Last Monday, the Home Warrior was in a minor accident. He was in the left hand lane, and the guy next to him tried to turn left from the center lane. No one was hurt, and the other guy admitted fault and was given a ticket. The interesting thing to me is that the guy was in from out of town for a few weeks and driving a rental car. He had insurance on the rental car, but had gotten rid of it a couple days earlier. Of course, his regular insurance covered our truck, but it made me wonder. Do business travelers get insurance when they rent cars?

The first day of my current job, I flew out to California and rented a car for the first time. When the Budget clerk asked if I wanted insurance, I had no idea what to answer. No guidance had been given by my new boss, but I’m a fairly cautious person by nature, so I went ahead and got it. Turns out my company has some sort of group business travel policy, so it was not covered by my company, and I had to pay out of pocket. Lame. So now of course I don’t get the rental company’s coverage.

Readers, what do you do?

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Yet another reason to love San Francisco. Not only do they have delicious food, great shopping, incredible culture, stunning scenery, and an enviable proximity to Napa Valley, they now have a new feature in their airport I hope will spread across the country: a yoga room. That’s right, in SFO Terminal 2, there is now a dedicated yoga and meditation room. From FlySFO:

“When we began to remodel Terminal 2, one of our goals was not just to bring the glamour back to air travel, but to also make the entire experience less stressful and more enjoyable,” said Airport Director John L. Martin. “With the opening of the Yoga Room, SFO has taken another giant leap forward in providing our travelers the opportunity and space to relax and decompress on their own terms.”

It’s inside security, and free to use for all ticketed passengers. They ask that you remove your shoes, turn off your cell phone, and be silent as you practice or meditate. Mats are even provided! Yogis are led to the room by the icon shown above, of someone in lotus. I can’t wait to check this out next time I’m in the Bay Area. This story from Bay Area NBC has even more info, and pictures of the new yoga room.

Loooove this Old Navy hot pink geometric print blouse. They can be hit or miss for me (and there has been a long period of misses lately IMO) but this top brings it back. I would wear it with gray or navy bottoms, by itself if it’s warm enough, or under a cardigan or blazer if it’s cool. It would provide a great pop of color under suits, and the pattern will hide any wrinkles. Win!

Over New Years, we went to Dallas. The DFW Metro area is big, so between dinners, shopping, and family, we did a ton of driving around. At one point, we were at a stoplight, and realized that there were thousands of birds all around us. It was crazy!

Readers, have you seen freaky nature-related things while traveling?

Winter is a tricky time to travel. Flight delays, holiday travelers, and cold weather can lead to stressful situations of all kinds! Unfortunately, flight delays and infrequent fliers are out of your control. But you can deal with the snow and cold temperatures—you just have to pack smarter!

I have found that I can follow my normal strategy for packing (one pair of pants for every two days, and a shirt for each day), my winter suitcase becomes insanely full. After my last trip, I figured out why. In the spring, “a shirt for each day” takes up almost no room. But in the winter, a sweater plus undershirt for every day takes up at least twice as much room, and I can hardly zip up my suitcase! Oops. Here is a refined packing strategy, specifically for winter.

• Wear your base layer more than once. There is no reason to have a long sleeve tee for every day. Make sure each undershirt you bring matches multiple sweaters. Neutrals are very helpful here—black, brown, and white will be much more versatile than a colorful print. Also, silk will help keep you extra-toasty.
• Thinner is better. Two thin sweaters take up less room than one thick sweater. Before you grab that bulky knit cable, see you have a sleeker cashmere or wool. It will keep you just as warm (especially with your base layer!) and take up far less room.
• Wear boots and coats. As long as your boots are reasonably easy to take off and put on, wear your boots on the plane. Unless you have a ton of extra room, it makes sense to carry your coat as well. If you aren’t used to navigating a suitcase, briefcase, and coat, practice around your house before your trip so that you can manage gracefully.

Yes, it takes a little more strategic planning. But packing smart in the winter is definitely possible!

For more tips on winter travel, check out my post about What to Pack for a Winter Business Trip.

Readers, what are your best tips for packing smart during the winter?

Lots of news stories today!!

First up: Rand Paul denied.

According to CNN (and a lot of other places), Sen. Rand Paul was turned away from a Nashville airport checkpoint. The body scanner went off, he refused a pat-down, and requested to be allowed to go through the scanner again. That’s not TSA policy, so they didn’t allow him to go any further and he was escorted out of the security area by local law enforcement. He says he was detained, the TSA denies it. Obviously I’m no huge fan of the TSA, and consistency is one of their huge issues. At the same time, it’s a bit gratifying to see them treat a famous person the same way they would treat anyone else. Of course, it may not be the best idea to piss off a senator during a voting session….

Readers, what are your thoughts?

