Tuesday, February 22, 2011

My Favorite Travel Tools


Hello from North East, Maryland!

This week we have an event at the University of Delaware & are staying about 20 miles away in Maryland, fun stuff. This is a small town off of the Chesapeake Bay...the downtown kind of reminds me of South Haven, but then about 10 miles away is more like Portage (for all of you that know my hometown area).

After leaving Delaware/Maryland I'm heading to Indianapolis for a couple Indiana Pacers games & then the Big Ten Basketball Tournament! :) It'll be nice to be closer to home, no doubt I'll run into some Michiganders there!! We'll be in Indy for about three weeks which will also be kind of nice, I'll be able to "settle" in a little at the hotel. Life on the go can be fun, but it's also a bit of a challenge as you can imagine.

This brings me to the topic of my blog, "My Favorite Travel Tools!" I've chosen a few things that make life on the road a little easier & keep me more sane if you will. Here they are in no particular order:

1. GPS: Okay, for reals. I don't think this job would be possible without one! I'm not too young to remember the progression of navigation...in fact, until last year I had never used a GPS before! Most of our vacations as kids involved my dad driving & my mom in the passenger side seat with the Atlas which is how we got from point A to point B & all the stops in between. Then there was MapQuest & we printed out directions & went from there. But with this job...and I cannot even imagine having an Atlas or even following directions from paper. In saying that, I hope our GPS doesn't freak out anytime soon...leaving us to have to use an Atlas or printed directions!

2. Emergen-C: I use Emergen-C once a day to help boost my immune system & keep from getting sick! So far so good, but I love it because sure, you could drink orange juice which is a bit more tasty...but you're also drinking a lot of unnecessary sugar in OJ as well. This way, I get my Vitamin C fix without all the extra calories (and in my case, wasted Points+!)

3. Packing Cubes: Some of you that know me on a personal level will laugh when I say I LOVE ORGANIZATION, because you've probably seen my room in a previous state & think otherwise. However, being on the road can be very annoying without being organized! So, this is where my "packing cubes" come in!! The ones I use are from Target made by Embark & they are the large packing cube which according to the packaging, "organize and protect garments inside luggage" and are 9 3/4 in L x 13 3/4 in W x 3 in H. I started the tour off with one of these for my bras, undies & socks and quickly realized I needed another for my tanks and t's. NOW I've purchased two more recently that will be designated as my "work shirts" and "leisure shirts" leaving only my jeans, other pants, shorts & sweatshirts "loose" in my suitcase. I like knowing I can grab my "cube" & know what is in it...much like a drawer in a dresser at home!

4. Velcro Straps: These are an item I found at Lowe's & I'm fairly obsessed with them now. Because we have a lot of technology...it requires a lot of plugs & cords which get tangled & all out of whack. BUT wih the help of velcro straps I've made my life a little bit more easy!! These are the "VELCRO Black Universal One-Wrap straps" from Lowes & they come in a roll that you tear off & use to wrap cords together for easy organization & use. I not only have started using these on the event site, but also with my personal cords I need to keep straight! LOVE them!

5. Purex 3-in-1 Laundry Sheets: Now, I don't necessarily recommend these for every day use because they tend to possibly leave "oil" spots on clothes (I've only noticed it on one piece & not entirely sure if it was from these) but as far as traveling goes, they are amazing. You basically put the sheet in with your clothes in the washer & it acts as the detergent & then there is a strip at the end of the sheet with fabric softener on it for when you put it in the dryer! It's pretty amazing! And I got it at Target, I believe there are 38 sheets for like $8...and it should last me almost the entire tour!

I have a few other things that have been useful along the way as well...but for those of you who just want to hear about the COOL things I get to do & not the dirty "behind the scenes" I'll spare you all! ;) For now I'm off to pick up my To-Go order from Woody's Crab House...you know I got myself a crab cake, you can't pass them up here. AND they aren't terrible for you if you ask for them to be prepared in a way that doesn't involve a ton of butter! So until next time. MUAH!

No comments:

Post a Comment