I looooove water. It is my favorite beverage, hands down. For years I bought cases of bottled water to enjoy. However, several years ago I became cognizant of how wasteful bottled water is, and started using a water filter (my current favorite is by PUR). The next item I needed to find—a refillable water bottle. For the last few years, I’ve used SIGG aluminum water bottles. They are great, except for two things: they need to be handwashed, and they take two hands to open. So I’ve been keeping an eye out for something new.

On recommendation from my sisters, I tried the Contigo Addison water bottle. Y’all, this bottle is amazing. It is made of BPA-free plastic, it’s leak proof, shatter resistant, and is top-rack dishwasher safe. Yes!!! Plus, it is so freaking easy to use with one hand—just push the button and the spout pops up. Drink from it like you would a straw, then press the spout back down. The part you drink from is protected, so it stays clean when the spout is down. This would be great for travel—just drop it in your briefcase or personal item and refill once you go through security.

They are available at lots of places—Target, online and in stores ($12.99), the Contigo website ($12.99), and Amazon (one for $12.22 or 3 for $33.80). I got mine from Costco, and paid $19.99 for three—so if you have a Costco membership, this is clearly the way to go. They are available in a variety of colors (blue, yellow, green, gray, purple, and orange are the ones I saw). So pick one up and stay hydrated on your travels!

Readers, what is your favorite water bottle? Do you take one with you when you travel?

There are a lot of things I love to write about. Shoes, bags, and etiquette come to mind, as well as travel beauty and being eco-friendly. The Prive Concept Vert Travel Kit combines those last two, as a fabulous travel beauty shampoo and conditioner kit that uses recyclable containers to boot. The great folks at Prive sent me a set to try out, and I have to say I’m in love.

(Note: This week, for some reason, most of my posts are about something eco-related, from re-usable water bottles to re-using hotel towels, and now green travel beauty. Didn’t do it on purpose, just happened. Interesting.)

First, let’s talk about the products themselves. Prive is extremely high quality to start with, and the Concept Vert line is no exception. Because my hair is so dry, I will typically only wash it two to three times a week. As I’ve recently added swimming into my fitness routine, I need to wash it more often, and have been concerned about what effect that will have. Not to worry! My hair has never been this soft, and the conditioner is incredibly moisturizing and gentle on my color-treated hair. Also, the shampoo and conditioner come out like shaving cream , so you need only a very small amount which then expands. It’s also really fun!

The packaging is also really cool. The kit comes with full size bottles and complimentary travel sized bottles. Using the included “link”, you can easily fill and refill the travel bottles. Both the large and small bottles are recyclable, so when you’re done using them they won’t go in the landfill. The travel bottles are 3fl oz exactly, so they will go through airport security with ease.

In addition to their environmentally-conscious packaging, Concept Vert products themselves are eco-friendly.  They are not made with commonly used artificial ingredients such as sulfates, gluten, phthalates, DEA, TEA, mineral oil, paraffin, PABA, paraben, or artificial coloring.

I have used Phyto products exclusively for years, but am likely to  switch permanently. The products work incredibly well, and with no harsh chemicals and recyclable containers, you have yourself a winner. I highly recommend!

Available at salons and spas for $58 (a $68 value).

Last month, I stayed in the Hilton Santa Clara for a few days. As promised, I made specific note of whether or not they replaced my towel when I didn’t want them to. How did they do? They did very well!! They did not replace my towel, which I had hung up. Well done! That’s two for two, Hilton Family!

(All of my other stays have been only one night, and they are going to replace your towel for the next guest, regardless.)

Anyone else have updates?

