Go Somewhere Good

Travel

Sandisk slotRadio is sponsoring another present for you. This time I put together a travel comfort kit with some of the things I find useful on trips, which is convenient, because I’m typing this on an airplane right now. If these look familiar, it’s because lots of them are up on Mighty Goods, where I keep all my favorite stuff.

If you win, it’s like God telling you to quit your job and wait tables in Europe. Right? Right.

F1 Two-Zip Dopp

This dopp kit is my very favorite travel thing, and it looks like Flight 001 is discontinuing them. Insanity. The bag is attractive but not twee, well-made, waterproof (so exploding hair goo won’t stain your clothes), and hyper functional. The whole top opens up, so you can see everything at a glance rather than digging around in your bag. Plus, I love how the zippers are attached to the handle, so you can close the bag and throw it in your suitcase in one swoop.

Flight 001 this is madness. Bring back the two-zip dopp, I implore you.

Inside the dopp, I packed a set of nap-anywhere products:

1. Earplugs
2. Eye Shade
3. Travel Pillow

It’s the red-eye trifecta. My preferred eye-shade and neck pillow are also both from Flight 001:

F-1 Night Shade

The one I picked is red, to match your dopp kit. Much more comfy than the crappy ones you pick up at the drugstore.

Comfort Tavel Pillow

I used to travel with one of those cushy neck pillows, but it was impossible to stow conveniently, and a pain to wash. That makes for one filthy pillow, and airplane filth is the reason Purell was invented. Unfortunately, Purell just makes your pillow all sticky.

I switched to inflatable pillows, and have found that the only comfy ones are the ones with knit or fleece covers. This one is fleece, which is a bit bulkier, but more cushy — also, easy to wash.

SlotRadio

As you might expect, our sponsor threw in a Slot Radio, which is an MP3 player that comes pre-loaded with music. It’s tiny, and it’s a time-saver if you want some new music for your trip, but don’t feel like staying up until 3 a.m. downloading stuff.

Travel Candle

For the hotel room, I always like to have a travel candle with me. It dispels funk, and calms you down, but also helps you make scent memories, so the smell of that candle will always remind you of your trip. I love when that happens.

I got you a Botanicus candle in Champagne, because it smelled good. I don’t really have a brand preference when in comes to travel candles, but if you do please tell me in comments. I’m into that stuff.

A Dagoba Organic Chocolate Bar, New Moon

I have to travel with snacks or I get hangry when my blood sugar dips. Dagoba makes satisfying, organic chocolate bars. They’re rich enough that you may actually be satisfied with a few squares. Or you can have it for breakfast. I’m not judging.

Pamela Barsky Luggage Tags

These happy luggage tags have saved me from taking the wrong luggage countless times. The best one reads, “This is not your bag.” Though I keep waiting for someone with the exact same luggage to have the exact same tag.

And that’s it! All right travelers, leave a comment telling me where you would go if you could go anywhere at all, and I’ll use the random number thingie to figure out who gets the goods. I’ll announce the winner this Friday. If you win, you have to go teach English in Vietnam. That’s the deal.

Published

936 thoughts on “Go Somewhere Good”

  4. I have been loving your life list. Thanks for sharing! I have always wanted to leave in one direction and come home from another, a little ’round the world action. 🙂

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  5. Far, far away…So, many choices. First on the list is Turkey, then Greece, Italy and then France. A girl has to have a dream, right?

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  6. NY for the US Open in Sept. followed by at least two weeks in England/Scotland/Ireland!!! Make it happen!

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  7. Ever since we saw Michael Palin’s amazing travel adventures, we have wanted to go around the world on a container ship. The other day, we finally found a way to do it; now, we just have to save up for ten years!

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  8. I’m such an Anglophile – I want to spend an entire summer in the countryside of England, walking, pub-hopping, and taking in the sites. Then, Christmas in London.

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  9. I’ve always wanted to go to Egypt. My husband and I had hoped to go there for our honeymoon, but because of government rules and regs (he’s from England and moved to the States for me.. awww) we couldn’t. So I think I’d like to go there to have a second honeymoon.

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  10. Hmmmm… where would I go… I think the answer to that question changes on a daily basis for me – today I’m gonna go with IRELAND!

