In my various lists of stuff to bring on a trip, you may have noticed that a snack is almost always mentioned. You may conclude from other comments I’ve made (eat every chance you get) that I have a thing for food. You would probably be right. I love food, and if I don’t eat when I am hungry I get very, very cranky. Just ask my poor coworker who often travels with me, and gets the brunt of my hunger-induced crankiness. It’s gotten to the point that she will check with me around mealtime if it looks like we won’t get anything soon.

To make things easier on her, and, well, anyone else that comes into contact with me at mealtimes, I have developed strategies related to food. The first thing is to plan my meals as best I can. If I know lunch is coming soon, I feel better about going longer without food. The second thing is to eat every chance I get if I can’t plan my meals. And the last thing is to take snacks with me. Having healthy, tasty treats can get me through almost any situation. Here are a few of my favorites.

• Nuts. Almonds, peanuts, walnuts, whatever you like.
• Fruits or veggies. Strawberries, apple slices, banana all travel well. And on the vegetable side, carrots are so easy to bring along.
• Cheese. String cheese, cubes, or slices.
• Bars. Some sort of bar, be it Lunabar, SoyJoy, Atkins, granola, whatever.
• Beef jerkey. Love it!
• Emergen-C. Immediate energy pick-me-up, and it’s good for you.
• Tuna kits. The ones in the package (not the can) can be placed in carry-on luggage.
• Water. Have to stay hydrated!
• Dove Darks. Because everyone needs dark chocolate. Yes, everyone.

So don’t be mean to your coworkers when you can’t eat. Just make sure you have something to snack on!

As soon as you start thinking about or listing or practicing creative ways to pack your toiletries, it seems like the tips just start coming out of the woodwork. Everywhere I have gone, lately, I have heard or discovered new clever ways to pack my face creams. Love!

I was out to dinner with my parents and some friends earlier this week to celebrate a birthday. As we are all avid travelers, conversation eventually moved to this blog. “I love your packing tip from last week!” one friend exclaimed. “Of course, I read that the day after I came home from a trip, too late to do me any good.” Isn’t that the way it always works.

But she did have one excellent suggestion that I would like to share with all of you now. And as it involves one of my favorite places on earth, I am even more excited to share. If you go to Sephora and tell them you are interested in trying out a few new products, they will give you samples. Nordstrom, Sak’s, and a few other places will do this as well. This is good for many reasons: 1) You get to try out new products without paying for a full container; 2) You get travel sized products; 3) You often get reusable containers. Yes!! Win on all sides!! Also, when you purchase from Sephora.com, you typically get the chance to order sample-sizes of a few products as well for free. I am definitely not advocating going in and scamming Sephora or Nordstrom, but it’s a great way to try some new stuff before you shell out big bucks for a full size. And get travel toiletries to boot.

AT Loft is having a sale on summer items, and everything is under $25. Certainly not all of these are work appropriate, but there are many layering tees and blouses that are anywhere from $10-25 that can be worn all summer. Most are offered in a range of colors. I have been trying really hard to minimize spending until the end of this month….But we are less than five days from the end of the month. I figure that’s close enough. Let’s go shopping!!! (apparently you can also get an additional 40% off some items using the SALE40 code at checkout.)

Yesterday, authorities randomly searched cars at the Austin, TX airport. They said it was not based on any specific threat, and that they could basically do this whenever they wanted.Anyone who didn’t want to be searched was directed to the parking area, instead of being allowed to pick people up or drop them off curbside. Supposedly the searches were quick and not supposed to cause delays.

I had no idea that the government was doing this.  Who decides who they search? I just feel that we need more information about this practice. I guess I see the reason for random searches, but I can tell you this. If I was running super late for a flight, and planning on being able to take my car right up to the terminal for valet parking,  and I was stopped and told that authorities had to search my car–I would be very frustrated. And probably miss my flight.

In USA Today’s Hotel-Check In, Barb De Lollis writes about business travel related stuff, often hotel-related. I enjoy reading her column, and I enjoy reading the debates that often rage in the comments below. I am looking forward to the comment debate today!!

