3 Things I Learned During My First Solo Trip

My long weekend in Paris this summer was the first time I ever traveled solo, and I learned a lot within that short span of time. I had a lot of questions before I left, which I can assume are the same nervous jitters most people get when they travel by themselves for the first time, especially to a foreign city. Starting in Paris was a good "intro" to solo travel, so if I ever travel by myself again, I have a good impression of it.

3 Things I Learned During My First Solo Trip

1. Do your research

I read travel blogs, looked up places I was going on TripAdvisor and Yelp, and skimmed a couple guide books. Since I didn't do any formal tours of the city, I looked up a quick history of the main attractions I'd be walking past to have a little background knowledge. Most importantly, I found quite a few tips and tricks over TripAdvisor and Yelp about where I was going - like cutting my time in line at The Louvre in half by going in the underground entrance! Research also helped me be aware of the tourist scams so I could avoid them.

2. Walking is the best way to see the city

I lucked out in Paris with beautiful sunny weather every day, which made walking everywhere enjoyable. One morning I got up early to make an hour-long trek from my hotel to Notre Dame. I loved seeing the city slowly wake up and the peacefulness of walking along the Seine. I took a couple wrong turns (but quickly found my way!) and stumbled across cool things I never would've found, had I taken a cab or public transportation.

3. People are friendly

The hotel staff was very friendly, because, well, they're a hotel staff. They were so nice and gave me tips and showed me scenic routes to walk on a map. But even out in the city, people were friendly too. If I had to ask a Parisian something, of course I would try to attempt my best to say it in French first, or at least ask them in French if they spoke English. I never experienced any of the stereotypical "Parisian snottiness," everyone was friendly. I met a number of other people traveling as well who were from all over the world. Smiling is the universal language.

Paris in the summer was a great intro to solo travel for a number of reasons: it's already a pretty safe city, and since it's high season, there are plenty of people/tourists out and about; it happened to be warm and sunny, which was great for walking (and saving money on not using public transport); and there is so much to do in the city that you're bound to avoid boredom and loneliness. I would definitely suggest Paris as an intro to solo travel.

Why It's Worth It To Get Up Early When You Travel

This article was originally published at College Tourist. Click here to read the full article!

When you travel somewhere new, it’s easy to just want to sleep in a few extra hours and lounge in your bed before taking on a new city. Though there are a number of advantages to waking up early when you travel – here are five of them:

1. Banish jet lag faster

If you have a nasty change in time zones, it’s tempting to keep hitting snooze on your alarm, but if you force yourself to get up and outside, your body will start to adjust from being out in the sunlight. The faster you beat jet lag, the more time you spend enjoying your destination overall.

2. Enjoy a longer and more leisurely breakfast

Getting up earlier gives you more time to sit down and enjoy a meal without the stress of being in a rush to get somewhere on time. Why eat the leftover pretzels from the airplane as you head out the door when you can eat what the locals do instead – and have time to enjoy it?

Click here to read the rest of the list!

How To Pack For 2 Weeks With Just a Carry-On

I was recently in Europe for about 2.5 weeks (18 days). While the first few days in Paris were just for fun (and my first solo travel experience), I then went to Vienna, Prague, and Berlin for a work trip. I needed to pack both work and casual clothes, my shoes, toiletries, makeup, laptop, and camera, and leave a little room for souvenirs.

Checking a large bag is a hassle, plus it's heavy to drag through the airport. Also, a multi-country trip means a lot of transportation, and a large bag is just annoying to pack and re-pack. Therefore, I packed for my whole two and a half weeks with just a carry-on, and want to show you that you can too!

First off, my carry-on is the largest size for standard American flights. Since all my flights allowed for one free checked bag up to 50 lbs, my carry-on easily fit the size and weight requirements to check it.

I didn't have to check my carry-on, but going hands-free through the airport is so nice. All I had to hang onto was my Longchamp. Since I was traveling by myself, this made things like going to the bathroom or buying food at a crowded kiosk much easier since I didn't have to lug a roller bag around the airport.

How did I do it?

Space Bags

Once I started using Space Bags, I can't believe I traveled for so many years without them. They come in a number of sizes, and I was able to fit two carry-on sized Space Bags into my suitcase. You can find them at Target or similar stores!

Roll your clothes

Even with the Space Bags, I still rolled all my clothes. Rolling clothes takes up the least amount of space. If your clothes are wrinkled once you get there, use the hotel iron. No iron? Hang your clothes in the bathroom while you're showering to steam out the wrinkles.

Travel sized toiletries

I used to always bring my big toothpaste tube with me on trips. I don't know why I did that, because I had a number of random mini tubes I got for free from the dentist over the years. Two mini tubes of toothpaste lasted my whole 2.5 weeks, and I just threw them away before I left. I did the same with my mini shampoo bottle, body wash, etc.

Be realistic about what you'll actually wear

I brought four pairs of shoes: 2 pairs of flats, 1 pair of boat shoes, and 1 pair of sandals. I love heels, but knew that with the cobblestone streets + jet lag + hours of walking, I wouldn't wear them. So I didn't bring heels. I also exercise every day at home, but was about to be working 15 hour days for the majority of my trip, which left very little time for exercise. So I didn't bring athletic shoes or gym clothes.

