Travel Trends :: Fold It!

[trip style = any]

I'm as good as sold on any travel product that scrunches, shrinks or folds. With overhead bin space shrinking and carry-on weight requirements on a permanent diet, packing light, compact and folding pieces for travel is not just a trend-du-moment, but a necessity.

During my recent trip to NYC, I went shopping {quelle surprise!} and came across five compact items I purchased for my future travels. Though none are hot off the runway, some are surprisingly stylish. Now if someone would only invent a pair of folding Jimmy Choos! Tamara Mellon, are you listening?

Folding Water Bottle When I saw this anti water bottle it was love at first sight. It shrinks, folds and doesn't have the extra weight of traditional plastic, metal or glass bottles. Does it get any better? I took it for a test drive this weekend while walking around Seattle. It's small enough to pop in your purse and doesn't weigh you down.

Folding Matte Rain Coat I hate packing a raincoat---maybe it's the bulkiness or the assertion it might rain. I've seen a few travel raincoats in my day, and most are ugly, but I recently found this one from the Japanese retailer Muji. Folding to the size of a small t-shirt, this coat is functional and cute. PS - it's under $15!

Folding Shoes I wish I'd thought of this idea. Foldable shoes? Hello! How many girls long for flats after a night in heels? Moi et toi. I featured this type of shoe in January, but I wanted to feature them again because I found a brand that looks like an actual shoe that you'd wear day-to-day. They are called CitySlips and came in handy this weekend when I wore highish heels to a concert and slipped these babies on for the walk home!

Pill-Sized Towels I have to admit, I bought these super shrunken towels inside a pill container because they were cute. Cuteness aside, they're handy for those times you need to wipe your face or hands with something more girthy than a flimsy disinfectant cloth. With a few drops of water, they expand into a 9 x 11" multipurpose towel and are biodegradable.

Credit Card Cutlery How many times have you stopped for to-go food on a road trip and gotten plastic cutlery with your order? If I counted all the plastic cutlery I threw out or recycled in the past year, it would stack up like a grocery store display. In the spirit of reduce, reuse and recycle, I love this simple credit card cutlery. Perfect for keeping with you at all times, and easy to wash after use. The planet thanks you.

Trip Styler Tip: If you're in a city with a Museum of Modern Art {MoMA}, make time to visit the store. Each MoMA store I've visited is the type of place in which you could get lost and dazzled by design-savvy finds.

Spotlight :: NYC

[trip style = urban]

{Editor's Note: Check out the Trip Styler Feature in NET A PORTER's online magazine. We are over-the-moon excited to be part of the Blogger's Issue!}

If urban trip styles are your bag, New York's got you covered from head to toe in Marc Jacobs. Most people I know have made the cultural and shopping pilgrimage to NYC at least once, which turns out to be a problem...for their credit cards. There's a pulse that pulls you back, and most one-time visitors become repeat offenders.

From the dirty depths of the subway to the heights of every coveted roof terrace, the Big Apple has a way of charming people like no other city I know. It's a place where everything is taller, bigger, faster and longer, and everything has a system. The systems might not be elegant, but they work.

It's been way too long since I was in NYC last, but the second I got out of my airport shuttle and started walking 49th Avenue in search of my hotel, the city felt familiar. My first time in New York, I took a media class, sat in on two tapings of the Sally Jessy Raphael Show {one of her famous bootcamp episodes and "you've ruined my wedding and now you're going to pay!"}, met media types in a boardroom of the Empire State Building, shopped at Old Navy {the height of my fashion at the time} and saw Les Miserables. Times have changed, and so have my tastes, but New York's centre-of-the-universe, go-getter spirit remains the same.

At the end my trip last month, I made a vow to visit yearly. I hope---fingers crossed---I can keep this vow. Connecting with New York on a once-yearly basis is like getting together with your coolest friend whom you don't see that often, but cherishing every moment you have together.

Stay

• Yotel - $ - New York's newest fancy-schmancy pod hotel. In the heart of Times Square. Wowza.
• The Pod Hotel - $ - Fun, pod-style hotel with well designed interiors and a rooftop terrace. {See my trip advisor review here}
• The Ace Hotel - $$ - A moody and design-savvy locale where the rooms have as much style as the people.
• The Mercer - $$$ - Gritty-Romanesque beauty in the heart of SoHo.
• The Surrey - $$$ - Calm, contemplated and beaux arts.

Do

• Catch a show on Broadway. Despite the cliche, it's an absolute must! Hot right now: Catch Me If You Can, The Book of Mormon, How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Sister Act and the ever-popular Wicked. Trip Styler Tip: Avoid the often insane line-up at the TKTS booth in Times Square and instead get your tickets online or at the theatre box office to avoid service charges. Use promo codes from BroadwayBox for a slight discount on your ticket.
• Walk in Central Park or on the High Line
• Explore SoHo
• Shop! {see below}
• Go to a TV show taping like Late Night with Jimmy Fallon {only do this if there's a show you love and it's taped in NYC. It's a fun experience, but takes up an entire afternoon}. Trip Styler Tip: You need to write or call in weeks or months in advance for many shows.

Eat

• Eataly - $-$$$ - Mario Batali's Italian food emporium and restaurants.
• ABC Kitchen - $$ - Jean Georges' latest restaurant opening with an organic menu and local ingredients.
• Bateau Ivre - $$ - Parisan wine bar. Open late.
• Balthazar - $$ - An always-busy, traditional bistro.
• per se - $$$ - NYC's French Laundry---enough said. Reserve in advance. Way in advance.

Shop

• Topshop - $ - Constantly evolving, fast-fashion.
• AllSaints - $$ - Thoughtfully hip and vintage.
• Century21 - $-$$$ - Iconic NYC discount department store.
• Opening Ceremony - $$ - Hipster fashion-forward.
• Reiss - $$ - Stylish, classic apparel.

