Summer.
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You can focus on exercise, nutrition, all the things you're supposed to do for your health.
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Yeah, and I also love that it automatically starts when you get into bed, so it feels seamless.
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Hello, we're here for More Happier, a podcast where we get happier.
Join us for some weekend listening.
It's observations and reflections with a looser vibe.
Hey, Elizabeth.
Hi, Gretchen.
Today we are revisiting some of our favorite hacks for making summer travel more convenient and less stressful.
Yes, and we've gotten so many great suggestions from listeners over the years, things I never would have thought of myself.
I know, exactly.
I feel like we could do many episodes on nothing but travel hacks.
We cannot get enough travel hacks.
But Alicia, I have to ask, do you have any summer vacations planned?
Gretch, I feel like it's my summer of New York.
I'm going to New York at least twice.
Yes.
And I'm so excited.
I get to have the pleasure of seeing you without leaving New York City.
Yes.
How about you?
Well, one place I know I want to go is Kansas City.
So I know that that's in my future.
Yes.
So, Gretchen, these hacks are very relevant to us.
As always, listener hacks help us as much as anyone.
Yes, very relevant.
Okay, let's listen back.
This week, the Try This at Home suggestion for the very special episode is to remember these travel hacks.
Because one of the biggest challenges, I think Elizabeth, is you can learn a hack, but then you have to remember to use it at the right time.
So you can learn these hacks, but then you have to remember the hacks.
Yes, I was actually thinking I need to listen to this episode back like three times to get all these hacks into my brain.
Well, and speaking of that way, back in episode 180 we did a very special episode that was all travel hacks.
But this is such a common happiness stumbling block.
And people have so many great suggestions.
It feels worth revisiting.
But if people want more ideas, you can go back to 180 and listen to a bunch of them.
Listeners have such great ideas.
There's so much creativity and ingenuity.
I just love these hacks.
It always blows my mind.
Gretchen, well, let's start with some of your favorite travel hacks.
Okay.
So I love to read on vacation.
Alyssa, I know you love to read on vacation.
But one thing I've learned is don't bring a challenging book on vacation, because often I'm like oh, I'll have all this free time.
I'll be able to concentrate.
But I'm on vacation.
I don't want to read something that's very difficult.
So now I try to read books that are really good but that are not demanding, like academic books or something like that.
I now pack a travel mug.
I like a huge mug, bigger mug than anybody else wants.
I don't like drinking out of like a little dinky mug.
And so now I pack my own mug if I possibly can.
Here's one that's important.
Okay.
And this came up in our trip to England, Elizabeth.
Use a roller bag if you possibly can.
Because even if you think oh, I'm just going from the car right into the airport and I hardly need to carry it at all,
So often things happen.
You have to be rerouted.
Something isn't working.
When I was in England, the travel conveyor belts weren't working, so I ended up having to carry my bag.
We couldn't get a ride from the train station to the hotel.
We had to walk with our bags.
Even airports these days are so gigantic.
You might end up walking 5,000 steps.
Yeah. just going to your gate.
And so, unless your bag is incredibly light or you're extremely strong, I would say always use a roller bag if you possibly can.
Very good advice.
Yeah.
Roller bags are something where once they were invented, it was just game on.
We're all getting roller bags.
For some reason, Jamie is very averse to them.
I think he feels like it's more authentic.
I don't know.
I'm like, suit yourself and I'm taking roller bags.
Here's something you learned the hard way.
Okay.
If you are in a city that has multiple airports, double, triple check your airport.
I am looking at you, New York City, with your LaGuardia, Kennedy, and Newark airports.
I am looking at Dallas that has Love Field, and it also has Dallas-Fort Worth airports.
London has them.
I have more than once gone or at least headed in the wrong direction to the wrong airport.
And so double check.
Yes, my sister-in-law and her whole family did that in Los Angeles when they were going to Europe.
So that was an adventure.
There you go.
Another hack I have is if you're in a country where you don't speak the language, you can use your Google app on your phone to translate the package.
We did this in Japan where it's like, what is this item?
And it will tell you.
Sometimes it's fun to be in suspense, but sometimes you really want to know what's inside, or you want to know the name of something.
