April 14, 2025 • 43 mins
CHASE SAPPHIRE PREFERRED 100K SIGNUP BONUS!!! (THANK YOU FOR USING OUR LINK!!!)
$40 off Away Luggage (we have the "Bigger Carry On" in 4 different colors!)
Raya's Carryon backpack (affiliate link)
Duane's Men's Crossbody (affiliate link)
Raya's crossbody bag (affiliate link)
Raya's toiletry bag (affiliate link)
Raya's mini backpack (Nordace mini)
Our family of five conquered Paris, Barcelona, and Madrid over two weeks, and we're sharing all our hard-won wisdom for making European family travel successful and enjoyable.
• Pack in carry-on only bags for a family of five by planning to do laundry during your trip
• Manage jet lag with children by keeping them awake upon arrival and using melatonin the first few nights
• Use eSIMs instead of international phone plans for more reliable and affordable data coverage
• Bring the RideSafer travel vest for young children instead of bulky car seats
• Plan only one major activity per day and leave plenty of unscheduled time
• Include at least one completely free day in each city to allow for rest and spontaneous adventures
• Set clear expectations with children about overnight flights and sleeping arrangements
• Take advantage of hotel laundry facilities to pack lighter
• Always use official taxi stands at airports and ignore unlicensed drivers
If you've enjoyed our podcast, we would greatly appreciate if you could leave a review on iTunes. It would make our day to see our podcast recommended alongside other popular travel podcasts!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Our last few episodes covered our family trip to
Paris, barcelona and Madrid, andin today's episode we're
sharing all of our best tips,lessons learned and more for how
to make your family Europe tripa raging success.
Hi, I'm Raya.
(00:28):
And I'm Dwayne, and we are yourhosts of the Travel Party of
Five podcast, where we share howwe travel as a family of five
around the world.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
We will also share how we use points and miles to
travel as affordably as possibleand sometimes even completely
free.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
So if you're wanting to travel more with your family
but you're not sure how, we'dlove for you to listen in.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
So welcome to our podcast, where we hope you learn
a thing or two to get youcloser to your next trip.
Welcome back, hi guys.
Thanks for tuning in.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Happy whatever day you're listening.
Happy podcast day.
I was just telling Dwayne thatI am ready for it to be summer
and I feel like we're superclose.
Well, actually, where we live,it's summer.
Basically, it was 100 degreesyesterday.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
It's been summer for at least a week already.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
But I am ready to sit poolside at a nice hotel with a
margarita in my hand and watchmy kids play in the water.
That's what I'm ready to do.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
What about the pool in our backyard?
Speaker 1 (01:38):
We could do that in our backyard also, but it's not
the same.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
It's definitely not the same.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
The vibes are not the same.
It's definitely not the same.
The vibes are not the same.
In our house no one is going tocome around with like a drink
and a food menu where I can justorder from my launcher.
That doesn't happen here.
So I'm excited for hotel poolseason.
We have a couple of updates andlike kind of I don't know
(02:03):
newsworthy things talk about,and then we're going to get into
the meat of today's episode,which is basically everything
that we learned from our Europetrip and things we would do
again, things we would not doagain, and, you know, learn from
our mistakes kind of thing.
But the first thing that we'regoing to talk about is there is
an offer that if you followanyone in the Points and miles
(02:25):
community, you are probably sickto death of hearing about this
offer, and so I apologize, but Iam also going to tell you about
this offer.
So the chase Sapphire preferredcard has an elevated offer
right now of 100,000 bonuspoints like that's the signup
bonus and the minimum spend is$5,000.
You have 90 days to meet thatminimum spend and the annual fee
(02:48):
is $95.
The normal welcome offer onthis card is 60,000 points, and
so, unfortunately, neitherDwayne or I are eligible for
this card right now, or else wewould both be applying because
it's an incredible offer.
The offer is even higher thanthe Chase Inc business cards
right now.
So if you were going to say Iwas just gonna say get up on it.
(03:12):
If you, I'm going to tell you,like, if you don't have this
card or you've had it in thepast, I'm going to tell you how
you're eligible for it.
So, number one, if you've neverhad it, obviously you're
eligible and you should get itbecause this is the highest the
offer has been in years.
If you have had the cardpreviously, or have it currently
, you have to have.
(03:33):
It has to have been 48 monthssince you last earned the signup
bonus, so not since youoriginally opened the card, but
whatever date you met the signupbonus, it has to be 48 months
from that.
So if it's been more than 48months since you got the bonus,
the first time, what you want todo is call Chase and downgrade
that card to like a Freedom or aFreedom Flex anything that has
(03:56):
a $0 annual fee, and then giveit a couple weeks and then
reapply.
Some will say to wait 30 days.
I don't know if this offer willlast 30 days we don't have an
end date yet, but I would behesitant to wait the 30 days
because I don't know if it would, if it will still be there.
So, and as of time of recording, it's April 13th 2025.
(04:19):
This episode will air April14th 2025.
So if you're listening to thisin the future I have no idea if
this offer is still available ornot but I will put a link in
the show notes to our referralcode for this offer.
And if you've ever gotten anyvalue out of our podcast and you
are planning to get this cardand you haven't already jumped
(04:40):
on it, we would love it if youwould use our referral link.
We don't earn any cash from it,but we would earn like 10,000
chase points, so I'll put thelink in the show notes and if
you are so inclined, we would soappreciate it if you would use
it.
However, let me also add ontothat If you have the card but
your P2 does not, you shouldrefer them.
(05:01):
Don't use our link.
Use your link, so, but ifneither of you have the card, or
if you don't you know, youdon't know anyone that has the
card we would appreciate it ifyou would use our link.
Um, okay, next thing.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Double A status AA status.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Double A.
Um, I have decided that.
So last year our quest was highat globalist status.
Right, we did that and it hasworked out really well for us
already, Right.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
I have got a wild hair up my butt that this year
my quest is, uh, americanAirlines status of some sort.
Um, I am not a hundred percentconvinced that this makes sense
for a family of five.
However, I'm going to give it ago and I will report back.
Ashley gets around.
If you follow her on Instagram,she's one of my favorite travel
(05:54):
points creators, even though shedoesn't have kids and is like
just generally living the jetsetting life that I am very
envious of.
But I love her content.
She's super direct and I shecracks me up all the time, and I
got to meet her at travel con,uh last year in Portland, so
that was also super fun.
Um, she has an AA course that'sout right now.
(06:17):
Again, if you're listening tothis, in the future I don't know
if it'll be available, cause Ithink she only offers it maybe
once a year, but she has acourse on how you can earn
American Airlines status withoutlike flying AA, and it has a
lot of like shopping portals andstacking and all that.
And so I took the course andI'm going to put into effect
(06:39):
everything that I've learned andso far, according to my
calculations, I believe we'veaccumulated around 28,000 points
, both miles and towards status,and it's been about five days.
So, yes, maybe we'll do a wholeepisode about that.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
But we're on our way.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
We're on our way, so just wanted to give you an
update there.
I'll report back on how thisgoes and we'll give updates
along the way.
The last thing before we getinto the meat of today's episode
is podcast reviews.
So we have around 30-somethingreviews, at least on iTunes.
So we have around 30 somethingreviews on at least on iTunes,
(07:28):
and if you have ever gotten anyvalue out of our podcast, I will
desperately beg you to leave areview or a rating.
My goal when I go into iTunesbecause that's where I listen to
podcasts is to have our podcastrecommended at the you may also
like, which is at the bottom ofother popular points podcasts
(07:48):
and I check all the time andit's never there.
So that's my goal.
I want to see our podcast there.
A lot of people reach out to meon Instagram and are saying
they love the podcast and, firstof all, I appreciate that so
much.
If you haven't left a reviewfor the podcast, if you would do
that, it is so, so appreciated.
That would make me so happy.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Yes, we would definitely appreciate that
greatly.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Yes, and thank you in advance for doing that.
Okay, let's jump into it.
So we are just a few weeks backfrom our two week trek to
Europe.
We have three episodes allabout it, with all the details,
and an episode on how I bookedit and planned it.
So it's a lot of Europe content.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Yes, hopefully you enjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
What was?
Like we have specific questionsthat we'll go through, but I'm
just curious, like what was youroverall impression of the trip?
Speaker 2 (08:47):
first thing that comes to mind is I overpacked,
we overpacked being that we or Idid laundry four times on this
trip.
Four or five, you did it fourtimes.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Four times, yes, we one of those times was
completely unnecessary was your,your OCD kicking in, I think.
But the other three times werenecessary.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Never unnecessary.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
In Paris, dwayne did laundry two days in a row.
It was just.
He was like.
On the second day he was justlike should I just go like, do
one more load?
It's like well, all the clothesare clean except for what we
wore today.
So I guess.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Well, I, I mean it was raining.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
There was five of us it.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
There was a load, you know to do.
There was um, but yes, that'smy number one take from this
past trip and you overpacked ina carry-on only bag well, yes,
raya, I don't know if she's evermentioned it, but we were only
allowed to carry, to have acarry-on on this trip.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
And when he says allowed, he means that was my
rule.
