Travel Apps :: Splitwise

[trip style = any]

You're on vacation with friends for a week. You paid for the hotel. Friend A drove and paid for the gas. Friend B paid for lunch, but only for himself and Friend A. Friend C bought all the groceries and she paid for them in a different currency. Friend D only joined the fun for four days. If no one moonlights as a genius mathematician, how will you settle your expenses without spoiling your vacation? Enter Splitwise, the app that takes awkwardness and confusion away from the equation of friends + money + travel.

How it works
Start a new group, name the group {i.e.,"Don't mess with Texas"} and add group members {you, Holly & Sam}. Then add individual expenses and the group members involved in each expense {i.e, bike rental & hotel in Austin}. Each group member can log in and add their bills, and then the app magically calculates what everyone owes. Bonus features: You can even add notes to expenses and settle up via PayPal.

Trip Styler Tip: If you're looking for an app to split restaurant bills, download Plates. It integrates with Splitwise, calculates tax and tip and splits shared dishes.

Download Splitwise for iOS or Android devices, or log in from your computer {$$ = Free}.

This post is written by Trip Styler's Assistant Wayfarer/Editor Heather.

Related
Travel Apps :: PackPoint
Real-Time Translation

[austin images by kevin vandiver & nick simonite] 

That Travel Meal :: Swedish Cinnamon Buns

[trip style = food + wine]

I'm packing my bags for Sweden next month, and if there's one indulgence I'm already dreaming about, it's kardemummabulle. This Swedish treat isn't just fun to say; it's also fun to eat.

Bullar {buns} are a quintessential component of fika, the Swedish afternoon coffee break. You'll typically see both kanelbulle and kardemummabulle in Sweden, with the only difference being the addition of cardamom in the dough. Fika is so central to Swedish culture that it's both a verb and a noun. In Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break, the authors write:

"Ska vi fika?" {Should we fika?} means "Let's take a break, spend some time together, slow down." Fika isn't just for having an afternoon pick-me-up; it's for appreciating slow living. To truly fika requires a commitment to making time for a break in your day, the creation of a magical moment in the midst of the routine and the mundane.

In a post about Stockholm's hippest hood last year, I suggested that a worthwhile activity would be to stop by every bakery in town for comparative taste testing. I stand by this suggestion, but you don't need to fly all the way to Sweden to enjoy their iconic treat. You don't even need to go to Ikea. Here's my favorite recipe for making them at home.

Kardemummabulle

Dough
- 7 tbsp unsalted butter {about 1 stick}
- 1.5 c milk
- 2 tsp active dry yeast
- 4.5 c all-purpose flour
- 1/4 c sugar
- 2 tsp cardamom seeds {crushed via coffee grinder or mortar & pestle}
- 1/4 tsp salt

Filling
- 7 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 c sugar
- 3 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp cardamom seeds, crushed

Topping
- 1 egg, beaten
- Pearl sugar

Trip Styler Tip: Look for cardamom and pearl sugar in your local gourmet market.

Can't view the video? Watch it here.

Instructions

Melt the butter in a saucepan, then stir in the milk. Heat until warm to the touch {about 110°F}. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in 3 tbsp of the warm milk/butter mixture. Stir and let sit for a few minutes until bubbles form on the yeast. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cardamom and salt. Yes, fresh cardamom smells like a fancy Nordic spa. Don't become too relaxed; stay on task! Add the yeast mixture along with the remaining milk/butter.

Work the dough with your hands to form a ball. Transfer to a flat surface and knead until smooth and elastic, 3-5 mins. The dough is fully kneaded when you slice into it with a sharp knife and see small air bubbles. Return dough to the bowl, cover with a clean tea towel, place it on your kitchen table and allow it to rise about one hour until it doubles in size. Do not take your eyes off the bowl for the full hour. Just kidding; that would be torture and cinnamon buns are the opposite of torture.

Grease a large baking sheet or cover it with parchment paper or a silicon mat. Set aside. Make the filling right before the dough finishes rising. Using a fork, cream the butter together with the sugar and spices until you get a spreadable paste.

When the dough has finished rising, place it on a flat, lightly floured surface. Roll it out with a rolling pin to a 13x21-inch rectangle. Place the rectangle on the counter with the long side facing you. Spread the filling on top of the rolled-out dough all the way to the edges. With a butter knife, mark three equal 7" sections in the dough, then fold the outer thirds one at a time on top of the middle section, creating three layers. Rotate the dough so the long side once again faces you and roll out the dough slightly. Cut 1-inch strips; you should have 18-22 strips.

Twist each strip into a rosette shape twice around your thumb and two fingers, pulling the end through the middle. There is no magic formula for this! Cover buns with a tea towel and allow them to rise for 40 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 435°F. Once the buns have risen, brush them with the beaten egg and sprinkle them with pearl sugar. Bake 8-10 minutes until they're golden on top. If you don't have pearl sugar, sprinkle the buns with granulated sugar as soon as you remove them from the oven.

This post is written by Trip Styler's Assistant Wayfarer/Editor Heather.