And that just gives you quick, easy translation.
It's amazing.
And then also, if you want white noise, I think a lot of people in a hotel room or if they're in an unfamiliar place like to have white noise to help them sleep.
This is a little bit of a process, but I will say the steps if you're on an Apple iPhone.
You go to Settings.
Then you go to Accessibility.
Then you, under Hearing, choose Audio and Visual.
Then you choose background sounds on and off.
And then you can choose ocean, rain, stream, balance noise, etc.
It took me a couple times before I could do it pretty easily to remember the steps.
But then it's great because you can just have a white noise machine playing and you can have it playing as long as you want.
So that really helps me to sleep sometimes if I'm in an unfamiliar place.
Yes, very useful.
And then the final one that I have is what I would call grocery store grab bags.
So when I went to Japan, there was a day where we were tired out and just wanted to do something really simple.
So to make it fun, We went to a grocery store, bought a lot of food, kind of unusual things that we didn't know what they were exactly.
And then we just had a picnic and we called a grocery store grab bag because everybody just grabbed things that caught their eye and then we had fun tasting them.
So that was just a really fun way to do something a little bit different.
It was extremely inexpensive and it had a picnic feel.
It was very fun.
Yes, there's something about going to a grocery store that gives you a different experience of a city.
Yes, absolutely.
Gretch, I want to recommend an app.
I think I've mentioned it before, but I'm such a fan.
It's called Splitwise.
And if you're taking a trip with friends and you want to keep track of expenses...
I won't go into all the details of how it works, but just suffice it to say this will make your trip so much easier and it will absolutely streamline everybody paying each other back for dinners and tickets and whatnot.
And it's really easy to use.
So this is great if you're traveling with a bunch of people who need to split expenses.
Yes.
So this is like the bachelorette party or the college reunion.
Exactly.
Split-wise.
I actually have a travel app that I really love, too.
It's called Tripsy.
And it's a travel planning app.
And you can send all of your flight information, your trains, restaurants, hotels.
And all you have to do is email it to the Tripsy app.
And it puts it all in one organized planner.
And you can go to it at any time and see your whole day's itinerary and share it with your family or whoever else you're traveling with.
It works great.
Oh, wow.
I cannot wait to try that.
Because sharing information is one of the hardest things on a trip, I find.
Yes, and having everything in one place.
Yes, so you don't have to keep switching between different documents or different screens.
But Elizabeth, what are some of your hacks?
Well, you know, Gretchen, I love my CalPak bag.
I think we mentioned it in the gift guide.
It's the puffy.
I have a tote bag and a little mini duffel.
And my hack is to have a puffy bag and use it as a pillow on the plane.
It is.
If I have a window seat, I put it up against the window, I lean against it, and it is so comfortable.
Okay.
So it's good for carrying things, and it's also good for leaning against.
Yes.
And then my other hack, Gretchen, is travel with dogs.
It is really fun.
I'm not talking about plane rides here, although I know a lot of people love to bring their dogs on the plane.
We have not done that, nor do I think...
Our dogs would be good on a plane because they bark so much.
But if we take driving trips, we always have so much fun when we bring them.
Yes, it's a hassle, but it just adds to the excitement and the fun.
Oh, that's fun.
Yeah.
I love those hacks.
All right, Gretch, coming up, we have lots of amazing hacks from listeners.
But first, this break.
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You know why I love summer?
All those plans we made, they finally make it out of the group chat.
Seems like there's more time to fit everyone in.
Whatever you've got in store this summer, capturing those memories is a must.
That's why I love the iPhone 17 Pro I picked up from AT&T.
It's center stage, front camera, auto adjust the frame to fit everyone into group selfies.
You don't even have to turn your phone.
No awkward cropping or asking strangers to take it.
Just the perfect group selfie every time.
And ATT makes sharing those moments with everyone easy, because you got to share the pic or it didn't happen, right?
Right now at ATT ask how you can get iPhone 17 Pro online on them with eligible iPhone trade-ins, any condition.
Requires trade-in of iPhone 15 plus or higher, excludes iPhone 16E and 17E.
Requires eligible plan, terms and restrictions apply, subject to change.
