Packing Tips for the Plane

    With economy seating getting tighter and tighter, there's even more reason to have all your necessities -- especially on long flights -- in a small shoulder or tote bag that easily fits under your seat. I recently blogged that I've managed to go even lighter than ever before in terms of my never-check-luggage packing, carrying a backpack that itself fits under my seat, beside my wee shoulder bag. No climbing over your seatmates during the flight to access your overhead luggage. (On my recent flight from Amsterdam, the person in front of me got up no less than 15 times during the 7 hour flight to get into his overhead luggage, in the process causing pieces of luggage to barely miss hitting a fellow passenger in the head!)

    What bag did I choose as a tiny tote? My new favorite bag is manufactured by Timbuk2. It's durable and water resistant. In fact, I comfortably carried it across my body on my recent Brittany walk. It has a number of internal pockets to help organize things.

What kinds of items make it into my Timbuk2? The list below takes care of most all needs that come up during a flight, from stomach upset (that's where the peppermint and chewable antacids come into play); headache (Aleve); motion sickness (Bonine works more efficiently than Dramamine); dry lips (Limoncello lip butter); bathroom issues (Charmin wet wipes); dry or sore throat (Ricola natural herb lozenges); noise and light issues (Ear Peace ear plugs and an eye mask); unclean hands or surfaces (hand sanitizer); chocoholic cravings (Godiva dark  chocolate pearls that come in a little tin); and dental needs (floss, mini toothpaste and foldable toothbrush, and Stim-U Dents, a special toothpick that softens so as not to injure your gums, or a disposable brush that combines paste and toothpick all in one.)

My In-Flight Necessities:

Altoids - peppermint

Antacid - chewable tablets like Rolaids or Tums

Aleve

Bonine - meclizine hydrochloride - chewable

Godiva - dark chocolate pearls

Limoncello lip butter

Charmin wipes

Ricola natural herb throat lozenges

Eye mask

Ear Peace - ear plugs

Hand sanitizer

toothpaste, toothbrush, dental floss, Stim-U Dents

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Sarajevo, Bosnia in Pictures

When I told my friends and colleagues that I was traveling to Sarajevo, Bosnia, they all wondered why I was going there. What an odd question. Though many  people still only associate Bosnia and Sarajevo with the war -- though conflicts ceased 15 years ago, I experienced this as a land with a vibrant culture -- Sarajevo has an active contemporary and street art scene -- and a peaceful beauty of the man-made and natural kind. I found numerous tasty vegetarian restaurants, stylish coffee shops, including one where the director of the director of the Sarajevo Film Festival hangs out, and idyllic green spaces where both locals and visitors stroll and picnic. My recent YouTube video slideshow shows off some of the many discoveries on my trip.

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Rotterdam In Pictures

When many people think of the Netherlands not much more than Amsterdam comes to mind. But I recently spent time in Rotterdam, a vibrant, creative, spacious city full of energy, edgy art, peaceful green spaces, idyllic bike paths, and awe-inspiring architecture, all without the crowds that flock to Amsterdam. This short YouTube video slide show provides a window into what I loved about Rotterdam.

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A Cultural Walking Tour in Queens, New York

What tourist doesn't know that Brooklyn's myriad neighborhoods are often radiating coolness? And what about my hometown borough of Queens? The words hip and Queens aren't usually uttered in the same sentence. Well, that's at least the way I saw it, until I took a walking tour with BQE Tours: The Brooklyn Queens Experience.

I signed up for a tour of a neighborhood -- Long Island City -- that I hardly know and that I had a bad experience with just a month before. I had a meeting and gave myself a crazy about of time -- two hours -- to find the venue close to LaGuardia Community College. Not only was I completely lost down streets that ended up at the rail yards and other unseemly venues, but I stopped five residents and students on the street and not one could help me, Google maps aside.I ended up asking two police officers who pointed me into the college -- my meeting was in one of their conference spaces -- but I still had to negotiate through stairwells thick with clouds of marijuana smoke, elevators that stalled and a host of other obstacles. Needless to say, I didn't end up with a great opinion of Long Island City. Then along came John Garay, co-founder, along with his wife, Elissa, of BQE Tours, who showed me that Long Island City is a creative neighborhood, brimming with a cool, hip vitality. Who needs Brooklyn when you've got Queens at my doorstep?

