You never really realize how boring your life is until someone asks what you do for fun. Basically, my idea of fun is when someone else makes my bed. The end.
Crisp White Bed Sheets + Hotel bed = See you never.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve thought about running away way more often as an adult, than I ever did as a kid.
My advice: Just book a ticket and just leave.
Adventuring to different places somehow makes your big ass problems seem way freaking smaller.
Michaels cancer is my ticket to crazy-ville at times.
Hello VAYCAY.
m i c h a e l u p d a t e
For a guy with leptomeningeal metastasis (saying that word is like singing koombaya with a mouth full of marbles while doing trust falls off the edge of a cliff) his feet are above the daisies, so therefore life is GOOD! Michael takes three oral chemo tablets every day and does have symptoms of disease progression. Buy hey. Daisies, man. Daisies. He has numbness in his feet, chin, teeth and mouth. His body involuntarily moves in jerk-like movements throughout the night when he’s sleeping. Do you ever jerk/bolt just as you are falling asleep? THAT.
It’s like sleeping beside a lightening bolt.
So. We run away sometimes. We re-think our feelings about life and re-feel our thinkings. Or something like that.
Traveling is our way of swinging at cancer like a southern church lady swings her purse, wearing her Sunday best.
We like to call our vaycays #BucketListFucketList trips
Michael and I actually went away for 5 weeks. Erhmergerd, right?! You can see it here on my instagram (and dudette, follow me on insta… because I keep shit realer than a documentary.)
Truth is, the vaycay was kickass and scary all at once. There were times when I wrote to the oncologist because Michaels symptoms became worrisome. I was afraid we’d have to put a halt to the vaycay and come home. There were FEARS. Real cancer fears. Fancy meeting you here, old friend. NOT. Cancer is like a hangover… you just can’t escape it sometimes.
ohhh no
I bet you thought my lack of posting was because I was sitting around eating bonbons. Well, you’re kinda right. I have nothing against bonbons. I do have something against the cost of vacations.
h o l y b a t m a n
I discovered that I have champagne taste and soda pop pocketbook.
I swear, I’m a week away from being a greeter.
The good news is, we learned a few juicy things along the way. Like where to find the best tacos and helloooooo……your suitcase is LIFE when you are on the road.
{ what we put in our travel suitcase }
Brace yo’ self. This is going to be juicy.
I feel like people who look presentable on a plane and can keep their luggage under 50 pounds, really have their lives together. I‘m not one of those people. Judge me.
1.
BOTTLE OPENER. There’s a reason why sober and bored sound exactly the same.
2.
Packing cubes. I discovered travel cubes this year and beeeteeeedoubleU, AMAZE. You can put your pants in one, tees in another, knickers in another, shoes in another, just everything. We bought these black packing cubes for Michael and these pink ones for me. They even make dirty laundry look good. Like that can happen. It totally happened.
3.
Night light. I love carrying a night light so I won’t face plant the hotel bathroom wall in the middle of the night. Plus, the boogie man. I usually buy inexpensive ones because I’m a dork and always often forget them in the hotel room.
4.
Travel candles. Okay, they are probably illegal, and I’ll likely set off a hotel sprinkler some day, but candles are my happy place. Don’t forget the lighter. I never forget it. I always forget it.
5.
Essential oil. Here’s my fave DIY homemade spray. I take it with me wherever I go. It’s triple duty stuff. I spray the pillows, the room, my body, my hair, the corners of the universe. One bottle. 4398574539087 uses.
6.
We also travel with my DIY essential oil toilet spray, because ewwwwwh. Small hotel room + smelly bathroom = me no likey. Your nostrils and life will thank me later.
7.
Face cream. Why is it that traveling makes your face feel like it’s 32984797 years old and a shrivelled prune?! This face cream will hide the fact that you look like you hadn’t slept for 109 hours. I’ve been using this cream for a year now and the night time one is my all time fave.
8.
Coffee Bodum. It’s very badassery. Most hotels have a kettle and WOW is it ever kickass to brew your fave coffee in a delish way. We always travel with a bodum for staycations, like One King West <<<<— Our fave hotel in Toronto. Yes, I screamed that!
