Editor. Writer. Keeper of Lists.
To quote a line from the greatest air travel documentary of all time, I like my coffee like I like my men.* That is to say, sweet and easily located in the morning.
Which means that travel, with its inevitable trek down to a drafty/stuffy hotel breakfast room to forage for that first cup, which most likely is going to be sludgy, small and lukewarm, is not a prospect that appeals. Continue reading “Have kettle, will travel”
Just got back from a week exploring Zaragoza and the surrounding area in the Spanish region of Aragon and I thought I’d report in on things that worked and didn’t work, wardrobe wise.
I had a challenge going in because I was looking at temperatures from the 40s to high 70s with light rain as well as occasions ranging from tramping through vineyards to city sightseeing to relatively fancy dinners.
I did not entirely meet that challenge.
The setting: Paris in summer.
The challenge: Staying comfortable without descending into a hell of rumpled athletic wear that serves mainly to underscore how deeply un-athletic one, in fact, is.
The answer: Pretty much Eileen Fisher.
Yes, yes, I know. You think it’s an old lady brand specializing in muumuus and wrinkly linen shirts. You are wrong! In recent years the brand has grown to embrace all sizes, including all you adorable little petites with your XXXS derrieres, and offers clean, architecturally inspired shapes in natural materials, many of them organic.
Here’s a summary of core pieces I took on my recent trip to Paris, Continue reading “What to wear in Paris, Summer edition”
After two rather trying years of dealing with AT&T’s clunky website and extremely expensive out-of-country rates, I happily switched to T-Mobile when my contract ended this April. I now pay $50 a month for up to 1GB of data, with 4G where available. And that’s it. You can use it outside the U.S. wherever T-Mobile has an agreement with local networks and you won’t pay a surcharge for having the audacity to venture abroad. No checking usage incessantly, no havering over whether to add text messaging while traveling, or global messaging, or jumping through all the other little hoops so beloved by dear old Ma Bell. (Yes, I’m that old.) I land in my destination country, turn on the phone and away we go.
Making an actual phone call will cost more abroad than at home, but since like most people, I never use my telephone to actually, you know, telephone, that’s OK by me.If I have to discuss business I’ll wait until I get to a wifi zone and Skype, or send a text, or, in an emergency just bite the bullet and pay the $15 or whatever. It’s still better than routinely forking over $75 every time I fly.
Perhaps you’re wondering. Yeah, but does T-Mobile have the same kind of reach as AT&T? No, it doesn’t. On the other hand, while I like to be able to check email on the road, I am not the kind of person whose work is so incredibly vital that it CANNOT wait until I get to a hotel or cafe with wifi. I mean, people do need to know the latest trends in flavored vodka, but not that badly. .
In this column I’m going to report my experiences using T-Mobile to give you some ideas if you’re thinking of making the switch.
Canada, November 2015: Visited Winnipeg and it was as smooth and seamless as if I were still back home in Berkeley.
France, September 2017: Great service once again in Paris. Honestly, it’s almost like being at home.
July 2015: Good service in Angouleme, all the villages in the Cognac region, and, most importantly, great service throughout Paris. Smug factor: Dangerous. I have zero sense of direction so it was fantastic being able to tap in my next location and stride off. (Note: Paris is pickpocket heaven so if you do this, do try not to wave your phone around, best plan is to memorize your marching orders and tuck the phone away. If you must keep it out, have it firmly clutched in your hand and keep all other bags zipped and buckled up and slung in front of your stomach where you can see if a stray hand comes a-calling.)
Austria, Innsbruck area (but out in the country) November 2017, worked, text/phone, some Internet, but only 2G, not great for Google maps.
Germany, November 2017, good reception in Munich and to the Austrian border. 4G and LTE often.
Ireland, September 2015. Worked great in Dublin, Galway, Tullamore and even the Aran Islands.
Italy, September 2016. Dodgy service in Venice, not much use tbh. Ditto in the prosecco country around Treviso.
Mexico, December 2015: Went to Guadalajara, drank tequila, used T-mobile, all was tranquilo.
Scotland, Spring 2015: Bit of a mixed bag. Got 3G out by rural Loch Lomond, and a faint trickle in remote Islay but Glasgow service was, as our Brit friends say, rubbish. Text still worked and lots of hotels/cafes had free wifi so not a huge problem.
Spain, March 2017, worked somewhat in Zaragoza, although not the best, esp. for directions. Went back to mapping it out with hotel wifi and going from there.
May 2015. Worked like a charm in Valencia, Mallorca and Barcelona. Cannot tell you how smug I felt as I watched AT&T slaves anxiously checking their data usage.
And here are some general tips to keep your trusty phone from turning on you like a zombie pod person. (Zombie iPod person?)
Go into settings, look for “cellular data” and then click the off button for all but the most crucial apps, like mail. That way you never have to worry about having some silly notification from Candy Crush eat up your data.
Turn off wifi when you are just walking around. This will save battery life tremendously and you can always turn it on when you think there might be some wifi to be had.
If you are stuck with another carrier and have bought an international data package, go into cellular data usage and hit reset, which will take the stats down to zero and you will be able to easily tell if you’re close to using up the amount of data you bought.