I said we are doing carry-ononly.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Yes, so hence, that's why I had to buy a shoe bag.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
But also like, let's like, dwayne was mad about this.
It was like this is never goingto work.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Well, I mean we were gone for two weeks, and I mean
the only way it worked is I didlaundry.
That's how it worked.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
But it was fine right .
Speaker 2 (10:12):
I mean, it was fine yes.
Yes, we could easily do itagain.
If you're able to do laundry,you will be fine.
I mean, our bags were bursting,they were pretty full.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Yeah, they were full Like bursting.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
They were pretty full .
Yeah, they were full.
Like I thought the firstbaggage claim our bags were
going to come out the thing openand close everywhere.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
He kept saying we need to get luggage bans and I
was like it's fine, we need toget strapped next time for sure.
Yeah, I was like it's fine,everything is fine.
Um, well, what's funny?
Okay, so, speaking of waitingfor it to come out, so we packed
carry-on only, but when we gotto check in for our flight in
Chicago, the lady made us checkour bags.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Yes, she did.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
I wish that someone had been recording my face when
I stared at her and said excuseme, like ma'am, do you know what
I went through to get thisentire family of five packed in
carry-on bags only Like?
Are you aware of what it took?
And now you're telling me thatall my work was for nothing,
because it doesn't matter.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Yeah, we had to check every bag.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
She was like you're in zone five, so yeah, we're
requiring you to check it.
Oh, I was so annoyed, but Imean it was nice to not have to
push them through the airport.
Like I'll, I'll give them that,um, okay.
So speaking of like, let'sstart.
So luggage that we used.
This was a big popular questionthat people asked.
We have four away biggercarry-on suitcases and we have
(11:34):
one Delce, the Delce.
We have two Delces actually,but on this trip we only brought
the small one.
We have a carry-on.
Delce and a big bag that you'dhave to check came in a set it
came in a set from costco, yeahshout out to costco and costco
is duane's, like other love andlife besides me, yeah, um.
(11:56):
So the the delsey is fine.
It's a little bit smaller thanthe away not by much, but like a
little bit.
And so we Away Not by much, butlike a little bit.
And so we use that for ouryoungest, because her clothes
are so tiny and even with allher clothes that I packed, we
still had a little bit of roomin her suitcase that we could
use for our stuff, and then therest of us had the Away.
(12:19):
Again, it's the larger carry-on.
I have been super happy withthese suitcases.
I know they're like you knowI'm going to say viral on all
the social media things, but Ireally like them.
I like that they come with likea laundry bag.
I like that they have like apiece that you can push down and
(12:41):
like I don't know what arethose things, those things the
straps you can like tighten toflatten it.
I like all of that.
Um, I think they look supercute and I mean I would probably
buy a fifth one, honestly, sothat we all had the same bag
yeah, I had no issues with it.
Like I said we, I put a lot ofish in my carry-on yeah, um,
(13:04):
they weren't super cheap, but Iordered them back in November
and at the time they had a 25%off sale.
So basically we bought threeand got one for free.
That's how I was looking at itat the time.
It still wasn't cheap but and Iused, you know, like, I think,
a Rakuten shopping portal to geta little bit more cash back.
So that's the luggage that weuse.
The Delce is also.
(13:25):
It's fine, but again it's alittle smaller and I'll say the
wheels are not as smooth as theaway.
So, all in all, super happywith the away luggage and I
would definitely recommend it.
Also, on the way back we wechecked our bags on the flight
back too, because we had someliquids Like we had a bottle of
(13:45):
wine in one of them, I had abunch of skincare, and the Paris
security is notoriously strictand I was afraid that they
wouldn't make it throughsecurity.
So we checked them on the wayback and one of my bags got lost
, which was fun.
However, when we got them back,they were kind of scratched up
(14:08):
a few of them and they said theygive you like, basically, a
magic eraser comes with it soyou can clean off scuffs and
stuff, and so I took the magiceraser to the bag and I mean,
it's definitely not perfect, youcan definitely tell that it's
worn, but it cleaned up a lot,so I liked that too.
Did they all come with one?
(14:31):
Yeah, yep, they did.
Um, okay, tips for packingcarry-on only um, with kids,
with a photo shoot and theweather changing.
Well, first of all, we didoverpack.
We overpacked because there wassupposed to be some days where
it was sunny and a little bitwarmer, so we had some like
shorts and like I had a dressand a skirt for myself, and the
(14:56):
weather ended up changing and wedidn't really get much weather
like that.
I think Dwayne and the kidswore shorts one time the whole
trip.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Yeah again.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
That's mainly why the luggage was full, because we
had jeans, sweatpants, jackets,yeah plus shorts, t-shirts,
shoes, yeah, um, I think that ifthe weather had been like even
it had been partially rainy andpartially sunny, number one, we
would have had to do laundryless, because we would have been
(15:31):
able to wear the, you know, thelong pants and the long shirts
when it was rainy and the otherclothes when it was sunny, and
you know.
But instead we just ended uphaving to continue to wear all
of our cold weather clothes overand over.
So that was part of the reasonfor the laundry.
I guess I also only packed likefive pairs of pajamas, I think,
(15:53):
for each kid, with the thoughtthat, you know, we're going to
do laundry once or twice.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Um, I also packed in terms of like medicine.
Normally I would bring likeliquid ibuprofen and tylenol and
stuff, but again, I didn't wantthe liquids to get pulled out
during security and so I gotchewable um.
So that's another tip.
I mean, I was even able tobring like a steamer which broke
it didn't break.
(16:22):
I killed it because the voltageit couldn't handle, the european
voltage, even though I wasusing a adapter, um, so it
stopped working.
First of all I was like thisdoesn't work very well here.
It kept like sputtering andthen I realized, oh, I just
burned it out.
It was so hot and I yeah.
(16:42):
So, um, we'll talk more aboutthat in a second.
But we also had to pack clothesfor a photo shoot, which we did
in Paris, and so part of theway that I did that in carry on
only is I we wore sneakers inthe photo shoot and that was on
purpose, and I think it came outpretty well.
I actually I don't love how mysneakers looked, but everyone
(17:04):
else looked great.
I thought Dwayne's shoes andthe boys' shoes looked great,
even our daughter.
Her shoes looked good, minejust looked very white.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
I felt like I thought they looked fine.
Yeah, they're the same shoesthat our daughter wore.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
I know, but that's probably just me being picky
when you see photos of yourself.
We also had raincoats.
Those didn't take up very muchspace, they were pretty thin,
and I just made sure everyonehad one um like packed in their
suitcase, cause I knew it wasgoing to rain.
And I also made sure that wehad at least two pairs of shoes
(17:40):
for everyone so that if one gotwet, they could wear the other
one the next day.
And so I mean that's that'sreally my, our best tips.
I think you are always likewhat you pack is going to fill
the size of the suitcase thatyou have.
So if, if you start with a bigsuitcase, you're going to fill
it, but if you start with acarry on, you'll fill it and
(18:02):
it'll be fine.
Like there's always things thatI pack that I never wear, and
that happened on this trip too,and we still were able to get in
carry-on only.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
I'm notorious for overpacking, but again, if you
travel, or if you plan to travel, look for a laundry mat.
Yep, and I mean you can packlight.
Yes, if you plan to do laundrymore than one time.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
And we will link the bag that Dwayne got for his
shoes because it's huge.
But if you need to travel withshoes, it worked out really well
.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Yeah, and I was able to put some clothes in it.
So I mean, the bag is huge.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Yes, but it never got flagged by any of the airlines.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
No, I will say Honestly.
I think they just saw thestraps and thought it was a book
bag and then, probably when Iwalked by them, they were like
holy shit they were like whoa,that's a house, yeah, that's a
big ass bag.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Okay, so I feel like those are our best tips on
packing.
I also think, like for women,especially like number one you
can reuse pieces.
I did bring a couple pairs ofwool clothing that I bought that
are really good for travelbecause they, like, don't retain
any odor and so you don'treally need to wash them as much
(19:23):
.
I felt like they were kind ofitchy and so I don't really know
to wash them as much.
I felt like they were kind ofitchy and so I don't really know
how I feel about them.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
So it's going to be a little itchy.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
Yeah, but like I mean the green pants, those are wool
pants, those are nice pants,but I just I felt like they were
a little itchy, so I don'tfully know if I could recommend
them yet.
I need to try to wear them alittle bit more first and see
Okay, next, phone coverage.
So last year we didn't get anyphone coverage when we, when we
(19:54):
went to Costa Rica, and younever turned your phone off
airplane mode and I we use myphone because I have my phone
through my job and they don'treally have like a policy around
travel like when you're not,you know, traveling for work, so
we just used my phone.
(20:16):
Um, however, I do think therewere some charges that there was
some charges that, uh, I was, Idon't know, wasn't it like $600
or something?
Speaker 2 (20:27):
I?
Speaker 1 (20:27):
feel like, yes, they were like wait, were you
traveling?
There was some data Like we'rejust trying to figure this out.
