Travel Tips

11 Items You Must Pack in Your Beach Bag

April 25, 2016 By Ann 3 Comments

11 Items You Must Pack in Your Beach Bag

Before you head out for an amazing day at the beach pack your beach bag with these must have beach essentials – you will be glad you did! After a towel and a swimsuit, these 11 items you must pack in your beach bag are definitely things you will want and need before, during and even after your glorious day of sand and sun.

• Sunscreen – While you may want to “get some color” sitting on the beach, remember that a suntan is actually a sign of skin damage. Even worse, a bad sunburn or sun poisoning can leave you seeking medical treatment. It is much healthier to apply sunscreen before heading out and several times throughout the day-especially after swimming. Note: if you are planning on spending a lot of time in the water, try Neutrogena’s Wet Skin Sunblock.

• After Sun Lotion – Even if you do not overdo it with sun exposure, an after sun lotion is great to apply to your skin for extra moisturizing and healing. Sun, wind, salt, sand can all be harsh on your skin and after sun care is very important.

• Sunglasses – Get a quality pair of sunglasses that block the sun’s UV rays. Look for a pair of sunglasses labeled 100% UV Block. In addition to protecting your eyes, wearing good sunglasses may help ward off the fine lines you could get from squinting on a sunny day.

• Hat – Our head and face are the first places that sun exposure hits. These areas are often burned. A peeling red nose, ears or cheeks are not only unattractive and a sign that you definitely have damaged your skin, but can be painful as well. A hat will give you additional protection (in conjunction with sunscreen) and will also shield your hair from wind and UV ray damage.

• A Bottle of Water – While you may be doing nothing except be lounging on the beach, you are still losing moisture through sweat in the sun. It is important to stay hydrated with good clean water – not soda pop, tea, or even sports drinks. Pure clean water. Before you head to the beach freeze a couple of bottles of water. When you toss the frozen water bottles into your beach bag, the water will be nice and cold when you sip … as the bottle water melts over several hours time. If you are toting a cooler to the beach, load it up with water!

• Baby Powder or Corn Starch – Either of these work as an easy way of removing sand from your hands, arms, feet, and legs. Even if you don’t have little children, purchase some baby powder for this quick, sand removing tip: simply sprinkle baby powder (or corn starch) wherever you need to remove sand and then brush it away. Not only does dry sand on your body or in your shoes feel less than pleasant, but sand removes moisture from your skin (this is why the sand clings).

• Alcohol Free Wipes – Again, even if you don’t have little ones alcohol free wipes come in super handy at the beach to wipe sand and food off your hands, clean up an over abundance of sunscreen, wipe off book jackets, bags, and more. Wipes are handy to have in any bag or purse, not just your beach bag. Pack some wherever you may go!

• Wide Tooth Comb – Salt, chlorine, sand, and wind all tangle and make your hair unmanageable. Pulling a brush roughly through your hair after a day of sand and sun may cause hair breakage and other damage. A wide tooth comb will gently work through your hair knots and snarls cause by water, wind and sand, without damaging your beach-worn hair.

• First Aid Kit – Small cuts from shells, bites, and other little ailments can be quickly treated instead of turning into a bigger problem if you bring along a first aid kit. A travel sized first aid kit is great for car, day trips to parks, beach, and more. Packing a first aid kit makes safety sense.

• A Great Book – Beach time is the perfect time to catch up on the bestseller list. Grab one or two of those books that are stacked on your bedside table that you have never gotten around too and enjoy a little me time. They don’t call them “beach reads” for nuthin’!

• A Cute Cover Up – If you bring along a cover up that doubles as a dress you can go from the sand right into a nice beach side restaurant or the local shops. It also comes in handy when you want to give your skin a break from the sun.

• Disclosure: the links in this post may be affiliate links.

• For more Travel posts on Ann’s Entitled Life, click here.