Today the column is about Holiday Inn rolling out a pilot that uses smartphones as a hotel key. Basically you download an app to your iPhone, Blackberry, or Android, check in on the hotel website, and bypass the desk in the lobby completely as you head to your room. Pull up your confirmation email, hold your phone against the lock, and voila! Open door. That’s the way it’s supposed to work, anyway.

This is incredibly interesting to me, and I can think of several arguments for and against this technology. First of all, I love a timesaver. Sometimes hotel desks have long lines, and any way to bypass a line while I’m traveling is a great thing. Second, I love my iPhone and I’m always excited to find out it can do more cool stuff.  That may be as far as it goes for me with the pros.

As for the cons, well, I have thought of a lot of those. What if you get to your room and the technology doesn’t work? You have to go all the way back to the front desk and stand in that long line anyway. Also, things are constantly being hacked. How’s the security? What if it gets compromised? Will someone walk into my room and steal my stuff? If the front desk staff doesn’t see everyone checking in, how will they know if someone suspicious is wandering around?

If this becomes available for Hilton hotels, I would probably use it just to see what it’s like. But I would have to be assured of its safety and reliability first.

You know the feeling. You think about your upcoming trip, and you can literally feel your heart rate increase. Or you are walking down the jetbridge to board the plane, and you walk slower and slower because you dread getting on the plane. Or once you are on the plane you start feeling like you have to, must get off immediately. Travel anxiety can happen to everyone, from seasoned travelers to the occasional vacationer. Sometimes when I have been traveling a lot I can’t stand the smell of the air on airplanes, and getting close to the door makes me shudder. Once I remember flying back to Texas from California at night, after hours of delays, sitting in the back of the plane. I have never really been claustrophobic before, but right then I thought I might scream if I didn’t get some room.  It happens to everybody.

I have a friend who is about to go on a fabulous vacation to Playa del Carmen with her family, but the idea of flying there makes her break out into a cold sweat. She asked me for suggestions on how to overcome this. So first (as always) I did some research. Basically, even though it’s possible to experience the anxiety in a physical way (shortness of breath, increased heart rate, cold sweats, etc) you are not actually experiencing physical distress. So the main thing to do is to calm yourself down. There are multiple ways to do this.

• Yoga/breathing techniques. Closing your eyes, taking deep breaths, and visualizing whatever calms you down is a great way to dispel anxiety. Taking a few yoga or meditation classes before you go will help, but really, slow, deep, conscious breathing will slow your heart rate and calm you down. I actually will listen to yoga podcasts and imagine myself doing yoga positions (especially child’s pose!) to calm down.
• Reframe. Any time you catch yourself starting to freak out about flying, consciously choose to think about something else. The amazing beach you will see on vacation, room service, the friends you will visit, etc. If stuff starts going wrong on your trip, don’t focus on the bumps. Focus on the people who are helping to fix it, and thank them for doing their job.
• Focus on something besides flying. Knitting, reading, and listening to music are great ways for me to get out of my skin and into my head. They actually make me forget I’m flying. I read a lot of mysteries, nothing really deep, because the point is to make me forget I’m stuck on a plane with 150 people. Until someone wants to bring me some wine. Other things that work are movies, games like Sudoku, helping or playing with your kids, or even working.
• Take care of yourself physically. Make sure that you are hydrated, that you’ve eaten, that you are wearing comfortable clothes, and that you’re not too cold or too hot. Any physical discomfort will enhance travel stress, so make sure you feel as good as possible. Wear layers, have a bottle of water, take a snack with you, and bring a pashmina to cover up with if necessary.
• Take the aisle seat. If you have claustrophobia issues (like one of my coworkers does) an easy way to take care of it is to sit in the aisle. This way if you need to get up and walk around you can, and you don’t feel closed in.
• Research. If the reason you’re anxious is because of fears of crashing, do some research. Find out for yourself what the statistics are. Just so you know, you have a higher risk of dying by stumbling while you’re walking than by an airplane crash.
• Wine. If wine relaxes you at home, have a glass while flying. Don’t get tanked, that won’t help, but enjoy a glass of wine or your favorite cocktail. Make sure to drink some water afterward though.
• Therapy. If you have serious travel anxiety and none of these tips help, it’s not a bad idea to talk to someone about it and see if you can get to the root of the issue.

