How To Sleep Well When Traveling

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There are two travel sleeping camps; those that sleep well in hotel beds and those who toss and turn. On the road, I spend part of my time in the zzzzzz camp and part of my time in the restless camp, yet the more I travel, the better I'm becoming at counting sheep. Good night!

Experience has taught me that sleeping well is probably the single most important factor in warding off potential sickness. The second I lose a lot of sleep, I'm down, which is why traveling so much, I've become a little obsessed with this topic.

A few years ago this became very clear when I spent four days in Italy before flying to Africa. After losing sleep on my flight to Italy and failing to get any shut-eye on the plywood-esque beds in the Cinque Terre, my body broke down and I got a t-e-r-r-i-b-l-e cold. Once in Nairobi, I slept for 14 hours the first night, and my health was on the up and up from there.

Here's some travel sleeping strategies I've learned over time, plus a few tips from a "getting the best sleep ever" article I recently read by Dr. Oz: 1/ Wear ear plugs. This eliminates any rogue noises you're not used to in a hotel. 2/ Check your pillow when you check-in. A bad pillow can mean the difference between a great and grappling slumber. 3/ Regulate the room's temperature before nodding off. Generally I know to set all hotel thermostats between 70-72F before bed. 4/ Wear sox to bed. According to Dr. Oz, insulating your feet regulates your body's temperature diverting heat away from your core to your feet. When your center is cooler, it slows down your metabolic processes giving your brain the internal signal it's time to drift off---or stay asleep! 5/ Ix-nay on the TV, iPad, iPhone-ay. Dr. Oz also advises turning off all screens 90 minutes before bed, because each contains a blue light which suppresses melatonin, a sleep-promoting hormone. 6/ Leave the DO NOT DISTURB sign on the door so you don't get an AM knock-knock before your body wants to wake-up. 7/ If you're in a new timezone and want to jump into it asap, light and darkness are huge factors in our body's ability to sleep and wake, so make sure your room is totally dark at night. 8/ Finally, double check your hotel alarm clock is set to off. On recent trips I've been woken up more than once due to the previous guest's setting.

[photo by @tripstyler, taken at the Hotel Monaco (which I recommend) in Portland]

Travel Beauty :: Splurge VS Steal

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{Want more travel beauty? Get your fill the third Wednesday of every month. Lauren, our travel beauty expert, is already whipping up her next concoction post!}

There are so many incredible beauty products on the market nowadays, both expensive and affordable, it's daunting to try and pick the right ones. I haven't tried every beauty product out there, but I've tested enough to pick what I think are the best beauty splurges and share where you can save money on cheaper items. Read on to find out what beauty products you should be packing on your next getaway!

1/ Face Moisturizer Steal: Oil of Olay Regenerist Lotion with SPF 15, $22.99 When I meet with beauty editors for work, we often discuss their favorite products and this one comes up over and over again. This line of anti-aging products contains incredibly effective ingredients and has the performance of a product five times its price. Using their amino-peptide and B3 complex, plus Vitamin C in a non-greasy formula, this lotion regenerates the skin's appearance and protects from UV rays.

2/ Lips Splurge: Clinique Chubby Stick Tinted Lip Balm, $19 These nourishing, moisturizing lip balms tint lips in the most gorgeous colors. Packed with mango and jojoba oils and available in 16 shades, these healthy lip colors provide hydration with a touch of shine, perfect for travel. No sharpening required---just swivel up to get more of the balm.

3/ Nail Polish Steal: Essie Nail Polish in Mademoiselle, $8 Hands-down this is the best all-around nail polish. The pretty pale pink {perfect for all trip styles} flatters every skin tone and instantly makes nails and hands look tidy, clean and put together. You don't even need two coats, and it lasts and lasts when you apply a top coat.

4/ Body Wash Steal: Caress Tahitian Renewal Silkening Body Wash, $6.50 Prepare to be transported on a trip style = beach vacation when you use this ultra hydrating body wash with its indulgent formula containing pomegranate seeds and Tahitian palm milk. Skin is left super soft and smooth---impressive for a small price tag.

