August 31, 2010 | Fuzzies, Gadgets & Stuff, Solo Adventures

Wonder if The Travel Bloggers Show will Look Like January 2010's SATW Travel Writing & Photography Institute in Orlando.

I don’t ask for much but in order for me to add another bragging right to my repertoire, I need your help. Pretty please?

Here are the deets: I’m attending The Travel Bloggers Show in Orlando in less than two weeks and the travel blogging social media site Tripatini is the primary event sponsor. They’re holding a contest for registered attendees to drive traffic to a single blog post. The winner receives $250, runner up a certificate for dinner in Orlando. Both sweet! Of course, the winner will be named the Best of Show Blogger, aka, a travel blogger superstar!

I need you to visit this blog post called “Forgive Me World, I Am an Irresponsible Traveler.” That’s all you have to do. No registering required although it would be nice if you have some feedback to leave.

Yes, you’ll recognize the content from this blog but I thought it was one of my better posts and deserved to be revived.

Thank you in advance for your support and if you forgot, just click this link here. See? It’s that easy!

August 28, 2010 | Disclosure, Fuzzies, Gadgets & Stuff

Willow Picnic Basket - One of the Best Gifts I've Received

One of the coolest gifts I’ve ever received was a picnic basket and I say it’s one of the best gifts because it embodies the traditional road tripping traveler. (Thank you Mom & Dad!) Who doesn’t like stopping during a long journey to take a break and enjoy your favorite road tripping foods? Everyone doesn’t have a budget to stop at every fab little hometown eats and it’s very tempting to make a stop at the Golden Arches. Bringing along your snacks and meals on a road trip is usually good on the budget, body and soul. My favorite road tripping food is dates stuffed with goat cheese. Yum! (more…)

August 8, 2010 | Fuzzies, Gadgets & Stuff

Planely Speaking by Bobby Laurie

There are guides for just about everything ranging from The Bible for Dummies to The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Decluttering. Recently I read and enjoyed the blog-to-book called Planely Speaking: Inflight Insight from Thirty Thousand Feet, which should be called Reasons to Appreciate Your Flight Attendant.

The book is written by flight attendant (or when using air industry lingo, “FA”) Bobby Laurie, whom I had the pleasure of meeting during TBEX in New York earlier this summer.
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June 24, 2010 | Disclosure, Fuzzies, Gadgets & Stuff, Solo Adventures

TBEX ‘10 (Travel Blog Exchange) is this weekend in New York and I’m heading out in the morning. My killer cats are guarding my pad so don’t get any ideas about stealing my Duran Duran LP collection.

I suspect there will be some late nights meaning not much sleep so I’m glad I’ll be taking along Naturopathica’s Vitamin K Brightening Eye Serum to relieve travel-tired eyes. I’m putting it to the test and believe me, I need some eye relief.

I’ll be blogging and tweeting from the road so stay tuned!

FTC Disclosure: Naturopathica sent me sample of their eye serum to test and the opinions about the product are my own.

May 31, 2010 | Disclosure, Fuzzies, Gadgets & Stuff

Review of Sand Gone Sand Remover

Being Memorial Day and having the day off, I headed to Englewood Beach on Manasota Key, Florida, to worship the sun (with ample sunscreen) and put the sand remover product called Sand Gone to the test. Here’s the rundown on Sand Gone: it’s a dry powder made from natural ingredients. It comes with a soft buff to puff the powder on the skin and it claims the sand will come right off and leave skin soft. Really?
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May 20, 2010 | Disclosure, Fuzzies, Gadgets & Stuff

Support Tampa Bay's 2018/2022 FIFA World Cup Bid

Let’s go, Tampa Bay! The Gulf coast Florida destination is a finalist to host the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cup. Although I admit my knowledge of soccer doesn’t extend beyond my one year in little league, Pele, David Beckham, and knowing what Manchester United is, if Tampa Bay lands the World Cup, it’s a very big deal. The economic impact for my region of Florida would be significant as well as that for the United States. Los Angeles hosted the 1994 World Cup which generated $623 million for the metro area – that’s a lot of money!