I mean, I never saw like a billfor it, they never charged me
for it, but I was like, well, Idon't feel good about that.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
And we used your phone a lot, that trip.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Yes, gps.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
We had to Google hospitals.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
It was.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
We use it a lot.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Yeah, so this time my original plan was for us to use
Dwayne's phone and Dwayne'sservices through Verizon and
mine is through AT&T, but again,that's a work phone.
So my original plan was to signup for the international plan
with Verizon and you can do likean unlimited month.
It'll you go on the website andit'll tell you like what's the
(21:10):
better deal, because it's eithera daily charge or there's a
monthly charge and because wewere gone for like two weeks,
the unlimited monthly plan wasactually cheaper than paying
daily.
But when we, when we got there,it like wasn't working, even
though I signed up for it twodifferent times.
So I don't know why it didn'twork.
(21:34):
I haven't seen a charge for iton the bill, so I'm assuming
that something happened and itdidn't go through.
But what we ended up doinginstead was I had bought an eSIM
for my phone.
I think I said in a previousepisode I didn't think I could
do that because of securityissues.
I assumed it would not beallowed because I have a company
(21:54):
phone.
But I asked before.
I left someone in IT and theysaid, yes, you should get an
eSIM.
So I did.
We bought it through Aerolo.
It was $37 for 10 gigabytes ofdata and you have it for like a
30-day window, and so I set myphone up and my phone worked
(22:14):
immediately upon landing.
It was pretty easy, and once welearned that Dwayne's phone was
not working using the VerizonInternational plan, I then
bought him the same eSIM.
So we spent a total of $74.
We each had 10 gigabytes ofdata and we did not run out.
I think I ended with two orthree gigabytes left.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Yeah, I was a little bit lower, but yeah, we still
made it.
But I was lower because myfreaking hotspot kept turning on
for some reason.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Somehow, when the kids were using the ipads on the
plane, it kept automaticallyturning on duane's hot spot and
we we didn't realize it at firstand then, when we did realize
that we like couldn't get it toturn off for some reason so I
don't know, we also had noissues with coverage like, it
worked great in both france andspain.
Yeah, so when you sign up, youbasically say, like these are
(23:07):
the countries I'm visiting, andthen it'll recommend like a
whatever, a sim card for you,and they have different ones for
different countries.
So, yeah, it worked great.
I would definitely recommend itand I would definitely use it
again.
Um, what we brought in terms oflike medication and snacks and
all that, I did bring a bunch ofsnacks.
(23:27):
I always bring like bananas,oranges, apples, and then like
chomps Chips yeah, chomps, meatsticks, chips and like maybe
some little cookies or something.
But I didn't bring a tonbecause I really just wanted
them for all the flights and,you know, maybe for an
(23:48):
occasional thing in the hotelroom, cause I knew that we were
going to be eating a lot ofsnacks there too, like local
snacks, which is what I wouldprefer.
It was more just in case thekids are hangry and they need
something to hold them over.
And then, and like by the timewe flew back, we didn't have any
left.
They were all gone, yeah, so Ifeel like I planned a good
(24:09):
amount for that.
In terms of medications Ialready mentioned, I brought
chewable Tylenol and ibuprofenOf course they have those things
there.
It's more of just whenever thekids get a fever.
It always seems to be at nightand, you know, at two o'clock in
the morning there may not be apharmacy available that's open
that Dwayne could go to.
(24:30):
So I just basically broughtenough to get us through a night
or two If someone were to get afever in the middle of the
night.
I also brought a thermometer.
I brought some band-Aids, bothfor cuts and blisters.
I brought some antibioticointment Really just basic
(24:55):
things, like nothing crazybecause again, they have
pharmacies there, obviously.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
So yes, but luckily this trip one of the few trips
we didn't have any issues.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Nobody got sick.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
It was great Jet lag with kids yes, so you're
definitely going to experiencesome jet lag, especially going
to wherever it is asia, europeyou're going to experience it.
So what we did was, when we gotthere, we tried to keep the
kids up, because we got there.
What in the morning?
Um, for us it was like 1o'clock in the morning, our time
(25:28):
.
To our body.
Yes, but it was like 9 am, butit was like 9 am Paris time, so
we had to try and fight thesleepiness and stay up for a
good amount of time.
Yeah, so we let the kids drinksoda.
Which they don't get normally,yeah we drank a bunch of coffee,
(25:48):
yeah, um, but yes, I mean, wewere pretty tired by the, you
know, 5 pm yeah, and so here'sone mistake that we made the
first night is, I thought,because we kept everyone up so
long that everyone was gonnagreat.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
So we made it until about 738 o'clock for all of us
and then the kids fell asleepand I thought they're going to
sleep through the morningbecause they're so tired.
So I didn't give anyone anymelatonin.
And then you can imagine mysurprise when I woke up at 115
in the morning and all three ofthem were wide awake and there
was no going back to sleep.
(26:26):
So one thing I would dodifferently is I would have
given melatonin that first night, even though I knew they were
super tired.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
I mean, who knows if it would even help.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
But I think it would have, because the second night I
gave melatonin because Ithought we're not doing that
again and they slept through thewhole night just fine, and I
mean they had been up since oneo'clock in the morning.
So that is one thing that Iwould do is use melatonin once
or twice to like the firstcouple nights to get on the time
(26:57):
zone and then, obviously youknow, get spent time outside
during the day, so your bodyknows it's daytime.
Melatonin is fully recommendedby our pediatrician.
Obviously you can check withyours and and confirm that we
don't give it to them every dayand we didn't even give it to
them every day on the trip, justa few nights here and there
yeah, because we did so muchwalking and, yeah, traveling.
(27:20):
So and they, because we had twodifferent rooms.
They had a room where theycould like chill out in, where
we could still watch TV in ourroom and not disturb them.
Tips for overnight flights withkids.
This was really our kids' firstovernight flight that they are
like really remembering.
I've flown overnight with themwhen they were babies a couple
(27:42):
times, but obviously they don'tremember that and that was not
ideal for me either.
I think I just set expectationswith them of this is what's
going to happen and this is whatit's going to be like.
And you know you're you'regoing to have to sleep sitting
up a little bit.
It's not going to be supercomfy and you're probably not
(28:02):
going to get that great of asleep, but it's only one night
and you know we'll, I'll have acomfy bed and and place to sleep
, you know, the following night.
So I think I just setexpectations.
We talked about it a couple oftimes and I mean they were
cranky the first day, but like Ididn't feel like it was that
bad, like I felt like theyhandled it pretty well actually.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
Yeah, they did, for sure.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Especially because our oldest was like I didn't
sleep at all and I was like,yeah, I feel that Our daughter
got to lay down, really becauseshe's so small, so she slept the
most.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
But Wasn't very long, though, yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
I mean so those are.
Those are really my only tips.
You can try limiting like themovies.
I mean so those are.
(29:02):
Those are really my only tips.
You can try limiting like themovies.
Cause when our kids got on theplane, they were like, oh sweet,
like look like there's screensin the back of the seats, like
we normally eat dinner.
You know that your screen isgoing to go off.
Like that might have helped.
I gave them melatonin on theflight too, but it didn't.
It didn't do a lot, no, so OK,so those were kind of all the
things that I wanted to cover,and then I asked on Instagram if
(29:24):
anyone had any questions oranything regarding the trip, you
know whatever, and so we'regoing to go through a bunch of
those now.
Okay, do you want to?
You want to read the questionsand we'll kind of go through
them.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Yes.
So the first question is what'syour favorite purse to use?
What's?
Speaker 1 (29:44):
your favorite purse to use.
So I brought two like purses onthis trip.
One was a little crossbody thatI got on Amazon that I can link
in the show notes, and then theother one was like a purse
backpack and that was from Idon't know how to say it Nordace
N-O-R-D-A-C-E.
It was the mini backpack.
(30:04):
I think it was the Ellie miniis what it was called.
Mine is the sage green color.
I wanted something that I couldwear as a backpack so my hands
would be free, but that also hadlike a secure pocket against my
back so that I didn't have toworry about pickpocketers and
that's where I could put mywallet.
And this has both of thosethings, and so it's still big
(30:27):
enough to carry like an iPad ora Kindle or water snacks
whatever, but you can also tuckyour wallet in there and feel
like it was safe and it's cute.
So those were the two that Ibrought, and we actually could
even fit our daughter's ridesafer vest in there, which was
another reason that I wanted tobring that.
(30:47):
So on the days where I knew wewould need to bring that, I wore
the backpack, and on days wherewe were just planning on taking
the Metro, I used the smallercross body bag and I'll link
them both in the show notes.
Yep.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Okay, next question was brand of comfy shoes you
used.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
I have been down a rabbit hole trying to find like
a cute pair of white sneakers towear in Europe.
So I'll tell you what I'vetried.
I've tried the Dr Scholl's onesthat are viral on TikTok.
Did not love those.
I did take those to Europe lastyear.
Again didn't love them.
They felt kind of stiff on myfeet and like just not a big fan
.
I also tried ordering someVejas.
(31:28):
They were a little too narrowfor me.
We saw those all over Europe.