This weekend, I decided I needed a pair of Tom’s wedges. (For every pair of shoes bought, Toms gives away a pair to a child in need. While for a long time I have admired what they do, I’ve just never found their normal shoes that attractive. Then they came out with peep toe wedges, which are super cute. So I had to have some. Anyway.) I headed out to a local store that carries a selection of these amazingly cute and comfortable wedges with a friend. After deciding on a color, we continued looking around the store, which had an incredibly eclectic selection. On a table crowded with flip flops, travel kits, and candles, I saw a weird looking plastic thing in bright orange. After picking it up to get a closer look, I realized what it was. A plastic water bottle that packs flat. No, I am not kidding. When it’s full, it stands up like a normal water bottle, but when it’s empty you can roll it up and shove it into a tiny crevice in your bag. I’ll be honest, I love my Sigg, but don’t always take it with me because it’s so darn big. But this one from Vapur won’t have that problem! It is BPA-free so it’s safe to use, and it’s dishwasher safe so it’s easy to clean. And it’s freezable, so it’s great for workouts. I paid $10 for mine, but it’s available for $8.95 from Amazon in a variety of colors. There are a few things that are just no brainers for frequent fliers, and this is one of those things. Love it!

I recently found some very cute organic cotton pieces from an unexpected place: Gaiam. If you do yoga, you have probably heard of this company. They make a lot of yoga mats and accessories, among other things. It never occurred to me that I could find work-appropriate clothing there. True, it’s on the more casual side, but there are definitely a few items I plan to incorporate into rotation. Their clothing is soft, made of sustainable materials such as organic cotton and bamboo, and very reasonably priced. Here are a few of my favorites.

The Open Cardigan comes in several colors and would be great on an airplane. It’s made of organic cotton and rayon from bamboo, and would work equally well with slacks or a dress.

I love the Grecian Tunic, a very interesting longer-length blouse. If you paired it with a shorter length cardigan and slim black pants it would be very stylish for the office (and comfy for the plane!) but would be equally cute with jeans for the weekend.

The Organic Cotton Tee is made from 100% Certified Organic Cotton. It comes in three colors, has a high-ish neck, and a thick weight. A great basic tee for under a suit or cardigan.

There are also a number of more casual pieces, like the Wide Banded Skirt and Organic Cotton Stretch Cami, that would be perfect for the weekend. It never occurred to me to shop for clothes at a yoga supply store, I will be adding this site to my favorites and checking it regularly. Cute organic cotton for good prices? Win!

A comment to my Hotel Etiquette Guide got me thinking. Gracie said,

About the towels on the floor/indicating the desire for laundry service… I LOVE the policy of hang it up vs. leave on the floor that most hotels have adopted in an effort to conserve water. However, I’ve noticed that pretty much everywhere doesn’t really adhere to this on the room attendants side….. I’d like to participate in the water conservation initiative but am disheartened EVERY TIME!

Thinking back to hotel stays over the years, I would say that at least half the time I get new towels when I specifically don’t want to. Honestly, it’s kind of aggravating. I am trying to do what I can to my my travel a little more “green”, yet hotels won’t allow it. And their own signs give the instructions, which I follow but they do not.

I am not the first traveler to write about this. Go Green Travel Green has a great “Dear Housekeeping” letter, and the comments are even more revealing. One comment from someone who works in the hotel industry said that hotels replace towels very often because it affects their “star” rating. Interesting.

So I am going to do my own little study, and would like your help. Every time I stay in a hotel for more than one night, I am going to note what the hotel does with my towels. Can you do the same? Come back here and report! Or if you’d rather, you can email me at RoadWarriorette@gmail.com.

I’ll start. I stayed at the Embassy Suites Santa Clara last week, and they did not replace my towel when I hung it up. Good job! Also, their parking lot looked like a showroom for blue Ford Focuses. But that is another post for another day I guess…..

About eight months ago, I made a lifestyle change with regards to my eating habits. Figuring out how to incorporate that lifestyle change into my travel schedule was challenging, to say the least. After some research and trial and error, I think I’ve got it down. They say that one of the best things to do if you are trying to eat healthier, or to save money for that matter, is to bring your lunch to work. Well, I often commute two hours by plane for work, I can’t bring liquids with me, and there is basically no way to keep food cold. I often end up bringing fruit, veggies, cheese, and nuts with me on the plane. I tried to bring normal food containers, but they were such a pain to transport back. I tried plastic sandwich baggies, but felt bad about throwing them away. Enter collapsible food storage containers! They collapse for easy transport and storage, and come in many different sizes. This way you can take your food with you, eat it, and easily carry your containers back with you.