Unlike some other walking tours, this one was intimate -- they allow a max of 12 people -- and not one full of dry historical facts and figures, but rather an experiential tour where we were able to interact with artists at studios and galleries and sample locally-sourced food products. (Though John threw in enough history when appropriate. I found out that the neighborhood was founded in 1870 and it was its own city for a brief time. Plus 48% of its citizens are foreign born.)

Long Island City is an expansive neighborhood so John explained that we would have to do twice the walking as in their DUMBO tour: about 3.5 miles.

Though my express bus zooms over the Queensborough Bridge every day and my view hovers over Long Island City, I had no idea that it's a neighborhood where Jet Blue has its headquarters, where Brooks Brothers does its tie manufacturing, where Rolex has a factory and where a film industry is booming.

John pointed out Tourresol, a restaurant run by a French man who claimed that, when he first settled here, Long Island City reminded him a French village where, after hours, it was a ghost town. (Not any more!)

Our first stop was the small studio of artist Eduardo Anievas who's originally from Cantabria, Spain. Most of the wall space is hung with his acrylics and oils, mostly portraits and figures, some intriguingly abstract. His contemporary city scape bears shadowy figures, some holding umbrellas. I asked him about the inspiration for these pieces and he explained that he enjoys playing with positive and negative space, as well as the interaction between the figure and the background. Anievas enjoys doing small works that he creates rapidly: "In these small ones, I don't show fear because that would show up in my brush strokes." After we discussed painting, Anievas reflected on the evolution of the neighborhood: "By the time I go back to a painting and finish it, a huge building went up. So I feel guilty: they built the whole building and I just worked on one painting."

As we strolled along 28th Avenue, John explained why this street, which leads to Gantry Plaza State Park, is exceptionally wide: it was once the site for the old freight railway tracks. The park, a verdant, riverfront oasis, is named for the gantries and transfer bridges once used to load and unload the rail barges. Though the steel work remains, and gives the park its character, we meandered about, along boardwalks and paths offering stellar views of Manhattan's iconic buildings: Empire State, Chrysler, United Nations, and more. On one pier, several people tossed out fishing lines. Others were sunning on the green lawns, or lounging on Adirondack-style chair. John pointed out a construction site where a new library designed by Stephen Holl Architects -- what a perfect place it'll be to take in the Manhattan cityscape.

Then it was on to the LIC Flea & Food next to the LIC Boathouse. (John told me you can take out a kayak from here and explore the East River.) The Flea & FFoodis focused on all things made in Queens. (Another who knew moment for me.) John had us try several hot, spicy pickles, including sweet Chipotle from PickeMePete. As he gave us time to wander, I became aware that this was a United Nations of fare to sample. There was Baoshoppe Chutta Madrew serving up Ecuadorian sandwiches; and Lumpia Merienda with its Filipino egg rolls. I saw vendors selling Korean beef bowls, fried crabmeat wontons, and Japanese vegetable pancakes. John selected a specialty bundt cake for us to  sample from NYC Bundts that's noted for its itty bitty bundts. My favorite: macha tea with lemon glaze.

We headed across the street to Rockaway Brewing Company -- the oldest brewery in Queens -- where the small pub room whose ceiling is strung with scarlet red hued piping is packed with beer lovers. We were led to the rear room that's home to the brewing facility. Flint gave us a tour, and provided samples of the Original Flagship ESP that has a malty, sweet flavor and Nitro Black Gold Stout with hints of espresso and chocolate.

John was a wealth of surprising factoids, including that the  Empire City Ironworks factory that we passed dates from 1904 and it provided the steel for the new World Trade Center. Farther along our route is the oldest post office in the borough (from 1920) but more interesting was what was across the street: PS1, a contemporary art-focused museum. And -- again I had no idea about this -- in the summer they host Warm Up, an outdoor summer dance party and one that I hope to check out later this month.

