6/16/2011

the essentials : Jenni from Story of My Life


I was tipped off to Jenni's blog by a friend and it has now become one of my daily reads. Story of My Life is just that, stories from her life and Jenni sure knows how to write and tell a good story, all while keeping you entertained. Please leave her some love and go visit her blog!

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Well hello, olive & a'ers!  My name is Jenni and I'm here to talk to you about stuff you must travel with at ALL times.  But first, here's a few pictures of me in some far away lands, to prove my advice is legit:
 Chile
 Argentina
Peru--Machu Picchu!
I've visited some other groovy places besides just South America, but the trip pictured above was me and my husband's latest adventure!
So, Heather asked me to list my 3 travel must-haves, and list them I shall.

TRAVEL ESSENTIALS, in no particular order:

1) hand sanitizer/sanitizing wipes
I can't stress the importance of this one enough!  Airports, airplanes, and foreign contries in general are a petri dish of strange and foul germs we're unaccustomed to, and whenever my husband and I travel, we hand sanitize like it's our job.  We even wipe down the arm rests and tray tables at our seats in the airplane. 
Yep, there is some intense germophobia going on there, but for good reason.  Traveling is an icky, germy thing!

2) Realistic expectations.
Oftentimes, as we anticipate a vacation, we place that trip on a pedastal of high expectations.  We expect perfect relaxation, impeccabale service, and an overall breezy, carefree experience.  After all, it's VACATION!
Not so, my friends, not so.  Vacations are often wrought with stress, angry bickering between spouses ("I thought YOU brought the passports!" "No, you said YOU WOULD!"), and sometimes, unexpected little bumps in the road, like blood on the hotel bed or a massive flood in the bathroom.  (That actually happened to us, y'all, and it wasn't at the local Best Western, either. Read about it here.)
All I'm sayin' is, expect the best, but don't be too shocked or disappointed if your vacation isn't always a smooth ride.  It's all part of the adventure.

3) Earplugs.
Such lifesavers these little suckers turn out to be.  Trust me on this one. 
You will want them.  You will need them.  You will thank me later, when you're sitting just behind the screaming three year old on the airplane, when you want to sleep but the blasted seatbelt sign keeps gonging on and off, or when the 5 star hotel turns out to ALSO have paper thin walls or a front row seat to a busy, noisy street in Manhattan.
In fact, just go ahead and buy those Bose noise cancelling headphones.  And then let me borrow them on my next trip, K?

That's all for now, folks.  Come visit me at Story of My Life annnytime!
Thanks for reading! :)

18 comments:

Unknown said...

Jenni, you always have great words of advice!

We have a container of 100 earplugs left over from Ryan's board studies. I should have enough for the whole plane next time I fly.

Jenni@Story of My Life said...

Thanks for asking me to guest post, Heather!! :) I'll link to this on my blog sometime in the next few days!

Lindsay @ Delighted Momma said...

Oh I so want to travel!! Great tips and I am a hand sanitizing freak so of course I like that you included that one!

www.StarHughes.com said...

You're gorgeous!!! What an amazing picture of you and your husband! I totally agree about the earplugs and hand sanitizer - I never travel without them!
Star Hughes Living

Tang said...

I think I'll need to get some earplugs for just in case! Great pointers.

Jenna Lee said...

Ear plugs are essential for all times of life. I always carry a pair with me. Concerts, flying, shooting and pretty much anything louder than average.

Hollie Ann said...

I just got back from a short vacation and I'm terribly sick from germs on the plane. Sanitizer is SO so important! I just bought a small sized one for my purse.

Crunchy Diva said...

those are great tips! the sanitizer very important!

Nikki said...

Earplugs are a great idea. I think I'll get some for my Husband for our next trip so he's not such a grouch ;)

Now how about that fantastic vacation hair you have there?

Tash said...

You've travelled to some beautiful places!! Did you get to Uruguay at all? (my country)
Great tips, I used my ear plugs on my recent trip to Mexico and goodness was I thankful for them on our overnight plane ride home :)
Love your blog, glad to have found you!

{ T G L } said...

The hand sanitizer I can do without and the earplugs... oh whatever :) But I think #2 is absolutely crucial. We get so wrapped up in our own expectations that we forget the fun in traveling. We plan ahead too rigorously and expect peak experiences along the way. Not gonna happen. For me, the fun in traveling is just being open to the new and the unexpected. Come what may, I have off from work and great company (the hubby) and that's enough :)

Travel well!
This Good Life

Ashley said...

I found your blog through Jenni's blog! I always love finding fun new blogs to read. (:

The hand sanitizer tip is definitely a good one. I always take disinfecting wipes to use on airplane trays and armrests... sometimes being a germophobe is an alright thing!

Gentri said...

Awesome tips. I am a germaphobe too and when I flew the other day I was dying sitting in that gross seat. :P If only this had come up a few days earlier. haha!

Unknown said...

great tips jenni!

when i first got to swiss i used some hand sani in front of some new swiss friends... they thought i was nuts. So its hard to find around here. But my mom ships me some (: thankfully!

Sara B said...

I MUST travel with earplugs at all times! Such a huge one! Good tips!

Emily said...

#2!! Oh my gosh, #2 is so so true. High expectations that get crushed and the bickering!

I highly need to follow 1 and 3. I failed on both and got very sick and really could have used some sound blockers!

Lauren and Tom said...

I love to travel and I completely agree with # 1 and 2. Stuff happens and you just have to go with it!! I'll have to try # 3 on my next trip :)

Danielle said...

I completely agree with 1 and 2! I've been in South America for a month (I go home tomorrow!!) and hand sanitizer has SAVED my life. Also, nothing turned out how I thought it would! I wouldn't change a thing though because it's been quite the adventure! Great post Miss Jenni!

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