• If you enjoyed this post, be sure to sign up for the Ann’s Entitled Life weekly newsletter, and never miss another article!

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Filed Under: Travel, Travel Tips

How to Ship a Car

February 8, 2016 By Ann 6 Comments

These are our experiences with personal car shipping. The dos, don’t, positives and negatives of shipping your vehicle (when you move or when you vacation), and what to watch for so you don’t get scammed.

How to Ship a Car

This is the fifth year Hubby and I have snowbirded to Florida from our home in New York State. We own a condo in the St. Augustine area. Since we are on the beach, we chose to not own a car in Florida, or even lease a vehicle and leave it in our parking garage. The salt rusts everything metal down here very quickly (as I said, we are on the beach), and the last thing we want to deal with is car maintenance when we arrive down south.

In the past, we have driven one of our vehicles down to Florida, and then Hubby would rent a car while we were in Florida. Due to restrictions with our auto insurance, he could not just do one rental for the entire time in Florida. He needed to break up the rentals to a 28 day rental from one company, then a 28 day rental from a different company, etc.

We once again drove a vehicle down to Florida. However, we still wanted a second vehicle for Hubby while we were at our condo. This year when Hubby was pricing car rentals, he looked in Jacksonville, St Augustine and Daytona Beach for the best rental prices. Ironically, each area was the “best” price one of the three months were to be in Florida. That was unfortunate because we’d have to drop off a car and instead of walking to the next rental counter, we’d have to drive to the next town to pick up the next rental. That was not very convenient, to say the least.

The rentals this year were also significantly higher in price than in the past. January was cheap, February and March? Not-so-much.

Hubby then began thinking about shipping down his little Honda Element.

We had shipped a car in the past. Hubby actually bought this little Honda in Salt Lake City. His company was (is) based there, and he’d fly in to Salt Lake every three weeks to work from the office. As anyone who has ever been to Salt Lake City knows, it is much easier to get around with a car. Renting was an option, but in the end, he decided to buy and let the Honda sit in the carport there when he wasn’t in town. His partners would also borrow his Element when one of their vehicles was in the shop, so the Honda got some exercise even when Hubby wasn’t in town.

When we closed up in Salt Lake, it was part of a cross country road trip. We drove from Buffalo to Denver for a blogging conference for me, to a trip through South Dakota (vacation) and points north (we adored South Dakota and would like to do that again!) to Salt Lake City to Las Vegas (to visit Hubby’s Mom) to San Diego (for a second blogging conference), and drove home.

We shipped the vehicle from Salt Lake to Buffalo by dropping it off at a facility. We packed 100 pounds of household goods inside before shipping. The car sat at the transport facility for a number of days, and then went on to Buffalo when a space was available on a shipper. My brother met the driver at our house, and paid him in cash the balance due on the shipment.

This time, Hubby started to get quotes online for shipping his car. These are some of the sites he used:

“These are the sites I did initially, that caused me to get tons of emails from different BROKERS asking me “have you shipped your car yet” “call now, we have drivers in your area” ad nauseum. The” best “are the brokers that say “we just tried to call you, but couldn’t reach you, so please call me back” when in fact they never called:
• autogain.net
• shipyourcarnow.com
• americanautomove.com”

(not linking to any of them)

These, we found out later, are just for brokers.

Hubby found a broker, the man assured him he could ship the vehicle on such-and-such a day and all would be well.

That day came, and no pick-up. Hubby called the driver whose name he had received the morning the Honda was supposed to be picked up, and the driver informed him he wasn’t scheduled to pick up the car until the following Thursday (the original agreement day was Monday).

That was when Hubby decided to bail, and we left in the middle of the day to begin driving south.

The woman from the company the broker contracted with called Hubby back when we were several hours down the road, and really gave us a lesson on how this works!

