A Traveling Dog, The Travel Blog

For a lot of travelers, one of the most daunting aspects of preparing for a trip is packing. We all know we should pack light, but many feel they’d rather bring too much, than not enough. If you’re going on a trip and are a little anxious about packing all of your clothes, here a little advice.

Put everything you want to bring in a pile. Evaluate what you selected and start to take out at least 5 things you KNOW aren’t necessary. What ever is left, pack half of it. This can be especially hard for ladies to do, as it seems perfectly logical to bring 5 different pairs of shoes, but trust me, when you’re carrying around a huge bag, trying to find your hotel in a foreign country, you’re going to wish you lightened up on your load.

Clothes take up the most room in your bag, so be very selective and bring only the essentials. Doing laundry in your room every few days is a lot easier than carrying around a huge, heavy bag.

As far as toiletries go, bring small bottles. These are easily replaceable and you can always take the hotel shampoos and soaps when you run out.

If you’re not familiar with Rick Steves, he basically has the best job in the history of jobs. He’s the host of PBS’ Rick Steves Europe where he travels all over Europe talking about landmarks, food, customs, and people of these various locations and gets it on film, producing a really informative show for the travel curious viewer.
Here are a few helpful tips from his website about how to make the most of the money you bring on your European escapade.
1. Travel Off-season
2. Family run businesses offer the best values
3. Use ATMs rather than Traveler’s Checks
4. Buses are slower, but cheaper than trains
5. When dining out, eat what’s in season
6. Buy your maps in Europe, as they’re half the price you pay in America with a much bigger selection
7. Have a picnic every once in a while, instead of dining in a restaurant
8. Know the rail lines, if you’re traveling a lot, Eurailpasses can offer big savings
9. Avoid touristy signs. Places with “We Speak English” in the window will most likely inflate the prices
10. Look up friends, relative and contacts if possible.

Nothing can ruin a trip like jet lag—the way your internal clock feels out of whack when you travel to a different time zone. Of course, not everyone that switches time zones experiences jet lag, but it’s a very common ailment, and your chances increase with every time zone you cross.

Here are a couple tips to avoid or minimize jet lag:

Restructure your sleep cycle in advance of your trip. Start going to bed earlier if your trip is taking you east. If you’re traveling west, try to stay up later.

Adjust your watch to your destination’s time zone as soon as you get on the plane, and act as though you have already arrived. If your watch reads 10 p.m., do your best to sleep. Try to stay awake if your watch says it’s daytime.

Be realistic—if you have a very important meeting or other engagement, consider flying in a couple of days earlier in order to give yourself more time to adjust.

Once you do arrive, push yourself to sleep and wake on your new time zone’s schedule, even if your body would prefer to do the opposite.

Paris, France  Information by Rough Guides

Long considered the paragon of style, Paris is the most glamorous city in Europe. It is at once deeply traditional – a village-like metropolis whose inhabitants continue to be notorious for their hauteur – and famously cosmopolitan. While such contradictions and contrasts may be the reality of any city, they are the makings of Paris: consider the tiny lanes and alleyways of the Quartier Latin or Montmartre against the monumental vistas from the Louvre to La Défense; the multiplicity of street markets and old-fashioned pedestrian arcades against the giant underground commercial complexes of Montparnasse and Les Halles; or the aristocratic wealth of the grand quarters against the vibrant chaos of the poorer districts.

At times, Paris can feel inhumanly magnificent, the arrogance of its monuments encompassing the chilly pomp of the Panthéon, the industrial chic of the Eiffel Tower and the almost spiritual glasswork of the Louvre pyramid. Yet it also operates on a very human scale, with exquisite, secretive little nooks tucked away from the Grands Boulevards and very definite little communities revolving around games of boules and the local boulangerie and café. And even as Paris’s culture is transformed by its large immigrant and gay populations, even as extravagant new buildings are commissioned and erected, many of the city’s streets, cafés and restaurants remain remarkably, defiantly unchanged.

In the great local tradition of the flâneur, or thoughtful boulevard-stroller, Paris is a wonderful city for aimless wandering. Relaxed quarters such as the vibrant Marais, elegant St-Germain and romantic Montmartre are ideal for street-browsing, shopping and café-sitting, and the city’s lack of open space is redeemed by beautiful formal gardens, by the pathways and pavements that run beside the River Seine, and by endless hidden or unexpected havens. And everywhere you go, historic landmark buildings and contemporary architectural wonders remind you of the city’s pride and grandeur – and stop you getting lost.

There are over 150 art galleries and museums in the city – few of them duds – and an uncounted number of cafés, brasseries and restaurants lining every street and boulevard. The variety of style and decor is hard to beat, ranging from ultra-modern fashion temples to traditional, mirrored palaces, and from tiny bistrots where the emphasis is all on the cooking to bustling Vietnamese diners. After dark, the city’s theatres and concert halls host inventive and world-leading productions of theatre and dance, while many classical concerts take place in fine architectural settings, particularly chapels and churches. Above all, Paris is a real cinema capital, and the city’s vibrant cultural mix puts it at the forefront of the world music scene.