I’m not entirely sure what inspired Matt and me to go to Ireland: the pictures we’ve seen, the extremely cheap Ryanair flights in the winter, or the fact that it was the filming location of the series “Vikings”. Probably all of the above.

Matt and I went to Rome to celebrate the 5 year anniversary of our relationship. We didn’t actually plan on going there (our first idea was to go back to Iceland in the winter to see the northern lights, but that turned out to be too complicated for just a weekend), but we used the new feature of Google Flights where you can choose the time period and the maximum price you’re willing to pay and they show you all destinations that correspond to your search. And so we found Rome and managed to book our flight and a really nice hotel for a ridiculously cheap price.

I saw people post pictures of Iceland on Instagram and I instantly knew that I had to see those landscapes with my own eyes.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

This will be my personal space to document my travels and other good things in life. 

And who knows, maybe someone will might actually read one of my posts and enjoy it.