More Travel Beauty Gorgeous Hair In 5 Minutes A Sky-Vival Kit The Best BB Creams For Travel How To Prolong Your Gorgeous Glow In-Flight Beauty Masks Q&A With OPI’s Founder {Nail Tips For Travel} St. Tropez’ Celebrity Tanning Expert’s Self-Tanning Secrets Q&A With Dr. Murad

[collage by @tripstyler with images sourced online]

Maui Waui :: Paia

[trip style = sun + beach]

{Editor's Note :: Last week I was in Maui investigating as many corners of the island as I could possibly fit into a one-week trip. Over eight days I stayed at five hotels ranging from beachfront boutiques to mega-glitz Goliaths. Yes, I packed light. In the next few weeks I'm going to be talking about the highlights and areas I'd recommend, starting today with Paia.}

Pa'ia [pah-ee-ah]

You don't have to go far from Maui's main airport in Kahului {OGG} to reach Paia. From the adjacent rental car pick-up area to the small town stuck between rustling sugar cane fields and a bevy of North Shore beaches, it's all of a five-minute commute.

With boho-beachy boutiques and independent ocean-to-table restaurants sprinkled over the first few miles of the Hana highway, Paia embodies day-to-day Maui devoid of big-name hotels or mega resorts. The locals are chill and health-focused, and within a few days, I feel fully educated in Island Life 101.

Paia is all about the wind-swept, salt-in-your-hair {instead of product} beachfront culture. It's not uncommon to see people dining and grocery shopping barefoot, hair still dripping from a surf session. What's so attractive about the place---aside from its natural beauty and vibe---is its confidence. This one-of-a-kind historic town doesn't try to be somewhere else, Paia is comfortable with its size, location and islandy flow, and confidence is the cornerstone of beauty.

Eat Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner in an indoor-outdoor setting, Cafe Des Amis is unique to Maui dishing up Mediterranean and Indian food, versus Hawaiian regional cuisine. My lunch above is an apple, brie and avocado crepe with a dollop of sour cream and a light salad. Also check out the Paia Fish Market, a busteling restaurant sporting large communal tables and grab-your-own cutlery, where cooks fry and flip just-caught fish and fries for a constant line-up of hungry locals.

For those who want an upscale beachfront dining experience, head to Mama's Fish House, perhaps the most famous restaurant on this island. Dripping in tiki-glam, the island eatery takes fresh catch to a new level naming the fisherman who troll local waters each morning to reel in that evening's fare. Open for lunch and dinner.

Stay Find the Paia Inn right in the center of town on a plot of palm-shaded land that reaches from Paia's trendiest shops to the beach. A favorite of celebs---one such A-lister was staying at the same time as me---and Apple execs, one of Maui's only boutique hotels caters to the type of crowd that wants to go incognito and dive into local life. Room types range from basic town-view standards to indoor-outdoor private garden suites to beach villas. Rates start at $189.

Do Two must-visit beaches near Paia are Baldwin and Ho'okipa. Baldwin is sprawling and unspoiled, perfect for a lazy afternoon sunning session or a long walk along its mostly flat shore. Hookipa is a windy and wavy world-famous stop for and windsurfers and surfers frequented by the likes of Laird Hamilton. Finally, don't leave Paia without popping your head into a few boutiques. I love the curated finds for stylish guys 'n gals at Imrie.

[photos by @tripstyler snapped while exploring Maui with Tourism Maui]

Dos & Don'ts of Airport Wear

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Sometimes my travel faux pas turn into teachable moments. This is one of those times.

But first, some questions to set the mood: When you're about to take a flight, do you think about the overall impact of the items you're wearing? How long will it take to partially disrobe before security---think jacket, scarf, sweater, shoes---and do your pants have too many zippers? And will those pants be comfortable on a six-hour flight?

