When the sun shines through the stained glass windows at Sainte-Chappelle on the Île de la Cité in Paris, the entire sanctuary glows with sparkling light and color. This 13th century cathedral was commissioned by King Louis IX to house his collection of Passion Relics, including Christ’s crown of thorns – one of the most important relics in medieval Christendom.
We fell in love with this view as we entered into Pommard on our bicycles in Burgundy, France last week! This lovely town on the Route des Grands Crus is surrounded by vineyards and produces only red wines. You can see more of our favorite Route des Grands Crus pictures here.
There’s no telling, but we’re not about to slow down any time soon! We’ve found so many great travel photographers and bloggers on Instagram lately, and we want to share them with you. Here are 5 of our favorites right now! Follow their travels, and show them some love!
Patches of the World
“Travelling open doors to new adventures or to beautiful Santorini.”
Teagan is a solo female travel blogger from Sydney, and her photos are creative and gorgeous!
Wherever Magazine
“Hunting for…fishing, in Costa Rica”
We love this new magazine with artsy photography and wonderful stories. Their tagline: the print magazine of travel literature, travel culture and travel politics. nomadic | expatic | sarcastic. world citizen? We get it.
Traveling Chic
“Lovely homes on a lovely street in lovely London”
Jenny’s an attorney by day, blogger by night. We’re right there with her.
Lucy Dodsworth – Lucy on the Luce
“This time last year I was celebrating my birthday in lovely Strasbourg, wandering the canals in Petite France before watching fireworks over the city.”
Lucy is a part-time traveller and full-time travel obsessive. Her blog is fantastic!
The Belle Abroad
“Kensington for days.”
She’s a southern belle on an adventure abroad living in London. Sounds amazing!
We’ve been traveling a lot lately for both work and pleasure. That means we’ve been doing a lot of packing and unpacking and a lot of browsing online for better options and ideas. We even have a whole Pinterest board dedicated to Packing Tips! All of that travel has us thinking that what and how you pack can really make a difference in your transportation experience.
As checked bag fees have become the norm, traveling with only a carry-on whenever possible is now the primary goal for most travelers. If that’s the case for you, and you’re heading out for longer than a weekend, you’re going to want to make the most of your personal item. [See what we include in ours here!]
There are many options out there in a lot of price ranges. We’ve pulled together our favorites for the budget traveler and those with a little more money to spend. If you haven’t read our review of the Everlane tote, which includes a lot of the details we look for in a bag, check it out here. Also check out our review of the Lo & Son’s O.M.G. bag, which is very similar to the O.G. bag featured below!
Top Row: Stella & Dot – The Shift | Coach Leopard Turnlock Tote
Second Row: Baggu Duck Bag
Bottom Row: Longchamp Paris Le Pliage
Looking for a great weekender bag? You can find our favorites here!
I love collected home decor items from my travels, and some of my absolute favorites are my baskets from West Africa. They’re functional, colorful, and remind of a time in my life that I’ll always treasure. I lived in the Upper East region of Ghana for two years where I was a Peace Corps volunteer and teacher. The famous souvenir from the regional capital of Bolgatanga are Bolga baskets, which are made by local artisans not just from the city of Bolga but also surrounding villages. They’re handwoven from elephant grass and provide Ghanaians with economic opportunities.
I use this colorful Bolga basket to hold some of my favorite travel magazines!
There are many places to buy Bolga baskets online, but if you’re interested in supporting a project that goes above and beyond the fair trade model, check out Blessing Baskets. A volunteer I served with worked closely with this non-profit that exists to help reduce poverty in the countries where it works. I was able to visit her village to meet some of the artisans, watch them work, and of course buy baskets! They developed what they call a prosperity model that pays the artisans at least 2.5 times the Fair Trade wage, allowing for financial independence through entrepreneurship. In addition to providing income for the artisans, the project helps empower women and in Ghana built a school for girls. I try to be intentional about my purchases and like that a simple basket not only brings economic empowerment but also education to girls.