They're I think it's a veryEuropean brand and I also
ordered a couple of other likerandom ones that people were
like oh, these are my favorite,these are my favorite, and none
of them fit very well.
So what I ended up settling onthat I really like actually is
(31:48):
just the Reebok Classic whitesneaker with the gum.
Is it called the gumshoe bottom?
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Yeah, I mean, it's just an option you can get with
that, but it's basically theReebok Classic.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Yes, and so that's what we wore in our photos.
My daughter has the same exactpair, which is super cute and
they're really comfortable, andI still wear them.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
Yes, and if you're looking to get your husband a
pair, I would recommend the NikePrestos.
Any one of those shoes.
It's my go-to.
It's the most comfortable shoe,without a doubt.
It's like wearing a comfortablesock with a sole on it, yep.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
So Reebok Classic and Nike Prestos, those are the two
.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
Okay, next question what would you not pack next
time?
Speaker 1 (32:43):
I would not pack my steamer because I burned it out,
ruined it, and it just neveroccurred to me.
I just assumed using theadapter would be fine.
It would be fine, but it wasnot fine, and it never occurred
to me to look at the voltage onit until after it was dead.
So maybe that um, yeah, I meanthere was.
(33:06):
There was clothing that wedidn't wear, but I would have
worn it if the weather had beendifferent.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
So yeah, I would just say do not overpack if you're
planning to do laundry, okay,next question Do the kids pack?
Speaker 1 (33:26):
themselves, get input or request and do they carry
their own luggage?
They do not pack themselves,not yet.
I'm not opposed to teachingthem, but they need to be a
little bit older and, plus, Ialways have a vision for, like,
what I want them to wear, and alot of times it's different than
the clothes they wear on aneveryday basis.
(33:48):
And, because I don't want todeal with an argument, I pack
for them Also.
It's very I can do it veryquickly.
I've done it so many times thatit doesn't take me long to pack
for them.
Um, also, our, our two olderones, have ADHD and I just, I
just feel like they're not readyto it would take them a week to
(34:10):
pack and they, and then I wouldstill have to go through and
check it all.
And no, they don't pack forthemselves.
However, they do carry theirown suitcase and their own
backpack for the most part.
The only exception really isour daughter and she likes to
push her own suitcase and shedoes pretty often, but
eventually she gets kind oftired and she also carries her
(34:33):
own backpack, but again, it'skind of heavy, especially with
that car seat vest in there.
So eventually she does gettired.
And then our 11-year-old will.
Usually he will hold her bagand push her suitcase along with
his suitcase and his bag.
He's pretty good about that.
Or you know him and Dwayne willlike Dwayne will take a
suitcase and he'll take thesecond backpack or something.
(34:55):
But yes, they all, for the mostpart, push their stuff wherever
we're going.
In fact, my eight-year-old wasstressing me out on this trip
because Go ahead, dwayne'slaughing.
Speaker 2 (35:10):
He would just push his carry-on and then jump on it
.
So he was like Superman he wasriding it, riding it through the
airports and everywhere.
I didn't have a problem with itbecause, I mean, if I was that
small I'd be doing the samething, but I was so stressed out
was so stressed that he wasgonna run into people.
I mean, there were times whereit was too busy for him to do
(35:32):
that and I would be like, hey,you know stop.
But like he wouldn't, he wouldhave the handle down and he
would be like, hey, you know,stop, like he wouldn't.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
He would have the handle down and he would just
push off with his feet and offhe went, like as if he was zip
lining through the forest.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Which I thought was hilarious.
It was Like I said, I'd bedoing it too.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
It was stressful.
For me it probably shouldn'thave been.
That's probably like okay, thisis a small problem, Like let's
get some perspective, but itstressed me out so.
But he was pushing his ownsuitcase, so got to give him
that.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
Okay, next question how busy did you pack your day?
Leave time for them to rest.
Also, ps, loving the podcast,shout out to you.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
Thank you, thank you so much.
I feel like we did a good jobabout not not over scheduling
yes, I think that's key.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
You don't, you?
You definitely don't want toover one thing a day.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
Yeah, max, yeah that way, you at least leaves room
for you to do whatever yes, youwant to do that day and go
wherever you want and I thinkone thing a day and one free day
is a good like method, becauseand then like, have in the back
of your mind like these are afew extra things that maybe I
(36:47):
would like to do if we can makeit work.
That's kind of how we approachthis every time.
And, you know, sometimes wecouldn't do those things because
of the weather or whatever.
But I mean, like the RoyalPalace of Madrid, for example, I
had that in the back of my mindthat I was like that's
something I would like to do,but I didn't schedule it.
And then we, you know, we endedup doing that one day, but we,
(37:11):
I felt like we had a lot of timeto relax.
We had like a leisurelybreakfast every morning and we
had a couple of like at leastone afternoon, evening in each
city, where the kids just got towatch their iPads or the TV and
we got to read a book orwhatever and relax a bit.
And so I like I did not feeloverscheduled.
(37:33):
So, and those, those would bemy tips to make sure that that
happens.
Yeah, well, and like, don'tworry about wasting your time,
like you are going to findsomething to fill that time and
even if it is hanging out in ahotel room in Barcelona for the
night and like ordering roomservice like it's still a fun
(37:55):
vacation memory.
So that that would be my otheradvice.
Speaker 2 (38:01):
Okay, next question.
This says balancing scheduleversus unscheduled time.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
So basically, yeah, I feel like that goes hand in
hand yeah.
Speaker 2 (38:11):
Okay, and then we one person wrote how do you have
time to record a podcast, woman?
Speaker 1 (38:21):
We do it on.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
Sundays.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
Yes, that's how.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
Okay, last one.
It says is it easy to get ataxi for a party of five?
Do they require the youngest towear the vest?
Speaker 1 (38:32):
Well, so every time we took a taxi, it was either
from the hotel or from theairport, and so every airport
that we were in had a designatedtaxi line.
As a side note, you're going tolike walk towards the exit and
towards the taxi area, andthere's probably going to be
people, before you get to thatpoint, trying to get you to take
(38:53):
their taxi, and they areunlicensed taxi drivers, so just
keep walking, like like, do notuse them and walk to the taxi
line and there will be anairport employee and you will
tell them we have five peopleand they will.
They will get you a bigger taxi.
Usually they'll have you waitoff to the side for a minute and
then you know like a bigger onewill come.
(39:14):
And I mean, we were not.
We were never the only biggroup waiting either.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
And we never really had to wait that long either.
Speaker 1 (39:23):
Yeah, maybe five minutes max, so super easy.
And then same thing from thehotel, obviously, because they
order the taxi and you're likeyou know we need room for five
plus the bags.
So never had a problem, and dothey?
Speaker 2 (39:37):
require the vests?
No, need room for five plus thebags, so never had a problem.
And do they require the vest?
No, there were a few taxis wegot in that had a car seat but
they saw that we had the vestand they just like throw it in
the back.
Yeah, no one ever commentedreally on the vest and I really
think anywhere besides the USit's at your discretion.
(39:57):
You know what I mean.
I don't think that's true?
Speaker 1 (40:01):
You don't think that's true.
I think there's car seat lawsin the European Union.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
No one seemed to.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
Well, because they had the vest.
I'm sure we're not the onlypeople that they've seen come
through with that vest.
I bet you, if we didn't havethe vest, they would have said
something but she had it onevery time.
Speaker 2 (40:18):
Maybe I also see a taxi not having a car seat and
us not having the vest sayingjust strap her in or put her on
your lap.
I would never do that.
Well, I know you wouldn't do it.
I'm saying taxi drivers inother countries would.
Speaker 1 (40:33):
You're saying they wouldn't care?
Yeah Well, we got no pushbackfrom using the vest at all, and
yeah, I mean yeah, it seemedfine.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
Yeah, the vest is the way to go, for sure.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
It was very convenient.
It was very nice to have thetaxi option available to us,
because we've taken quite a fewtrips where it was not an option
and we did a lot of walking andyou know, everyone was more
tired and cranky because we,like, we either had to walk or
whatever.
So would definitely recommendthe best.
(41:05):
Um, yeah, I think.
All in all, like I think thatwe did a really good job
planning this trip so that itfelt like a vacation, but also
so that we got to explore adifferent part of the world.
Speaker 2 (41:21):
Yes, you, you did plan a very well thought out
trip where we had things to do,we had free time and, you know,
everyone enjoyed themselves.
Speaker 1 (41:33):
Yeah, I'm, I'm proud of that.
So I think, just like, whenyou're planning the trip, my
biggest tip would be to likepick, like the top things that
are super important to you inthat city.
Maybe, like I mean, dependingon how long you're there like
two to three to four max andthen schedule one of those a day
(41:54):
and leave a lot of open timeand just know that you are going
to fill that time.
Either someone is going torecommend something to you like,
oh yeah, you should do this,Like that happened to us.
They were like, oh, you shouldtake a tuk-tuk in Madrid, and so
we had time, so we ended updoing that.
People will recommend things toyou that you're going to want
to add on, and it can feel veryfrustrating if you don't have
(42:17):
any time to do that.