When you contract with a broker, the car and ship/pick-up dates go up on a board. The shippers decide to accept the jobs (or not), and if the job is accepted the car gets shipped. Since the broker undercuts the shippers much of the time, many of those jobs never get filled, or are filled at the last second if a spot on a shipper is empty (a reduced rate ship is better than an empty truck). The broker gets a cut of that sale. So if your quote is for $1000, the broker might get $150 and the driver (or his company) gets the rest.

In our case, the broker put Hubby’s vehicle out for several hundred dollars below market to ship (which we did not know at the time), and no one picked up that contract from the board until after the pick-up date was due. That is why our car was never picked up that morning, and wasn’t going to be for days afterward.

So, Hubby put in a complaint and a charge-back with American Express and we were not out any money. (Contracts are good!)

We, however, also didn’t have a second vehicle down in Florida.

Now, one thing I have to say about my husband: he’s persistent. And stubborn. And like a freaking dog with a bone. He wanted his Element down here, and gosh darn it he was going to GET his Element down to Florida.

I reminded him that we had actually shipped the last time by dropping of the Element off at the shipper. That worked out very well as we were in no hurry, the shipper loaded it when there was an open spot available on a hauler, and that vehicle was waiting for us when we arrived home several weeks later. So, Hubby began researching some more looking for local drop offs (either one of my brothers or one of Hubby’s friends would have dropped off the Element), or shippers that would pick up.

Hubby came across uship.com.

Uship works closely with eBay (for all I know Hubby saw it on fleabay). To use u-ship, you put in an order with them. If the shipment is via an eBay auction, it is very simple – you just tell them the auction number and they take it from there with the particulars.

If the shipment is not an eBay shipment (as ours was not), you need to do some inputting: what is being shipped, from where to where, how soon you need it, etc.

You can do a fixed pricing option (say it is shipping a vehicle from Chicago to NYC – a fairly common run, it might have standard pricing, you accept, and you are given a shipper), or you can put your ship up for auction.

This is basically a reverse auction where people bid to ship your item, and you are looking for the lowest shipping price with a reasonable shipper. There are onsite reviews, and you should make use of them (and do some googling too). The reviews are quite helpful telling you how big the company is, how many trucks, if it is a broker or the company itself, etc. Past customers also leave ratings.

Bids will be submitted, or you may be emailed some questions (how large, weight, height, etc.). Hubby said people will email you spammy email too “we are ready to ship”, blah blah blah, so be prepared for that.

You do not have to accept a bid.

Hubby ended up paying a little more than the broker originally contracted for to get his vehicle shipped down here, and that included the fee he had to pay uship. The driver also has to pay uship a fee.

To claim his vehicle on delivery, Hubby gave the driver the uship code instead of cash When the driver redeemed the code, the driver received his cash from uship. A cashless transaction is very nice as a lot of people prefer not to carry a large amount of money on them.

Uship is not perfect. The guarantee is pretty lame. And the fees on both ends (what we paid and what the shipper paid to uship) are pretty high. However, they do provide a needed service especially for those in areas without a local shipping depot.

Some tips for shipping a car Hubby offers:

• If going through a broker, if at all possible, do not pay a deposit. If you must give one, make it by credit card so you have the option of filing for a charge back if things do not work out.
• Have a written contract. Make certain that in your contact you have a firm “pick up by” date so you can cancel the ship if that dates is not met (and get a refund if applicable).
• Be very clear in your contract how much you are allowed to transport inside your vehicle during the ship (nothing to 100# is standard, so make sure you know how much, if anything, can be inside that car.)
• If you do have cargo in your vehicle, note that it will have to be below the windows.
• Do your homework. Do some online searching on the company/driver/broker before signing a contract.
• Take your second key! And make sure you get the original key from the driver.

Do you have any tips on shipping a car!? Please share!

• Disclosure: the links in this post may be affiliate links.

• For more Travel posts on Ann’s Entitled Life, click here.

• For more Library Reading on Ann’s Entitled Life, click here.