While I was studying in Tokyo, my mother came to visit for a week. During her stay, we took the train out to Kamakura to see the Daibutsu, or Great Buddha, a 44ft tall bronze monument dating back to the middle of the 13th century. The crowds were heading back to their tour buses as we arrived, so we were lucky to get lots of pictures with no one else in them. Even so, this picture of a young brother and sister peeking through the lantern is my favorite. -Meagan
Like all good travel sites, we’ve been compiling lists of our favorite tips, tricks, and products to make your next trip easier on you and your budget. If you remember from our post on organizing your travel documents, I mentioned that I keep my itineraries and confirmation numbers in Google Drive and then print out some hard copies just in case I can’t access mobile data or WiFi.
Well, friends, no more! I have FINALLY found an app that organizes my travel confirmations easily and with as much detail as possible. Introducing…
My biggest concern with apps that organize details for me is that I rarely like the layout or the amount of detail shown. Details recorded in Tripit are organized by date, then by item (plane ticket, train ticket, hotel confirmation, etc.), and they all expand for additional information. That even includes your email correspondence with your AirBnB or your bike rental receipts.
1. Make an account at www.tripit.com and download the app to your mobile device from Google Play or iTunes. It’s free, but there’s also a pro version that is ad-free and has a few more features.
2. Just forward all of your confirmation emails to the Tripit email address they give you. Tripit will notice the email address that you send them from, and it will assign them all to your individual account. It’s pretty darn smart and really good at sorting out what information to pull from each email. For my hotels, AirBnB, and Bed & Breakfast, for instance, it includes confirmation numbers, addresses, and phone numbers in the main details.
3. You can then go to the website if you need to adjust any details. For instance, I have a casual email from the bike rental company that we will be using in France. Tripit didn’t recognize that it was a receipt for an activity, but it did file it into my Trip Details for the right date. I was able to go in and edit the activity type and name so that it fit in easier with my schedule. In fact, I also changed hotel check-out times to the actual time that we’re leaving so that “check-out” would appear prior to my train ticket. See? I told you I can be picky.
Train Ticket Details
4. Tripit even includes directions and adds them automatically. When Tripit recognized that I’ll be flying into CDG airport and that I have a reservation at this darling hotel in the 17th arrondissement, it included directions via car and the Paris Metro. Merci beaucoup, Tripit!
Cooking Classes, Hotels, and Flights
Train Tickets, Hotels, and Maps
As I’m at home writing this, I decided to turn off my mobile and wireless on my phone to see what details I could access with no data or WiFi service, and I was still able to open all of the details I’ll need. How’s that for accessibility?!
Have you used Tripit to organize your travel itinerary and confirmations before? If so, tell us about it in the comments!
[We’ve updated this post with a review after taking our Everlane tote across France. See the end of the post for more on how it worked for us. ]
My mom and I have been searching for the perfect carry-on tote for our upcoming trip to France, and we had some pretty high standards. We needed a bag that was:
– large enough to hold all of our needs
– but not too big that it can’t be used as a day bag
– zipped!
– chic, obviously!
– well-made with great reviews
– and at a really good price point
Not only that, but since it’s easier to pack light when you stick to a color palette, Mom needed one that came in black, and I needed a brown one. We didn’t need the same bag, of course, but when we started reading all of the great reviews about the Everlane Tote, we knew we needed to check it out. It seemed to fit all of our needs, so we ordered the black leather with reverse denim, which is a pretty heather gray. I was eyeing the brown leather with navy twill, but decided to wait and see what the black one looked like in person. Let’s just say, I’ll be ordering the navy for me really soon!
I already have one of Everlane’s amazing weekenders, and it has been such a JOY to pack for trips to my mom’s house in the mountains and all of our other weekend trips! I was thrilled to see that the tote we received (with free shipping!) was of equally great quality!