Why Tampa Bay for the World Cup?
Tampa Bay is an ideal location to host the World Cup with its mild weather, abundance and selection of accommodations and dining, fantastic airport (Tampa International Airport– TIA) and a sports-minded community supporting professional teams Tampa Bay Rays, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Sign this petition to support Tampa Bay’s 2018/2022 World Cup bid.

Support Tampa Bay's 2018/2022 FIFA World Cup Bid

Look Humorously Fashionable During the World Cup
If you’re one of the lucky ones attending this year’s World Cup in South Africa (I personally know of at least one person), get your funny on with one of these soccer tshirts available through my friends at Cafepress.

Funny Soccer TShirt on CafePress.com

I sincerely love the variety of Cafepress funny tshirts and have no idea who the comedic people are behind the humorous quips. Well, guess I probably do, they’re everyday people like you and me who have a great quote or concept and use this platform to share it with the masses. I have a few of my own phrases I would love to sell and perhaps by the end of this year, I’ll actually do it rather than talking about it. And who knows, if Tampa Bay wins the 2018/2022 World Cup bid, perhaps they’ll be selling similar soccer tshirts on their site.

FTC Disclosure: Thank you to Cafepress.com for supporting my traveling habit!

May 19, 2010 | Disclosure, Fuzzies, Gadgets & Stuff

I’m a geeky traveler and don’t leave home without essentials as digital camera, iPhone, Flip video camera, GPS, laptop and all the cords required to keep everything juiced up. I also like to travel with carry-on bags so having lightweight luggage is key, since it reduces my “Grapes of Wrath” appearance and saves my back. (more…)

May 18, 2010 | Fuzzies, Gadgets & Stuff

Chocomize Chocolate Bars

Ever have a Solo Travel Girl Spice Chocolate Bar? How about a Solo Travel Girl Quirky Chocolate Bar? No, I’m not getting into the chocolate bar business but recently tried out Chocomize, a website where visitors can customize their chocolate bar pretty much anyway they like.

I’m not talking about customizing a wrapper or hard candy shell like personalizing messages on M&Ms. This is actually selecting your Belgium chocolate (dark, milk or white) and ingredients for the interior and exterior of the bar. A message can be added to the bar and the candy’s customized name can be placed on the creation’s label. (more…)

Fuzzies, Gadgets & Stuff, Solo with Others

Look down the sidewalk! He’s a bird, he’s a plane, no, he’s Electron Boy! During my trip to the Pacific Northwest last month one of the most amazing experiences I had was seeing superhero Electron Boy battle evil and save a group trapped in an elevator at the Seattle Space Needle when all I was expecting was a really groovy view of the city.

When not combating evil with the power of light and saving the world, Electron Boy is 13-year-old Erik Martin who is living with liver cancer and his lifelong wish of becoming a superhero came true because of the amazing work of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. If you’re not familiar with what Make-A-Wish does, they enhance the lives of children living with life-threatening medical conditions by granting wishes. And when they grant the wish, the whole family is involved.

On April 29, hundreds of Bellevue and Seattle volunteers helped orchestrate Erik’s wish come true. They ranged from a professional soccer team to a police department and adoring fans to Spider-Man. Rather than regurgitate the entire story, the Seattle Times has a great recap (Local Boy with Cancer Turns into a Superhero for a Day)  and Make-A-Wish has posted a video.

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May 11, 2010 | Fuzzies, Gadgets & Stuff

2009 Saturn AURA Hybrid

I’m a Saturn gal and was crushed when I learned GM was discontinuing the line. In January of this year I purchased a 2009 Saturn AURA Hybrid, my third Saturn vehicle, and absolutely love it. XM Satellite Radio came as a three-month trial (as it does in all GM vehicles) and I admit  to being hooked. XM Radio is fabulous during long road trips and I spend quite a bit of time on the road. My “new” vehicle already has 5,500 miles.

The XM people have been calling me to purchase a subscription after the trial period and last night I finally did, using the postcard mailed to me with my special radio code. Was all excited this morning and hoped to tune into CNN on the drive to work, or maybe some old school ’80s tunes but all I kept getting was “unauthorized channel”. (more…)