Travel – Rich Hot Blog

How To Pack For a Trip – Carry On Edition

September 22, 2019 No Comments

Packing for a trip is hard enough when you have a full size suitcase – I would know as I am a self-identified over-packer. My suitcase is always full to the brim. It’s a real problem. With the price of flights and checked baggage costs these days, I’ve challenged myself that when I fly, I’m going to pack ONLY a carry-on piece of luggage and nothing else. I call it a challenge because it’s absolutely one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done.

Since setting this challenge for myself, I’ve been following three main rules to help me stick to my carry-on only challenge. Read on to check them out.

My first tip is to pack all your toiletries in a cute little plastic pouch. I’m sure you already know that airlines have some pretty strict rules about liquids which I find is the most difficult part of taking only a carry-on bag when you fly. I got this little pouch as a gift from a purchase at Sephora and it’s perfect to fit all of my 100 mL or less toiletries. The trick here is to keep your toiletries in your personal item until you’ve already gone through security as you’ll need to take them out anyway. Once you’ve breezed through security, you can just pop them into your carry-on suitcase.

A little bonus tip is that this is the PERFECT way to use up all of those sample sized products I know you’re hoarding in your bathroom but never find the time to use. This way, you don’t have to go out and buy travel size products or spend time funneling your regular sized products into little travel sized bottles and then back again once you get home. Sample products are key, you’re welcome.

Secondly, I know it’s really tempting to bring your one piece wonders on a trip – your favorite dresses, jumpsuits, and rompers that are just so cute – but girl, leave them behind. Bringing a piece of clothing that can only be worn in one way is, quite literally, a waste of space! The best thing you can pack to really maximize your space are lots and lots of separates that can be worn in a bunch of different ways. Take a look at what you’re packing and ask yourself – how many different outfits can I make with these pieces? Drop anything that you can only wear one way. Such a simple tip but such a space saver!

My final tip is to make sure that you wear your bulkiest clothing (including shoes) on the plane. In my case, it’s these giant Fila Disruptors and this chunky sweater. I can fit so much more in my bag if I wear these on the plane – bonus if your bulkiest items are also the comfiest!

And voila – you’ve magically packed for a trip (albeit a short one) using only a carry-on. Enjoy that $60 you saved by not checking your baggage, you earned it.

xo Teagan

The suitcase featured in this post was gifted by Monos. Monos suitcases are beautifully and thoughtfully designed for travelers everywhere. I love that they include lots of soft travel bags for your shoes, straps to hold your items in place, a gorgeous luggage tag, and a Magic Eraser to scrub the scuffs off of your light colored suitcase and all at an affordable price point.

Mental Health, Travel, Uncategorized

Booking Travel When You Have Anxiety

March 11, 2019 No Comments

To make a long story short: I have anxiety. My s.o. And I hit some major setbacks financially last year but we managed to turn it all around within the year. So I’m ready for a vacation, ya feel me?

So I did what we all do, the first step to booking a vacation, deciding where to go. That’s when my anxiety ran me the fuck over – every place I even thought for a moment that I might like to travel to, my anxiety immediately told me that if I went there I was going to die. It wasn’t a specific fear based on recent news stories from any particular area – it was just an overlying feeling of dread that made my chest feel tight and my heart hurt.

It felt like I wouldn’t be able to go and do something that I truly wanted to do just because I had this giant, irrational weight sitting on my chest keeping me from even choosing a destination.

But we did choose a destination – we booked our tickets to go back to Japan and Taiwan in May!

I managed to get past (not over) my irrational feeling of impending doom regarding choosing a destination in a couple of ways. After all, it wouldn’t be a very fun vacation if I spent the whole time assuming I was about to die.

Remind Yourself that Sometimes Anxious Feelings are Just Excitement

I was talking to my therapist (obviously my number one solution for all things) about this particular episode of anxiety and she spat some straight wisdom. She told me that the centers in our brains that process excitement and anxiety are really close to each other and that sometimes when you’re excited, your brain can process that as anxiety instead.

My mind was blown.

I evaluated my feelings of anxiety – was it just excitement? A large part of it was! When I start feeling anxious about my holiday I take a moment to sit with that feeling and ask myself: is this just excitement? If the answer is yes, just remind yourself each time that feeling comes back that you’re actually really really excited for your holiday and it’s manifesting as anxiety.