Next:  Southwest is going “eco-friendly”. Or is it?

Southwest is going to be rehabbing the cabins of its massive fleet of 737s, installing lighter seats covered in “fabric more durable than leather,” reducing seat recline, and using recyclable carpet installed in squares. These changes will make the aircraft much lighter, which will save $10 million in fuel costs annually. Know what it will also allow them to do? Add an extra row of seats. Which of course means less legroom and personal space. Seriously, the only thing that is eco-friendly here is the carpet. Everything else is just a way to cram even more passengers onto a plane, reducing the comfort of everyone involved. Sigh. Southwest, I am not a fan of this plan.

Finally: Priceline killing off William Shatner’s “Negotiator” character

I don’t know how I feel about this. I love William Shatner and have enjoyed his Negotiator character, but he has been around for a while…..what do you think?

Last weekend, I went to Chicago. Instead of taking a cab like normal, I ended up taking public transportation to and from Midway. Honestly, it was kind of an ordeal, especially for someone not used to public transit in general. Made me super grateful for my car! But it also made me curious—how do most business travelers get to the airport? I almost always drive my car and park at an offsite parking lot, although this time my husband dropped me off which was nice. What does everyone else do?

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There are about five movies (or sets of movies) that I would watch, any time. Intellectually I know that these are not the best movies of all time, but they are so highly entertaining that I can view them over and over and never get tired of them. Any time USA or TNT or one of the other cable channels is showing one, I will leave it on that channel. Even if I’m not actively watching it, I will enjoy it while I’m, say, folding laundry or cleaning the kitchen. Writing my list down, I’m realizing there is a theme….. Here are my top five:

1)      The Princess Bride. Best dialogue ever. My Number One movie of all time.

2)      The Mummy, The Mummy 2. Don’t judge, please. Brendan Frasier is a hot, smart, tough action hero who loves his girl. Rachel Weiss is gutsy and clever. What’s not to love? (The Mummy 3 was terrible. Terrible. Made me very sad.)

3)      Independence Day. Will Smith. Enough said.

4)      The Bourne Trilogy. Matt Damon is the baddest action hero around, IMO. And the car chases are so awesome they hurt my brain.

5)      True Lies. Hysterical plot, great special effects, bad guys get it in the end. And Jamie Lee Curtis doing a strip-tease.

At Blog World, I stayed in the Westin Bonaventure in downtown LA. It was my first time in LA, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. But imagine how excited I was when I saw this plaque on the elevator leading to my room:

In case you can’t read it, it says, “This is one of two elevators used in filming “TRUE LIES” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. September 1993.” Staying in the hotel where part of one of my top five movies was shot? Yes!!!

Readers, what are your top five movies? What kind of super cool things have you seen while traveling?

Recently, a friend told me a slightly disturbing story. Her pregnant sister was sitting in an airline lounge, eating a sandwich. An employee came up to the woman and asked her to leave, as outside food is not allowed in. Now, I’m not going to get into how it grates on me that they asked a 32 week pregnant woman to either not eat or leave (although since I currently have two pregnant sisters I find it really annoying. Whatever.).  This rule is probably due to the fact that the lounge wants people to pay for its own overpriced and terrible food. But isn’t the point of belonging to a club that you have a place to go, relax, and get away from the hustle and bustle of the airport? Why would they not allow people to bring in food from airport restaurants?

Granted, I haven’t been in a ton of lounges. But the ones I have visited have either had food available for free or been very gracious about outside food. The few times I’ve purchased food in a lounge it has honestly been pretty terrible. So what’s the deal?

Readers, what do you think? Should airline clubs ban outside food? What has your experience been?

I talk about airport security a lot, but honestly it seems like the general population still needs a lot of help. There are a million things you can do to set up your stuff correctly so that you go through security efficiently (see recent post Security Refresh for step by step instructions). I know that all of my fabulous readers know how to get through the line with a minimum of fuss and without slowing anyone down, but just in case someone hasn’t heard this very important tip, here it is again.

Once you get through the metal detector or the body scanner, immediately go to the X-ray machine. Pick up your stuff, and grab your suitcase and briefcase. Then move out of the way, over to the benches, chairs, or tables set up specifically for the purpose of arranging your things. Then you can leisurely put your shoes and coat back on, put your laptop where it goes, and repack your liquids bag, without holding up the security line. It’s so simple!

You may be wondering what brought this on. Friday, when attempting to leave town, I was behind a business traveler. He seemed to have his stuff pretty well together, and got through the line rather quickly. But when he got to the other side, he stood there blocking access to the X-ray belt, while he put on his coat and put in his earbuds. I was speechless. The whole process took him several minutes, while my items were trying to come out of the machine and couldn’t. Oy.

Readers, what’s the strangest thing you’ve seen someone do when picking up their stuff in the security line?