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  13. When I stop to think about where I’d like to go, I realise how many countries I still want to visit. I’d really like to take my husband to Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Southern Spain to show him where I used to live as a student but ultimately, I’d like to holiday in the Maldives in one of those wooden villas on stilts over the ocean. It just seems to idyllic, peaceful and so so beautiful.

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  15. i would fly myself and my best friend to some amazing beach with azure water and umbrellas in all the drinks. 🙂

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  18. My favorite scented candle was discontinued about five seconds after I discovered it. Typical.

    If I could go anywhere at all, I’d go to Sicily.

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  19. Fabulous loot! I have a list: my home is South Africa and most of my family are there so that’s always my first choice. My sister is in Australia so that is a tie.
    I fantasize about Italy and Greece though as my grandmother was Italian and my grandfather was Greek. I must, must, must go there.

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  20. The husband and I want to go lots of places, I think he wants to go back to Aruba which is where we got engaged. I would also settle with Hawaii, Greece, Turkey, France, Italy…

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  21. My husband and I stumbled upon the Adventure Tripssection of the REI website the other day, and hoooo boy am I in trouble now. We found a 19 day trip tthrough Nepal. I would totally take this trip tomorrow – it sounds like such a radically different cultural experience. You basically hike for most of the trip and have an opportunity to visit Everest Base Camp, visit spiritual temples and possibly even stay with the Sherpas in their homes! And holy moly, it’s cheap. But then we looked at the airfare, which literally costs as much as the actual 19 day trip.

    I could write a Mighty Life List of 1000 places I’d like to visit, though. This is just the most recent addition.

    P.S. I’m insanely jealous of your Intel Fairy Godmother and have spent too much time recently pondering how I can either become A) Independently wealthy or B) Maggie Mason. At any rate, I’m enjoying living vicariously through you!

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  27. Italy, I think. Like many of the other commenters I was inspired by your Life List to start one of my own. Here’s to dreaming big!

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  28. I have a trip planned to London in September but I’ve always dreamt of teaching English in Vietnam. Thanks for all the great ideas !

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  29. english in vietnam, huh? how convenient, seeing as i speak english and actually want to travel to vietnam more than anywhere else. i would be thrilled to be there because it’s beautiful and my husband would be thrilled to be there because he could have pho for breakfast, pho for lunch and pho for dinner and in between, he could snack on pho.

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  30. Cork City, Ireland. I spent a year there in college and there’s a particular pub on a tiny street near the bus station that pulls the best pint of Murphy’s stout (made in Cork) that I’ve ever had.

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  31. Vis, Croatia — it is a little island off the coast. Hardly anyone speaks English and there are no tourists. It’s heaven!

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  32. I would love to go to Turkey, although I don’t think I could go to Eastern Europe and confine myself to one country. Now would be the pefect time, before we have our second child in December!

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  33. Oddly enough, I am an English teacher, so English in Vietnam wouldn’t be outside of my comfort zone. 😉

    If I could go anywhere, I’d go to Fiji. Preferably somewhere with a private grass hut where I could just be for a few weeks.

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  35. Everywhere in Greece! Then jaunt over to Phuket, and Thailand. And then, as required, I’d stop in Vietnam to teach english. On the way home, I “stay over” in Europe for a couple months. Where in Europe? Who needs a plan, beyond knowing it’ll be a couple months?

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  38. The next trip we want to do is Peru, to see machu picchu. But going to Vietnam is on the list too, so I am sure I could squeeze in some english lessons while there.

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  39. Great stuff! Hands down, I would take my family to Paris. I salivate just thinking about it. sigh….

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  40. I’d be flying to Iceland with my husband, as opposed to painting the bathroom in the heat of the South right now….

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  42. Gosh, I have so much student loan debt it’s prevented me from doing the travel I’d love to do. So, I have to say, I’d start by going to Paris.

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  44. Do I have to only choose one place to go???

    Hmm, maybe China. My fiance’s grandmother is from there, so I’d love to see where she grew up.

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  45. If I could go anywhere in the world I would go to Paris. I have dreamt about going there all my life and I wish to be able to visit with my darling husband some day. After watching the movie “Amelie” I knew that Paris was the ultimate destination.

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  48. Sad but true….I would take my children to Disney World. We have been saving in change in our piggy banks for a while now.

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  50. There are soooo many places I would go, but given the chance, the first place would probably be England…

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