Don’t obsess about this!! If you have travel anxiety, you can still enjoy vacations or travel for work. Just take steps ahead of time to deal with it. And enjoy yourself when you get there!!!

Sometimes I feel like I’ve heard every packing tip or space saving idea there is. And then sometimes I hear one that is surprisingly simple, but brand new.

If you are going on a trip for a few days, don’t pack your whole bottle of eye makeup remover. Instead, dip one end of several q-tips into the liquid and then put them in a ziplock bag. This would also work with cotton balls. It’s like creating your own makeup-remover pads. This will take up way less space then the little bottle (even a 3-oz bottle), plus it doesn’t have to go into your liquids ziplock. Save some space, people!!

I leave for Nashville in a little under two hours. I’m only staying the night, which means I face a set of unique packing challenges.  It is SO easy to overpack for a one night trip. There is all this space left in the suitcase, and for some reason people just feel compelled to fill it! I know one person who never travels with a pillow, yet she had extra room in her suitcase so she thought, I’ll just stick my pillow in there. What?? Seriously?? You don’t have to fill the space! If you think you will be going on a lot of overnight trips, it’s not a bad idea to get a small bag just for those occasions. Luckily, for this trip, I have to take a super bulky tablecloth, so I will not even really have any extra room.

My packing list for overnight trips:

• Two bottoms, max. Whether you choose pants and a skirt, two pairs of pants, or you decide to go for it and only bring one pair of pants, there is NO reason to have more than two bottoms. Wear one of them on the plane.
• Two shirts. Both should go with both bottoms. Wear one on the plane.
• One (that’s right, one!!) pair of shoes. Unless you are doing a lot of walking or standing, you really only need one pair of shoes for an overnight trip. Maybe bring some flip-flops for walking around the hotel in, but only one pair of nice shoes. You will of course wear this pair of shoes on the plane.
• Something to sleep in. For me, it’s yoga pants and a tank (which I can also use for yoga if I have time).
• Undergarments. I usually like to bring an extra set, since they are small.
• Toiletries, makeup, curling iron. Since I have curly hair, I wash it every other day. I typically won’t bring my shampoo and conditioner with me on overnight trips. Other than that, it’s all my normal stuff.
• Laptop, phone, chargers. Don’t forget the chargers!!!
• Books, etc. for on the plane. I bring my Kindle, a magazine, and my knitting. Plenty of entertainment for two days.

There you are! Exactly the right amount of things to bring. And this way you will have all the stuff you need without overdoing it.

I would just like to apologize for  my infrequent posting over the last week or so. I came down with a nasty case of strep throat last week, and it has slowed me down in more ways than one. I am feeling much better though, so the posts are back on!!

Let this be a reminder to everyone to wash their hands often, especially when traveling.

A recent article by Christopher Elliott in MSNBC travel got me thinking. His article states that there are hotels now charging fees, taking a page out of the airline book. He discusses “resort fees” (basically charging you to use the pool), charging for bottles of water without spelling it out, and of course, nonrefundable hotel rooms. There’s a hotel in Europe that is even starting to charge for TV use, housekeeping, and extra towels!! Seriously.

We’ve all seen the service charge for room service go up, we’re used to paying for internet at many hotels, and don’t touch that mini-bar!! Because chances are the mini-bar is weighted, and if you so much as pick something up to look at the nutritional content you will get charged. $6 for a Diet Coke? Yes ma’am. A couple of weeks ago when I booked a hotel in Vegas for a (long-overdue) vacation, the website was touting that there was “no resort fee”. I didn’t realize that was something to be so excited about! Wow, you’re letting me use the pool for free. Thanks!!

Luckily, there are so many hotels out there that we have choices. We don’t have to stay at one of four large chains, kind of like we have to fly one of four large airlines (can’t wait to see how the merger of United and Continental affects prices and service).  We can vote with our money, and refuse to stay in places that offer a seemingly good deal up front, and stack on the a la carte fees on the backend. Because we don’t want our hotels to turn into Spirit Airlines!