A few weeks ago I traveled to BC's Wine Country, and in a Speedy Gonzales packing session, I planned my outfit based on fashion, not function.

On the way there, the culprit was a brown leather belt connected by metal bobbles. True, I could have removed it in line, but I forgot, so I took 1.5 mins to weave it out of my belt loops while everyone in the security line behind me grunted with frustration. On the way back, the culprit was a dark jean shirt with 12 metal snaps. As I was about to walk through the metal detector I sighed, knowing I'd made the wrong shirt choice. As expected, the beep called out my shirt {and 6 am outfit choice} and a touchy-feely body search ensued.

It had been about a month and a half since I'd been on a plane and my airport skills were rusty. Don't make the same mistake I did; airport attire is one of your most important packing decisions because you have to sit with your choice while traveling to the airport, going through security, waiting for your flight, putting a bag in the overhead bin and sitting for however many hours in your seat.

Good Airport Wear
- loose tops and blazers and jackets
- pants with some sort of give
- skirts
- a scarf/pashmina for warmth
- flats

Bad Airport Wear
- zippered anything
- snaps
- metal
- jewelry
- crocs or uggs
- juicy couture-like tracksuits

More Travel Fashion
Runway Style
Travel Staple :: The White Shirt
Like a Virgin
Celeb Travel Must-Haves
Airport Style

[graphic by @tripstyler with photos sourced online]

KinderHop:: Transitioning from Couple to Family Travel

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KinderHop is published once monthly and written by Trip Styler’s Seattle-based kid ‘n family writer, Keryn.

One of the biggest fears my husband Mike and I had when we first discussed having children was how much it would alter our lives. Our careers were growing, we were able to put money away, and more importantly, we were traveling. Adding kids would change everything. We would surely be relegated to theme parks and playgrounds. I wasn’t sure I was ready for that.

Some of our first trips as a couple were overseas. We went to Italy. We stayed out late eating homemade pasta and house- cured prosciutto e melone while sampling the local vintage. In Rome, we woke up whenever we wanted to in our adorable (read: cramped) hotel just mere minutes from the Trevi Fountain. I could eat gelato for breakfast if I wanted to, as long as a shop was open. Mike and I would explore the side streets of a new city for hours; he with his head in a guidebook so he would know what ruins we were seeing and me with my camera glued to my face trying to capture every moment.

Enter the children.

My oldest son Dek is now 3 years old. His little brother Ty showed up earlier this year and is now 5 months old. Have our travels changed? Yes. Is this a bad thing? No, because the change crept up slowly. After all, no one handed us a running toddler nor did we have a primary school schedule to consider. We could still travel any time we wanted to, we just had to take a baby with us.

Our first big international trip with Dek was to China. He was 14 months old. People thought we were crazy, and maybe we were. The opportunity to travel presented itself and I wasn’t going to let it pass us by just because we had a child; we would just figure it out as we went.

Yes we had new foods and shifting time zones to contend with, but just like we were parents at home, we were now parenting in a new country while exploring some of the world’s most magnificent historical sights (i.e. Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City).

The pace of our travels was the most noticeable difference. We could not rush from sight to sight. We were actually forced to stop and see where we were going. Little legs slowed us down. Dek found the most mundane things interesting, like sidewalks, or at least we thought they were mundane at first, but then realized he had stumbled across something amazing. Without him we would have missed the intricate stonework on the pathways of the Forbidden City.

It was inevitable that the way we approached our favored trip styles would change, but it didn’t have to be as drastic as we thought. Theme parks with dancing characters have not crept into our lives. I have chosen to continue to see the world through four sets of eyes rather than two. You can as well.

More KinderHop Back to School Seattle Shop 'n Stay How To Keep Kids Occupied On A Plane Family Road Tripping Tips How To Pack Less With Kids In Tow Family-Friendly Big Island Making Hotel Rooms Work With Kids

[photos by keryn]