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Finding the Right Backpack or Suitcase for Your Trip

Having a quality suitcase or backpack when you head out for your adventure will take a big stress off of your mind. Some things to remember when purchasing your luggage are:

1. The type: Backpack or suitcase. If you plan to be traveling to many different locations, and keeping your bags with you at all times, a backpack is the only way to go. Many times, streets aren’t equipped to handle rolling suitcases, and often there aren’t elevators or escalators to help with moving your stuff. By using a backpack, you can strap it on and become much more streamline while traveling from one place to the next. Keep in mind though, that there isn’t the option to roll it if your back starts to get tired. If you are heading straight to the airport, checking your bags, and then getting a taxi or hotel van to take you to your destination, then a regular suitcase should be just fine.

2. The size: Some travelers make it a rule that they will not pack more than they can keep with them at all times. This includes airplane flights. Keep in mind that you must check a bag that is over “carry-on” size. Also, every traveler tends to over pack (us included). To solve this problem…buy a smaller bag! This will limit the amount of stuff you can take with you, and it will help you slim down your packing to the bare necessities.

3. The price: It’s luggage. In our opinion, brand names and bells and whistles only go so far. Make sure you’re not duped into buying a suitcase or backpack just because “it’s the most expensive one, so it must be the best!” There are some brands that are known for quality, but overall, the backpack/suitcase you should get is the one that fits your needs.

4. The fit: When purchasing a backpack, make sure it is comfortable…there’s nothing worse than going on a trip only to find that the backpack you bought rubs in the wrong places, or doesn’t fit your body correctly. Some popular brands may be beloved by some travelers and loathed by others because of the different shape and fit of unique body types. Make sure to try on your bag before you buy it. Many backpack resellers have knowledgeable staff that can help with adjustments. Also make sure to stuff the bag for weight to see how it will fit once it is filled.

5. The store: Whether buying from a retail store or an online store, make sure of the company’s return and warranty policies. Since you can usually find better deals online, we suggest picking out your suitcase or backpack in a retail store where you can check the quality and fit, and then searching online with the brand and part number for a better deal.

Happy Travels!

Top 10 Traveling Must Haves!

Sometimes living out of a backpack or suitcase means cutting your possessions down to a minimum, but make sure you save room for these top 10 traveling must haves!

10. sunglasses
9. phone card (to call home)
8. comfortable walking shoes
7. digital camera & charger & extra memory card
6. map of current city
5. a small amount of local currency in cash
4. travel pillow
3. a good book :)
2. iPod
1. passport/identification

TGTG - Press Release - TRAVELING GIRLS: FLY SOLO BUT NOT “ALONE”

They’re the eccentric, the rogue, the savvy, and the quick-witted. Some have money, most are broke, but the ones dedicated always find a way to get the money. They’re the girls brave enough to take the world by the reigns and ride it to where they want to go and what they want to see. But is it safe to be a girl and travel? It seems each decade that passes is scarier and more threatening than the last in foreign countries.

Risk, risk, risk. A monosyllabic four-letter word with an enormous definition. Friends might tell you to take mace, mothers might try and hide your passport, and fathers might hire a male detective to follow you around, even in the bathroom. But how about taking another avenue to safe travel…why not plan ahead. It seems like a novel idea to many, but the key to safety is preparation. Why not do some research and see where you are going, what you will see, where you will stay, and what other people thought of the place before you even buy your airplane ticket. What better place to look than the Internet?

You’d need to find a website that contained more than just information, that could show you through videos and pictures the great beyond that seems so foreign and surreal. A website that could provide everything an antsy traveler can take confidence in. All of this is found in a new website travel blog and adventure travel planning site called The Get There Girls.

www.TheGetThereGirls.com gets right up close and personal – photo slideshows, video blogs, and fun, outstanding descriptions of the places the site’s creators have been. Like most things in life, it’s what traveling is about; connection, intimacy, and the passion for doing what you love to do. That’s what TGTG provides – the essence of the what, the who, the when, and most importantly, the how.

