In the spring of 1639, three young nuns set sail from France, each carrying a hidden key in her habit. Upon landing in the new settlement of Quebec City, they would unseal three sturdy locks on a large wooden trunk that safeguarded all their worldly goods. It also contained something invaluable—a contract to found a monastery hospital, the first in North America outside Mexico.

Little did they realize that one of their future guests* would become Canada’s most notorious** hotel thief, taking three round canisters with them in their luggage after their visit.



*Me. This story is about me.





** The dozen or so people who know this story won’t stop teasing me about it.

For as long as I can remember, I've had one very specific, very peculiar thing on my travel bucket list: To sleep in airport sleeping pods. I bet you've heard about them before. They're teeny-tiny hotel rooms designed to offer airport based travellers a place to sleep - if only for an hour or two. Some are so tiny they really do resemble a pod, or perhaps a bunk bed-turned-bunker. They're not unlike the berths you find on overnight trains, albeit with solid walls, a door you can lock, and an external ladder that leads you to your perch. Other airport sleeping pods are a bit more generous. They're like micro-rooms, offering ensuite washrooms and a few feet of floor space. In every case, they're adorably, maddeningly tiny and cute and I'm just obsessed with the concept. They're cozy, in every sense of the word.

Maybe it has something to do with all those bargain basement overnight flights I've taken throughout the years which have been me walking around terminals like a little zombie. I've just always wanted to stay in a pod and, on a recent trip to France, I finally got my opportunity. After flying overnight into Paris, I had a suitably long layover before I had to board my plane to Bordeaux. My moment had come!

Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport is home to a branch of YOTEL, a UK based hotel chain that has airport sleeping pods around the world, as well as micro-hotels in cities like New York. After so many years of anticipation, I finally had my moment - and I learned a whole lot during the process. This post is a little bit of a review of the Paris YOTEL, but more generally it's about what I wish I had known before booking any airport accommodations. I hope it helps you have sweet dreams!

Have you seen the movie “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”? There’s a great scene in which the lovelorn Peter gets some unusual advice. Family members tell him to iron his shirts—even his t-shirts!—in order to feel better. I won’t spoil the ending, but let’s just say it takes more than sharp creases to turn Peter’s vacation around. 

Though their advice didn’t help Peter, it has worked for me—albeit under less dramatic circumstances. 

Whenever I’m feeling a bit rundown on the road, I know that some serious laundering and even the occasional ironing session will help put a spring in my step. Since those occasions are few and far between, I usually ignore hotel room ironing boards. However, a recent podcast had me rethinking ironing boards in general—and how handy they can be for travellers. 

Here are five great reasons to set up your hotel ironing board on each and every trip, even if you’re not trying to rebound from a broken love affair! 

So you rolled the dice and took a chance on a non-refundable hotel reservation. We see these kinds of tempting promotions all the time. They're usually $5 to $25 cheaper than their counterparts, the "book now, pay later" deal. Sometimes the price difference isn't enough to tempt you but other times the savings really add up so you throw caution to the wind and click "pay now!" After all, it's just not feasible that you'd *ever* miss your trip, right?

No one expects to be caught up in a global pandemic like COVID-19. Or to get stuck a thousand miles away by a hurricane or blizzard. Who anticipates that their surgical appointment will suddenly be moved up? And hey, it's not like anyone expected the groom to runaway with the bridesmaid a week before the wedding, did they? Yet here you are. Hotel booked and paid for. And you're not going to be there. Gotta kiss that money goodbye, right? Your coronavirus hotel booking is a disaster, is it not? Maybe not.

This is my totally-not-guaranteed-but-not-exactly-hopeless-either guide to finding a financial solution when you've booked a non-refundable hotel reservation you need to bail on.

Is there anything cozier than stumbling into a delightfully snug wine bar with a full roaring fire at the end of a long travel day? Perhaps the only thing better is when said wine bar also doubles as a spectacular restaurant - and is owned by one of the kindest families you've ever met. This very scenario was our introduction to Orvieto wine, food, and family - and it set a new bar for hospitality, not just for all other Italian towns but indeed everywhere we travel.

​Here's what made Orvieto such a wonderfully cozy destination for us, including our beloved wine bar and our new favourite hotel, lovingly decorated by local artists.

Lounging around in bed when you could be out exploring Zurich's streets and lane ways? Say it ain't so! Never fear - I walked A LOT while I was in Zurich. This restful moment was just a brief interlude of downtime. I just couldn't resist trying out my super cozy bed for just a few moments! And I was so lucky that I was staying in the heart of the old town so I could easily pop back home for a rest. As a sleep enthusiast, I know that there are a lot of options on where to stay in Zurich and for my money, the best choice is one of the hotels in Zurich Old Town. Here are my favourite places to stay, some great alternative options with different styles and price points, and a few things that I love about Zurich's old town.

It sometimes takes a lot to bust out of a Canadian winter rut but a weekend at the Briars Resort and Spa on Lake Simcoe, in Jacksons Point, Ontario (just an hour north of Toronto) was just the thing to make winter exciting again! The beauty of all the Lake Simcoe resorts is something I had long heard about but never had the chance to explore - but I knew just the people to take along on my adventure. Arriving on a Friday night with three of my best blogging friends in tow, I was excited to dive into the first offering of their “Blah Busters” package – local wine and a delicious selection of cheeses. It was the perfect way to kick off a girls’ weekend and get into the outdoors spirit.

As a solo backpacker in my early 20s, hostels were invaluable to my budget travel strategy. Before online booking sites, this was back in the dark ages, so I accepted the hostel reviews in guidebooks like Let’s Go as the gospel truth. They never once steered me wrong, and despite having a minuscule budget, I always had a clean, safe, friendly place to stay.

Fast forward 10 years, and I was suddenly part of a couple. I had slowly drifted away from the hostel world in favour of shorter road trips. We embraced emerging travel tools, like hotel bidding sites, and we often found gorgeous rooms whose prices rivalled the cost of two hostel dorm beds. In Honolulu, for instance, we successfully blind bid on a 4-star hotel and were thrilled to pay just $90 a night – not too shabby when dorm beds would cost us about $30 each!

But even with the private balconies and plush beds, I missed the hostel community. I missed meeting new friends and the endless resources designed for budget-minded travellers. I missed the funky properties and craved more personality in my accommodations. But I’d been deterred by hostel horror stories of wild roommates and hoards of school groups. And, frankly, no one wants to be the weird old person, boring everyone with tales from your glory days! I tried to reconnect with the hostel world, but I needed the right place and hostel.

I got that opportunity in Sydney, Australia. I was eager to soak up the beauty and energy of downtown, but I knew harbourfront hotels cost a small fortune. Make that a large fortune – some were advertised for over $1000! If there was ever a time to see if hostels could work for a couple in their 30s, this was it! Thankfully, I found everything I was looking for - along with some essential lessons on hosteling for “grown-ups.”