Another great green/healthy/money saving idea from Fly Gracefully: Fozzils. These very clever dishes completely flatten, allowing for simple transport, but will easily hold your food and beverages during travel. This way you can, for example, get milk and cereal from a store and eat that in the morning instead of room service.

There are many reasons to eat at a restaurant that uses local and sustainable foods. First of all, it will really give you a taste of the local flavor (pun intended). Eating what’s in season where you are gives insight into the community, something that’s otherwise hard to do when you’re only in town for 30 hours. Also, it is so good for the environment. According to SustainableTable.org:

“Sustainable agriculture involves food production methods that are healthy, do not harm the environment, respect workers, are humane to animals, provide fair wages to farmers, and support farming communities.  But rather than focus on the problems, Sustainable Table promotes the positive shift toward local, small-scale sustainable farming.”

Because the food is in season, it will be fresher and better tasting. Always a plus when enjoying a meal! The next question I’m sure you are going to ask: How do I find these wonderful places? There are multiple websites that list these types of restaurants all around the country. The Eat Well Guide and Local Harvest are two places that came up with a quick Google search.

So next time you are traveling, stay away from the big chain restaurants and check out a locally owned place that uses sustainable, local foods. You won’t be disappointed!

In honor of Earth Day on Thursday, April 22, all of my posts this week are going to focus on some aspect of traveling green. If you know of something I should write about, send me an email! RoadWarriorette@gmail.com

A few years ago, if you tried to find eco-friendly clothing, you would not be happy. There were a few companies that made t-shirts and casual skirts, some tank tops, lots of yoga pants, but not really anything that could be worn to work. Boy, have times changed!! Now when you search for “organic cotton clothing” or”eco-friendly clothing” all kinds of sites, designers, and CUTE things come up, including things that are totally appropriate for work. I had a hard time picking my three favorites for this post–not only are there a ton of cute things, but they are so affordable! So I hope you visit some of these sites and do just a little bit to take care of our earth.

Love this top, please forgive the weird styling and the model’s very strange pose. The blouse is ladylike, interesting, very cute, and versatile. Plus, it has the added bonus of being made of organic cotton in the US.

I love this dress. It is your basic wrap dress, comes in different colors, and is so, so cute. I’m hoping it’s a little longer IRL than on this model though! Wear with a cami and you are good to go.

This dress is fabulous. From the interesting colors, to the bow detail, to the flattering princess seams. Make it work ready with a coordinating cardigan, and be ready for dinner later! If kiwi is not your style, there are other colors available as well.

In addition to these three things, there are a ton of tops that are great for work, and comfortable enough for travel. I’m ready to shop!

In honor of Earth Day on Thursday, April 22, all of my posts this week are going to focus on some aspect of traveling green. If you know of something I should write about, send me an email! RoadWarriorette@gmail.com

One of the small ways I have changed my life at home is by refusing plastic bags when shopping. I bring my own bags to the grocery store, to buy clothes (and shoes of course!), basically any time I will be bringing something home with me. I remember bags most of the time, but if I don’t? Often I will just drop it in my purse or hold it. Of course, it’s not as easy to hold two cartons of milk and dog food walking out to the car, but it’s also not impossible.

While traveling, I have found it very helpful to bring a bag that doesn’t take up a lot of room in case I need an extra. For example, my sister gave me  a bag for Christmas one year that folds down into a tiny little zipped-up package. And for extra-credit cuteness points, it says, “Spare the Air, Save a Bear” with a bear on it. Love!! My favorite shopping website Delight sells bags called RuMe (short for ReUseME) that fold up into nothing.

Of course, for the really small stuff (a book, bottle of water, small food items) I can drop it in my purse or carry it. It’s an easy thing to do and it makes a difference.

Happy Earth Day, friends!