Visit att.com slash iPhone or visit an AT&T store for details.
Hey, it's Julie Louis-Dreyfus from Wiser Than Me, etc., just popping in with a little reality check.
Food waste shouldn't exist.
There is no reason that our leftovers should end up in a landfill, but that's the final destination for about a third of the food we grow.
Our ancestors would be confused.
They used their food scraps as compost or as animal feed or in weird soups all the stuff we did before garbage was invented.
But composting is hard work.
Living with a bucket of rotten food on your counter is gross.
Most food goes in the trash because it's easy.
And these days, we'll take any easy we can get.
But now there's something easier.
Drop your scraps in a mill food recycler.
It looks like a kitchen bin and an iPhone had a baby.
It takes nearly anything, even meat and bones.
It works automatically.
You can keep filling it for weeks and it never smells.
When you finally empty it, you've got these nutrient-rich grounds.
Use them in your garden, pour them in your green bin or have Mill, get them to a small farm, so the food you don't eat can help grow the food you do just like it should be.
It's why I own a mill, why I invest in mill, and why I'm still obsessed with my mill.
If you want to get obsessed too, go to mill.com slash wiser to get $75 off.
That's mill.com slash wiser for $75 off.
Okay, let's dive into these travel hacks from listeners.
And we'll go through these quickly because we got so many.
We want to just share as many as possible because each one applies to different people.
We're all in slightly different situations, different stages of life.
So you have to pick and choose the ones that work for you.
So the first set comes from Courtney.
She says, Yikes.
Yeah, that would be bad.
Always, always bring an empty water bottle to the airport and fill it once inside security.
Three, in-flight entertainment systems and Wi-Fi are fantastic, but they don't always work.
Actually, it just happened to me last week on a nine-hour flight.
I was a passenger and my TV didn't work and the Wi-Fi didn't work.
So download movies, TV shows, podcasts, books, etc., and or bring a physical book.
And last, I always carry an extension cord.
It takes up very little space, but can make things so much easier when outlets in airports and or hotel rooms are in hard to reach places.
All such great ideas.
Yes.
And Gretchen, these hacks come from Pauline.
She says, planning and booking a few key stop ahead.
No one wants to queue five hours in the sun in front of the Uffizi in Florence.
Bonus, it makes you look forward to your trip even more.
More happiness before the trip has even started.
Staying flexible when things don't go according to plan and scheduling lots of unplanned time, because it should also be an adventure.
Moving every few days to a new spot makes the trip feel so much longer and full of new experiences.
Like, I can't believe we were in blank location just three days ago.
And then she says mosquito repellent because never underestimate the power of a single mosquito.
Adrienne says, choose a national airline that gives you free stopovers in their country.
Some, especially to the United Emirates, will even pay for a day or two in a hotel and pick you up from the airport.
I traveled to London, but first to Istanbul.
I went to LA from Amsterdam with a wonderful stop in Casablanca and Marrakesh on Moroccan Airlines.
I think you can do this with Iceland.
When I went to Iceland, they said you could have a free stopover on your way to Europe.
And I thought, oh my gosh, that sounds so luxurious.
I never have heard of this.
That's a great tip.
Kirsten says, I've heard of this with grocery stores and with drugstores.
I think checking out a local library is a brilliant idea.
Lisa says as a contact lens wearer, I repurpose the free lens cases that are often provided within boxes of sterilizing solution.
I fill the little cups with small amounts of different ointments, such as antibacterial anti-itch, special face cream, etc.
I then use a Sharpie to label the contents on each screw on top.
They don't leak, and it sure beats packing lots of tubes and jars.
Well, I just went to the eye doctor and I got a disposable contact lens case and I was like this is a great idea.
I'm going to use it for that.
I'm so excited.
Yes.
Space efficient.
Yes.
Evelyn says, All of that.
Gretch, I know someone who just used this and said it was amazing.
Oh, that's great to know about.
Sarah said, And the rest of the time just be enthusiastic about whatever is going on and you'll have a great time, even if it wasn't something on your list of ideas.
Great idea.
And related to that suggestion.
Audra says with the whole family, ask what is the most important thing they do on this vacation.