I really love that the tote has a slim silhouette. I often find bags that I like, but they end up being rather bulky. This bag will hold my make-up and small toiletry bags, my travel magazines, my camera, my tablet, and it doesn’t take up too much space. The inner pocket is the perfect size for my wallet and passport case. The zip top stays hidden instead of sticking out on the ends, which I think is a wonderful detail that makes it even more sleek. The black leather straps are sturdy and a great length for throwing over your shoulder, and the cotton twill is wonderfully thick. Even after all of those great details and the sturdy construction, it’s still incredibly light weight! Friends, we have found our new favorite bag! Oh, and did we mention it’s ONLY $40?!
My mom traveled in style in Burgundy with her grey and black Everlane tote.
After trying out the grey and black tote with my mom, I ended up buying the navy tote with brown leather handles for myself. As I had expected, it worked great for my trip to Paris, Provence, and Burgundy. Here’s what we learned:
Carrying my tote around Paris on a drizzly day!
[This is not a sponsored post, friends. We just adore our new Everlane tote, and we can definitely vouch for the sturdy construction and timeless style of our wonderful weekender. If you’re on the lookout for some stylish and affordable luggage, do check them out!]
We were blown away by this photo of the Eureka Dunes in Death Valley by our seriously talented friend Aaron! Don’t you just love the contrast of the brilliant blue sky against the dunes? We can’t stop staring at this gorgeous scene! ©Aaron Perez
I keep a note on my phone with a Travel List of the top places I want to visit and also use Pinterest to keep track of places I want to visit and places I’ve already visited. Recently, I was gifted a wonderful scratch off world map that is now on display in our guest bedroom. One night, I started erasing places off that I’ve been (way harder than I thought it would be, by the way) and quickly became distraught that “I haven’t been anywhere!” I bemoaned this fact to my husband who firmly brought me back to reality with a “you’re lucky to have gone as many places as you’ve been!” Alas, my wanderlusting heart won’t ever quite be satisfied, but I’m alright with that. It just means I’ll always be dreaming, listing and planning where to see next in this great big world we’re blessed to call home. Here’s my current Top Five Destinations I’m Dreaming About in no particular order:
I must confess that I’ve wanted to visit New Zealand ever since the Lord of the Rings movies came out. So of course Hobbiton is on my list, but also national parks for hiking, glaciers, and hanging out with Kiwis. As I research NZ, the more convinced I am that we’ll need at least two weeks if not more so we can experience both the North and South Islands. [Photos: Real Journeys for Featured Image and Flickr]
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fotravel/3360535294/in/photostream
I want to see Bagan before it becomes overrun with tourists, which is bound to happen because it’s fascinating and gorgeous. Sunrise at the pagodas with hot air balloons as backdrops, biking among the temple ruins, a sunset boat ride, and seeing this country also called Burma that’s only recently opened to the outside world. [Photo: Flickr]
Petra! I long to see this New Wonder of the World and pretend that I’m Indiana Jones. Petra at night looks so dreamy! Also, I keep seeing the Dead Sea [update: I got to go as part of a work trip and float] pop up on lists of places to see before they vanish, so I’d definitely check it out and float in it. In Amman, I’d explore the Citadel and Roman Amphitheater. [Photo: National Geographic]
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gareth_weeks/4431758286/
I’m really intrigued by Cape Town since it seems to have it all: beaches, Table Mountain, and a nearby day trip to visit penguins. Of course, a safari would be on the itinerary for a South Africa trip, but I’d also love to explore wine country and drive along the Garden Route. [Photo: Flickr]
I love Asia in general after studying abroad in Thailand, so a second country on the continent makes my list. After the devastation of the recent earthquakes, Nepal continues to rebuild, and tourism is one way to support and help the country in its recovery efforts. I hear the scenery is breathtaking, and I’m intrigued by stupas, the culture, and whether trekking is for me. Plus the possibility to go on a safari to see rhinos and maybe elephants? Yes please! [Photo: Guidora]
I’m going to cheat a little by letting you in on a few close contenders for No. 5: Switzerland, Norway, Guatemala, Bhutan (again my love affair with Asia pops up), and a new country in South America since I loved Peru so much. It was so difficult to choose! What’s in your Top Five currently?
