Our Travel Essentials

As you might know from our travelling post, we both really like to travel and have visited several places so far. And normally we travel three or four times per year by plane. So we would like to show you what we think are essentials to have in your carry-on luggage.

Phone
A phone is just always a good thing to have. What if the plane crashes and you have to call someone to tell them you love them? Also, you can play stupid apps, listen to music or prepare texts and emails on it. It is just a good thing to make time pass.

Laptop/iPad
We both always take our laptops and/or iPad on the plane. We like to use all this spare time to work for school or blog a little. Also, we find watching films on the laptop way more convenient that on the phone and they often have a better quality than the movies on the plane.

Charger
Especially for long flights this is a must. Most airplanes nowadays have at least USB-outlets to charge either iPad or phones.

Socks and scarfs
We often get cold on flights, especially when you have been on the plane for a long time, have not eaten a lot or only strange food and your circulation just crashes. So we like to take warm socks and huge scarfs that can be used as blankets on the plane. And they make you feel way more comfortable and cosy.

Book/eReader
One of the best ways to make time pass faster on the plane is to read a good book (often we take our eReaders because it is handier for travelling). We always carry a book with us since we both love to read. To see our favourite books, check out our post about books.

Pencil and paper
I (Caroline) really like to draw (not that I’m any good at it, but that’s not the point), so I always take paper and a pencil on long flights. Sometimes when I am too tired to read and all the films bore me, listening to music and drawing is a great way to spend time. Also real paper is great for quick to-do-lists etc.

Appropriate clothing to change into when you arrive at your destination
When we travel somewhere, where the temperature is completely different from Switzerland we like to bring some appropriate clothing that we can change into when we arrive at our destination. This can be a jumper and scarf or shorts and a T-shirt. For example, when I (Caroline) go to Florida in December I usually pack some shorts in my carry on luggage. Because in Florida it is just 30 degrees warmer than here in Switzerland.

 

Sleeping mask
On long flights it is so nice if you can sleep. You won’t be too tired at the arrival and time passes so fast. To be sure that I (Helena) can sleep, I usually take a sleeping mask with me. Just in case the person next to me wants to read or needs light and it disturbs me. I really like this one because it is cute and not one of those terrible sleeping masks from the airplanes that start to smell really quickly. With this one you also get a cooling gel in a plastic thing that can be put in the sleeping mask. This gel feels really cooling on your eyes and helps against swollen eyes and under eyes.

Small bag for everything
We both always have a small pouch in our bags and love it because just everything that is small is in there, so we don’t lose them in our bags. All the liquid items are put in a transparent pouch (as it is not allowed otherwise) and we put the rest into our normal small bags. In there are several important things:

Some beauty stuff
I (Helena) know that you should not wear makeup during flights. But I am too lazy to take it off and put it on again, so I just let it on. In the transparent small bag I just take concealer and a mascara. Another important thing is deodorant. I often don’t feel very fresh on the plane and like to apply some deodorant to feel better (we forgot it on the photo).

Antibacterial gel
I (Caroline) always carry an antibacterial gel with me. I often want to clean my hands. And when there is no bathroom, near this is great. On planes I often feel a bit gross so I like to disinfect my hands even more than normally and the antibacterial gel makes me feel cleaner and fresher. This one also needs to be in the transparent one.

Lip balm/ Hand lotion
The air on planes is so dry and our lips and hands get easily chapped and dry so I (Helena) always have a lip balm and hand lotion in my bag, especially when travelling. In winter it’s even worse and I panic if I can’t find my lip balm and hand lotion anymore.
I (Caroline) am not very fond of lip balms, I prefer Bepanthen Salve (see the winter favourites post), because I think that lip balms don’t help and I am convinced that Bepanthen Salve always helps. We like to put this in transparent bag too, because we don’t know as it is counted as a liquid.

Chewing gum
We both often have problems with the quick change of air pressure during take-off and landing. And chewing gum always helps. It is also not pleasant to not brush your teeth for up to 14 hours. I (Helena) also get a strange feeling in my mouth on airplanes so I just need chewing gums on planes (in fact I always have some in my bag).

