Preparing for vacation - 12 days left

For every international trip I take, I like to call my phone provider and subscribe to the voice, text and data service with discounted rates for the specific country. ATT is usually pretty good with this, offering different plans for different countries and various international data plans. Also, they have a tutorial for all iPhone users to turn off all data roaming while in international soil – that’s very useful!

I try to avoid using my phone while on vacation, but it’s good to feel safe if something goes wrong. I also carry around a pre-paid Brazilian cell phone (that I have had for the past 15 years – amazing!)

What do you use while on International trips?

Preparing for vacation - 13 days left

Driving in Brazil! What an adventure!

This is the first time we will be renting a car in Brasil. And, since we will be doing a lot of driving in strange cities/states we are bringing the GPS along! I’ve heard many times that the maps for Brazil that Garmin sells are useless and my friends usually download maps from the internet. Since I’m not that tech savvy, I ended up downloading the Brazil map from Garmin and now we are praying for it to work. For safety, I have also printed from Google Maps many of the routes I know we will be driving on, but Maceió, for example, will be a mystery.

I wonder how I’ll rate the experience of renting a car in Brasil. The car rental prices are about three times a regular car rental in places like LA or NYC. Also, they demand a deposit from R$500 (American citizen) or R$1,200 (Brazilian national) for the car rental. We were reading the terms for Hertz in Brasil yesterday and we could not believe the amount of hidden fees – there is even a drop off fee of R$55.

So far, car rentals are the big splurge during our trip! The largest chunk of our budget will be left in the car rentals companies in São Paulo and Maceió! And that’s not fun!

Preparing for vacation - 14 days left

This is one of my favorites, a gorgeous striped dress from Warehouse. 

I was unable to find a dress I really, really like and fits in my budget. I made a selection of the best of the best I could find so far, but they are either way out of my budget or not something I really love. 

Here are the finalists:

Black and white or nudes are my favorite dress colors at the moment and I will probably end up using  a combination of nude and black. Love this Lipsy dress, so romantic. 

This Oasis dress is gorgeous in it's detailing!

Another Oasis dress in floral that would look amazing with a big flowery sash. 

This is a River Island Origami dress in nude, just amazing!

This Dolce & Gabbana dress is my favorite, it's classy and looks old, the way I like it, but way out of my budget.

I'm obsessed with everything from River Island and really love this dress, but I don't think it would be appropriate for this type of party!

Preparing for vacation – 15 days left

It's time to think about sunscreen. I have huge trouble using sunscreen: I feel oily all the time, it bothers me to the extreme. For the face, I've been using the Lancome Absolute Premium BX with SPF 15, bit I don't think that's going to be enough for the Brasil's sun and the beach. So, I'm taking this Borba Age Defying Super Creme SPF 100. It's the first time I'm trying it out and I'm hoping the açaí will make my skin shine! :)

Preparing for vacation – 16 days left

It’s time to put a very powerful travel necessaire together. This piece will be with me at all times and will be super helpful during this long journey!

1-     Towelettes, wet wipes and tissues: who wants to be feeling dirty or oily during the trip? The towelettes help clean the hands before and after meals (can I call airplane food “meals”?), cleaning the face, wiping the oil away and tissue is fundamental, always inside any girl’s purse. These are my favorites:

Refresh Organic Grapefruit Splash Mini Towelettes 20 wipes by Giovanni Cosmetics

Yes to Cucumbers Facial Towelettes – travel size: 10
 Fresh Cotton Wet Wipes Hand & Face by H&M

Boscia Peppermint Blotting Linens

2-     Toothpaste, toothbrush, mouthwash and dental floss: after so many hours inside a plane, it’s a courtesy to others sitting around you: please brush your teeth after the meals and after waking up. There is nothing worse than someone with a lion’s breath talking to you! I don’t like to carry my regular size tooth brush and I think that Colgate created the best solutions for travelers!

 Colgate Wisp – it comes in travel size packages and the tooth paste is already applied to the tiny tooth brushes.

Travel size Scope bottle: I love Scope, it’s my favorite mouth wash and I always carry the travel size bottles with me.
  Listerine Cool Mint Oral Care Mist – because you cannot keep going back and forth to the airplane bathroom all the time.


  Glide Crest Deep Clean – I always need to floss!
 Trident Bubble Gum

3-     Sleep Masks and Ear Plug: It’s necessary to have a bottle of Motrin PM, Sleep Masks and Ear Plugs if you want to get any sleep during a long flight. If the flight is during the day, it gets worse.

4-     Make up: Basic make up will help a lot when we are close to land. I carry around:

MAC Studio Fix and Lancome brush – this can fix anybody’s face.
  Bobbi Brown Blush – can be used as blush or as lipstick

 Maybelline SuperStay 24 Hours Lipstick – can survive any flight.

