Days Before

+Look at calendar items while you’ll be on your trip. I always like to make sure that if things are happening while we’re away, we take care of them before we leave. Things like family members birthdays or work deadlines, I make sure and buy cards or finish up projects prior to leaving, that way it’s all done while we’re away. This also applies to making sure things like your DVR is set to record things you want to watch while you’re gone or moving any conflicting appointments until after you get back.

+Pack your suitcases. While I like to plan out my outfits about 2 weeks prior to a trip, I don’t usually actually pack it in my bag until about 5 days before. This way it still gives me plenty of time to get everything in there, but also not enough time that the clothes wrinkle or get too smashed. This is also a second round to confirm you got everything.

3 Days Before

+Pay any bills that will be due while you’re away. Bills are one of those things that just happen all month long these days, so make sure any that need to be paid while you’re away, get done before you leave.

+Let someone know where you’ll be. Whether it’s a family member or a neighbor, let people know where you’ll be and a rough itinerary of your trip. This way if something happens, they have an idea of where you are. I also like to let our neighbor know we’ll be out of the country so they can keep an eye on our apartment and let us know if anything were to happen.

2 Days Before

+Get your passports out. I like to get our passports out of our safe a couple days prior to a trip. That way you can make sure they are all good to go and set them out so that you for sure don’t forget them.

+Confirm seat assignments and flight times. 2 days before is a great time to confirm all your seat assignments (before everyone gets on 24 hours previous to check in) and make sure none of your flight times have changed. It’s a great last look at all your bookings to confirm everything.

1 Day Before

+Confirm airport pickups/shuttles. I always like to know how we’re getting from the airport or train station to the hotel ahead of time. A day before is perfect to confirm those arrangements and make sure you know what’s happening once you arrive.

+Pack adapters. Pull out any adapters you might need and pack them.

+Sync devices. This is the one thing I always forget to do ahead of time and then I’m doing it last minute. Sync all your phones, iPads, computers, whatever the day before you leave so it’s done and you have time to confirm that everything transferred over correctly.

Day of the Trip

+Pack chargers. The one thing we need the night before to charge our devices, seem to always need to be packed last. But don’t forget them… that makes for an issue while traveling!

+Unplug cords at home. I like to go around and unplug lamps and random outlets at home when we’re gone just to be safe.

+Set “out of the office” reply. I still answer email regularly while traveling, but I like to let people know I’m technically on vacation so they don’t expect an immediate or lengthy reply. Set your out of the office reply to go live the day you leave.

I Don’t Believe in Bucket Lists

February 19, 2015

I know this might sound strange, but I don’t subscribe to the bucket list idea.

The idea of creating this list of things to do before you die has been around for a while now and especially in the blogging world, it’s really taken root. I began thinking about this a few weeks ago and actually wrote this post en route to Hawaii last month but it’s taken me a while to get it right before posting. After I saw a similar article, I was even more encouraged to post my take on the bucket list idea because I have a lot of thoughts on the matter. So after multiple drafts, here’s why I don’t believe in Bucket Lists…

Sometimes it seems the travel blogging world is just full of counting how many countries you’ve been to and how many points you’ve checked off your list and I have a hard time with that for many different reasons. I’ve traveled a lot, I’ve lived overseas and when it comes down to it, I really couldn’t give you a number of countries I’ve set foot in mainly because I’ve never sat down to figure it out. I couldn’t tell you which places have been bucket list items because I’ve never had a bucket list, just a curiosity and a passion to see the world we call home and live each day I have to the fullest. I’ve never subscribed to the idea that there are a definite number of things I have to do and see before I die or that if I never see the Great Wall of China, my life wouldn’t have been complete. I subscribe to the idea that while yes, there are definitely an abstract number of places that are on my mind that I’d love to see and experience in years to come, but I feel like sometimes the idea of just checking things off a list does an injustice to the idea of travel and exploration in general.

I’m not saying this to go against anyone who loves checking things off a list or lives by the idea of a bucket list, but for me personally, I believe that experiences while traveling that come up randomly, places that inspire you that you never thought would, living in the moment while exploring an unknown place or a place not on your list…those things you can’t necessarily plan for and often just happen while traveling. Those are the things in my experience that are so much more important and so much more worthwhile than having a box to check.