And so those are my best tipsJust know that you will fill the
time.
Speaker 2 (42:24):
Yep, yep.
Okay, so hopefully this washelpful in some kind of way.
Speaker 1 (42:29):
Yes, I hope so.
If you have any questions, asalways, we are on Instagram at
TravelParty5.
I answer every single messagethat comes through there, unless
it's spam, so feel free toreach out, send a message, ask a
question.
I'm always happy to help andand I love getting the messages
too I some of them I sent todwayne.
Speaker 2 (42:48):
I'm like look yes, she, she enjoys them it makes me
happy.
Speaker 1 (42:54):
Yes, but we thank you for listening yes, we'll catch
you on the next episode have agood one bye.
Our last few episodes covered our family trip to
Paris, barcelona and Madrid, andin today's episode we're
sharing all of our best tips,lessons learned and more for how
to make your family Europe tripa raging success.
Hi, I'm Raya.
(00:28):
And I'm Dwayne, and we are yourhosts of the Travel Party of
Five podcast, where we share howwe travel as a family of five
around the world.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
We will also share how we use points and miles to
travel as affordably as possibleand sometimes even completely
free.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
So if you're wanting to travel more with your family
but you're not sure how, we'dlove for you to listen in.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
So welcome to our podcast, where we hope you learn
a thing or two to get youcloser to your next trip.
Welcome back, hi guys.
Thanks for tuning in.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Happy whatever day you're listening.
Happy podcast day.
I was just telling Dwayne thatI am ready for it to be summer
and I feel like we're superclose.
Well, actually, where we live,it's summer.
Basically, it was 100 degreesyesterday.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
It's been summer for at least a week already.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
But I am ready to sit poolside at a nice hotel with a
margarita in my hand and watchmy kids play in the water.
That's what I'm ready to do.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
What about the pool in our backyard?
Speaker 1 (01:38):
We could do that in our backyard also, but it's not
the same.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
It's definitely not the same.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
The vibes are not the same.
It's definitely not the same.
The vibes are not the same.
In our house no one is going tocome around with like a drink
and a food menu where I can justorder from my launcher.
That doesn't happen here.
So I'm excited for hotel poolseason.
We have a couple of updates andlike kind of I don't know
(02:03):
newsworthy things talk about,and then we're going to get into
the meat of today's episode,which is basically everything
that we learned from our Europetrip and things we would do
again, things we would not doagain, and, you know, learn from
our mistakes kind of thing.
But the first thing that we'regoing to talk about is there is
an offer that if you followanyone in the Points and miles
(02:25):
community, you are probably sickto death of hearing about this
offer, and so I apologize, but Iam also going to tell you about
this offer.
So the chase Sapphire preferredcard has an elevated offer
right now of 100,000 bonuspoints like that's the signup
bonus and the minimum spend is$5,000.
You have 90 days to meet thatminimum spend and the annual fee
(02:48):
is $95.
The normal welcome offer onthis card is 60,000 points, and
so, unfortunately, neitherDwayne or I are eligible for
this card right now, or else wewould both be applying because
it's an incredible offer.
The offer is even higher thanthe Chase Inc business cards
right now.
So if you were going to say Iwas just gonna say get up on it.
(03:12):
If you, I'm going to tell you,like, if you don't have this
card or you've had it in thepast, I'm going to tell you how
you're eligible for it.
So, number one, if you've neverhad it, obviously you're
eligible and you should get itbecause this is the highest the
offer has been in years.
If you have had the cardpreviously, or have it currently
, you have to have.
(03:33):
It has to have been 48 monthssince you last earned the signup
bonus, so not since youoriginally opened the card, but
whatever date you met the signupbonus, it has to be 48 months
from that.
So if it's been more than 48months since you got the bonus,
the first time, what you want todo is call Chase and downgrade
that card to like a Freedom or aFreedom Flex anything that has
(03:56):
a $0 annual fee, and then giveit a couple weeks and then
reapply.
Some will say to wait 30 days.
I don't know if this offer willlast 30 days we don't have an
end date yet, but I would behesitant to wait the 30 days
because I don't know if it would, if it will still be there.
So, and as of time of recording, it's April 13th 2025.
(04:19):
This episode will air April14th 2025.
So if you're listening to thisin the future I have no idea if
this offer is still available ornot but I will put a link in
the show notes to our referralcode for this offer.
And if you've ever gotten anyvalue out of our podcast and you
are planning to get this cardand you haven't already jumped
(04:40):
on it, we would love it if youwould use our referral link.
We don't earn any cash from it,but we would earn like 10,000
chase points, so I'll put thelink in the show notes and if
you are so inclined, we would soappreciate it if you would use
it.
However, let me also add ontothat If you have the card but
your P2 does not, you shouldrefer them.
(05:01):
Don't use our link.
Use your link, so, but ifneither of you have the card, or
if you don't you know, youdon't know anyone that has the
card we would appreciate it ifyou would use our link.
Um, okay, next thing.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Double A status AA status.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Double A.
Um, I have decided that.
So last year our quest was highat globalist status.
Right, we did that and it hasworked out really well for us
already, Right.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
I have got a wild hair up my butt that this year
my quest is, uh, americanAirlines status of some sort.
Um, I am not a hundred percentconvinced that this makes sense
for a family of five.
However, I'm going to give it ago and I will report back.
Ashley gets around.
If you follow her on Instagram,she's one of my favorite travel
(05:54):
points creators, even though shedoesn't have kids and is like
just generally living the jetsetting life that I am very
envious of.
But I love her content.
She's super direct and I shecracks me up all the time, and I
got to meet her at travel con,uh last year in Portland, so
that was also super fun.
Um, she has an AA course that'sout right now.
(06:17):
Again, if you're listening tothis, in the future I don't know
if it'll be available, cause Ithink she only offers it maybe
once a year, but she has acourse on how you can earn
American Airlines status withoutlike flying AA, and it has a
lot of like shopping portals andstacking and all that.
And so I took the course andI'm going to put into effect
(06:39):
everything that I've learned andso far, according to my
calculations, I believe we'veaccumulated around 28,000 points
, both miles and towards status,and it's been about five days.
So, yes, maybe we'll do a wholeepisode about that.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
But we're on our way.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
We're on our way, so just wanted to give you an
update there.
I'll report back on how thisgoes and we'll give updates
along the way.
The last thing before we getinto the meat of today's episode
is podcast reviews.
So we have around 30-somethingreviews, at least on iTunes.
So we have around 30 somethingreviews on at least on iTunes,
(07:28):
and if you have ever gotten anyvalue out of our podcast, I will
desperately beg you to leave areview or a rating.
My goal when I go into iTunesbecause that's where I listen to
podcasts is to have our podcastrecommended at the you may also
like, which is at the bottom ofother popular points podcasts
(07:48):
and I check all the time andit's never there.
So that's my goal.
I want to see our podcast there.
A lot of people reach out to meon Instagram and are saying
they love the podcast and, firstof all, I appreciate that so
much.
If you haven't left a reviewfor the podcast, if you would do
that, it is so, so appreciated.
That would make me so happy.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Yes, we would definitely appreciate that
greatly.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Yes, and thank you in advance for doing that.
Okay, let's jump into it.
So we are just a few weeks backfrom our two week trek to
Europe.
We have three episodes allabout it, with all the details,
and an episode on how I bookedit and planned it.
So it's a lot of Europe content.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Yes, hopefully you enjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
What was?
Like we have specific questionsthat we'll go through, but I'm
just curious, like what was youroverall impression of the trip?
Speaker 2 (08:47):
first thing that comes to mind is I overpacked,
we overpacked being that we or Idid laundry four times on this
trip.
Four or five, you did it fourtimes.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Four times, yes, we one of those times was
completely unnecessary was your,your OCD kicking in, I think.
But the other three times werenecessary.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Never unnecessary.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
In Paris, dwayne did laundry two days in a row.
It was just.
He was like.
On the second day he was justlike should I just go like, do
one more load?
It's like well, all the clothesare clean except for what we
wore today.
So I guess.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Well, I, I mean it was raining.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
There was five of us it.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
There was a load, you know to do.
There was um, but yes, that'smy number one take from this
past trip and you overpacked ina carry-on only bag well, yes,
raya, I don't know if she's evermentioned it, but we were only
allowed to carry, to have acarry-on on this trip.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
And when he says allowed, he means that was my
rule.
I said we are doing carry-ononly.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Yes, so hence, that's why I had to buy a shoe bag.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
But also like, let's like, dwayne was mad about this.
It was like this is never goingto work.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Well, I mean we were gone for two weeks, and I mean
the only way it worked is I didlaundry.
That's how it worked.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
But it was fine right .
Speaker 2 (10:12):
I mean, it was fine yes.
Yes, we could easily do itagain.
If you're able to do laundry,you will be fine.
I mean, our bags were bursting,they were pretty full.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Yeah, they were full Like bursting.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
They were pretty full .
Yeah, they were full.
Like I thought the firstbaggage claim our bags were
going to come out the thing openand close everywhere.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
He kept saying we need to get luggage bans and I
was like it's fine, we need toget strapped next time for sure.