Headphones (if possible with airplane adapter)
There are often headphones on planes, but they are not comfortable and the sound quality is not that good. So we like to take our personal headphones and if possible some that have an airplane adapter since you can also use them to watch movies. We carry them in this small pouch because they always tangle and we hate that…

Hairbands and a brush
We both always lose our hairbands and like to have some in our bags when travelling. An dee also always have a brush in our bags.

Tissues
I (Helena) always have a running nose in winter so tissues are a must. I am always scared to lose them so I will have some in my bag, suitcases and even in my jacket pockets. I hate the feeling of a running nose and not having tissues is not very pleasant.

Wallet and passport
Of course you will need your wallet with your passport. Without them travelling will be difficult… In your wallet, you will need money (often in a different currency too) as well as a credit card and your boarding pass. Those are the most important things, but depending on your situation you might need a train card, gift cards or other stuff like that. Another very important item is your passport. We think it is quite clear why you will need this.

 

Food
Most of us don’t like airplane food so some cereal bars are a must. They give you some energy and are delicious. To know which ones we like check out our winter favourites.

 

Clothing

I (Caroline) like to wear comfortable clothes on planes especially on long-haul flights. Usually I go for a warm hoodie, leggings and trainers. Since this is warm enough (it is often quite chilly on planes) and still more appropriate than wearing joggers. I (Helena) don’t like to wear leggings in public so I often take them in my bag and as soon as I get on the plane, I will go to the bathroom and change into joggers. I don’t like wearing them outside planes in public places so I will again change into my normal clothes just before arriving at the destination.

We hope you enjoyed reading this post and maybe we could show you an essential you hadn’t thought of before :).

 

Travelling

Hi everyone!

Today we want to talk about some of the places we visited over the past years that we really loved. We don’t mean to brag in any way and we know there are people that have been to a lot more places and know a lot more about travel than us. However we still want to show you the things we loved to maybe give you some ideas what to do if you visit these places. We hope you enjoy!

California

California obviously has a lot to offer. The first things that come to mind are probably the amazing cities like LA, San Francisco and Las Vegas, beautiful beaches and Disneyland. All of those are beautiful and definitely worth a visit, however there is a lot more!

In the many National parks you can hike, swim in little lakes and admire the biggest trees in the world. I can recommend the Sequoia National Park, where you can see the General Sherman, the largest known living single stem tree. Also very pretty and calm is Muir Woods. The highest trees on earth grow there.

What I also really enjoyed seeing were the tar pits in LA. After a short walk around the tar “lake“, you can visit a nice museum about prehistoric times.

I personally really don’t like large crowds and get rather scared when there are a lot of people, so I find these possibilities a lot nicer than just visiting the cities. (Also San Francisco is freezing in summer. Someone once said: “There is no colder winter than the summer in San Francisco“ and even though I live in Switzerland I think he’s kind of right.) In the National parks you can enjoy the overwhelming nature on your own, with some friends or your family. It will definitely be rich and full of adventures!

 

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Mexico

I was in Mexico for two weeks in spring and absolutely loved it. My family and I stayed in Mexico City for some days, then went to Guanajuato (my absolute favourite), Guadalajara and finally to Puerto Vallarta. Mexico City is very interesting because it is one of the biggest cities in the world and to fly over it is overwhelming. Everything you see is houses and houses and it never stops. But apart this I didn’t enjoy Mexico City that much because it is very crowded and dangerous, and I wasn’t used to that. But I went to Teotihuacan, which is an archaeological pre-Columbian City. The pyramids are enormous, so when you are in Mexico City it is really worth seeing it.

Then I went to Guanajuato, which is a small, typical Mexican city. The special part about this city is the fact that every house in the city has a different colour and this makes it vivid and beautiful. After the crowds in Mexico City it was really nice to spend some days in Guanajuato.

Guadalajara was again a bigger city and I only spent two days there, so I didn’t see very much of the city. But after Guadalajara we travelled to Puerto Vallarta, a city on the beach of the Pacific. The beach was really nice and after ten days of culture it was nice to also spend some time near the sea and to just relax in the sun.

 

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Normandy

I visited Normandy, France a lot of times. And even now I am stunned by breathtaking coast every single time! Especially the Porte d’Aval in Étretat is so beautiful! In summer you can go on long hikes on the cliffs while the strong breeze blows through your hair and clothes so it is never too hot. The beaches are also beautiful and not too crowded.