Some of my favorite things I’ve experienced while traveling haven’t been those bucket list items that everyone has like the Taj Mahal or seeing the Eiffel Tower. Those monuments aren’t necessarily the best things to see in the world and are often not as incredible as the lesser known spots that you might skip in order to make it to your bucket list items. For some, places like the Taj Mahal and the Eiffel Tower would be made a priority specifically for a bucket list item to check off, but for me, a place like Udaipur (a lesser known city in India) or the lesser known parts of Paris have been much more substantial and life changing experiences and could potentially be left off a travel itinerary in search of those places everyone knows about.

And so here in lies the rub. Bucket lists in general can serve a purpose to help us get to places in the world, they can push us forward and help us establish goals but there is so much more to the world that just checking boxes off a list of places everyone wants to see or counting the countries you’ve visited. It’s often the unknowns, the places like Udaipur or the back alleys of Paris that are more worthwhile for your life journey, that will show you more beauty and inspiration than many of the boxes on a bucket list. Checking boxes and counting countries is fine if it works for you, but also remember to treat each box as more than just a square on paper. Each place on that list is also a vibrant culture and memorable moments, they are people and places and experiences and sometimes in an effort to get as many checked boxes and see as much as possible in our lives, we forget to look around and take in all the things that are unknown and possibly more important.

Travel Tips : Organizing Trip Bookings

January 26, 2015

Many times booking a trip is the easy part, it’s so much fun to finally know that your trip is happening and pressing book can be the start of something wonderful to look forward to. Though after those bookings are made, it can often be a daunting task to make sure you have all your bookings and itinerary items situated and organized. You might have multiple hotel confirmations, airline reservations, tickets you’ve pre-bought and so much more, so it’s really important before a trip to keep yourself organized. Here are my tips for organizing all your bookings before a trip so that you can make sure you have everything necessary for your travels!

Create a Mail Folder

Whenever I start seriously looking at any trip, I create a mail folder in my inbox to hold any emails related to that specific trip. I actually have an overall Travel folder, with sub folders for each upcoming trip. This helps so that whenever you et an email confirmation for something for the trip, you can just save it in the trip folder and it’s easy to find later.

Create an Itinerary

When I start booking a trip, I also start a Word document with a typed out itinerary, showing which days we’re going to be where, what flight information is necessary per day, where we’re staying on which days and any specific things like pre-purchased tickets for attractions and such for specific days. I mark anything that isn’t booked yet in red, so I know that I need to go back and book anything that’s left later.

Create a Folder on your Computer

Once you start having hard copies of things like confirmations and itineraries, you’ll need a folder on your computer to keep all that information. I follow the same theme as the mail folder, and have a Travel folder in my Documents, then sub folders per trip where I keep everything. I keep flight confirmations, hotel confirmation, other ticket information and any screen shots I’ve saved of places I want to check out in the location in PDF form in this folder.

Print off all your Information a Week Prior to Travel

About a week or so prior to a trip, I’ll go through and print off all the confirmation I’ve saved over the months of planning. I like having hard copies and electronic copies of all the confirmations, that way if for some reason you can’t access it one way or another, there is a backup. Most of the time I never end up using the hard copies, but it gives me more peace of mind to have them.

Always Confirm

When I print off all the bookings before a trip, it also gives me the opportunity to go through and confirm everything. Make sure you have a place to stay for each night, that your transportation from city city while there is booked and as well to confirm things like frequent flier miles are set to your accounts and seat selections. Sometimes I realize when doing this that something is missing an it’s that last check to make sure you take care of everything before you head off on your adventure!

Itineraries (LOM)

Ever wonder if you can hire someone to do your travel itinerary? Or better yet, buy a pre-planned trip with all the details laid out for you? Well here’s your answer… yes you can! Land of Marvels itineraries come with preplanned activities per day for a specified itinerary. It will include images, things to do, places to see, and options of where to stay and eat. No need to spend the time and energy planning a trip, it’s all done for you!

[product_category category=”itineraries” per_page=”30″ columns=”3″ orderby=”price” order=”asc”]

Landmarks and Baclava : London’s South Bank

Don’t Miss on the South Bank

Headed to London?

A Complete Pre-Trip Checklist

2 Weeks Before

1 Week Before

5 Days Before

3 Days Before

2 Days Before

1 Day Before

Day of the Trip

I Don’t Believe in Bucket Lists

Travel Tips : Organizing Trip Bookings

Itineraries (LOM)

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Search Results for: itinerary

Don’t Miss on the South Bank

Headed to London?

2 Weeks Before

1 Week Before

5 Days Before

3 Days Before

2 Days Before

1 Day Before

Day of the Trip

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