Category: Travel

Travel, Travel Products, Wish Lists and Gift Ideas

2019 Holiday Gift Guide: The Best Travel Gifts for Everyone on Your List

Alyssa holding a green gift bag in her left hand. The bag has trees icons on it, and she is wearing a gold ring in the shape of a bow

It’s that time again! (well, perhaps it’s past time, but who’s checking, really?) This year instead of sharing a different gift guide each day, I wanted to share them all at once: a selection of travel gifts for everyone on your list. Though I’ll always advocate for taking a trip over giving tangible items, I …

Travel, Travel Products

The Best Cyber Weekend Deals of 2019: Travel Edition

Photo of an Andy Warhol painting with an orange background and dollar symbols

Have you heard? It’s Black Friday today (just in case you haven’t been bombarded with advertisements for the past week or two). Today I’m sharing a curated roundup of travel deals and travel-friendly items on sale this weekend from retailers all over the web. When possible, I try to link to products that are responsibly …

Destinations, Spain, Travel

A Relaxed Approach to Visiting Barcelona, Spain

Alyssa stands on a balcony in Park Guell

It’s true that overtourism has taken hold of Barcelona. When you combine a dense, walkable city with a multitude of sights and rich culture, there can be no other result. Even during my visit in October, which is shoulder season, the crowds in parts of the city were unbearable. But sometimes you simply have to …

Destinations, Spain, Travel

72 Hours in Madrid, Spain

Alyssa standing in front of the Metropolitan building in Madrid

When I shared with friends and family that Michael and I were traveling to Spain, many people excitedly asked, “Oh, are you going to Barcelona?!” Not a single person asked if we were going to Madrid. That seems absurd, doesn’t it? It is the capital of the country after all, and that should count for …

Travel, Travel Tips

Why You Should Never Use PayPal When Paying for Travel Expenses

Upside-down piggy bank with "x" over its eyes

Though I once sang their praises for their return shipping refund (which ended in November 2022), I learned the hard way not to use the PayPal platform for any foreign transactions. You see, last month Michael and I booked several Airbnbs for our trip to Spain and Italy, and to avoid Airbnb’s conversion fees, I …

Destinations, Home Try On + In-Depth Style Reviews, North Carolina, Packing Lists, Style, Travel, Travel Products, USA

My Flight Got Canceled and All I Had To Wear Was This Dress

Alyssa standing in front of a graffiti wall in a blue dress with a white tee underneath

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen that my three-day weekend getaway unexpectedly turned into a six-day stay in Raleigh thanks to Hurricane Dorian. Due to the unfortunate combination of non-existent federal regulations requiring airlines to support passengers in the event of a cancelation and my decision to fly a budget airline, …

Destinations, North Carolina, Travel, USA

Touring the Triangle: A Long-Weekend Travel Guide for Raleigh and Durham, North Carolina

NC Capitol Building

I nearly titled this post “Troubles in the Triangle,” because it was a rollercoaster of a trip. Not because anything really went wrong in the cities themselves—they’re great!—but because our flights home kept getting canceled, doubling our trip length. But despite moments of panic at the thought of incurring unexpected expenses and trying to handle …

Home Try On + In-Depth Style Reviews, Style, Travel, Travel Products, Travel Tips

A Review of the Invisible Tank, Cheeky Thong, and SilverTech Tee from Organic Basics

Alyssa standing in front of a small mirror. You can see just part of her side, including her tee and undies (shh!)

A heads-up! Today’s post is in collaboration with Organic Basics and contains gifted product and affiliate links—but as always, all opinions are my own. Keep reading ’til the end for a special discount for wayward readers! The key to a successful outfit lies in its foundation—as does the key to a successful packing list. Whether …

Travel, Travel Tips

Fair and Square: How to Split Travel Costs When One Person Makes More Money

Two piggy banks. The small one is in the foreground and it just has a few dollars in the hole. The large piggy bank in the back has a lot of money in and around it.

Let’s dive into a taboo topic today: money. And not only reading about money, or spending money—today we’ll be talking about money in a way that we hate: talking about it with other people. I briefly mentioned this topic in a previous post [see more here: 20 questions you should ask a potential travel partner …