Then schedule those things in the early part of the trip if you can.
Everybody did their thing, nobody dominates the schedule, and the rest of the days are gravy.
That's a good idea.
Johanna says return home with at least one day of your holidays remaining, so you have time to rest before returning to work or school.
I learned this from my in-laws.
They do this and it really does take the pressure off the return.
Yes.
Kim says an easy and light toy for babies and toddlers on planes is painter's tape.
A roll of it is small and light and they love ripping off pieces and sticking it to the seats, tray tables and even faces and no damage.
I mean, how ingenious is this?
Excellent.
I mean, I can imagine hours, but it would never have occurred to me to think of painter's tape as like a toy.
Yes.
So brilliant.
Sarah says, I have them in an album and they are a great record of my travels.
I also started using the idea of the five senses to capture more specific evocative memories after reading your book.
Oh, life in five senses.
That's a great idea.
And I love a postcard.
Love this idea.
Yes, and then you don't have to spend as much time trying to get a perfect photo.
Yes, exactly.
Belinda says, That is a fantastic idea.
Very elegant.
Ellen says if you take a tour, do it on your first day.
The tour guide can give you lots of suggestions for the rest of your trip.
That is a great idea.
Charlotte says I set an alarm on my phone to grab any items from the hotel safe before I check out.
Good idea.
I think a lot of people don't want to put things in the safe because they're so worried they'll forget them in the safe.
Okay, you know what some people do is they put a shoe in there.
So they can't get out because they can only put on one shoe.
But of course, if you put on the wrong pair of shoes, then it doesn't work.
But if you only have one pair of shoes or you know what shoes you're going to wear, that can be another aid.
I think we've talked about that.
That's a very good idea.
So clever.
Peggy says, I now travel with noise canceling headphones and an eye mask.
They're great in a plane and the eye mask is vital to me getting a good night's sleep, whether I'm on the plane, in a hotel or at my mom's house.
Great.
Many people love those.
Yes.
Jane said, Camping towels are soft, come in great colors from REI and take far less dryer time than regular towels.
I have never experienced one of these towels.
I've got to check this out.
Good to know.
Jennifer says, plastic flip-flops?
I never travel without them.
I use them as slippers, shower shoes, and beach shoes.
They are perfect after a long day of walking and hiking and my feet hurt.
In a warmer location, they are perfect for being out in the pouring rain.
And they're so easy to pack.
Yes, they take up very little room.
All right, Gretchen, coming up, we have more excellent hacks, but first this break.
Summer always changes what I want to wear.
I stop reaching for anything heavy or complicated and just want pieces that feel light, comfortable and easy from the first second I put them on.
That's why I keep coming back to quints.
Their linen pieces especially have become my default this time of year.
I have a linen button down from Quince that you know.
It's one of those pieces that works for everything for travel, for dinner, for weekends.
It feels much more expensive than it is.
I love that Quince uses high quality materials like European linen and organic cotton.
But everything is priced 50 to 80 less than similar brands because they work directly with ethical factories.
Elevate your summer wardrobe.
Go to quince.com slash Gretchen for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.
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I've been trying to say yes more to little adventures, nothing huge, just getting out of the routine and going somewhere different for the day.
And it really makes you appreciate having a car that feels solid and comfortable, where you're not thinking about the drive, you're just focused on where you're going.
That's what stood out to me about the Defender.
It has that rugged design, but it also feels really thoughtful inside.
And I like that.
There's a full lineup from the two-door 90 to the 110 and the 130, with seating for up to eight, so it really fits different kinds of plans.
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It also has features that make driving feel easier, like ClearSight technology and the PIVI Pro system, so you can keep track of where you're going and everything you want to listen to along the way.
Plus, with up to 89 cubic feet of cargo space and available three rows, it gives you a lot of flexibility, depending on what you're bringing with you.
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All right, Gretchen, we are back with more hacks.
This comes from Andrea, and it's a little bit on the techie side.
She says, I usually make all the travel arrangements for my family, so when my husband and son were going on college visits, I was able to share the travel note directly with them.
Excellent.
Excellent.
I'm going to experiment with this.
This feels out of reach for me, but she makes it sound pretty simple.