• If you enjoyed this post, be sure to sign up for the Ann’s Entitled Life weekly newsletter, and never miss another article!

Filed Under: Household Tips, Library Reading, Travel, Travel Tips

How to Pack for Two Weeks in Europe Using Only a Carry On Bag

June 10, 2015 By Ann 3 Comments

How to Pack for Two Weeks in Europe Using Only a Carry On Bag

How to pack for two weeks in Europe using only carry-on luggage. Hubby and I packed for 17 days in Europe using only a carry-on bag each. This is how we packed for our 17-day trip, and how you can easily do carry-on only luggage to Europe too! We went to Italy, which was very warm (80° – 85°F), and France, which was very cool (42° – 60°F).

When Hubby and I first started planning this trip in early April, Hubby suggested we go with carry-on only luggage as he felt it would give us maximum flexibility in case of plane snafus, and prevent any lost luggage issues. It would also make it easier for us to walk from a train station to our hotel.

Well, I nearly fell down I was laughing so hard at the very idea! “Me!? Using only a carry-on!? Surely you jest.”

And then I got to thinking about it and how much easier it would make our trip since we planned on stops in four cities.

After due consideration, and making no firm promises, I decided to give it a go. If I couldn’t fit everything I wanted to take in a carry-on, I reserved the right to bail on the idea.

The first thing we did was research the airline carry-on luggage restrictions. We had a Delta flight out of the United States, and an Air France flight out of France (they are partners). The size restrictions for each airline was very different. As of this writing, Air France has more restrictive carry-on luggage sizes and Delta’s international carry-on requirements are pretty liberal. However, Hubby did a little more research and discovered the plane metal (who actually owned the aircraft and had their logo on it) on all legs was Delta.

We ordered a number of suitcases as I had nothing that would work, and Hubby only has one that was “close”, but if something happened and the metal changed, there was no way he could carry on. I think Hubby returned them all. After a lot of research and finding the one I ultimately chose and only ordered the suitcase I took on the trip . Hubby ordered at least four suitcases.

We flew business class, so for us weight was not an issue. If our stuff fit in our bag, no one cared what it weighed. (When we got rebooked due to a flight snafu, we flew Alitalia. When we got our carry-on tags from Alitalia, they actually weighed the carry-on bag. We both exceeded the Alitalia carry-on weight limits, me by quite a bit. The clerk looked at us and said, “It is ok in business class you have leeway.” YMMV of course, but it may have to do with the class of our ticket.) In coach, weight could be an issue (people in the Alitalia non-priority lines were taking things out of carry-on luggage that were flying coach) so it is best to check the guidelines for your carrier, and pack accordingly.

We ended up with these two suitcases:

Packing for Europe Using Only a Carry On

• Delsey Luggage Helium Aero International Carry On Expandable Spinner Trolley (in blue)
• Dimensions: 19″ x 13″ x 9.5″
• Weight: 8 lbs, 3 oz
• This has an expansion zipper that could open it another inch up if necessary.
• I placed my ipad in the front which has a zipper opening so I could access it easily (I loaded a lot of ebooks on it before leaving so I’d have plenty to read while traveling).

• Delsey Luggage Helium Hyperlite Carry-On Expandable 2 Wheel Trolley
Product Dimensions: 9 x 20.5 x 14 inches
• Weight: 7 pounds
• This has a 2″ expansion zipper
• Hubby ended up placing his laptop in the front to take the weight off his shoulder laptop bag when we traveled by train.

I purchased the hard-case. My bag is a bit smaller than the one Hubby chose, but the hard shell should make it a bit more durable. I went with the spinner wheels, and Hubby worried they might be a challenge on the cobblestone streets in Europe. They actually were not, and on a smooth surface they were a lot better than two wheels.

Hubby chose the softsided suitcase. It is a bit larger than the one I took, and has two wheels. He slipped his laptop bag leeve over the luggage handle, and had no issues whatsoever on the cobblestone streets or on smooth streets.

