Traveller

I recently spent a day shopping with my sister. She has a long list of what she can take on her trip in June. Since it is my brother making the list, he has made sure to impress upon her that she should not deviate at all or face his wrath. For reals, whatever. He is older than her by a year, what is he going to do? She can take him anyway, at least I'd bet on that. Anyway this list has my sister in a tizzy and so we decided to get together and see what we can accomplish. This turned out to be a good thing because she easily got distracted and I tended to refocus her on sale items so she'd stay on budget. She has time and since she lives in a town that sells more Wrangler jeans than packable travel pants, I figured she should head to the big city of San Francisco. We started at Costco but struck out except for a box of Handi-wipes that she can take instead of liquid Purell which thrilled her. She just learned the 3-1-1 concept from TSA. Then we moved on to REI where we found ...

My 25 year old niece drove herself along with her surprise passenger, from Richmond Virginia along the southern route of the US before dropping her passenger off in Los Angeles. Since this sort of cross country trip is something that I have always wanted to try, I asked her to document her drive. Her surprise passenger was her brother. He surprised her and everyone else in the family when he took a few days off work and jumped on a plane to make the drive with her. It was sweet and we all were happy that he rode shotgun. I'm not sure if it is because I grew up in a law enforcement household or what, but I never would have considered taking that drive on my own. However I can tell you many friends of mine from the East Coast and Midwest have driven across country multiple times without any problems. One of these days though, my plan is to follow Route 66 at least from end to end and document it. Then I could stay at the WigWam Motel in Arizona! Our theme song could be Johnny ...

Trying to help my older sister decide what to pack on her first 3-week trip to Europe is tough. Her typical style of travel is getting in her Toyota Rav4 and driving somewhere. She packs whatever her car will hold. Imagine a messy lumpy jumble - sort of Tetris and the wooden block stacking game Jenga. I've seen her cram various sizes of tote bags, duffel bags and/or paper bags into the trunk and onto the floor of the car. For me, the worst part is her lack of planning and gasp , lack of a list. Why do my sister's messy car trips matter? Because they show me where I am starting from with my sister and what she probably still needs to know about travel and packing light. Because you know she will need room for souvenirs . I predict we will have multiple conversations before June about electronics, specifically related to her camera and mobile phone. My plan is to take her to people who I know can help with her questions. Since I've been a Mac and Apple person for years ...

My sister is coming to town tomorrow. We have decided to spend the day together trying to figure out what she needs to take with her on her trip to Europe in June, and what she should leave behind. My sister is much more familiar with driving as the mode of travel for her vacations. She can drive hours and hours without complaining. I bet she loved that road trip Oprah did with Gayle. My sister rarely flies and has never been out of the country before. On this trip she will be gone for more than two weeks. She already is worried about what to use for carrying her gear and what the difference is between an adapter and a converter. Her style and needs are such that I bet stores like Sports Basement, REI and Orvis will be more her speed than the trendy Flight 001 in Hayes Valley. Hopefully she will remember to bring her lists and her electronics. Unfortunately she is not an Apple person, which would make things easier for her but I am sure we can find the right converters and adap...

This time of year always makes me think of my long departed Aunt Dorothy. She lived across the San Francisco Bay in Sausalito since World War II until she passed away in the 1980s. My Aunt Dorothy was a great lady who loved, absolutely loved , people. She owned a shop in the Village Mayfair near the Sausalito Harbor. Her tiny shop sold all sorts of items made by local craftsmen. Most of her customers were tourists. Whenever I would visit with Aunt Dorothy, she loved to tell me about the people she met, where they were from and what they loved about her shop. Her shop was called The Shoestring. She named it that because it literally was the size of a shoe string. It was very narrow. She also ran it on a shoestring budget. Her father was an shipping executive who got his ten kids and family successfully through the Depression by running a tight household. I think she paid attention and learned from him. After I graduated college, she shared with me how much the building managemen...

Photo: Sharon Castellanos

Mediterranean Photo by Sharon Castellano s I've been telling you recently that I have a sister and mother who will be leaving the country for the first time and that their trip involves their first passport. My sister will be buying her first suitcase with wheels, her first TSA lock and she will exchange money for the first time. She will probably eat her real fish and chips and shepherd's pie, maybe even drink her first Guinness. My mother will be hearing French spoken around her for the first time. She will use a lift for the first time and hear a real Scottish Brogue, maybe even hear a lilt in someone's voice for the first time. I expect she might also have her first real fish and chips as well. Well since we are family, and I have been sharing their secrets I will contribute my own recent first. Back in November 2009, during a trip to Southern Spain not only did I go to the Rock of Gibraltar and Morocco, North Africa for the first time, I put my feet in the Mediterr...

My poor sister. I can feel her excitement and exhaustion already. She is going on her first big trip outside of the country soon. Her need to bring back every goofy gift and soon to be covered in dust memento - is palpable. How can I help her? Should I help her? She is my older sister so she will do what she wants after all is said and done. However, we have had our moments, when she gets that sweet look on her face and she realizes that I, her younger sister, actually knows something important and useful. And is willing to share it, for free. Unlike our childhood when I would have demand money or at least some sort of labor like making me some cookies . However I am thinking about my sister, like many other folks out there who love bargains, love to shop and love to bring home stuff wherever they visit. How many ballcaps can one person wear? For my travel newbie sister and her two weeks in London, Normandy and Paris, I suggest she look for souvenirs like these: Dish towel – ...