Probably the most charming street we walked is tree-lined 45th Avenue, which happened to be a historic district with row houses from the 18070s. No far away, we pay a visit to the Dorsky Gallery that has an ever-changing array of exhibitions. This gallery is curatorial, providing a forum for curators to send proposals of interesting art: conceptually, visually, that speaks to a broad audience and references what's going on in the art scene. Each exhibition is thematic. "Homeland Insecurity: Vanishing Dreams" revolved around artists dealing with catastrophic situations. The current exhibition is "New Ways of Seeing: Beyond Culture." The eclectic selection of works from these world class artists reflects their cultural upbringing. Ivan Navarro and Courtney Smith produced a neon bench. Both of Christian Ruiz Berman's pieces are mixed media: one includes macaw feather and ostrich eggs. Rina Banerjee produced a sculptural collage work, using rooster feathers, gourds, ceramic balls, amber glass vials and much more.

As we continued prowling through the neighborhood, John made sure we saw the variety of experiences LIC offered, from a new indoor rock climbing wall that's become quite popular to an actual rock, a glacial erratic -- yes, it's from an ancient glacier that once rolled through this area -- that sits by its lonesome on 12th Street and 43rd Road.

John Brown Smokehouse is for lovers of BBQ, like myself. The Kansas City-born owner set up a cozy, informal patio in the rear with umbrella tables and benches covered with red and white checkered plastic tablecloths. While we wait for our pulled pork and burnt ends -- they were tender and flavorful, especially with a kick from the Ghost Pepper sauce on the tables -- I checked out the NYC-themed wall murals. One is the Statue of Liberty who's decked out with red lipstick and another is the #7 subway train. On a warm spring or summer afternoon, this is a more than pleasant place to enjoy lunch and hang out.

John ended our tour at the rooftop bar of the Z NYC Hotel, which I also viewed from the window of my express bus as we cruised over the bridge each evening. The hotel's lobby is decorated in a transportation motif, including a mural of the secret City Hall subway station, and antique luggage trunks stacked, making up the reception desk. Floored in astroturf, the roof provides scenic views of the 59th Street (Queensborough) Bridge and many of the city's signature sites, including the old Silvercup bakery that's been transformed into a film studio where the Sopranos and Sex and the City where both shot. With a prosecco in hand, we all toasted a great day in Queens, a borough with plenty of hidden treasure to be had.

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Travel Security Tips for Women Traveling Alone

Traveling alone shouldn't mean sticking close to your hotel and ordering room service every night, or choosing an all-inclusive because you're afraid of going far afield by yourself. I travel all over the world sometimes with a friend, sometimes with a group but, more often, alone. Here are 11 of my top travel security tips for women traveling my themselves.

1. Make sure your accommodation's door as well as any sliding glass doors each have a dead bolt.

2. In case your door doesn't come with a dead bolt, hang a portable door alarm around the knob.

3. Try to get a room that's not on the first floor.

4. Before you approach your room, look around to see who is hanging around the hallway or is near the door to your accommodation.

5. Check the elevator before entering it.

6. It's best not to carry a purse. But if you decide to, make sure the purse strap is cross body and that the pockets cannot be easily opened.

7. Never drape your purse on the back of your chair or leave it on the floor, even if it's beneath the table or between your legs. Instead, put your leg through the strap so you'll feel the tug should anyone try to swipe it.

8. Think about wearing clothing, including pants, shorts, skirts, dresses, and shirts with zippered pockets to store your belongings.

9. Don't wear flashy jewelry or clothing that will bring unwanted attention to yourself.

10. When sitting at a bar, always keep your drink within eyesight and never leave it unattended.

11. Once you check into your accommodation, speak with local women business owners to find out if there are streets or neighborhoods with security issues. 

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Creative Greek Cuisine in Connecticut

Why in the world would I take the Metro North train more than an hour from Manhattan for lunch? Because I heard that a new, ultra creative Greek restaurant recently opened in Darien, Connecticut. And my two-hour-some round-trip commute was worth it.