Avene Lip Cream – my favorite lip balm

 Lipsticks: I carry a normal size Elizabeth Arden Red Diamond and a travel size Benefit Lady’s Choice Lana

5-     Hidrate: Because of the altitude your skin can get really, really dry. Try to carry a hand lotion and a face lotion that are light and will help your skin feel delicious. I love:

Clinique Dramatically Different moisturizing lotion – this is my favorite body lotion, always very light and I carry one travel size in the necessaire

 Lancome Absolute Premium with SPF 15 – excellent face moisturizer with SPF 15

Bath and Body works body lotion – Orange Ginger – this is very good for the hands, arms and elbows.

Jurlique Rose Hand Cream – amazing rose smell and great hand cream

Genteal Eye Drops – after my surgery I have to use lots of eye drops. Even though I carry Refresh Optive Sensitive for Lazic dryness in my purse at all times, this Genteal is my back up!

Evian Thermal Water – it really hydrates your skin and give you that freshness feeling

6-     Perfume: Now we can carry any perfume anywehere with the roll-on verision of your favorite fragrances. I carry around:

 Marc Jacobs Daisy roll-on 

Pacifica Tuscan Blood Orange Perfume which are very appropriate for the day and not very strong.
 I also carry a Michael Kohrs, just in case…

 

7- Deodorant:

Clinique Deodorant Roll on

8- Others: it’s always good to have around a lint brush, cotton swabs, hair clips and elastic, extra socks...

Preparing for vacation – 17 days left

I have a couple of outfits laid out for our trip but still have not decided on key pieces such as the dress I’ll wear to my cousin’s birthday bash and the swimwear I’ll be taking to Maceió. But, the travel outfit is ready!

The most important when facing an 18h trip is how comfortable you dress while travelling. I refuse to wear heels, jeans, anything uncomfortable and have to say that Uggs are my favorite travelling shoes.

But, when flying to Brasil, there is no reason to wear Uggs, Brasil is really, really hot always! So, this time, I’ll try to look a little bit more put together (believe me, this is very basic, by a super effort to stay away from the Uggs/lounge look):

1-     Cotton leggings by Zara – It’s very, very hard to find quality cotton pieces in the US. This legging by Zara is amazing! Great quality cotton and super comfortable pants.

2-     Black stockings by George – I always use stockings underneath my pants for most of the year, except for summer. Since it will be cold in the plane, layering is a good option! Once we arrive in hot, hot Brasil, I can take the stocking off.

3-      Long undershirt by H&M – One of the very few places that offer quality cotton. It’s my option in case it’s really hot in Brasil, I have a long top I can show off!

4-     Long Sleeves cotton t-shirt by H&M – I like the white and back and grey color blocking.

5-     Striped long sleeves sweater by Yessica – C&A – There is no C&A in the US, this is a swiss brand that I love and it’s very popular in Brasil!

6-     Long black sweater by Max Azria – This sweater will keep me warm during the flight, and I can wrap the long ends around my shoulder if I get really cold.

7-     Dolce Vita for Target boots – my favorite boots currently – and they are on a great discount!

8-     Michael Khors purse – I got this one at a sale in a TJ Maxx in Atlanta (I think…) and I love it! It’s not too big and can carry everything I need!

There will be a lot of layers and I still need to add a jacket to this ensemble, since it’s going to still be chilly in Denver and I’m sure I’ll be freezing during the flight! The benefit of it is that after we land in São Paulo, I can pack a big part of this outfit and feel comfortable the whole day!

Preparing for vacation – 18 days left

One of the most important things for a very long air trip is the organization of your necessarie and hand-luggage. Organization is the key to a calm and peaceful long trip. So, I have put together a guide to the best necessaries (coming up!) and hand luggage pieces and how to organize them – to help all of us land in our destination looking good and with everything in place!

1-      Luggage:

If you travel a lot – in our case, we travel at least every other month, be it for leisure or work – it’s not worth it to invest in designer luggage. Within a couple of trips, your bag will be destroyed, dirty, with the wheels broken, a total disaster and you will really regret the investment.

My alternative is to buy a very good, strong luggage in stores like Marshalls, TJ Maxx or Nordstrom Rack. I found my current DVF luggage set in a local TJ Maxx in NJ and I could not believe it: $40 for a DVF leather luggage! Amazing!

My boyfriend invested in a Swiss Army luggage that broke after a few trips. The wheels are destroyed – he blames me and the amount of stuff I carry around – and even though it’s an amazing piece of luggage, unless we change the wheels it’s useless now. We need to pick something new for him before we leave.



