If you’ve ever battled through the crowds at Paris’ Louvre, you’ve no doubt felt a mix of irritation and disappointment when you finally came face to face with the gallery’s proverbial crown jewel, Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. The most famous portrait in the world is smaller than you might expect and the crowds are annoying and aggressive. Maybe “Mona” is mysteriously smiling but countless visitors leave with a frown! As such, you might be wondering if it’s worth researching how to get tickets for Last Supper in Milan. I’m here to say that the answer is a resounding YES!

Visitors who make the pilgrimage to Milan to see The Last Supper, Da Vinci’s masterpiece thankfully have the exact opposite experience that those in the Louvre. Guaranteed viewing times with a maximum of 30 guests keep things organised, calm, and quiet. You enjoy an uninterrupted, unhurried 15 minutes with the artwork in a selfie-free environment. The experience is peaceful, even serene. 

There’s just one small catch. You have to get tickets. 

Within my travel-loving soul, there lies a contradiction.

I love packing light. Like, I really, really love it. You know that joke "How do you know if someone travels carryon? They'll tell you!"? It was written about me. I not only love packing light. I equally love being insufferable about it. Oh, you just took one suitcase for your resort vacation? Well I used one backpack for a six week round the world trip and half the space was taken up with camping gear.

Like I said, I'm insufferable.

But I also love, and I mean LOVE, specialty travel gear. The more task and trip specific, the better. I am obsessed with travel supply catalogues and I haven't met a packing cube that I don't love. But the truth of the matter is that much of this stuff is, well, how do I put this? It's garbage. It's poorly constructed mass produced stuff that preys on our fears of being unprepared,  the uncertain nature of the open road, and the shame that comes when you don't keep pace with fast fashion. All of this stuff has weighed down my bag at one point or another and I am here to tell you that you don't need it. Any of it.

A long time ago, I saw a funny quip online that said something to the effect of how if you wanted to see someone get six months’ worth of chores done in a day, check them out the day before they leave for vacation and, let me tell ya, I felt seen.

I’m aware that there is absolutely no reason I need to wash the guest room curtains before we leave for a week of camping. I understand that all those platitudes about how “it feels so good to come home to a clean house” come from the cesspool which is productivity culture and patriarchal expectations. Yet I know, deep within my heart, that if anything horrible happened to me when I was on the road and the team from Criminal Minds came to my home to investigate my life to see what kind of person the unsub was targeting, I would die a second, more painful death when they concluded: “Clearly this serial killer was targeting slovenly women who dare to leave their house without tackling the basket of unmatched socks in the laundry room.” 

As such, it goes without saying that the day before you leave for vacation is THE DAY in which you need to get every single thing you’ve ever needed, wanted, or considered for your life in order. As if you were going to leave for Florida without alphabetizing your spice drawer. Like you were really going on a summer road trip without finally steam-cleaning those weird spots on your carpet. Sure, that bag of clothing for the donation centre has been rolling around in your trunk for six months but are you really going to ignore it for an extra ten days while you're in Cleveland? I didn't think so.

The day before you leave for vacation should be your life’s busiest, most productive, most incredible list-checking day. It needs to render you so exhausted that anything else feels restorative, even being trapped for ten hours in the middle seat with a screaming toddler kicking your kidneys. See, your front hall closet is organized AND you're grateful for a $6 cup of instant coffee from a machine in Terminal F. 

However if for any reason you can’t quite commit to that, here is a list of the most important tasks to get done when there are 24 hours or less to go.

It's not everyday that you get to use a piece of travel advice that's been rolling around the back of your head, well, for a few decades at least. However, on my recent trip to Honolulu, a very old travel tip popped in my head at exactly the right time and I'm glad it did.

The old advice goes something like this: When you check into a new hotel or guesthouse, pop its business card or a box of branded matches in your pocket. (This is how you know it is old advice - what inns have personalized matchbooks these days?) When you inevitably get lost on the winding streets of Barcelona or in the medina of Rabat, you don’t have to rely on your sense of direction or ability to describe a featureless property in a language that isn’t your own. You can just show said address to a taxi driver and you’ll be on your way.

This advice is repeated in Marybeth Bond's book, Gutsy Women (which is still a superb resource for female travellers, even if a few passages are now a bit out of date). In her entry, she also emphasizes that having a hotel business card is invaluable in countries like Thailand or China where you are unlikely to read the language and your English-language notes aren't going to help the local residents when you ask for assistance.

Well, I FINALLY used this advice, albeit in a modern, updated way. Here's the story.

I've spent one month and half a lifetime in the City of Lights.

The part about one month is very true. From mid-October to mid-November, 2022, I lived in Paris. I found a wee apartment with sloped walls and wooden beams and made the city my home.

The reference to half a lifetime is a bit of hyperbole but, in its own way, equally true. I first visited the French capital in 2001 and I've made at least half a dozen visits in the years since. I'm never not wanting to be there.

I believe you could live in Paris your entire life and not discover all of its secrets. As such, I am far from an expert. On the other hand, I know Paris better than just about any travel destination and I've learned quite a lot in 20+ years of adventures. And that brings me here, in an effort to wrap up my very best Paris travel advice, suggestions, recommendations, tips, and tricks. For everyone who has said that they absolutely have to get my advice before planning their own big trip - here it is. This post is for you. I'll accept macarons in lieu of thanks.

When Ryan and I took our first international trip together as a married couple, we went to Hawaii. While we had long dreamed of warm weather getaway, we hadn't exactly spent much time planning and saving for the trip. A combination of fortuitous factors meant that we snagged a last minute departure and a great hotel deal at the final hour - but we didn't have a lot of money to splurge on Hawaii's biggest temptations, like submarine rides, helicopter tours, and famous luaus. Instead, we put together a list of extremely frugal and free things to do in Waikiki, our main base. The result was an incredible week in a tropical paradise and a very affordable one as well. 

My goal for this list was to limit costs at $5.00 per person or less and to concentrate primarily on the Honolulu neighbourhood of Waikiki but you will find great value at many price points across the state. Whether budget travel is a necessity for you or simply a preference, I think you'll love this affordable take on Hawaiian travel.

New York City is “The City That Never Sleeps,” and it is no surprise that it’s a chock full of free public Wi-Fi connections. From popular chain stores to funky bars, public transportation networks to tourist attractions, you are never far from an easy connection, perfect for posting your latest travel pics to social media, 24 hours a day. So if you're worried that you'll never get a connection or that it will cost you a fortune, rest easy! Tourists can find free WiFi in New York City with ease. I know because I've been one of them, multiple times, and I know this list will help.

At Subway Stations and on Subway Trains

New Yorkers are divided on how well it works, but there’s no denying that having free public Wi-Fi as part of the subway system is a game changer for tourists. It’s an easy place to quickly connect and update your travel plans while getting to your next stop. The official MTA map can help you with your travel plans. Note that the network’s name is TRANSITWIRELESSWIFI and that it doesn’t work during those few times the Subway train goes above ground.