Related
That Travel Meal :: THE Italian Cocktail
That Travel Meal :: Pok Pok Som Thai Basil Gin Rickey
That Travel Meal :: Best-in-Show Burrata at Ava Gene's
That Travel Meal :: Chevre-Prosciutto-Pear-Arugula Pizza

[images by @heatherlovesit and recipe adapted from fika: the art of the swedish coffee break by anna brones and johanna kindvall]

Travel Beauty :: Makes Scents

[trip style = any]

Do you purchase a new fragrance for every trip? I read that tip in the Paris Review recently and fell in love with the idea. The writer was quick to point out that she wasn't suggesting we purchase an expensive bottle every time we go to a cousin's wedding, but instead that we dignify a journey with its own scent.

Whether you select a new rollerball in the airport duty-free or carefully choose a scent to match your destination, this practice will allow you to create a unique sense memory for your trip. Our sense of smell connects to the part of our brain that deals with memory, motivation and emotion, which is why a scent will evoke a memory more so than any other sense.

I've selected five fragrances that originated in or were inspired by the cities to which they're attached. The first three are unisex and the next two are intended for women and men, respectively, although worn by both {I love Spicebomb even though it's from the men's department}. I'm off to Europe next month and I'm already contemplating my options: seductive and spicy for Barcelona or fresh and woody for Stockholm? With so many hours in airports, I may do both!

Trip Styler Tip: Perfumer Frédéric Malle suggests that when selecting a new fragrance, you should try on one or two and then walk around the store for 20 minutes. After that it will have settled and you'll have some confidence in whether you like it. If it still appeals, it will do for a long time; if it irritates, it will never stop.

Stockholm
Byredo Gypsy Water
Notes: Bergamot, Lemon, Pepper, Juniper Berries, Incense, Pine Needles, Vanilla, Sandalwood

New York
Le Labo Santal 33
Notes: Sandalwood, Cedar, Cardamom, Iris, Violet, Ambrox, Leather, Musk

Capri
Acqua di Parma Blu Mediterraneo Arancia di Capri
Notes: Orange, Mandarin, Lemon, Petit Grain, Cardamom, Caramel, Musk

Paris
Frédéric Malle Portrait of a Lady
Notes: Oriental Rose, Benzoin, Cinnamon, Sandalwood, Patchouli, Musk, Frankincense

Amsterdam
Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb
Notes: Bergamot, Grapefruit, Cinnamon, Pink Pepper, Lavandin, Chilli, Saffron, Elemi, Vetiver, Balsam Fir, Tobacco, White Leather

This post is written by Trip Styler's Assistant Wayfarer/Editor Heather.

Related
Roll-On Essential Oils for Travel
Best Fragrances for Trip Styles
Face Masks for Frequent Flyers
The Do-It-All Cream

[images by @heatherlovesit & @tripstyler except paris photo via ignant.de]

Hanging in Hawaii

[trip style = steal + luxury + beach]

Aloha from Hawaii. 

After three years away, I'm back on the Big Island for a wedding, as well as some "mandatory" trip styling at a steal-of-a-deal condo in Kona and the luxe and sprawling Fairmont Orchid on the Kohala Coast. 

I'm tagging cool spots as I go, so check out #TSBigIsland or @TripStyler // @TStrish on Instagram for snaps of shave ice, sand and sunsets. 

PS - check out our Big Island Spotlight.

[photo by @tripstyler]

A day in Vancouver

[trip style = luxury + urban + spa + food & wine + active]

Eat, exercise, repeat. This is Vancouver. Steeped in nature with a cosmo flair befitting its Pacific Rim location, Vancouver is a city where Louboutins and hiking boots are equally welcome. For a well-rounded view of the Glass City I've included activities for both shoe types to your mountain-meets-metropolitan itinerary. Happy trails...

When I was asked to write about how to do a Saturday in my home city for Luxury Retreats Magazine, I went in this direction: The local's way, because that's the best way to taste a town's flavors, mais oui?

A Saturday in Vancouver {reader's digest version}
9am: Take your first bite du jour at Temper Pastry {just outside the city center} for a dose of coffee and croissants to fuel your urban adventure. Thankfully the rest of the day involves exercise, so order a few Charlie Bites—the shop's cult-following, lightly sweetened, cinnamon pull-aparts—and sit for a bit in the marble-clad and brioche-scented space. 

10:30am: Bike the Stanley Park Seawall. As part of the world's longest uninterrupted waterfront path, the seawall showcases the ocean city’s assets up close, taking cyclists and pedestrians on a tour around town past the park's 1,000 acres, beaches, seaside restaurants, marinas, and gourmet markets.

2pm: Laze the afternoon away at the Fairmont Pacific Rim Willow Stream Spa. At once contemporary and cool, the 8,500-square foot, glass-enclosed space goes beyond Canada-inspired treatments of the Maple-sugar scrub variety, offering a woodsy West Coast aesthetic, the crown jewel of which is the outdoor terrace with views over the waterfront, private Jacuzzis, an infrared sauna, and meditation pods.

7pm: Dinner at L’Abattoir (where you'll find me sitting at the bar in the photo gallery), Gastown's poshest address for dinner, blending an industrial-French physique with sexy cocktails and Euro-coastal dishes that look as though they are intended for a photoshoot.

[photo via @luxuryretreats]