See Your Therapist

I know we don’t all have access to a therapist or counselor – so even just talk it through with a friend or trusted family member. It can be hard to talk about, but the outside perspective can often offer a lot of insight that you might have missed because you’re just too close to the issue.

My therapist asked me, well, do I really want to travel to a new destination, or was I just feeling obligated to? The answer was that I just felt obligated to travel to a new place when I seriously just wanted to go back to Japan. It really relieved a lot of the anxiety I felt choosing a destination to get that affirmation that IT’S OKAY TO REVISIT A PLACE YOU ENJOYED!

Make a List and Research the Shit out of your Potential Destinations

I, personally, do not relish doing research and scrolling painstakingly through hundreds of travel websites but it was a necessarily evil in assuaging my anxiety about choosing a destination. Plus, it’s something you’re going to have to do anyway.

I recommend making a list of all the things you want to do or see or get out of this vacation. Do you want to relax on a beach? Great – write that down. Do you want to climb mountains? Also great – write it down. Are you there for history? Food? Culture? Whatever it is, write it down. Then narrow this list down to a few key points that are most important to you on your holiday – this list is going to act as your litmus test to see if a destination is truly somewhere you want to go.

Then you can start researching. Time for another list! Write down what each destination can offer you in your budget and the area you want to visit. Check that against your first list. If it doesn’t meet most of your most necessary criteria, give it a pass this time. Do this until you found the location that meets the most of your vacay checklist.

Voila, you’re done! You found your ideal vacation destination AND got a bunch of research out of the way early on.

I really hope these tips help you and if you want to talk about it, you can always DM me on instagram! Travel can be really draining for someone with anxiety and I just wanna have a good time and help y’all have a good time.

What are your top tips for choosing a holiday destination?

City Guides, Food, Portland, Travel

Eat Your Heart Out in Portland, OR

May 24, 2018 2 Comments

Honestly, this list could be a million miles long because everywhere I looked in Portland, there was another super cute and unique restaurant. Compared to Vancouver, the food scene in Portland is so much more casual and interesting and I am HERE FOR IT! We tried maybe 2% of the amazing eateries there so I think next time we visit, it’ll have to be a much longer trip so we can eat as much as possible.

The Waffle Window

The first brunch we tried in Portland was The Waffle Window and honestly with a name like that, there was no way I was going to be disappointed. If you’re not into a sweet breakfast, like my boyfriend, don’t worry, The Waffle Window has loads of savory options which were arguably better than the sweet options. I was super envious of Andrew’s gravy drenched waffle and I definitely stole more than just one bite. Sorry not sorry. They have a couple of tables outside, which is my preference, but the ambiance inside is super cute and I get total vintage soda-shop vibes from it.

No matter where you are in Portland, you can enjoy The Waffle Window at one of their four locations, which you can find here.

Pok Pok Noi

Another stand out eatery was Pok Pok Noi which bills itself as Thai drinking food – I love food, I love drinking, I especially love food after drinking so this type of cuisine is perfect! We ordered a ton of different dishes to try but the fish sauce wings were incredible. Get them spicy, not mild, you won’t regret it. They’re salty and just the right amount of spicy so they pair perfectly with a nice cold beer or cocktail. And I don’t know if I was just super hungry or not, but the spicy Thai peanuts they set out for us to munch on were also incredible so beg for extra of those.

Pok Pok actually has five locations in Portland which you can check out on their website.

Japan, Travel, Uncategorized

Top Three Things to do in and Around Tokyo

January 21, 2018 No Comments

Last year, around this time, did I ever think I would be taking a spontaneous trip to Asia? No! I don’t necessarily enjoy spontaneous decisions or planning extensive trips in a short period of time. Now, it wasn’t exactly a spontaneous vacation in that we just picked up and left, but it wasn’t something I had been planning to do or saving up for specifically. My boyfriend and I just happened to stumble across a deal on a flight to Japan in mid-January that we just couldn’t pass up and as soon as we got the okay on our vacation days, we booked it. That left us with two and a half months to save up as much as possible and plan for our two week vacation. It wasn’t exactly spontaneous, but it felt spontaneous to me.

We spent only six days in Tokyo and twelve in Taiwan but I wish we had stayed in Tokyo the whole time. The time I spent in Tokyo was so relaxing and enjoyable that I fell in love with Japan, the culture, and the people there. That being said, there’s so much to do and see in Tokyo, there was no way we could’ve seen it all in only six days. What little time we had, we wanted to make sure every moment in Japan counted. Andrew and I were so lucky in that we have friends in Japan who were excited to see us and had planned to take us along to do some of their favorite things in Tokyo and the surrounding areas.

