Bag A Beach Bag

[trip style = beach]

{Editor’s Note: Check out the contest we’re running in partnership with Expedia right now! Tweet a pic and the hashtags #freedom & #expediafindyours for a chance to win a trip to aruba or $250 Expedia travel voucher.}

The perfect beach bag is like the perfect pair of jeans, hard to find and has to fit your {preferred} trip style{s} and lifestyle.

Six months ago I was on a one-year mission looking for just this: a stylish, beachy-casual, fold-flat beach bag. I found the one in Portland, made by a company aptly named Baggu. Huge bonus: it's cool, well made and inexpensive {I paid $22 for mine}!

Baggus work for the everyday. Baggus work for the beach. Baggus work for the pool. Baggu is a NY-based company that started in 2007 as a sewing project by a mother-daughter duo. Five years later the company has expanded beyond the at-home sewing machine to produce: 1/ reusable do-anything/go-anywhere/fold-into-a-tiny-pouch nylon bags and small backpacks 2/ strong canvas bags {my fave & my beach bag} and small backpacks 3/ leather bags .....plus a bunch of other products to hold life's portables, all at reasonable prices.

Beach season is here, and winter vacation season is six months away. With this, here are four things to consider when trying to bag the right beach bag: 1/ Does it go from plane-to-pool in style? 2/ Does it fold flat? 3/ Is it washable? 4/ Is it casual enough that you don't mind mind getting sand on it?

Related Content Seven Ways To Beach Chic Summer Style With Heidi Merrick Crush :: Clare Vivier Carryalls

[photos of Baggus put together by @tripstyler]

Poolside Faux Pas

[trip style = all-inclusive + sun + beach + budget conscious + luxury]

First let me say, there are bigger problems to have in life than being annoyed by something or someone whilst lounging poolside. But since Trip Styler chats about travel lifestyle {and we're big on travel etiquette}, I digress.

Whether you've scored a deal on Travelzoo or paid full price for poolside bliss AND attendants at a Relais & Châteaux property, certain behaviours ruin the mood. And gosh darn it, you've paid to be there! If you're heading away this winter, here are some common poolside pet peeves to avoid for the greater good:

Hotel Pool Faux Pas

• Leaving your towel on your beach or pool chair when you leave!
• Saving pool loungers or palapas for 5 hours when you're not there!
• Loud speakers. Are you delivering a keynote? I didn't think so.
• Cell phone talkers. Step away, far away from the pool please.
• Smoking cigarettes, cigars and pipes in densely populated areas.
• Splashers. {Submitted by @ckjnewberry} Sure, a little pool play is fine, but don't splash other guests, that's what the ocean is for.
• Loud iPod'ers.
• Not treating the hotel or resort staff {who work harder than you know, and are often mistreated by other guests} with care.

Do you have any to add that we're missing?

Related Content Plane Etiquette Hotel {guest} Etiquette Travel Tipping Etiquette

[photo by @tripstyler, taken two weeks ago at the Parker Palm Springs]

Tips For Planning A Caribbean Vacation

[trip style = beach + sun]

This week the steel drums are clanging, the dreadlocks are bouncing and the sun is shining....in our world. Why? For most of the week, we're going to be talking about the Caribbean. Today we list tips and considerations for planning a trip to de islands and on Wednesday and Thursday we'll share our top picks for luxury and wallet-friendly romantic getaways.

The zillions of islands and cays that span 2736km in the Caribbean Sea beckon everyone from boaters to Beyonce and bevvie lovers to beach bunnies. Visit St. Barth's at Christmas and you're likely to spot more celebs than at The Grove {outdoor mall in LA} on a Saturday, or opt for something a little less opulent and stay on the less developed shores of The Turks and Caicos. Regardless of which trip style or island's geography you enjoy most, here are some thought starters for planning your future getaway under the jungle's canopy or the shade of an umbrella in the Caribbean.

