Tag: travel tips

amazon finds, Packing, shopping finds

I flew thousands of miles in 2023, and these Amazon finds kept me sane

2023 was organized travel chaos. I started the year zipping around the US. Then I flew SF-Geneva-SF-London-Amsterdam-SF-DC-Paris-Helsinki-Florida-SF in March. Then things REALLY got interesting.

For both work and personal travel, I’m flying so often that I can’t be packing from scratch each time. I have a kit, I have ready-to-go carry on bags, and I have travel essentials that are always on standby.

So: these are the items that kept me sane for all my flights in 2023, and that I couldn’t recommend enough for you to put into practice in 2024.

Continue reading “I flew thousands of miles in 2023, and these Amazon finds kept me sane” →
Asia, Destinations, Taiwan

Top Ten: What to Do in Taipei (Part 1)

Taipei doesn’t get enough credit as a destination. With the friendliness of Seoul, quirks like Tokyo, opportunities for pricing as found in South Asia, pervasiveness of English like HK, and the (sometimes fraught) connections to China, it’s an accessible place to get transported into an experience like nowhere else. Continue reading “Top Ten: What to Do in Taipei (Part 1)” →

Destinations, Europe, Italy

Cinque Terre: Five Towns, One Seamless Visit

When dreaming of a visit to Cinque Terre, the breathtaking cliffside towns and sparkling water of the Ligurian Sea are easy enough to picture, especially with a little help from travel magazines and Instagram jetsetters. So what do you need to know to end up at the top of a vineyard-filled cliff or basking on the beach on the Italian Riviera? Continue reading “Cinque Terre: Five Towns, One Seamless Visit” →

Destinations, Europe, Italy

How to Always Find the Best Gelato in Italy

Ciao! Whether you’re navigating the winding streets of Firenze, shopping in Milano, basking in the sun in Cinque Terre, or walking in the footsteps of history in Roma, there’s something you’re always looking for in Italy – amazing gelato. But, especially in tourist-flooded areas, you’re going to need a discerning eye to get the best. Continue reading “How to Always Find the Best Gelato in Italy” →

By Plane, Destinations, Getting There

Yikes! Your Flight Just Got Diverted. Now What?

That’s the question I was asking myself on Labor Day when, closing in on Chicago O’Hare International Airport, the captain let us know we would instead be landing in Indianapolis, 165 miles and 1 time zone away from O’Hare. Close, yet so far. After you envision the worst (such as sleeping on the floor of a random airport with limited connections to your destination), here’s how to help yourself get home relatively happily.  Continue reading “Yikes! Your Flight Just Got Diverted. Now What?” →

Asia, Destinations, Japan

From Serene Shrines to Shibuya Crossing: Where to Go in Tokyo

Tokyo, much like the sushi conveyor belts found in some of its restaurants, has a never-ending stream of opportunities to explore. With well over 150,000 restaurants (for perspective, Paris has about 25 percent as many), 81,389 shrines, 23 distinct special wards (city districts), millions of neon lights, and not to mention being the most populous city in the world, saying there’s a lot to take in is an understatement.

Continue reading “From Serene Shrines to Shibuya Crossing: Where to Go in Tokyo” →

Accomodations, Destinations, Getting There

From Pushback to Push-Up: Incorporating Wellness into Your 2018 Travel Plans

There is a phrase in Swedish that refers to the essential “P’s” of travel packing list that can be roughly translated as passport, pounds, and poarding passes (pass, pengar, och piljetter). The almost-alliterative list is supposed to help you remember the items you absolutely cannot travel without: ID, money, and tickets. If you remember these, at least you can address anything else you forgot later. In a nod to 2018’s sweeping wellness travel trend, I’d say the new “P’s” are passport, pounds, poarding pass, and push-ups. And I hate push-ups.  Continue reading “From Pushback to Push-Up: Incorporating Wellness into Your 2018 Travel Plans” →

Destinations, Europe, Norway

Fjelltur into the Fjords: A Starter Pack for Norway’s Most Dramatic Sights

As a Swedish and Finnish travel writer, it is a bit difficult to get in the right state of mind to feature something Norwegian on anchored & adrift. They have an irritating amount of oil, impressively ugly trolls (compare this to, for example, Finland’s most famous trolls), some of Scandinavia’s best snaps, and an unfortunately high amount of Winter Olympic gold medals per capita. Generally I ignore their existence altogether unless something Nordic comes up on the world stage, and then we all amicably band together like an ABBA reunion tour. But, what I do in fact enjoy (and less-grudgingly admire) about that side of the Scandinavian Peninsula are the incredible fjords that dominate the coast of Norway. Here’s how to get your fjelltur, or mountain adventure, to the Norwegian fjords started.  Continue reading “Fjelltur into the Fjords: A Starter Pack for Norway’s Most Dramatic Sights” →