However the Norman coast also has an interesting history. On June 6, 1944 the Allies landed on the Normandy beaches to liberate Europe from the Nazi occupation during World War II. In numerous museums you can learn everything about the D-Day while being right where it happened. I think it is really sad but also fascinating to walk through the bomb craters and see the old tanks and weapons.

 

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Corsica

Corsica is a French island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is called the island of beauty and I can confirm that. I lived there for one year to learn French and during this year I travelled around the whole island. In my opinion you can get everything you need on this island. It has cities, wilderness, mountains and forests. My favourite region is the southern part and especially Bonifacio. It is a small city located on a cliff. I can’t describe the beauty of it you just need to go there if you are in Corsica.

 

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Scotland

Scotland is beautiful in every way. There are gorgeous and mystical castles that make you feel like a princess, marvelous cities and beautiful landscape.

I especially enjoyed visiting Blair Castle as it is white and huge and basically as princessy as it can get nowadays. The inside is all furnished and open to the public. According to my brother it is full of very rare weapons that he’d pay a LOT for, if that interests anyone. (To be clear, my brother isn’t some weird psychopath who wants to kill people with old weapons, he’s just really into history and all he’d to with the arms is look at them)

As huge Harry Potter fans we totally got our money’s worth. We saw the café in which J K Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book, because she didn’t have enough money to pay for her heating. We saw the castle where Harry’s first flying lesson in the first movie was shot. We also took the Hogwarts Express!

You could spend a week alone in Edinburgh. With a beautiful castle, lot’s of shops, a big library and tons on museums there’s just so much to do! Unfortunately a museum about medical history was closed when we were there, but I’m sure it would have been very interesting! What I can also really recommend is taking one of the guided bus tours. It is a fast way to see the most important things in the city and then decide where you want to go later.

 

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Myanmar

I have already visited several south-Asian countries but Myanmar was by far my favourite. When I was there, one year ago, the military dictatorship had ended not too long ago and the people were exploring the things they couldn’t use before as TV and Internet. We travelled around the whole country and visited several cites. I can’t describe you every city but my favourites were Bagan and Inle Lake. Bagan is a city next to a wide area of wild forests and grassland and everywhere you look you can see old temples that are half covered with plants. It’s truly wonderful. If you go to Myanmar make sure you visit Bagan.

The second region I really liked is Inle Lake; basically an enormous lake and with small villages around it. But what is special about these villages is the fact that they are built on stilts over the water. It was very interesting to see how the people lived like that.

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St. Moritz

St. Moritz is a skiing region in Switzerland and it’s one of the most famous ones (and also VERY expensive depending on where you are staying; it is quite affordable if you don’t stay right in St. Moritz but a bit further away and obviously don’t spend all your money in one of the numerous designer shops). But skiing there is just so amazing with the snow, the sun and the view on the mountains. If you want to go skiing in Switzerland go there! I go skiing every year with my family (since we live near some skiing regions) and I absolutely loved St. Moritz. If you don’t want many people on the slope just go really early in the morning. Even though it is freezing, to see the sun rise on a slope in St. Moritz is wonderful.

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Venice

Venice is definitely as beautiful as everyone says. The canals are really cool and walking over all the bridges is so fun! What you should definitely do when you are in Venice is climb the St Mark’s Campanile right at the Piazza San Marco. The view on the city is breathtaking.

Also you should get a multiple-day ticket for the boats. It enables you to go everywhere fast, which is obviously very convenient.

On our last day we decided to get up very early to see the sun rise. We took the boat to the very East of Venice and watched the gorgeous colour show. Also at 5 in the morning you get to see an empty Piazza San Marco which is very rare. When trying to find a good and cheap place to eat, make sure to get some distance between you and the Piazza San Marco/Rialto bridge. The closer you are to the most important tourist attractions, the pricier is your food. Also make sure to ask whether service and tax is included in the prices before you decide.
Don’t forget to visit the fruit and fish markets as they are amazing!

Although Venice is one of the most interesting and stunning cities I’ve ever seen, I would not recommend going there for longer than 4-7 days, because it is not very big and at some point you’ve just seen most of it.

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