My family is originally from South African and when we moved, just over 20 years ago, many of our friends moved to various parts around the globe as well.  That, paired with my parents love for travel, has made me lucky enough to travel to some pretty awesome places around the world. 

Most of the time when I think of a vacation, I think of a multiple day excursion filled with airports and possible hotel hopping between adventure locations. This las weekend, however, my husband had a work event in Los Angeles on Friday evening so we decided to make a mini getaway trip out of it. 

We drove up from San Diego on Friday afternoon and while he was at his event, I got to catch up with a friend in the area. Then we got to the hotel and splurged on late night room service dessert. We stayed at a Hilton near the airport which was relatively inexpensive and dog friendly which was important since we brought little Stella with us. 

In the morning, we did something we almost never do...we slept in late! (Those blackout curtains are magical). Once we finally surfaced, we headed to our favorite spot in LA, Manhattan Beach and explored a new park before heading to grab pizza from our first date spot and the best ice cream sandwich of all time! We had nowhere to be exactly by anytime and it was fun to have an agenda-free day enjoying the beach and sun. We were back in San Diego by 5:30 that same day and back in our routine. 

I wasn't expecting such a mini trip to be as refreshing as it was, but we both felt recharged on Sunday and ready to get to work. It was a great reminder for me that a vacation doesn't have to be a long, far-off journey, and some of the most refreshing ones in fact are close-by and quick but just as (or maybe even more) relaxing. 

Here are my 6 reasons why local getaways are just as awesome as big trips:

Even though LA was quite the drive in Friday afternoon traffic, we still got there faster than almost any airport trip filled with pre and post flight activities. Brad may have had to work that night but I fully enjoyed getting into relax mode asap and enjoyed an amazing dinner with a friend.

Even if it is a place you live or have gone to a million times, you can make it feel like a brand new location. Brad and I met in college and would frequent Manhattan Beach, but since we had Stella with us this time, we looked up a dog park we could take her to and found a gem at Polliwog Park. Not only is the name awesome, but it had beautiful green lawns for picnicking, awesome play sets, a pond, a dog run and a cute California botanical garden. We had never been there before and didn't expect such a great find. 

Since it's local, you have a car so can stay somewhere that is a bit more inexpensive since convenience of location is as big a deal. We got a great deal on a hotel and could drive around between Culver City and Downtown LA on Friday night and easily get to Manhattan Beach on Saturday.

That being said, wether you are staying in your home city or going somewhere nearby, I would definitely recommend still getting a hotel. My brain is wired to find things to do at home (clean the kitchen, do the laundry, organize this cabinet, etc.) Even if we had stayed at home in San Diego and cleared all activities on Saturday, I think I still would have had a to-do list floating in my mind of all the things I should be doing. Removing myself completely and staying in a hotel with great blackout curtains really helped it feel like a restful and restorative vacation. 

One of the most stressful parts of a vacation is planning all the details to make it perfect. Where to stay, what to eat, what activities to do in the day. Since we were familiar with the area, we knew some of our favorite places we wanted to go back to and so other than a quick yelp search on Saturday morning to find the dog park, we didn't do much planning and just enjoyed the sunshine. 

Again, since we were driving, we could bring Stella with us and it really felt like a little family vacation. There are a ton of pet-friendly hotels now with nominal fees for letting your fur baby come along. 

So the next time you feel like you just need to getaway, consider maybe taking the freeway instead of hopping on a plane. And if you head to Manhattan Beach, make sure you stop by the Manhattan Beach Ice Creamery for the best "Creamwich" of your life. 

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I travel quite a lot both personally and for work and after just completing a 2-week trip to Southern Africa, I realized there are some great little tips to share with you guys to make your travels a bit easier.

​Logically, it makes sense to fold your clothes in your suitcase but I have found that tightly rolling your clothes is the best way to fit more into your bag, reduce wrinkles, and be able to easily see the items you have packed. That being said, it is much easier to roll tops, summer, and workout clothes than winter ones. Heavy sweaters and bulky sweats/jeans are harder, so I normally leave these for the top of the suitcase and lay them flat or I try to wear as much of them on the plane if it’s possible to help reduce the bulk. 

In every carry-on bag I’ve had, whether it is a handbag or a backpack, I’ve made sure that the bag has a pocket on the exterior of the bag that is easy to get to and a quick place to store some of my go-to items. I like having it so that I don’t have to dig through my bag (especially if you are in the middle seat. #theworst)
 
That being said, some of the best things to store in this area are lip balm and hand lotion (nothing worse than that dry feeling). I also like having my phone charger there and since I wear contacts and sometimes they irritate my eyes on the plane, I put my glasses case here too for easy relief if needed. 

​No matter where you are going, a hot location or a cool one, having a neutral large scarf is THE BEST way to avoid being cold. On this last trip I packed one and used it about 90% of the time. Sometimes it’s because the plane is freezing, and I need a little warmth, other times, it’s a great accessory to add to an outfit. Either way, I highly recommend keeping one at the bottom (or for me, the top ) of your carry-on. 

​This one I didn’t do the best job of on this trip. I normally drink about 50-70oz of water a day. It helps me to feel energized and sparkling water especially helps me avoid some unhealthy cravings. It’s tough to always have water with you on a plane since you have to get rid of anything before security but if you purchase it on the other side or fill up your favorite travel water bottle, make sure you get that water in. On my way home from our South Africa trip, I relied on the water served on the plane and it left me feeling completely drained once I landed. Furthermore, it caused a bit of nausea that could totally have been avoided if I just had slipped a bit more on the plane. 

​My husband loves reading on a plane, but for me, reading is the #1 way to make me fall asleep within about 5 minutes. So, I love listening to podcasts on the plane. Another reason I love them, is because you can “subscribe” to shows on the podcast app on your phone and they automatically download when you are in a wifi zone. That way, when I’m on the plane, I have new, fresh content to listen to and and I didn’t have to remember to download it, which is HUGE for me since I always forget to download music from Spotify for the plane. 

​Along the same lines as carrying a scarf, carrying an extra t-shirt and underwear for a long trip is one of my go to things. On this last trip, we spent 40 hours traveling home and to say that you start to feel gross after the first long flight is an understatement. I like to keep a black t-shirt (cause it goes with everything) and fresh socks and undergarments in the bottom of my bag. Halfway through the long journeys, I see if any of the lounges in the airports have showers. A quick shower and change can renew a journey. If not, then a trip to the bathroom with one of the fresh wipes, and new clothes makes a big difference in your mood and energy. 

No matter how healthy you try to be, planes are a little bit of breeding ground for getting sick. Not only are you in a small space with lots of people (who may or may not be coughing) but also, the altitude that causes dehydration in your own body also makes you more susceptible to catching a bug. To try help with this, I love using the Vitamin C EmergenC packs. They are easy to pack, don’t take up much space and go a long way. I take them in the morning 2-3 days leading up to a flight, try take on the plane for flights over 5 hours, and then once a day on the trip. They taste great and help keep the immune system just a bit stronger throughout the journey while your other health habits may be a bit out of schedule.