Hi! I’m Annie Georgia Greenberg,
Fashion Editor at Large and Video Producer
at Refinery29.
Recently I had the opportunity to travel for six weeks.
First I went to Nepal.
It was awesome.
Then I flew to Bangkok.
I spent a few days there alone.
Then I met up with my boo in Myanmar.
Finally went back to Thailand.
It was magical.
I’m about to get into my top 10 travel tips.
Carry a light scarf.
These are supremely helpful.
Not only are they cozy on a plane,
but they help with a chilly night.
Or if you’re wearing a tank top or a
sleeveless shirt and you’re going to sightsee
somewhere you need to have your shoulders covered,
which is the case in a lot of temples.
You can keep your shoulders covered with a scarf.
Or you can wrap the scarf around like a sarong.
These truly are a traveling one-piece wonder.
If you’re on a long flight,
you’re going to want to catch some Z’s on the plane.
I’m telling you about the Trtl.
You wrap this fleece thing around your neck
and it’s lights out.
And no, Trtl’s not paying me to say this.
Although I wish they would.
That’s T-R-T-L pillow.
Journaling.
A lot of people say you should do it
while you’re on vacation.
But the idea of journaling is daunting.
This is my tip: hyper journal.
It’s kind of like bullet noting your day.
Thai phrases from the girl that I sat next to on the plane.
The Buddhist flag and all of the elements
that it represents that were our guide on
our hike.
Drew little things in a little notebook
that anybody can do to remember their trip by.
I disagree.
The next travel tip is to travel with someone
you can fight with.
It’s important because if you’re going to
go on a trip with someone, no matter the
length of time, chances are you’re not going
to agree on absolutely everything.
So it’s important that you can both speak your mind,
feel comfortable doing so,
and move on and have a good time already.
This tip is all about diversifying your accommodations.
Moving from roughing it
and then moving up to a luxury hotel is the way to go,
but I was hiking in the Himalayas.
We stayed in these teahouses and often times
they didn’t have electricity, running water,
or sometimes even bathrooms.
But then also in Nepal,
we were able to stay in places like the
Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge,
which is an eco-friendly lodge.
You can really see that ethos
in everything that they do.
Personally, in our rooms, we didn’t have heat.
We would come back to our room and
there would be a hot water bottle in bed waiting for us.
And it was kind of adorable.
I can’t recommend enough staying at
137 Pillars, which is where I stayed in Bangkok.
It’s a brand new hotel that looks so cool.
I can’t always afford to stay in luxury places,
but maybe you can give yourself one
night, two nights to splurge.
Trust me, it’s worth it.
Get out into nature.
Honestly, it’s one of the best travel tips
I can give you because nature is energizing
and serene so it gives you that vacation vibe instantly.
I know you want to Instagram your brunch,
but a little activity goes a long way and
it’s so soul-fulfilling.
Anyways…
the next tip is to talk to people.
While you should definitely stick with
your gut instinct and not talk to people who might
scare you, it’s good to be a little open
while you’re traveling.
When I was traveling,
I made friends with a man well into his 70s
that knew more about
the area that I was staying in
than anybody else would.
It’s nice to make a friend or two
even just for a brief time.
Travel alone.
Honestly, it’s a great way to get to know
a place and yourself at the same dang time.
And bonus is that you don’t have anybody
to answer to.
If you said that you were going to see a monument
but you don’t really want to go see the monument,
you don’t have to.
Plus, you get so much more bedspace.
Shopping for souvenirs is a must
but it can be a little overwhelming.
My tip is to remove the item from its group
and think about it on its own.
Because everything can look a little cheap
and kitschy when there’s tons of them.
Take for example: this paper mache tiger head.
I was in Mexico.
I didn’t really have a place to put it.
But I came back and in the context of my things,
it reframed it.
And I think it adds a nice dimension to my abode.
Vacation starts the moment you step out the door.
That means you should be on vacation
on your way to the vacation.
Travel things are going to happen.
You’re going to get stuck in traffic,
your flight’s going to be delayed,
maybe you’ll miss a connection.
In my case on my to Nepal,
I actually had to land in India
because of a lightning storm.
But if you have the mentality that
the journey is part of the fun, I promise you you’ll
start relaxing and having fun sooner.
Bon voyage, baby!
Those are my tips.
Thanks for watching.
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See ya next time.