The Get There Girls was created and designed in 2007 by two women whose love for traveling, writing, and sharing their adventures translated into a thriving traveler hot spot on a computer screen. The site provides the standard elements of a traveling informational website – booking for hotels and hostels, links to ticket brokers, car rental agencies, etc. – but what’s different about this site is that The Get There Girls take you a step further and actually show you what you can see and experience on your newly planned adventure. Videos, pictures, and honest reviews of lodging, what to pack, when to travel to certain destinations, how to rush order your passport, and what to expect at the currency exchange, just to name a few. This is a site worth exploring if you want to peruse the guts of what traveling is all about.

If you’d like more information on The Get There Girls, or to submit your own travel tips, blogs, or tricks, please email Katie at katie@thegettheregirls.com
 or Ali at ali@thegettheregirls.com and visit thegetheregirls.com for an additional look at the ins and outs of traveling!

Wombat’s Hostel, Munich, Germany

As far as hostels go, Wombat’s is the easiest to find from the Munich Central station (main station) - it’s about a ten-minute walk from exiting your train. More specifically - and I’m taking directions off their website - you exit the station towards Bayerstraße, cross the road and go left, then turn on the first street on the right. Wombat’s is the second house on the left. Easy peas. Voted as the ‘Cleanest Hostel Worldwide’ in 2004, the ‘Best Hostel Chain Worldwide’ in 2006 and 2007 (reviewed by those who booked through Hostelworld.com) and the number six hostel Worldwide in 2005 should be enough to convince one it’s a great place to stay. But just in case it you want more . . .

Wombat’s is a perfect hostel to stay in. It’s ideal location and friendly staff made it hard to leave, although it could have been the awesomeness of the city it’s located in. For whatever reason, Wombat’s is a perfect example of what I’m going to term as a true “backpacker’s hostel.” The inexpensive rooms, provided security lockers, WiFi in the lobby, 24-hour reception, a fun bar (womBar) with happy hour specials and a complimentary welcome drink, and the always sought after washer and dryers. Okay, it doesn’t include breakfast, but at an average of 22 euros a night, I thought it okay to spend a couple extra euros eating a strudel at a nearby bakery or a cheap bratwurst at one of the thousands of bratwurst-selling kiosks.

Another great thing? The walking tour starts every morning at Wombat’s hostel. You simply show up in the lobby by the couch at 10:15am and you’re set to go learn about the history of Munich, eat some good food, and walk by dozens of important Munich sites essential to any great tour!

Address:
Senefelderstrasse 1, D-80336 Munich

+49 89 59989180
www.wombats-hostels.com

womBar at Wombat’s hostel, Munich, Germany

The womBar is easy to find from any room you stay at in at Wombat’s City Hostel. The friendly bartenders make it hard to leave the fun atmosphere, but since you’re allowed to have drinks in the lobby as well, a lot of people congregate to the comfortable bean bag chairs and couches it has provided for many different scenarios.

Whether you’re playing poker (we didn’t get do that!) or catching up with people you recognize from the last hostel you crashed at, womBar is a cool bar to chill in either way. When I was there, our tour guide Ozzie was also our bartender a few hours later!

If anything, go down, check it out, and at least grab your complimentary drink (that includes a soda for you non-alcoholic drinkers). It’s a good place to start for you night owls, and on your way out the front door, grab one of the free city maps - you’ll be needing it for the giant maze of crazy Munich streets!

Englischer Garden, Munich, Germany

Perhaps I was jinxed as it had rained in every city I’d been to since my arrival in Europe. Five days worth of downpour in London, a couple days of regular ole rain in Paris, and one harsh day of slanted rain in Interlaken. Why wouldn’t there be a light drizzle in Munich to cap things off? I can’t be critical. It was, after all, the beginning of September and if I’d read a site like ours, I’d have known August and September are rainy months in Germany!!

A light rain poured and Paul (my current travel buddy) and I took cover under a large tree. Always the gentleman, Paul laid down his jacket for him and I to sit on, preventing our last pair of clean jeans from getting drenched. It was nice after all the eating, drinking, and walking, for Paul and I to meander through the park and catch up on all we’d seen and done prior to meeting in Interlaken.