Keep reading to find out what my three most recommended activities in and around Tokyo are.

TENZAN ONSEN HOT SPRING

I learned on this trip one of the reasons why Japanese people love onsen so much: onsen can heal aches, pains and stiffness while also imparting an incredible sense of peace during even one visit. Visiting the onsen turned out to be the most unexpected and enjoyable thing that Andrew and I did in Japan.

Our Japanese friend wanted to make sure we tried some traditional Japanese activities and what is more traditional than the onsen hotspring? I had never heard of the Japanese tradition of onsen before and I was surprised to know that our friend had so much trouble finding an onsen which would accept patrons with tattoos so that Andrew would be able to go. I was nervous because, as in a traditional Japanese onsen, we would be separated by gender, meaning I wouldn’t be able to have Andrew there to talk to. We would also have to be totally naked around plenty of strangers.

Our friend, K, took us to Hakone, outside of Tokyo, famous for its onsen; it was one of the most breathtaking place I had ever seen. The bustle of Tokyo had fallen away and the streets narrowed until two cars could barely pass each other as we drove up to the onsen. It reminded me of the quintessential small Japanese villages in Studio Ghibli films. Different onsen hotels dot the hillside – most allow you to either come just for the onsen or rent a room and spend several days enjoying the hot springs.

The onsen K took us to was called Tenzan Onsen and was incredulously inexpensive – Andrew and I could pay each of our admissions and buy two little towels for about seven dollars Canadian. I was also delighted to find out that there was a tatami room dedicated solely to napping or quietly relaxing. The whole onsen was a designated quiet zone – any conversation was conducted in hushed tones. After washing thoroughly, there were a variety of different pools at different temperatures set into a rocky hillside with trees bending over them. I don’t have any photos of the onsen on account of the aforementioned nudity with strangers but if you check out their website or tripadvisor you can find tons of gorgeous shots of Tenzan Onsen Hot Spring (or just google it). If there were onsen in Canada of the same caliber of those in Japan, I would be there every weekend without a doubt. If you ever find yourself in Japan, make it a priority to try out an onsen, even just for an afternoon.

ODAWARA CASTLE

I’m going to preface this one by saying that I’m a huge history geek and that my degree is actually in history, so Odawara Castle was right up my alley. It wasn’t a planned stop but on our way to Hakone, we noticed Odawara Castle sitting up above the city and just had to go investigate. It was a gorgeously sunny, but windy, day to visit the picturesque castle. There was so much to do including learning how to use throwing stars – which was super difficult – and dressing up in period appropriate samurai costumes. Our visit to Japan was a little late to see the sakura in full bloom, but at Odawara there were plenty of sakura blossoms left which meant it was a little busier than it may be at other times of the year. From the observatory at the top floor of the castle there are stunning views of the landscape on one side and of the sea on the other. The castle was imposing, but we soon found out that it’s not even the biggest reconstructed castle in Japan. We also found out that there are essentially no original Edo era castles left in Japan after the Meiji government ordered the destruction of all former feudal castles. I’ll skip the rest of the history lesson and just say that I cannot recommend going to Odawara Castle enough – or any reconstructed Japanese castle – if you are interested in history or just a stunning view.

Odawara is on the list of Japan’s Top 100 Castles which indicates its significance in Japanese culture and history. If you’re not able to make it to Odawara Castle, there are, of course, 99 other castles to check out across the country.

MEIJI SHRINE

Another of my favorite things that we did while in Japan was visiting Meiji Shrine. This time, it was something we had planned to do from the very beginning. It’s in the city very close to Takeshita street in Harajuku – it’s actually within walking distance. After a busy afternoon shopping in Harajuku we waited out a brief shower of rain before making our way to Meiji Shrine. Huge wooden gates frame the path to the shrine, towering overhead and melding perfectly with the natural surroundings. The walk to the shrine itself is a wide gravel road lined with enormous trees which block out the sounds of the city. This walk is best enjoyed slowly in order to admire the rows of sake casks along the way and to take a minute out from the bustling city.

The shrine itself was under restoration during our visit so some of the shrine was covered or closed, but there’s so much to explore including a museum and restaurant services. If you’re looking to take a break from the city, I can’t recommend a better place to go.

Stay tuned for another post coming soon (hopefully) about all the amazing things I got to do in Taiwan!