Considerations

• Non-stop flight? If so, here's how to find direct flights on a month-by-month basis out of your home airport.
• Family fun, girlfriend getaway, mancation or couples trip? Book yourself into the right resort and it's bliss, end up at the wrong resort and your vacay could be a miss.
• Want an all-inclusive or a la carte experience?
• Mega resort or boutique property?
• Stay close to town or go castaway style?
• Adventure junkie or beach break?
• Saver or spender? The Dominican Republic and Jamaica tend to have the best values, due to a high influx of flights, whereas harder-to-reach islands are often harder on the pocket book

Tips

• Choose your travel dates wisely, mid-December to April is high season, yet there's usually a small lull in resort occupancy just after New Year's, so this can be a reasonable time to travel in winter.
• Bring small USD bills for tipping.
• Don't expect North American customer service, each island has its own distinct culture and this will come out---for better or for worse---at each resort.
• if you want to save money, consider doing a vacation rental, but stay near a town centre so grocery pick-up is easy
• Know in advance about extra fees and incidentals. Most resorts will charge a daily resort fee unless it's included in your price. Furthermore, some countries charge a departure tax, only payable in cash.
• If you have 5 days or less, opt for a direct or one-stop flight to maximize time at your destination. In addition, bring a carry-on so you can go from plane to pool in a flash.
• Get to know the country you're visiting as well as their entry and exit requirements, for example, in Cuba you need physical proof of your medical insurance to enter the country.
• We all remember sunscreen, but most people forget bug spray! With the dense topical foliage surrounding most beach regions, bugs and sand fleas like the beach just as much as you do!  I've been the the Caribbean more times than I can count, and generally the bugs aren't bad. The only time I was badly, badly bitten by noseeums---to the point of getting swollen ankles---was in the densely forested mountainous region of the Dominican Republic.

Related Content Packaged VS Unpackaged Vacations All-Inclusive Tricks Of The Trade All-inclusive Month :: Introductions All-Inclusive Month :: Matchmaking Don’t Judge an All-Inclusive until Day 3 {7 Reason to Wait to Evaluate} A Redo trip {What to do when an all-inclusive experience goes belly-up} Update on my Redo Trip {An overview of the highs and lows of the Sandals WhiteHouse}

[photo by mdanys]

Healthy on the Road :: 20-min Exercise Itinerary

[trip style = all-inclusive]

I am writing this post from Puerto Vallarta Mexico. We’re staying at a family-friendly, all-inclusive resort, with my husband’s side of the family. The weather has been perfect and the resort is lovely, but I have a confession to make: my expectations for rejuvenation weren’t too high for this trip! Good thing I was wrong, and my husband and I made a simple, daily exercise schedule to keep our bodies and minds sharp!

The Daily Schedule I am literally amazed that we are entering week two feeling relaxed, healthy and energetic. How did this happen?! I was sure my husband and I would be sick, or at the very least burned out by now. Our answer: the daily schedule we were once dreading.

Good Timing Up until very recently we were the couple in the family without kids. Nap times did not dictate our daily schedule, nor did the operating hours of the froggy slide. Things are different now, but much to our surprise, the change has been a very good thing.

A New Itinerary In the midst of our new “itinerary”, my husband and I have made an exciting discovery: a plan does not take the fun out of a holiday, rather it makes play---or rest, or work, or whatever you need out of your holiday---possible! Once we worked through some initial growing pains, we realized that our new routine is actually infusing tons of life and energy into our days.

Day 1 - The Plan On day 1, we made a plan for spelling one another off to give us both a chance to exercise, read, swim in the adult pool, have a drink at the bar, whatever, as long as chasing a two year old wasn’t involved. Spending time as a family was still our biggest priority, so these breaks required efficiency.

The 20-Min Workout I love my daily exercise, but I also love to read on the beach, my solution: a very simple, efficient 20- to 30-minute workout. The fact that my husband has adopted this daily practice as well is truly incredible. Typically, on vacation, he would prefer to call a round of mini golf his workout for the day. Now, he can’t get over how much more energetic he feels from devoting a short amount of time to intense and efficient daily exercise.