One King West rooms have a washer/dryer and a kitchenette and helllloooooo coffee. We live a few hours outside of Toronto, so it is our home away from home when we travel to the city for Michaels oncology appointments. The rooms have wrap around windows with views of the city for f.o.r.e.v.e.r.
PS. here’s a new page on my blog with all my fave hotel stays!
9.
Sleep aids on airplanes. I’ll do almost anything to fall asleep on a plane. I’ve tried Gravol, Melatonin and everything under the sun. PS. Don’t take too many of these. The last time I did that, I put my head in the macaroni and Michael had to pick it up.
10.
Pocket wifi. We bought this TEPPY for portable wifi. It worked in every country we traveled to (except New Zealand) but I figured that it was the universe telling me that I needed to unplug my face from my phone ( I wrote about that here on my insta)
We bought the Teppy device so we could own it outright and use it anytime. In addition, we paid $8 per day for data usage. As an alternative, you can rent Teppy for $8.95 a day. We freaking loved it. Having wifi and not paying roaming charges is d’bomb diggity. We just used the wifi as we normally do, and only for our phones.
11.
Portable phone charger. Because Michael’s energy is so magnifying – he drains his phone every 12 seconds. ???? I find it’s worth it to spend a bit more moola on a quality charger. We loved ours!
12.
Pack an eye mask! Because hello. Some things can not be unseen.
13.
This luggage. Heaven on wheels. We bought the Samsonite Winfield because helllooooo awesome. We ( mostly ME, because Michael doesn’t care about these wonders of the world LOL) felt like Elvis Presley with patent leather shoes.
14.
Walking shoes. Okay, I know I should probably be wearing some old lady shoes to be super practical. But hey. I’m not ready for granny panties and old geezer shoes yet. I wore these boot shoes pretty much 24/7. They were a great price and I could wear them in hot and cool climates. LURVE.
15.
These jackets. Erhmergerd. They are life. They pack down to almost nothing in a rolly polly (basically the pocket) and we lived in them. This is the jacket we bought for Michael and this is the Roots jacket that we bought for moi. Fave thing ever. LIFE. Ugh. So good. I’m dead.
16.
Turkish towels …they are lightweight, versatile AND great as an extra towel, sarong, scarf or blanket. It’s makes your hotel room feel like home, and PS. one can never have too many blankets on an airplane. You never know when you may need to hide from people (like, always) These are my faves . A Turkish towel pretty much solves everything. Therefore, I own a million of them. At home, I use them for tablecloths and curtains. D’bomb diggity.
17.
Not exaggerating. Our Pacsafe backpacks were l.i.f.e.s.a.v.e.r.s. It was so great to not have to wheel around an extra piece of carry on luggage. We bought this small one for me and a larger one for Michael. Faboosh for laptops, camera, passport and important things like liquorice…..and wine…and other unmentionables.
18.
This thing. We used it every.single.day. So good. Couldn’t have survived without it.
19.
Lint brush – because, otherwise… I always seem to look like I rolled on a cat.
20.
I saved this one for last, because I didn’t want you to think that I was a total weirdo. A silk pillowcase. It literally feels like heaven on your head. Plus, I don’t want hotel cooties. For some unreal reason I feel cleaner having my own pillowcase over a hotel pillowcase. Plus, your hair doesn’t look like as much of a hot mess when you wake up. I used the same pillowcase to stuff my fave fluffy jacket in it, and used it as an airplane pillow. Because hello. Airplane cooties.
s h o p m y t r a v e l f a v e s
Shop all my travel faves in one spot HERE…..what I bought and what I’m swooning after. Oh. La. La.
PS. I need a travel consultant. Not for consulting, but rather someone to follow me around and slap unhealthy foods out of my hand.
Now tell me all your travel secrets. Ones where I can go to a beach with my white pasty legs.
P.S.s… Why do we have to shave our legs so often on holidays?!
PS.s.s.S. Why aren’t hairy anklets socially acceptable?
PS. S.ss. My legs are still whiter than my teeth and I have $12 left in my bank account.
ME: I really want to travel
MY BANK ACCOUNT: Like…. to the backyard?
What are your travel essentials?
t a l k t o m e
I need these details to thrive in life.