The DVF luggage I got at TJ Maxx



2-      Identification tags:

Victoria Secrets' sells very nice (and girlie) identification tags. This is something you will probably use for a very long time and worth the investment, specially if you research the statistics on how many luggage pieces the airlines loose per flight on average. It’s always important to have all your information along with your precious bags. In my case I use my personal information and a business card, just in case...

Victoria Secrets' Luggage Tags

3-      Document’s organization and wallet:

I got a special wallet, with zipper, long and spacious, so I can fit my passport, boarding pass and all my Brazilian documents. Usually, I bring two wallets, dividing the money and the cards between the two of them, just in case I loose one, I still have some back up in the other.

Some people also prefer the leather passport covers; they are charming and very useful. Also, don’t forget to bring all your fidelity/loyalty numbers to use with shuttles, hotels, airlines and car rentals. You might as well make the best out of your trip!

I use a Coach Zipper Wallet in black for the passport and boarding pass.

And a Coach Leather Wristlet as my back-up/everyday wallet.

4-      Notebook and itinerary:

I always like to bring a very cute notebook and my printed itinerary ( I spend months working on our itineraries, which includes all information possible: from flight information to hotel address, from shuttle pick up times and receipt to all the restaurants I want to try, from every single interesting store in town to cultural attractions and museums.

For cuteness, I recommend the Oh Joy notebooks for Target. They are designed by Joy from Oh Joy! Blogs and are absolutely cute!

5-      Extra clothing change:

This is really about me been very neurotic? Maybe! I always bring a change of clothes in case my luggage gets lost. Once it happens to you, it’s not that much fun. It’s like to have, at least, an underwear change with me, before I have to head into town to by new clothes because everything is lost.

6-      Diet:

It’s very important to pay attention on your diet at least during the day of the trip, avoid anything fried or soda. Because of the pressurization of the airplane, you tend to get bloated and who wants to feel gassy and uncomfortable during a long flight?


Here are some tips on how to pack your luggage efficiently by Learn Vest!

Preparing for vacation - 19 days left

We are absolutely terrified with the amount of hours our trip from Denver to Brasil will take: 18 hours. One of the biggest negative points of living in Denver is that, being in the absolute west does not help anyone with any travel (unless you are going to California, Hawaii or Japan). 

In our case, any trips to Europe or Brasil just increased an incredible amount of travel time. In order to go to Brasil, our best option is to travel to Houston and then follow to São Paulo. There are no direct flights to most places. But, going to Houston is not an option, when you are flying using your miles. Since the airlines insist that the best use for your loyalty is to send you the worst and longest way possible to your destination (oh, the price of loyalty...) hour total flying time is 18 hours. 

My boyfriend will leave early in the morning and fly to Washington, D.C. and wait for me there. I'm going to work and in the end of the afternoon I'll fly to Dulles and meet him. I have less than 40 minutes layover and than we will follow to São Paulo. Another 9 - 10 hours inside the plane. 

So, besides bringing our laptops with hours of TV and movies previously downloaded into them, we both chose a new book and want to read and are bringing it along. 

His choice was The Social Animal from David Brooks. I could not read a serious book in such a long trip. I'll be cranky and bored, so I chose Tina Fey's Bossypants and Chelsea Handler's Are You There Vodka? It's me, Chelsea - I'll probably be drinking vodka to make things easier, so I thought this was very appropriate. :)

And, if you think this sounds like an nightmare, it gets worse: on our way back home, we will fly São Paulo --> Houston --> Colorado Springs (where my boyfriend has a 3 hour layover) --> Denver. 

Tomou? :)

Preparing for vacation - 20 days left

I had to stop by Target to pick up a new set of Space Bags in order to be able to pack and fit everything we are bringing to Brasil in four gigantic luggage sets and two carry-ons. I don't know how my mother ended up with all my Space Bags and I have nothing left at home. 

But, the truth is, Space Bags can help a lot. Specially in our case: I'm re-decorating by bedroom in Brasil (pictures coming soon) and I'm bringing a lot of pillows and comforters - material that does not weight anything, but it takes a lot of luggage space and in this case, and the Space Bags are super useful. 

Now I need to start organizing my luggage! 

Preparing for vacation – 21 days left

Today, my boyfriend took my old 13" Mac Book to the Denver Mac Repair store. The battery was totally gone and I could not turn the computer on, unless plugged to an outlet. So, we changed the battery to a brand new one and everything seems to work perfectly.

The reason I’m bringing my old Mac Book is:

1-     It’s a 13inch laptop, much easier to carry than the gigantic 17" widescreen I will leave at home.

2-     I like to assume that, if while in Brasil, somebody decides to steal my laptop, at least this is the old one.

So, now, I only need to back everything up and download loads of movies. I hate the long flight and I’ll be watching a lot of stuff.

I'm thinking I'm going to download the 5th season of Friday Night Lights!

Any recommendations?