Chef Themis Papadopoulos helms the kitchen at Lithos that eventually will have a lovely outdoor terrace on a quiet residential street. He trained in France and it shows. Now, first I have to confess that Greek cuisine isn't my favorite, only because I'm often not surprised by the options. That's not the case at Lithos, where the creamy tarama and xtipito appetizers were so light, they were like puffy cumulous clouds. Tarama, made with codfish eggs, didn't come with the typical heavy fish taste. And the feta cheese-based xtipito is unexpectedly flavored with smoked paprika, as well as green pepper and pine nuts. Octopus at many restaurants is hit or miss; mostly miss. But here it was amazingly tender and flavorful, first slow cooked for three hours in red vinegar, then cooked in canola oil and served with a fava bean spread. One of the biggest surprises were the aoilis: a dollop of beet aoili created by mixing the chopped beats with the tarama; and a mango aoili that contains lemongrass and olive oil -- I definitely did not expect to see lemongrass in a Greek restaurant. Something new on the menu is the sesame feta pie, which has phyllo sprinkled with sesame and honey imported from Greece. (This might be my favorite item on the menu: part sweet, but not cloyingly so, and part savory.) The main fish course, grilled dorade, was cooked with  capers, lemon and parsley with a side of blanched Swiss chard plus kale. (The veggies were cooked in a vegetable broth with garlic and olive oil.) And unlike the rest of the U.S. I'm no fan of kale but combining it with the Swiss chard and cooking it all with garlic provided enough flavor to offset the typical kale bitterness I detest.

I usually avoid Greek desserts which often drip with honey. Here the desserts had perfect balance. The galaktobourek wasn't soggy and overly sweet, as I've often found it in other restaurants. Here, the custard cream was wrapped in phyllo and drizzled with a mildly sweet syrup flavored with lemon. The kataifi was a crispy phyllo tart filled with Brie and topped with pistachios -- typically you wouldn't find pistachios and cheese in this dessert. Even the baklava is different: here the shape is round instead of triangular. Since I'm a chocoholic, the chocolate mille feuille -- something I never found in a Greek restaurant -- was a hit: milk chocolate mousse was sandwiched between chocolate phyllo, with a side of kumquats that had been cooked in rose water.

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The Best Urban Rails-to-Trails in the U.S.

As transit networks for human-powered activities, rails to trails are bringing together communities, linked by a shared interest in a safe way to commute and commune with nature, and, in the process, protecting natural resources while also revitalizing local businesses.

1. Illinois Prairie Path, Illinois

Nicknamed the Roarin' Elgin, the now retired Chicago, Aurora & Elgin Railroad once carried commuters and freight between Chicago and its suburbs. Its legacy, the 62-mile Illinois Prairie Path (IPP), one of the country's oldest rails to trails, is perfect not only for the botanically inclined but also the committed commuter.

2. Ojai Valley and Venture River trails - California

Urban grittiness is evident along the six-mile Ventura River trail where rotating and decommissioned oil derricks are in plain sight. But art installations also dot this trail, such as a bronze of oranges, reflecting the produce the railroad once transported, and other Ventura themes.

3. Burke Gilman Trail - Washington

 Traced by a sandy beach, Golden Gardens as well as other parts of the trail offer views of the mighty Olympic Mountains, even snow-capped Mount Rainier, in the distance.

4. Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail, Florida

The path -- it's dotted with aluminum sculptures as a nod to its railroad history -- allows bladers, walkers and cyclists to safely and scenically traverse the Gulf coast, tidal waterways, myriad leafy parks and quaint neighborhoods in a state that's hardly noted for its pedestrian-friendly clime.

5. Minuteman Bikeway - Massachusetts

Short but oh-so-sweet, the 10-mile-long Minuteman Bikeway wanders through the landscape touched by the Revolutionary War, paralleling the Battle Road, aka Massachusetts Avenue, the route taken by British soldiers that marched to Concord. Following the path of the Lexington & West Cambridge Railroad from Cambridge to Bedford, this rail-to-trail is heralded as a year-round commuter way, even in the dead of winter.

6. Washington & Old Dominion Trail - Virginia

Many cyclists, joggers and bladers escape D.C. or commute on this trail that compliments the capital's retinue of memorials and monuments with lessons in history that are blended with a sense of peace rarely found in the chaotic Beltway.