Now that I have my 1GB of roaming data, I don’t worry about this third point so much, but if you want to be extra cautious, go into settings and turn off “data roaming” most of the time, turning the feature back on only when you want to activate your 3G or 4G.
Cheers, chattily.
You’re visiting the Scottish Highlands in spring/summer — lucky you — and you’re wondering what to pack. Let me help you out here.
Two words: rain gear.
I just got back from Islay, a beautiful island in the Hebrides and, boy, was I glad I took my L.L. Bean rain pants. The weather wasn’t particularly cold but it rained like crazy and not dainty, I’ll just pop open my designer umbrella type of rain, either. Also: wind.
Here’s what worked for me: Continue reading “What to Wear: Scottish Highlands edition”
1. Passport. Here’s the link to the U.S. government page.
2. As always, pack as lightly as possible. If you can get everything into a carry-on and shoulder bag, do. If you are a lady, think black knit and roll everything up, stuffing underwear into shoes and then putting shoes in a bag to keep things nice. If you are a guy, what are you worrying about? Your standard chinos, Continue reading “Top 10 Tips on Traveling to Chile”
Somewhere around hour 11 of a recent 26-hour marathon trip by train, plane and automobile from Soave to San Francisco I was struck by a thought: Have you ever noticed that the people hauling the biggest suitcases around airports are often not really dressed that well? Continue reading “Seven ways to straighten up and fly right”
Social events in the Napa Valley are a blast whether you’re invited to a private tasting or big bash winery party. But deciding what to wear can be a bit of a chore, especially when you get an invite with the ubiquitous yet impenetrable “Napa casual” or “Napa chic.”
Basically, Napa Casual, Napa Chic, Dressy Casual and Cocktail Attire mean you can wear pretty much whatever you like short of mud-stained jeans or a ballgown. (Although I have seen both of those at Napa Valley events.) For men, it’s time to pull out the chinos-polo-shirt combination that never fails and ladies can rely on nice dresses or pants with an interesting top (but be sure to add a shawl or jacket because wine country evenings can be quite chilly.)
For a tongue-in-cheek look at the perils of cracking the wine country dress code, I put a few questions to a man who has saved me from a few sartorial stumbles. Let’s call him the Wine Country Wardrobe Adviser.
Q. What is dressy casual?
WCWA: The result of someone who can’t make up their mind what to specify. Is it dressy or is it casual? Ultimately, it means there will be some finicky b*tch who will say, “Well, what was SHE thinking?” … and it will probably be me.
Q: What is Napa casual?
WCWA: See above. Also any “casual” designation in Napa Valley means you better know to wear flats because anything more than that will sink deep into damp golfing turf (leaving you with little turned up toes and a snapped Achilles) or powdery dry vineyard soil. Keep the latter particularly in mind when considering open toes … and French pedicures.
Q. Why is it that no matter what the dress code it always translates to “untucked Tommy Bahamas shirt” for men?
WCWA. Because men get a pass.
Q. What is the one outfit that will get you through just about any wine country occasion?
WCWA. Crisply ironed blue jeans, a white shirt and a blue blazer … men or women.
There you have it, partygoers. See you on the social circuit!
Social events in the Napa Valley are a blast whether you’re invited to a private tasting or big bash winery party. But deciding what to wear to said soiree can be a bit of a chore, especially when you get an invite with the ubiquitous yet impenetrable “Napa casual” or “Napa chic.”
Basically, Napa Casual, Napa Chic, Dressy Casual and Cocktail Attire mean you can wear pretty much whatever you like short of mud-stained jeans or a ballgown. (Although I have seen both of those are Napa Valley events.) For men, it’s time to pull out the chinos-polo-shirt combination that never fails and ladies can rely on nice dresses or pants with an interesting top (but be sure to add a shawl or jacket because wine country evenings can be quite chilly.)
For a tongue-in-cheek look at the perils of cracking the wine country dress code, I put a few questions to a man who has saved me from a few sartorial stumbles. Let’s call him the Wine Country Wardrobe Adviser. Continue reading “Dress Code Decoder: What is Napa Chic?”
Attention wine lovers: The TSA has retracted its decision saying it’s OK to carry corkscrews that have a foil-cutter attachment in your carry-on luggage.
Corkscrews never were banned (neither were knitting needles or nail clippers, despite reports you may have heard) but under previous rules you could only take the fairly useless kind with no handy blade attachment. The good models, which have a tiny little knife that swings out and can be used to cut the foil covering the top of the bottle, were a no-go. As the TSA put it in a 2009 blog post, “Fancy schmancy corkscrews with knives, no. Cheap corkscrews with no knife, yes.”
But under new rules announced in March, “fancy schmancy” corkscrews got a pass.
The change, which was to have taken effect April 25, 2013, was part of a general relaxing of rules intended to allow TSA agents to focus on the big things and stopping sweating the small stuff.
Unions representing flight attendants didn’t agree, saying even small blades could be dangerous in the wrong hands.
Here’s the complete list of things that were briefly off the prohibited list: Knives that do not lock, and have blades that are 2.36 inches or 6 centimeters or less in length and are less than 1/2 inch in width, novelty-sized and toy bats, billiard cues, ski poles, hockey sticks, lacrosse sticks and two golf clubs.
For more on what the TSA will and won’t allow, go here.