Yeah, I was like it's fine,everything is fine.
Um, well, what's funny?
Okay, so, speaking of waitingfor it to come out, so we packed
carry-on only, but when we gotto check in for our flight in
Chicago, the lady made us checkour bags.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Yes, she did.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
I wish that someone had been recording my face when
I stared at her and said excuseme, like ma'am, do you know what
I went through to get thisentire family of five packed in
carry-on bags only Like?
Are you aware of what it took?
And now you're telling me thatall my work was for nothing,
because it doesn't matter.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Yeah, we had to check every bag.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
She was like you're in zone five, so yeah, we're
requiring you to check it.
Oh, I was so annoyed, but Imean it was nice to not have to
push them through the airport.
Like I'll, I'll give them that,um, okay.
So speaking of like, let'sstart.
So luggage that we used.
This was a big popular questionthat people asked.
We have four away biggercarry-on suitcases and we have
(11:34):
one Delce, the Delce.
We have two Delces actually,but on this trip we only brought
the small one.
We have a carry-on.
Delce and a big bag that you'dhave to check came in a set it
came in a set from costco, yeahshout out to costco and costco
is duane's, like other love andlife besides me, yeah, um.
(11:56):
So the the delsey is fine.
It's a little bit smaller thanthe away not by much, but like a
little bit.
And so we Away Not by much, butlike a little bit.
And so we use that for ouryoungest, because her clothes
are so tiny and even with allher clothes that I packed, we
still had a little bit of roomin her suitcase that we could
use for our stuff, and then therest of us had the Away.
(12:19):
Again, it's the larger carry-on.
I have been super happy withthese suitcases.
I know they're like you knowI'm going to say viral on all
the social media things, but Ireally like them.
I like that they come with likea laundry bag.
I like that they have like apiece that you can push down and
(12:41):
like I don't know what arethose things, those things the
straps you can like tighten toflatten it.
I like all of that.
Um, I think they look supercute and I mean I would probably
buy a fifth one, honestly, sothat we all had the same bag
yeah, I had no issues with it.
Like I said we, I put a lot ofish in my carry-on yeah, um,
(13:04):
they weren't super cheap, but Iordered them back in November
and at the time they had a 25%off sale.
So basically we bought threeand got one for free.
That's how I was looking at itat the time.
It still wasn't cheap but and Iused, you know, like, I think,
a Rakuten shopping portal to geta little bit more cash back.
So that's the luggage that weuse.
The Delce is also.
(13:25):
It's fine, but again it's alittle smaller and I'll say the
wheels are not as smooth as theaway.
So, all in all, super happywith the away luggage and I
would definitely recommend it.
Also, on the way back we wechecked our bags on the flight
back too, because we had someliquids Like we had a bottle of
(13:45):
wine in one of them, I had abunch of skincare, and the Paris
security is notoriously strictand I was afraid that they
wouldn't make it throughsecurity.
So we checked them on the wayback and one of my bags got lost
, which was fun.
However, when we got them back,they were kind of scratched up
(14:08):
a few of them and they said theygive you like, basically, a
magic eraser comes with it soyou can clean off scuffs and
stuff, and so I took the magiceraser to the bag and I mean,
it's definitely not perfect, youcan definitely tell that it's
worn, but it cleaned up a lot,so I liked that too.
Did they all come with one?
(14:31):
Yeah, yep, they did.
Um, okay, tips for packingcarry-on only um, with kids,
with a photo shoot and theweather changing.
Well, first of all, we didoverpack.
We overpacked because there wassupposed to be some days where
it was sunny and a little bitwarmer, so we had some like
shorts and like I had a dressand a skirt for myself, and the
(14:56):
weather ended up changing and wedidn't really get much weather
like that.
I think Dwayne and the kidswore shorts one time the whole
trip.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Yeah again.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
That's mainly why the luggage was full, because we
had jeans, sweatpants, jackets,yeah plus shorts, t-shirts,
shoes, yeah, um, I think that ifthe weather had been like even
it had been partially rainy andpartially sunny, number one, we
would have had to do laundryless, because we would have been
(15:31):
able to wear the, you know, thelong pants and the long shirts
when it was rainy and the otherclothes when it was sunny, and
you know.
But instead we just ended uphaving to continue to wear all
of our cold weather clothes overand over.
So that was part of the reasonfor the laundry.
I guess I also only packed likefive pairs of pajamas, I think,
(15:53):
for each kid, with the thoughtthat, you know, we're going to
do laundry once or twice.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Um, I also packed in terms of like medicine.
Normally I would bring likeliquid ibuprofen and tylenol and
stuff, but again, I didn't wantthe liquids to get pulled out
during security and so I gotchewable um.
So that's another tip.
I mean, I was even able tobring like a steamer which broke
it didn't break.
(16:22):
I killed it because the voltageit couldn't handle, the european
voltage, even though I wasusing a adapter, um, so it
stopped working.
First of all I was like thisdoesn't work very well here.
It kept like sputtering andthen I realized, oh, I just
burned it out.
It was so hot and I yeah.
(16:42):
So, um, we'll talk more aboutthat in a second.
But we also had to pack clothesfor a photo shoot, which we did
in Paris, and so part of theway that I did that in carry on
only is I we wore sneakers inthe photo shoot and that was on
purpose, and I think it came outpretty well.
I actually I don't love how mysneakers looked, but everyone
(17:04):
else looked great.
I thought Dwayne's shoes andthe boys' shoes looked great,
even our daughter.
Her shoes looked good, minejust looked very white.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
I felt like I thought they looked fine.
Yeah, they're the same shoesthat our daughter wore.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
I know, but that's probably just me being picky
when you see photos of yourself.
We also had raincoats.
Those didn't take up very muchspace, they were pretty thin,
and I just made sure everyonehad one um like packed in their
suitcase, cause I knew it wasgoing to rain.
And I also made sure that wehad at least two pairs of shoes
(17:40):
for everyone so that if one gotwet, they could wear the other
one the next day.
And so I mean that's that'sreally my, our best tips.
I think you are always likewhat you pack is going to fill
the size of the suitcase thatyou have.
So if, if you start with a bigsuitcase, you're going to fill
it, but if you start with acarry on, you'll fill it and
(18:02):
it'll be fine.
Like there's always things thatI pack that I never wear, and
that happened on this trip too,and we still were able to get in
carry-on only.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
I'm notorious for overpacking, but again, if you
travel, or if you plan to travel, look for a laundry mat.
Yep, and I mean you can packlight.
Yes, if you plan to do laundrymore than one time.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
And we will link the bag that Dwayne got for his
shoes because it's huge.
But if you need to travel withshoes, it worked out really well
.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Yeah, and I was able to put some clothes in it.
So I mean, the bag is huge.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Yes, but it never got flagged by any of the airlines.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
No, I will say Honestly.
I think they just saw thestraps and thought it was a book
bag and then, probably when Iwalked by them, they were like
holy shit they were like whoa,that's a house, yeah, that's a
big ass bag.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Okay, so I feel like those are our best tips on
packing.
I also think, like for women,especially like number one you
can reuse pieces.
I did bring a couple pairs ofwool clothing that I bought that
are really good for travelbecause they, like, don't retain
any odor and so you don'treally need to wash them as much
(19:23):
.
I felt like they were kind ofitchy and so I don't really know
to wash them as much.
I felt like they were kind ofitchy and so I don't really know
how I feel about them.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
So it's going to be a little itchy.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
Yeah, but like I mean the green pants, those are wool
pants, those are nice pants,but I just I felt like they were
a little itchy, so I don'tfully know if I could recommend
them yet.
I need to try to wear them alittle bit more first and see
Okay, next, phone coverage.
So last year we didn't get anyphone coverage when we, when we
(19:54):
went to Costa Rica, and younever turned your phone off
airplane mode and I we use myphone because I have my phone
through my job and they don'treally have like a policy around
travel like when you're not,you know, traveling for work, so
we just used my phone.
(20:16):
Um, however, I do think therewere some charges that there was
some charges that, uh, I was, Idon't know, wasn't it like $600
or something?
Speaker 2 (20:27):
I?
Speaker 1 (20:27):
feel like, yes, they were like wait, were you
traveling?
There was some data Like we'rejust trying to figure this out.
I mean, I never saw like a billfor it, they never charged me
for it, but I was like, well, Idon't feel good about that.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
And we used your phone a lot, that trip.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Yes, gps.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
We had to Google hospitals.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
It was.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
We use it a lot.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Yeah, so this time my original plan was for us to use
Dwayne's phone and Dwayne'sservices through Verizon and
mine is through AT&T, but again,that's a work phone.
So my original plan was to signup for the international plan
with Verizon and you can do likean unlimited month.
It'll you go on the website andit'll tell you like what's the
(21:10):
better deal, because it's eithera daily charge or there's a
monthly charge and because wewere gone for like two weeks,
the unlimited monthly plan wasactually cheaper than paying
daily.
But when we, when we got there,it like wasn't working, even
though I signed up for it twodifferent times.