Yeah, and if you figure it out, it could be a game changer.
Exactly.
Cheryl says, take a photo of your rental car's license plate.
Of course, the key fob wouldn't work, but it's good to have the license plate known.
Sometimes the rental car keychain has the license plate written on it.
Take a picture of anything you think you might need.
You will never regret it.
Yes.
This next one is related.
Jeanette says, take a picture of your luggage to have on your phone.
Any information you have to identify your luggage will increase your chances of retrieving lost luggage in a timely fashion.
And I want to add to this because when we were coming back from England because that conveyor belt wasn't working, my bag was delayed for like more than a day.
And they ask you all these questions about your bag.
And I realized I had only the dimmest sense of what my bag looked like.
I knew which one was your bag and which was my bag.
But you just never really look at it.
It's like what's on both sides of a quarter? you don't know because you don't really look at it.
So I was like, well, is it kind of a dark brown or is it more kind of like an elephant gray?
So part of it is just really look at your bag and have a sense of it.
But I think taking a picture of it is a really good idea.
And then if you have some kind of distinctive luggage tag or ribbon or something, Pay attention, so you're not just looking for it automatically.
But it's like oh, is this the one that has the giant R on it, or is this the one that's the weird pink?
I just was very surprised by how little recollection I had of my own bag and how many questions I was being asked about how it looked.
But I did get it back, but it could have been simpler.
Good reminder.
Mm-hmm.
Okay, Leomi says, I want to share a reduce, reuse, recycle packing cube hack.
If you happen to buy new bedding items pillowcases quilts pillows, sheets and even curtains they often come in durable zippered plastic packages that you can save.
They have lots of storage uses around the house, but I love to use them as packing cubes.
Can I just say when Eleanor moved into her dorm room, we used those bags for sure.
Yeah, they're super handy.
And it does feel good to reuse them because they're at least the ones we had were good quality.
So it made me happy to put them to good use again instead of just tossing them.
That's a great idea.
Caitlin says, many of my friends collect place-specific souvenirs from their trips, like fridge magnets and mugs, but these would be a nightmare for me when moving house.
Plus, I'm not really into knickknacks, so I developed my own method of buying souvenirs.
Whenever I'm planning a trip, I start thinking ahead about what small practical object I currently need or want to replace, and deliberately look for it during my next travels.
For example, recently I got my umbrella from London, where else?
Stationery from The Hague, keychain from a Croatian small town market, and earphones from Milan.
These items, though not at all place-specific but reflect my style, don't become clutter when I get home and serve as functional reminders of my travels.
Well, Elizabeth, when we were in England, remember I said to you, oh, I'd love to get some coasters.
Yeah.
Because I need coasters.
And then we actually got some as a gift.
It was even better.
Yeah.
But it was fun to have something that I knew I actually needed.
I wasn't just buying some gizmo.
Yes.
Love that idea.
Richard said, Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, we've all done it.
Great idea.
And then finally from Anne.
This is kind of next level, but I thought it was a great suggestion.
She writes, I used a website, flightographer.com, which a friend told me about.
And it came out great.
So that's great because it was a big, like, we're going back to Italy where our family is from.
It was full of memories.
And that made it even more special.
Yeah, a great family photograph would be an amazing souvenir for a big milestone trip.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Okay, Gretch, what is our spotlight on a tool this week?
Yeah, well, summer will be here before we know it.
So now is a great time to start designing your summer.
Is there travel you want to plan?
Maybe this got you inspired to travel.
Are there books you want to read?
Are there things you want to learn?
This year, and I am so excited about this, you can design your summer right in the Happier app.
I worked with a terrific team to build a new tool that helps you map out everything you want to do, so you don't have that feeling of getting to the end of summer and wishing you had done more.
You can start designing your summer on the tools page of the Happier app or download the app at thehappierappcom.
There'll be links in the show notes.
I cannot wait to try it out.
Me neither.
So, Elizabeth, are you feeling happier?
Yes, I'm feeling happier.
Thank you to Chuck.
Bye, Gretch.
Bye, Elizabeth.
The best time to start a happiness project is 20 years ago.
The second best time is now.