As much as I enjoyed Luxembourg Garden in Paris and St. James, Hyde, and Green Parks in London, I loved the Englischer Garden just as much, maybe a smidge more. Maybe because it was such a simple park - i.e. minimal trees, sparse benches, etc. - I spent more time there.

It’s a remarkable open space that made it easy to see tourists and locals alike enjoying the garden’s curvy pathways and extraordinary landscape. From most spots in the garden, it was also easy to see downtown Munich’s unique buildings against the skyline.

For me, it was all leading up to Spain where I was to meet Ali and experience the time of our lives together. For Paul, it was the end of traveling with his sister and a start of something completely new. He was off to Amsterdam alone and I was headed to northern Spain, but for both of us, in the middle of the Englischer Garden, it was sanctuary within Munich, Germany.

Devil’s Footprint, Munich, Germany

The Devil’s Footprint can be seen at the front of the Frauenkirche church. The story indicates it’s where the devil stomped his foot after he had been tricked by the builder. Legend goes, the devil could enter the cathedral only if it was entirely windowless. And, from the spot of the Devil’s Footprint, you can’t see any windows! Allegedly the clever builders made it appear, from that spot only, that the church it was suitable to the devil, and in anger and disgust, the devil tramped his foot there because he couldn’t go any further into the sacred grounds. Our tour guide volunteered each of us to step in the footprint and see what it was the devil saw . . .

The devil might not have been able to go into the church, but I could… and I took photos of his footprint and more of Frauenkirche’s beautiful interior infrastructure!

Marienplatz/Glockenspiel (Tower), Munich, Germany

Ever go to a movie someone talked about endlessly saying how great it was, but then you see it and for you, it lacked just about everything a movie is supposed to contain? Yeah, that’s the Glockenspiel, the tower in the center of the Marienplatz Square.

Our tour guide, Ozzie, played a trick on us. He said to get ready for a ‘great show’ only to witness the lamest clock chime ever created! But, like everything in Europe, there’s a story and the clock tower tells two of them – one about the marriage of a duke to his bride and the other . . . well, I’ll leave some things for you to find out!

My advice: take pictures of the buildings around you because beautiful architecture seemed to be characteristic of every Munich building, which makes sense since it was yet another German city that had to be rebuilt following World War II. Ozzie explained how the Marienplatz was erected in gratefulness for deliverance from the plague and it included the Glockenspiel tower to relay the stories of Munich history. Pay attention to the tour guide if you can. I was busy taking so many photos I missed a lot of historical information and it wasn’t until later, I truly appreciated the stuff I did remember.

Viktualienmarkt (daily food market), Munich, Germany

As the most popular market in Munich, it was no surprise to me it was the busiest. At the late riser time of 10:45am, Germans, Swiss, Americans, Aussies, and everyone in between were enjoying the day, drinking steins of beer and trying to digest the several bratwursts they had already eaten. So, why wouldn’t my traveling buddy Paul and I participate in a lot of the same?

We’d already started earlier that morning by eating giant German pastries from the local bakery and devoured a box of blackberries fresh off a local farm. Oh, and Paul’s addiction to gummy bears could and would not go ignored.

Our tour guide set us off to our own devices for about an hour and told us to reconvene in the market’s center where hundreds of cheeses, armed with cholesterol and fatty goodness surround you like the military on a raid. Ozzie (our guide) said Viktualienmarkt is the best market to get fresh food and a variety of delicatessen. Paul tried some sort of seafood pita thing while I busied myself with Weizenbier (wheat) and a giant pretzel. With extra mustard. And salt. And then we both had ice cream. And then I ate an antacid.

According to Ozzie and his boundless knowledge of German culture, we were all on track to becoming “healthy” Germans who usually burned off the calories by walking everywhere (typical of Europeans). With that, Ozzie wasted no time after our hour-long break to get us moving again. Paul and I swung our full bellies aside and plundered on!

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