There you have it! How I was able to fit everything I needed for 2 weeks into carry-on. Have more tips? Leave 'em in the comments!

What It's Like To Drive From Seattle to Phoenix

Two full days of driving, with a day of rest in between. That's a lot of traveling, especially considering I had just flown from Berlin-Paris-Seattle and got back to Seattle only 18 hours before we started driving. Here was the route we took:

Image Screenshot from: Google Maps

Driving Details:

Day One - Seattle, WA to Park City, UT: 7:30am-midnight

Day Two - Stayed in Park City

Day Three - Park City, UT to Phoenix, AZ: 8am-9pm

Washington: mountains and evergreen trees until it gets to farmland 

WA

ID 2

ID 1

Idaho: Farms, nothingness, white water rafting on the Salmon River, and some brown hills

ID sign

ID canola fields

id hills

ID salmon river rafting

ID white water rafting salmon river

Utah: Refreshing to drive on an interstate highway instead of state roads. Gorgeous drive near Park City, where we stayed the night. Southern Utah started to look more and more like Arizona.

utah mountain resort

UT

UT canyon drivess

UT canyon drive

Southern Utah

utah red rocks

Arizona: Lake Powell hovering over the border (it has a crazy shape if you look it up on a map), lots of red rocks, these weird grey hills that made it look like we were on a different planet....and some more nothing until we hit Flagstaff and then Phoenix.

Arizona state line sign

Lake Powell edie

DSC_0840

somewhere in arizona, usa

"If We Were Meant To Stay In Place, We Would Have Roots Instead Of Feet."

During my senior year of college, I started the post-college job search early. I took my resume and cover letter to the career center on campus to make them perfect. I got in touch with mentors in big cities all over the country to network and get tips on my job search. I applied to a ton of jobs and did interviews. I even made business cards...

Though when I went to a practice speed interview session during the spring of my senior year, one of the interviewers asked me what I wanted to do with my public relations/marketing degree. I said some horrible rambling answer like, "I'm interested in traditional PR, but I really like the creative side of marketing, and also social media, I could do events too, or advertising, or magazines. I'm also looking for jobs in Southern California, Arizona, Texas, or North Carolina. Maybe New York, but I don't know since it gets cold there. Ha!" The interviewer's feedback was to focus in on one thing and to know exactly what I wanted. Because, according to my answer, I had no idea what I wanted exactly. But what did I want?As graduation got closer, I started getting stressed about finding a job and the perfect place to live after graduation. I was open to moving to pretty much any big city in the US, but that would require money to move, and a job to get the money to move. I was afraid of the unknowns and being tied down to a single city.

One day I was going through my study abroad photos and the travel bug within me started acting up. That was it. I wanted to travel. I wanted to go back to Europe. What time is better than right after graduation? I didn't want to be tied down to anything - not right away, at least. This Rachel Wolchin quote really resonates with that moment:

"If we were meant to stay in place, we would have roots instead of feet"

There's nothing wrong with finding a place to start your life after college, but I knew that there was so much more to see and to learn from the world and I wanted to take advantage of the timing to travel before settling down.

My parents were definitely not on board, since I didn't have much money saved up to take a big trip, nor would they fund something like that. They told me that, well, if I found a job in Europe where I could travel and make money, then that would be a better plan.

And that is exactly what I did.

I ended up getting a job in Europe where I lived in Italy and traveled to different countries almost every weekend. I was doing marketing and tour guiding, learned a ton from the experience, and was able to improve my skills in an international setting. I found a job that I loved, and while it took a lot of time and dedication to make it happen, I didn't settle for less. I finally knew what I wanted - to travel and inspire others to travel too. (And I still got to put my degree "to use.")There are so many ways to travel after graduation, and if it's something you truly want, then figure out a way to make it happen. Whether you're just traveling for fun, working, or volunteering abroad, there are a number of ways to do it. If you can find something that aligns with your career path - awesome. If traveling makes you reconsider your original chosen career path - even more awesome. Your 20s are the time to figure out who you are and what you want, and for those of you with travel dreams, that can't happen when you settle for something you're truly not interested in.

This was originally written as a guest post by Ally Archer on Alter Apathy.

Photos: We Heart It

Amazing Mountain Resort in Utah

On my way to Arizona, my dad and I stopped at Hotel Park City for the night. We drove 16 hours from Seattle to Park City (near Salt Lake City) and arrived around midnight. The view that greeted me as I opened the blinds the following morning was absolutely amazing.

I'm not a skiier/snowboarder, so I've never really been this close to mountains with ski trails. (And I have no idea if "ski trails" makes any sense at all. Ha!) The emerald green hills were breathtaking and I can only imagine how pretty they would be under a blanket of snow.

We stayed in one of the cottage rooms, which is basically like a small furnished apartment. There is a master bedroom/bathroom, living room, kitchen stocked with dishes, utenstils, and a blender, a second bathroom, two TVs, a washer and dryer, and a private patio with a hot tub. There is a spa, fitness room (group fitness classes included), a couple restaurants, and a golf course. If I ever make it back to Utah, this is where I'd want to stay.

This article was not sponsored by Hotel Park City. All opinions are my own.