Running – For a short workout, running is a fabulous way to get the most bang for your buck. Alternating the morning or afternoon “shift”, I either hit the beach or the treadmill. When I’m on the treadmill, I have a good hard run for 20 minutes...that’s it. I add variety with 1-minute sprints or hills. Twice a week I’m doing a quick circuit routine after my treadmill run (could be done on the beach too) of 3 strengthening exercises (e.g. 10 push-ups, 10-12 forward lunges with overhead reach, and 30 for the core; repeat twice).

So that’s it! Combined with earlier nights and regular wake-up times, we’re feeling great and are returning home truly relaxed, refreshed AND invigorated.

Whether you are parenting on your vacation or not, try making a plan with whomever you are travelling, to ensure you accomplish all you want and need to do!

{When she’s not training clients or being trained by her dog Zuzu, Leah writes Healthy on the Road, published the first Thursday of every month.}

Related All-Inclusive Month... Active, Relax, Repeat Healthy DIY Plane Snacks

[photo by heather0714]

Fashion Friday :: Resort Wear

[trip style = all-inclusive/resort]

{Editor's Note: As All-inclusive Month draws to a close with Fashion Friday, we're ending on an haute note with what to wear as you sip icy umbrella drinks under a banyan tree.}

"Going on holiday doesn’t mean taking a vacation from stylishly living it up." - Rachel Zoe

Do you ever get the feeling you're walking in circles? Especially when you're travelling? During my first trip to New York, I was exploring Nolita and SoHo and I kept passing a chichi resort wear shop called Calypso. I wasn't lost - it just turns out there are five Calypso boutiques in Lower Manhattan alone. (Which reminds me of a scene in the classic 80s movie Girls Just Want to Have Fun when Helen Hunt distracts a nun by belting out "Day-o" so Sarah Jessica Parker can skip out of choir class, to which the nun says "Miss Stone, there is a time and a place for calypso music.") But I digress...

Resort wear was traditionally getaway garb for the wealthy winter in St.-Barts crowd, but it's about more than Calypso and caftans - it's evolving into ready to wear. Resort collections hit the runway in May and June. If you could score an invitation to any fashion show, I'd recommend Chanel resort: over the past few years, Karl Lagerfeld has held his all-expenses-paid shows in South Beach, Venice and Saint-Tropez. Oui, merci!

Now what to wear? (clockwise from top left) Matthew Williamson printed silk-chiffon kaftan, House of Harlow 1960 carey sunglasses, DVF jama shorts, Topshop yellow sunspot print shorts, Calypso Enshallah tuby bag, House of Harlow 1960 chelsea sunglasses, DVF maryelle bikini, Marni rope and chain necklace, Aritzia Talula exeter blazer, Enzo Anglioni darwyn espadrille booties, Marc by Marc Jacobs wedge espadrille sandals, Aritzia T.Babaton bette tank, Forever 21 layered wood beaded necklace, Tory Burch vivian rattan clutch, Topshop crochet kimono sleeve dress

Trip Styler Tip: Leave your stress and basic black at home - break out the brights! If hot pink and lemon yellow make you feel like an extra in a Katy Perry video, opt for white, nude or prints instead. And remember - a sarong can be your best friend on holiday! A final note for the fellas: skip the Hawaiian shirts and go for solid colours in breathable fabrics from surf shops or staple stores like J.Crew and Banana Republic. Linen is also appropriate, but only when you can get your hands on an iron.

Related All-inclusive Month :: Introductions All-Inclusive Month :: Matchmaking All-Inclusive Month :: Packaged VS Unpackaged All-Inclusive Month :: Tricks of the Trade Don’t Judge an All-Inclusive until Day 3

{Fashion Friday posts are published on the last Friday of every month and written by fashion blogger Heather.}

[Runway photos via Style.com]