On the road in Canada: from Toronto to Montreal

Sunday, 26 March 2017

The main reason I HAD to go to Canada was my roommate in university: she was Canadian and made it seem like the most beautiful country in the world. Who wouldn’t want to visit a place where everyone is super nice, that has moose and cider and Caesars and national parks and loads of nature and lakes and where tons of people drive a pick-up truck? (Have I mentioned that I just love pick-up trucks?)

I really did, and so after leaving New York, my boyfriend Matt and I took a plane to Toronto.

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Falling in love with New York

Sunday, 19 March 2017

When Matt and I decided to go to New York, it was actually the first time that I left Europe so it was super exciting!

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5 ways to never make packing mistakes

Sunday, 12 March 2017

Preparing for a trip somehow always stresses me out a bit. You have to do lots of things like booking flights and hotels, renting cars, mapping out where you are going to go and when (well, actually you should probably do this one first), and of course packing. And because packing can be somewhat of a challenge, I thought I would share some of the things that I have learnt in the past.

Checking the weather at your destination, and taking into account your activities

This is quite obvious, but I often made the mistake of checking the average weather for a certain month on Google and relying too much on that. For example, I once went to New York in September and I read that it’s usually around 22°C there that time of year. I got all ready to bring loads of jeans and jackets. Thankfully, a friend told me that it was actually going to be around 31°C while I was there!

Also, I had to learn the hard way that 15°C is quite warm when you stay inside most of the time, but you will still get really cold if you spend your whole day outside.

Making a (reusable) list

I am the kind of person who makes lists for everything in life: shopping lists, to do lists, pro and con lists, and obviously packing lists. I really admire people who can pack last minute and be fine (like by boyfriend, he’s a pro in that field!) but I’m always scared to forget something and writing it down on a list just gives me the insurance that I won’t.

Between getaways and going home to Germany as often as I can, I travel quite a lot, so making a list every single time would quite time consuming. I keep around one extensive list, photocopy it a couple of times and reuse it on different occasions. I just cross out things that I don’t need on that particular trip.

Packing light for short trips

This might be the hardest one for me personally. But let’s face it, if you’re travelling for less than a week, a carry-on is usually more than enough. Just pack travel size toiletries and wear your biggest/heaviest clothing and shoes on the plane, and you shouldn’t need a big suitcase – otherwise you’re probably over-packing.
The good thing is: you save SO much time if you only have a carry-on! Just make sure you’re one of the first people to board the plane, otherwise they might check it in anyway. At least in Europe - for instance, Transavia and Ryanair tend to do that a lot.

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