We looked at a LOT of luggage, and actually decided independently of one another which bag to buy. It is pure coincidence that they were both the Delsey brand. We are in the habit of buying Briggs & Riley as their durability and warranty are unmatched, but they didn’t have anything small enough that would work for us.

Now as I had said, I made no promises to Hubby about the one carry-on bag. I knew I also got a personal bag (like a laptop bag, camera bag or purse), so I felt that if I fit all my clothing in the carry-on, I had a chance to make it with the personal bag.

This was my personal bag:

• Pacsafe Citysafe LS400
• Product Dimensions: 18.8 x 12.5 x 4.9 inches
• Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Crossbody

I needed something for my camera. I ended up using this as my camera bag/purse. I wanted something secure, and this bag is anti-theft. There is a cable that goes through the cross-body strap. It is cut resistant. It has hooks on the zipper. Inside it has more pockets than you have ever seen in your life!! Some may feel I went overboard on the anti-theft, but the size was right, and once I pulled out the padding from my camera bag and wrapped my camera and lens to go into this bag, the camera fit well. I was able to put in my 3-1-1, baggie, my make-up and my personal papers too. This bag was loaded with room, safety features and pockets. Not to pat myself on the back, but this was an excellent choice for my requirements!

In my suitcase, I packed:

8 shirts
3 pants
8 panties
1 bra
1 PJs
8 pair of socks
Make-up mirror
1 brush
1 straightener (travel size that could handle to 220V of Europe with an adapter)
1 compact umbrella
Some personal items like deodorant, a small sewing kit, and few other random bobs and bits
1 jacket
1 shawl (OMG I was sooooo glad I had this in Paris!)
1 ipad

Also, all of my clothes were interchangeable (including what I wore to travel). By that I mean every shirt I brought could be worn with every pair of pants I brought. I had 3 pair of black slacks (1 summer weight, 2 medium weight) and 1 pair of jeans. This included what I wore on the plane (medium weight, non restrictive).

And I had plenty of room leftover in that suitcase! When we were in Europe, I ended up buying a large purse, and stowed it in the suitcase easily.

To pack, I laid all my shirts flat one on top of the other in a stack, and then folded them in thirds. It was nice and compact, but nothing wrinkled!

I did the same for my black slacks and jeans! I ended up having room leftover using this method!

I chose to bring the clothing that I did knowing that in Paris, we had access to a washing machine. I wanted to be able to get to Paris without doing a lick of laundry. Alas it was so darned hot in Italy, that didn’t happen. In Florence I sent out my jeans (let NO ONE kid you – jeans are worn all over Italy and France! I wore my jeans 9 out of 17 days!) and two summer weight shirts to dry cleaning.

Hubby and I took the gamble of only wearing one pair of shoes, and not bringing a second pair. Since we decided to do this, I spent a LOT of time trying to locate the best walking shoes I could possibly find. I ended up ordering the Munro American Women’s Traveler Slip-On. I messed around with three different orders in various lengths and widths, and then ended up finding a pair of Aravon Faith Shoes (by new balance) in the back of my closet!! I kept the Munro American Women’s Traveler Slip-On because they are comfy, but those Aravon Faith Shoes were excellent. They went with jeans, black pants you name it! I did make an effort to break them in before we left as I wanted to be absolutely certain they were comfortable, and would not pinch or hurt me feet. They did not.

Hubby decided to go a different route with his pack job.

2 polo shirts
3 light long sleeve
4 white undershirts
2 colored t-shirts (that could be an undershirt or by itself)
2 slacks
4 pair socks
4 handkerchiefs
1 jacket
Clothesline, cloths pins and laundry soap packets
collapsible suitcase (which we never used)
my spare camera lens in a case.

That was what he packed in his carry-on bag. In his personal carry on, he packed his laptop, toiletry bag, electronics bag (we had cell phones that worked in Europe as well as European electrical adapters), and computer.

