Travel is WILD
Some things to make your travel less stressful
Hey there
Welcome to August.
I’m currently chasing Autumn in my Instagram feed evoking images of chilly mornings, crisp days, fog, quiet empty beaches, and changing colors.
In reality, it is still summer and HIGH travel season. I keep seeing folks having all kinds of travel calamities in between jumping in the ocean or snoozing in a hammock while eating oysters and sipping crisp white wine… the two sides of a coin of summer travels, right?
I thought today I would share some of my discoveries for making travel a bit easier in the hopes to help you if you need it.
I have links to a few of the AMAZING folks I turn to on social media for all of their inspiring and actionable intel for their areas. This list isn’t exhaustive by any means but I will be hitting the highlights for popular destinations of summer [Italy! Paris!] and early autumn. These are the folks I turn to over and over and I’m always learning and bookmarking something new for my future travels. If you have trips planned for their areas, I highly recommend following them.
First, though I am going to link to a couple of posts I wrote about my personal travel saviors, including:
AirTags! AirTags are one of my favorite tech things to help ease my mind during travel. I wrote about a personal experience that really saved the day here and I think you will enjoy it. Get your AirTags for your luggage. Lifesavers.
Pay-to-play-lounges. I wrote all about how learning about, and utilizing pay-to-play lounges changed my long-haul travels during an 11-hour layover in Turkey on my way to South Africa. Now, for anything over a 3-hour layover, I definitely pay for a great lounge experience. I had one recently in Germany and it was some of the best $50 I’ve ever spent.
TSA-PreCheck - I have no idea WHY I am just getting around to getting this in 2023 but here I am. TSA PreCheck certification is so easy and affordable. $78 for FIVE YEARS. No stripping. No unpacking. Dreamy. I can’t wait to use it for the first time in a couple of weeks.
Airbnb Experiences - I’m going to be doing more writing and deep dives on Airbnb Experiences as I find so many people either don’t know about them or they know about them but haven’t explored them. This is WILD. I have had some of my very favorite experiences in my life through this service.
Truffle-hunting outside of Florence and then cooking together at the host's home in the Tuscan hills.
Wandering through the empty, spooky streets and alleys of Venice with a Historian telling (true) ghost stories. Seriously terrifying. The best.
A 2-hour walking food tour in Bologna where each stop is better (and more delicious) than the last of places that I never would have known about otherwise.
Going to hidden beaches, epic viewpoints, and spotting rare antelope with a marine biologist in South Africa.
River boat rides, wine and port tasting, and delicious lunches at tiny family restaurants in the Duoro Valley, Portugal.
These are ALL Airbnb Experiences that I have done and loved just to name a few.
I really recommend taking some time on the app to explore the experiences offered at your destination. I have not been disappointed in ANY of my experiences and they are intimate and unique as opposed to mass-tourist-type experiences. If you are interested but don’t know where to begin, message me and I will help you!
PEEPS TO FOLLOW for inspiration and planning your trips. These folks are awesome.
Italy:
Gillian Longworth - I just wrote about Rome and linked to Gillian who also provided a Hot Italian Summer Tip for visiting during the high season for my readers. Find her @gillianknowsbest on Instagram and subscribe to her substack for all the best intel - Rome & Venice (and beaches)
Elizabeth Minchilli - was my first Italian follow on Insta many years ago and absolutely adore. @eminchilli on Instagram and subscribe to her substack for amazing recipes (she has written many cookbooks), intel on Rome, Umbria, and all of Italy really, and for the intimate tours she leads around Italy with her daughter Sophie.
Sophie Minchilli - Elizabeth’s daughter who is your go-to for all things in Puglia but is a wealth of information on all of Italy. She leads food tours in Rome and co-hosts the multi-day, multi-city intimate tours with her mother, Elizabeth. @sminchilli on Instagram
Emiko Davies - food writer, cookbook author, enoteca owner in Tuscany. I love everything Emiko puts out. She is a gem of knowledge. I hope to finally do one of her cooking classes in Tuscany this year! Follow her at @emikodavies on Instagram and subscribe to her substack.
Olivia - Livguine - tour guide and wine enthusiast, Olivia is my go-to for the Piedmont (which I will be exploring this year, stay tuned!) region in Italy. She leads multi-day, multi-location food and wine-focused tours several times per year. Follow her @livguine on Instagram and subscribe to her travel website here.
Katie Parla - Katie has shows, books, tours, and more. She is fantastic! I always bookmark recommendations from her while in Italy. Follow her @katieparla on Instagram
Paris: [and much more]
Paris Is My Kitchen - Wendy Lyn - is the BEST. Not just for Paris but Paris really is her kitchen and she knows everyone. She started posting kind of PSA’s for summer travel to Paris to let everyone know about how many places CLOSE in August for summer breaks. How wonderful is that? Imagine researching places to dine but not knowing that they closed for most of the month? Wendy also has highlight reels on her instagram for several major cities on the best places to eat and drink. I used her intel on Copenhagen while staying there for a month last year and I would not have known about many of these places without her. Follow her @parisismykitchen on Instagram. Don’t forget to check out her Highlights!
Everywhere: this person is a travel queen to me
Yolanda Edwards - Yolo Journal
I feverishly watch all of Yolanda’s instagram posts to make notes of places I may someday visit, didn’t know I wanted to visit, plan on visiting, and more. Her instagram is awesome but her substack takes it to another level. More of a digital magazine than newsletter, Yolo Intel has tens of thousands of subscribers. Follow her @yolandaedwards on Instagram. @yolojournal for her print magazine.
I will be creating this kind of content more in the future. I find that people are messaging more and more frequently about travel intel and I absolutely LOVE to share everything that I find that is wonderful and helpful.
Let me know what you need and if I don’t have the exact answer I am positive that I know someone who does.
Thanks for reading. I really appreciate everyone who is reading and sharing this substack.
Sharing it with friends really helps me spread the word and get found so THANK YOU from my heart.
Travel safe. And let’s be excellent to each other.
I love my airtags! It made my US trip last month much less stressful