7. Silver Comet Trail - Georgia

For 22 years since 1947, passengers could board a luxury train that cruised over towering trestles and through tunnels bored into mountains as it made the trip from New York to Birmingham, Alabama. That storied corridor has been transformed into the 62-mile Silver Comet Trail that spans Smyrna, Georgia (on the outskirts of Atlanta) to the Georgia/Alabama border near Cedartown in a rural North Georgia corner that's a mix of hardwood forests and rolling fields.

Find out more about this these seven urban rails to trails in the article I wrote for NationalGeographic Traveler - Intelligent Travel.

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Brittany, France in Pictures

When I told friends and colleagues that I was traveling to Brittany to walk the Nantes-Brest Canal, this declaration was met with stares. Not even the savviest among them heard of this 216-mile-long canal in Brittany's interior. Why wasn't I going to the coast? And when I told acquaintances in France, they wondered if I would get bored. After all, they said, the scenery is pretty much the same, mile after mile. Right? Wrong.

Over the course of six days, I walked  a 60+ mile portion of this waterway, stopping in villages for lunch and dinner where my friend and I overnighted. Every step in this bucolic landscape was full of discoveries, as the colors, sky, foliage, reflections in the water, continually changed. The bed and breakfasts varied from chateaus reminiscent of Downton Abbey to country houses in centuries-old slate hamlets.

This YouTube video will provide a window into my peaceful journey where I found previous treasures around every corner and where the placid waters acted as a canvas for the verdant scenes.

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Comparing Travel Backpacks

My recent travels took me from JFK to Orly airport, to the streets of Paris for 5 nights at a friend's house, to a train ride bound for Redon in Brittany, to the Nantes-Brest Canal where I walked 10-some miles a day for six days. And I carried all my essentials, including wine bar-perfect dresses, and clothes that were comfortable for walking as well as lounging at the end of the day and my prepared-for-anything first-aid kit, in an ultra comfortable, tiny backpack: the Flight 30 by Six Moon Designs. I recently posted about what I packed in this bag that I would be carrying for the first time and I had high hopes for it. It exceeded all of my expectations.



The bag, designed for ultra runners or super light backpackers, weighs in at a wee 19 ounces. The vest harness is unique, allowing the bag to move with you and comfortably transferring the load away from the lumbar region. I used packing cubes and zip lock bags to organize everything, and  external pockets carried a water bottle, tiny umbrella and other small essentials. (It was top loading but, with everything packed in individual cubes and bags, it was all very organized.) As my friend and I walked this flat paved path for 12+ miles on a few days, I blurted out "This bag is so comfortable, I could easily go another five miles."

Sadly, this was not my friend's experience. She purchased the Tortuga Travel Backpack based on my recommendation. I bought it in 2014 and, though I took it with me to Southeast Asia where I spent a month, I was completely unhappy with it.  It's a heavy bag, weighing in at 3.7 pounds. Sure, the company told me that my torso was too short --- 5'' 2" -- for the bag. But I had no idea it would be so uncomfortable in every sense: after wearing it for just 30 minutes, everything hurt, especially my back. And the padded hip belt that everyone loved just overwhelmed my tiny hips -- I'm a fairly skinny girl -- as did the wide shoulder straps. It just didn't work for me.

And yet, I recommended it to my friend who's 5' 8" tall and much heftier in girth. It's a bag that's good at organizing your gear with external and internal pockets and dividers. Plus it's front loading, which means you can easily find what you need without taking everything out, as you would with a top loading bag. The zippers are of good quality as is the bag itself. And it's the ideal carry-on size. So imagine my surprise when I met my friend in Paris and found out that both airlines she traveled with said the bag had to be checked. (She had not overpacked.) And my further surprise when she complained how uncomfortable the bag was, how it hurt her back, even though she packed light. The Tortuga Travel Backpack's website clearly states that it isn't made for hiking, but traveling from the airport to the hotel is hardly hiking, nor is walking a paved trail. But, alas, my friend did little walking with the Tortuga bag on our trip in Brittany, finding it too uncomfortable. She paid drivers to shuttle her bag ahead to our accommodations each night. And, at the end of our journey she gave the bag away. On the day I declared that I could easily go another 5 miles with my Six Moon Designs bag, my friend decided that as soon as she got home, she was ordering the Flight 30 bag, too. 

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