Hubby packed only hand-washable wicking clothing. He did laundry every few days, and waited for his stuff to dry.

He also wore a security vest the entire trip. This kept all our paperwork together and kept his hands free. Security vests were a VERY popular tourist item. We saw them all over Italy. We did not see them in Paris.

Hubby packed his clothing together for each day in a bundle, having a few shirts leftover.

He then laid his slacks on top of one another, the shirts, put his bundle of clothes in the middle of it, and then folded around the middle.

He had tons of room leftover in his suitcase since he took half the clothing I did, but his method only works if you are willing to do your laundry by hand in the hotel room (I was not willing), take the time to find a laundromat (I was not willing), or paid for dry cleaning (which I did in a pinch, but he couldn’t as he had wicking clothing).

Hubby and I were both very pleased with our pack-jobs. I wore everything except one pair of slacks and one shirt. I just didn’t need them. The jeans helped though as I re-wore them several time before washing. If I had not brought a pair of jeans I would have had to have dry cleaned more often.

I was skeptical at first whether or not I could get through 17 days in Europe using only a carry-on. If you could see me pack for a cruise (big suitcase, garment bag, purse and computer bag), you would understand my doubts. However, after having done it, I sincerely doubt we will ever go to Europe any other way.

When our plane issues arose, it was simple for Hubby and I to reschedule our flight after we deplaned and to move up a flight instead of incur a long wait in the airport terminal. We didn’t have checked luggage to worry about, so everything was smoother. We were easily able to walk from the train station to our hotel in Sorrento and in Florence. Our trip from Florence to Paris meant we needed to take a local train, get on a train in Florence to Milan, then we took a train from Milan to Lausanne Switzerland where we caught our connection to Paris. All of this was done with ease since we were not struggling with luggage.

I highly recommend not over-packing and giving a carry-on only suitcase a try on your next trip to Europe, or anywhere really! I am definitely glad we did it.

Edited to add (10/24/19): Hubby and I just got back from SIX weeks in Italy where we only used carry-on luggage. When we told people, most of the male reaction was “smart!” and most of the women were agast! “HOW can you only use carry-on!?”

Honestly? It was pretty easy. My bag this time was a little different as I packed more bras, more shirts (we were going from hot to cold), and I bought a travel camera (the Canon PowerShot) instead of packing my big camera and lenses.

Since we were gone for six weeks, we of course, needed to do laundry. I purchased some laundry detergent sheets They worked very well, were lightweight, and were fabric softening too. We did find laundry sheets on display in several grocery stores in Italy. I am not sure if I would chance it, but it is possible.

The one thing I am not certain I would do again is not bring a second pair of sturdy footwear for this long a period (six weeks versus two weeks). Folded ballet flats are all well and good for going out, but Hubby had me walking between 5 and 10 MILES per day (average was 7.5 miles), and one pair of sneakers got a tad rough.

I did have enough extra space to purchase several summer weight shirts and a summer weight slacks (the temperatures were running 10-15 degrees above normal in September!).

Where did we go in Italy? Turin, Rapallo, Florence, Sorrento, Sicily (Palermo and Taormina), Rome, Venice, Verona, and Bologna. Some stops were for 5-6 days, some only 3 days. Having carry-on only made train travel easy. It also made life VERY easy in Venice (no cars, no bikes, you are walking and moving your suitcases up and down a million stair bridges).

We next go back to Europe in February and March (Spain this time). Since we are staying in the same place for five weeks, I was thinking about taking a larger suitcase, but we are also taking a side trip to Morroco so once again, I’d like the ease of a small suitcase (I weighed in at under 25#s this time!). It will be carry-on only again for me!

• Disclosure: the links in this post may contain affiliate links.

• For more of the Travel posts on Ann’s Entitled Life, click here.

• If you enjoyed this post, be sure to sign up for the Ann’s Entitled Life weekly newsletter, and never miss another article!