So I don't know why it didn'twork.
(21:34):
I haven't seen a charge for iton the bill, so I'm assuming
that something happened and itdidn't go through.
But what we ended up doinginstead was I had bought an eSIM
for my phone.
I think I said in a previousepisode I didn't think I could
do that because of securityissues.
I assumed it would not beallowed because I have a company
(21:54):
phone.
But I asked before.
I left someone in IT and theysaid, yes, you should get an
eSIM.
So I did.
We bought it through Aerolo.
It was $37 for 10 gigabytes ofdata and you have it for like a
30-day window, and so I set myphone up and my phone worked
(22:14):
immediately upon landing.
It was pretty easy, and once welearned that Dwayne's phone was
not working using the VerizonInternational plan, I then
bought him the same eSIM.
So we spent a total of $74.
We each had 10 gigabytes ofdata and we did not run out.
I think I ended with two orthree gigabytes left.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Yeah, I was a little bit lower, but yeah, we still
made it.
But I was lower because myfreaking hotspot kept turning on
for some reason.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Somehow, when the kids were using the ipads on the
plane, it kept automaticallyturning on duane's hot spot and
we we didn't realize it at firstand then, when we did realize
that we like couldn't get it toturn off for some reason so I
don't know, we also had noissues with coverage like, it
worked great in both france andspain.
Yeah, so when you sign up, youbasically say, like these are
(23:07):
the countries I'm visiting, andthen it'll recommend like a
whatever, a sim card for you,and they have different ones for
different countries.
So, yeah, it worked great.
I would definitely recommend itand I would definitely use it
again.
Um, what we brought in terms oflike medication and snacks and
all that, I did bring a bunch ofsnacks.
(23:27):
I always bring like bananas,oranges, apples, and then like
chomps Chips yeah, chomps, meatsticks, chips and like maybe
some little cookies or something.
But I didn't bring a tonbecause I really just wanted
them for all the flights and,you know, maybe for an
(23:48):
occasional thing in the hotelroom, cause I knew that we were
going to be eating a lot ofsnacks there too, like local
snacks, which is what I wouldprefer.
It was more just in case thekids are hangry and they need
something to hold them over.
And then, and like by the timewe flew back, we didn't have any
left.
They were all gone, yeah, so Ifeel like I planned a good
(24:09):
amount for that.
In terms of medications Ialready mentioned, I brought
chewable Tylenol and ibuprofenOf course they have those things
there.
It's more of just whenever thekids get a fever.
It always seems to be at nightand, you know, at two o'clock in
the morning there may not be apharmacy available that's open
that Dwayne could go to.
(24:30):
So I just basically broughtenough to get us through a night
or two If someone were to get afever in the middle of the
night.
I also brought a thermometer.
I brought some band-Aids, bothfor cuts and blisters.
I brought some antibioticointment Really just basic
(24:55):
things, like nothing crazybecause again, they have
pharmacies there, obviously.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
So yes, but luckily this trip one of the few trips
we didn't have any issues.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Nobody got sick.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
It was great Jet lag with kids yes, so you're
definitely going to experiencesome jet lag, especially going
to wherever it is asia, europeyou're going to experience it.
So what we did was, when we gotthere, we tried to keep the
kids up, because we got there.
What in the morning?
Um, for us it was like 1o'clock in the morning, our time
(25:28):
.
To our body.
Yes, but it was like 9 am, butit was like 9 am Paris time, so
we had to try and fight thesleepiness and stay up for a
good amount of time.
Yeah, so we let the kids drinksoda.
Which they don't get normally,yeah we drank a bunch of coffee,
(25:48):
yeah, um, but yes, I mean, wewere pretty tired by the, you
know, 5 pm yeah, and so here'sone mistake that we made the
first night is, I thought,because we kept everyone up so
long that everyone was gonnagreat.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
So we made it until about 738 o'clock for all of us
and then the kids fell asleepand I thought they're going to
sleep through the morningbecause they're so tired.
So I didn't give anyone anymelatonin.
And then you can imagine mysurprise when I woke up at 115
in the morning and all three ofthem were wide awake and there
was no going back to sleep.
(26:26):
So one thing I would dodifferently is I would have
given melatonin that first night, even though I knew they were
super tired.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
I mean, who knows if it would even help.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
But I think it would have, because the second night I
gave melatonin because Ithought we're not doing that
again and they slept through thewhole night just fine, and I
mean they had been up since oneo'clock in the morning.
So that is one thing that Iwould do is use melatonin once
or twice to like the firstcouple nights to get on the time
(26:57):
zone and then, obviously youknow, get spent time outside
during the day, so your bodyknows it's daytime.
Melatonin is fully recommendedby our pediatrician.
Obviously you can check withyours and and confirm that we
don't give it to them every dayand we didn't even give it to
them every day on the trip, justa few nights here and there
yeah, because we did so muchwalking and, yeah, traveling.
(27:20):
So and they, because we had twodifferent rooms.
They had a room where theycould like chill out in, where
we could still watch TV in ourroom and not disturb them.
Tips for overnight flights withkids.
This was really our kids' firstovernight flight that they are
like really remembering.
I've flown overnight with themwhen they were babies a couple
(27:42):
times, but obviously they don'tremember that and that was not
ideal for me either.
I think I just set expectationswith them of this is what's
going to happen and this is whatit's going to be like.
And you know you're you'regoing to have to sleep sitting
up a little bit.
It's not going to be supercomfy and you're probably not
(28:02):
going to get that great of asleep, but it's only one night
and you know we'll, I'll have acomfy bed and and place to sleep
, you know, the following night.
So I think I just setexpectations.
We talked about it a couple oftimes and I mean they were
cranky the first day, but like Ididn't feel like it was that
bad, like I felt like theyhandled it pretty well actually.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
Yeah, they did, for sure.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Especially because our oldest was like I didn't
sleep at all and I was like,yeah, I feel that Our daughter
got to lay down, really becauseshe's so small, so she slept the
most.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
But Wasn't very long, though, yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
I mean so those are.
Those are really my only tips.
You can try limiting like themovies.
I mean so those are.
(29:02):
Those are really my only tips.
You can try limiting like themovies.
Cause when our kids got on theplane, they were like, oh sweet,
like look like there's screensin the back of the seats, like
we normally eat dinner.
You know that your screen isgoing to go off.
Like that might have helped.
I gave them melatonin on theflight too, but it didn't.
It didn't do a lot, no, so OK,so those were kind of all the
things that I wanted to cover,and then I asked on Instagram if
(29:24):
anyone had any questions oranything regarding the trip, you
know whatever, and so we'regoing to go through a bunch of
those now.
Okay, do you want to?
You want to read the questionsand we'll kind of go through
them.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Yes.
So the first question is what'syour favorite purse to use?
What's?
Speaker 1 (29:44):
your favorite purse to use.
So I brought two like purses onthis trip.
One was a little crossbody thatI got on Amazon that I can link
in the show notes, and then theother one was like a purse
backpack and that was from Idon't know how to say it Nordace
N-O-R-D-A-C-E.
It was the mini backpack.
(30:04):
I think it was the Ellie miniis what it was called.
Mine is the sage green color.
I wanted something that I couldwear as a backpack so my hands
would be free, but that also hadlike a secure pocket against my
back so that I didn't have toworry about pickpocketers and
that's where I could put mywallet.
And this has both of thosethings, and so it's still big
(30:27):
enough to carry like an iPad ora Kindle or water snacks
whatever, but you can also tuckyour wallet in there and feel
like it was safe and it's cute.
So those were the two that Ibrought, and we actually could
even fit our daughter's ridesafer vest in there, which was
another reason that I wanted tobring that.
(30:47):
So on the days where I knew wewould need to bring that, I wore
the backpack, and on days wherewe were just planning on taking
the Metro, I used the smallercross body bag and I'll link
them both in the show notes.
Yep.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Okay, next question was brand of comfy shoes you
used.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
I have been down a rabbit hole trying to find like
a cute pair of white sneakers towear in Europe.
So I'll tell you what I'vetried.
I've tried the Dr Scholl's onesthat are viral on TikTok.
Did not love those.
I did take those to Europe lastyear.
Again didn't love them.
They felt kind of stiff on myfeet and like just not a big fan
.
I also tried ordering someVejas.
(31:28):
They were a little too narrowfor me.
We saw those all over Europe.
They're I think it's a veryEuropean brand and I also
ordered a couple of other likerandom ones that people were
like oh, these are my favorite,these are my favorite, and none
of them fit very well.
So what I ended up settling onthat I really like actually is
(31:48):
just the Reebok Classic whitesneaker with the gum.
Is it called the gumshoe bottom?
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Yeah, I mean, it's just an option you can get with
that, but it's basically theReebok Classic.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Yes, and so that's what we wore in our photos.
My daughter has the same exactpair, which is super cute and
they're really comfortable, andI still wear them.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
Yes, and if you're looking to get your husband a
pair, I would recommend the NikePrestos.
Any one of those shoes.
It's my go-to.
It's the most comfortable shoe,without a doubt.
It's like wearing a comfortablesock with a sole on it, yep.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
So Reebok Classic and Nike Prestos, those are the two
.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
Okay, next question what would you not pack next
time?
Speaker 1 (32:43):
I would not pack my steamer because I burned it out,
ruined it, and it just neveroccurred to me.
I just assumed using theadapter would be fine.
It would be fine, but it wasnot fine, and it never occurred
to me to look at the voltage onit until after it was dead.
So maybe that um, yeah, I meanthere was.
(33:06):
There was clothing that wedidn't wear, but I would have
worn it if the weather had beendifferent.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
So yeah, I would just say do not overpack if you're
planning to do laundry, okay,next question Do the kids pack?
Speaker 1 (33:26):
themselves, get input or request and do they carry
their own luggage?
They do not pack themselves,not yet.
I'm not opposed to teachingthem, but they need to be a
little bit older and, plus, Ialways have a vision for, like,
what I want them to wear, and alot of times it's different than
the clothes they wear on aneveryday basis.
(33:48):
And, because I don't want todeal with an argument, I pack
for them Also.
It's very I can do it veryquickly.
I've done it so many times thatit doesn't take me long to pack
for them.
Um, also, our, our two olderones, have ADHD and I just, I
just feel like they're not readyto it would take them a week to
(34:10):
pack and they, and then I wouldstill have to go through and
check it all.
And no, they don't pack forthemselves.
However, they do carry theirown suitcase and their own
backpack for the most part.
The only exception really isour daughter and she likes to
push her own suitcase and shedoes pretty often, but
eventually she gets kind oftired and she also carries her
(34:33):
own backpack, but again, it'skind of heavy, especially with
that car seat vest in there.
So eventually she does gettired.
And then our 11-year-old will.
Usually he will hold her bagand push her suitcase along with
his suitcase and his bag.
He's pretty good about that.
Or you know him and Dwayne willlike Dwayne will take a
suitcase and he'll take thesecond backpack or something.
(34:55):
But yes, they all, for the mostpart, push their stuff wherever
we're going.
In fact, my eight-year-old wasstressing me out on this trip
because Go ahead, dwayne'slaughing.
Speaker 2 (35:10):
He would just push his carry-on and then jump on it
.
So he was like Superman he wasriding it, riding it through the
airports and everywhere.
I didn't have a problem with itbecause, I mean, if I was that
small I'd be doing the samething, but I was so stressed out
was so stressed that he wasgonna run into people.
I mean, there were times whereit was too busy for him to do
(35:32):
that and I would be like, hey,you know stop.
But like he wouldn't, he wouldhave the handle down and he
would be like, hey, you know,stop, like he wouldn't.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
He would have the handle down and he would just
push off with his feet and offhe went, like as if he was zip
lining through the forest.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Which I thought was hilarious.
It was Like I said, I'd bedoing it too.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
It was stressful.
For me it probably shouldn'thave been.
That's probably like okay, thisis a small problem, Like let's
get some perspective, but itstressed me out so.
But he was pushing his ownsuitcase, so got to give him
that.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
Okay, next question how busy did you pack your day?
Leave time for them to rest.
Also, ps, loving the podcast,shout out to you.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
Thank you, thank you so much.
I feel like we did a good jobabout not not over scheduling
yes, I think that's key.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
You don't, you?
You definitely don't want toover one thing a day.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
Yeah, max, yeah that way, you at least leaves room
for you to do whatever yes, youwant to do that day and go
wherever you want and I thinkone thing a day and one free day
is a good like method, becauseand then like, have in the back
of your mind like these are afew extra things that maybe I
(36:47):
would like to do if we can makeit work.
That's kind of how we approachthis every time.
And, you know, sometimes wecouldn't do those things because
of the weather or whatever.
But I mean, like the RoyalPalace of Madrid, for example, I
had that in the back of my mindthat I was like that's
something I would like to do,but I didn't schedule it.
And then we, you know, we endedup doing that one day, but we,
(37:11):
I felt like we had a lot of timeto relax.
We had like a leisurelybreakfast every morning and we
had a couple of like at leastone afternoon, evening in each
city, where the kids just got towatch their iPads or the TV and
we got to read a book orwhatever and relax a bit.
And so I like I did not feeloverscheduled.
(37:33):
So, and those, those would bemy tips to make sure that that
happens.
Yeah, well, and like, don'tworry about wasting your time,
like you are going to findsomething to fill that time and
even if it is hanging out in ahotel room in Barcelona for the
night and like ordering roomservice like it's still a fun
(37:55):
vacation memory.
So that that would be my otheradvice.
Speaker 2 (38:01):
Okay, next question.
This says balancing scheduleversus unscheduled time.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
So basically, yeah, I feel like that goes hand in
hand yeah.
Speaker 2 (38:11):
Okay, and then we one person wrote how do you have
time to record a podcast, woman?
Speaker 1 (38:21):
We do it on.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
Sundays.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
Yes, that's how.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
Okay, last one.
It says is it easy to get ataxi for a party of five?
Do they require the youngest towear the vest?
Speaker 1 (38:32):
Well, so every time we took a taxi, it was either
from the hotel or from theairport, and so every airport
that we were in had a designatedtaxi line.
As a side note, you're going tolike walk towards the exit and
towards the taxi area, andthere's probably going to be
people, before you get to thatpoint, trying to get you to take
(38:53):
their taxi, and they areunlicensed taxi drivers, so just
keep walking, like like, do notuse them and walk to the taxi
line and there will be anairport employee and you will
tell them we have five peopleand they will.
They will get you a bigger taxi.
Usually they'll have you waitoff to the side for a minute and
then you know like a bigger onewill come.
(39:14):
And I mean, we were not.
We were never the only biggroup waiting either.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
And we never really had to wait that long either.
Speaker 1 (39:23):
Yeah, maybe five minutes max, so super easy.
And then same thing from thehotel, obviously, because they
order the taxi and you're likeyou know we need room for five
plus the bags.
So never had a problem, and dothey?
Speaker 2 (39:37):
require the vests?
No, need room for five plus thebags, so never had a problem.
And do they require the vest?
No, there were a few taxis wegot in that had a car seat but
they saw that we had the vestand they just like throw it in
the back.
Yeah, no one ever commentedreally on the vest and I really
think anywhere besides the USit's at your discretion.
(39:57):
You know what I mean.
I don't think that's true?
Speaker 1 (40:01):
You don't think that's true.
I think there's car seat lawsin the European Union.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
No one seemed to.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
Well, because they had the vest.
I'm sure we're not the onlypeople that they've seen come
through with that vest.
I bet you, if we didn't havethe vest, they would have said
something but she had it onevery time.
Speaker 2 (40:18):
Maybe I also see a taxi not having a car seat and
us not having the vest sayingjust strap her in or put her on
your lap.
I would never do that.
Well, I know you wouldn't do it.
I'm saying taxi drivers inother countries would.
Speaker 1 (40:33):
You're saying they wouldn't care?
Yeah Well, we got no pushbackfrom using the vest at all, and
yeah, I mean yeah, it seemedfine.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
Yeah, the vest is the way to go, for sure.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
It was very convenient.
It was very nice to have thetaxi option available to us,
because we've taken quite a fewtrips where it was not an option
and we did a lot of walking andyou know, everyone was more
tired and cranky because we,like, we either had to walk or
whatever.
So would definitely recommendthe best.
(41:05):
Um, yeah, I think.
All in all, like I think thatwe did a really good job
planning this trip so that itfelt like a vacation, but also
so that we got to explore adifferent part of the world.
Speaker 2 (41:21):
Yes, you, you did plan a very well thought out
trip where we had things to do,we had free time and, you know,
everyone enjoyed themselves.
Speaker 1 (41:33):
Yeah, I'm, I'm proud of that.
So I think, just like, whenyou're planning the trip, my
biggest tip would be to likepick, like the top things that
are super important to you inthat city.
Maybe, like I mean, dependingon how long you're there like
two to three to four max andthen schedule one of those a day
(41:54):
and leave a lot of open timeand just know that you are going
to fill that time.
Either someone is going torecommend something to you like,
oh yeah, you should do this,Like that happened to us.
They were like, oh, you shouldtake a tuk-tuk in Madrid, and so
we had time, so we ended updoing that.
People will recommend things toyou that you're going to want
to add on, and it can feel veryfrustrating if you don't have
(42:17):
any time to do that.
And so those are my best tipsJust know that you will fill the
time.
Speaker 2 (42:24):
Yep, yep.
Okay, so hopefully this washelpful in some kind of way.
Speaker 1 (42:29):
Yes, I hope so.
If you have any questions, asalways, we are on Instagram at
TravelParty5.
I answer every single messagethat comes through there, unless
it's spam, so feel free toreach out, send a message, ask a
question.
I'm always happy to help andand I love getting the messages
too I some of them I sent todwayne.
Speaker 2 (42:48):
I'm like look yes, she, she enjoys them it makes me
happy.
Speaker 1 (42:54):
Yes, but we thank you for listening yes, we'll catch
you on the next episode have agood one bye.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.