Getting to/from the Airport

• Train/Subway - $ - with only a few connections: AirTran --> train or subway, this is the cheapest way {ie. under $8} to get to/from the city.
• Bus - $$ - the Super Shuttle and NY Airport Service are easy shuttles to catch at the airport. From $15 one way.
• Cab - $$$ - cabs and black cars from $50 to/from JFK to Manhattan.

What to Know

• Manhattan operates on a grid system. Avenues are long and streets are short.
• Carry a small map in your back pocket, folded into a manageable size. Only bring it out when you're out of the way of commuters around you.
• New Yorkers walk everywhere and so should you---there's a reason why local ladies favour flats over heels {for everyday}.
• New Yorkers are friendly---just ask your question quickly because they're also busy!
• Everything in NYC moves fast; people don't even stand on the sidewalk to wait to cross, they stand in the street.

PS – did you know that we have destination spotlights like this one for 30+ cities in the US, Canada and internationally?

[photos by @tripstyler]

Travel Apps :: High-End & Easy Camp Cooking

[trip style = camping] Going camping or glamping this summer? I haven't booked a campsite yet, and have no idea where I want to go aside from "somewhere" on the West Coast, but really want to camp this summer.

One of my favourite parts about camping is the cooking and eating. Previously, my understanding of cooking at camp was roasted marshmallows, fire-roasted wieners and boxed cereal, but thanks to some of my foodie friends {whose camping menus would make you drool}, and the app revolution, I've learned it's easy and fun, to prepare and cook foodie-worthy fare at the campsite.

Foodie Camping Apps Coleman’s Camping Cookbook I featured this app last year as part of a round-up of 6 free camping apps, but it's so good, it's worth mentioning again. Think camptastic food like bocconcini and basil s'mores, beer can chicken and muffins in an orange shell. Find recipes by cook method {stove, foil, dutch oven, grill, on a stick, etc...}, meal or ingredients. +  free +  no wifi connection required +  available for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad

Epicurious Unless you "camp" in a mobile mansion {ie - decked-out RV with more bells and whistles than a condo}, you'd think Epicurous is not for the campground. But, foodies take heart, some of the recipes can be easily tweaked for the wild. Specifically, Epicurious' 'picnic ideas’ and 'grilled mains' categories are the perfect stating point for going to town in your outdoor kitchen. Here's what's for dinner tonight: grilled lemon-oregano chicken drumsticks with orzo, green bean and fennel salad. + free + no wifi connection required +  available for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android

Food Network Canada Recipes Leave it to the hosts of the Food Network to inspire your camp's cooking adventures. Again, though this app isn't specifically camping-related, its recipes, especially in the 'grilling' and 'easy' sections, can be done at the campsite. Sit at your site's picnic table or in your fold-out camping chairs, and enjoy maple planked salmon with grilled lemon with apple, walnut, celery salad. + free + no wifi connection required +  available for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad

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Other Travel Apps Every Tuesday we feature a new travel app. Don’t forget to peruse the other 75+ travel apps we’ve reviewed from travel first aid, to luxury and boutique hotel finders, to border waits and trip itinerary management. Here are the most recent:

• Vancouver Street Food
• livingsocial escapes
• Free Wifi Finders
• Hail a Taxi
• Groupon

Beat the Expiration Date

[trip style = any]

Most airline mileage program miles expire after 18 months.

At the Trip Styler headquarters, one of our many passions is maximizing travel and costs, so it kills us to see these miles go to waste. Having booked a bunch of trips with air miles, traveling for free is SUCH a rewarding feeling. Why lose an opportunity to fly South, attend a destination wedding or see aunty Erma in Edmonton?

The Good News It’s really easy to keep airline miles active, especially when you're loyal to one or two collecting programs. Even if you go through an 18-month period where you don’t board a plane, you can still collect miles from gas stations, grocery stores and hotels to keep your account active.

Though I always try and stick to one or two mileage collection programs, there are a few fringe programs I'm trying to keep active until I have enough miles for free travel. Here are the ways I'm keeping the airline miles active for each...

Last month I flew to NYC. Though I flew with Cathay Pacific, part of the One World Airline alliance as well as my secondary collecting program, I opted to get the miles on my Alaska Airlines mileage card because I'm just short of a free flight. I'm also a few miles short of a free flight with Flying Blue {program for Air France, KLM} and recently got a notification from my mile tracking app that my miles would expire soon. At first I thought I would transfer my Starwood Preferred Guest points to avoid expiration, but I was just short of the minimum transfer amount, so instead, I'll donate a small amount of miles to keep them active.

These experiences reminded me of some simple ways to keep airline mileage programs active...

Ways To Keep Airlines Miles Active

• Get a mileage tracking app like PageOnce or mileBlaster.
• Book a flight {just make sure your fare is eligible to collect miles}, or if you have any upcoming flights, see if they're elegible for miles on the program you're trying to save from expiration.
• Transfer the points from your preferred hotel's loyalty program or travel rewards credit card to miles.
• Stay: always check if your hotel stays are eligible for airline points. For example, when you sign up for Fairmont's free loyalty program, you can get miles toward your airline as well as toward free stays.
• Shop: Don't forget that shopping at places like Safeway or Future Shop can get you AirMiles or Aeroplan miles. Likewise, putting gas in your tank can also give you miles.
• Donate: almost all airline loyalty programs will allow you to donate your miles to keep the program active. Donating your miles and keeping them active = win win.

PS - Don’t discount a small number of points/miles. You can fly across the country and beyond with as little as 25,000 airline miles; in fact, this fall I’m flying from Vancouver to Aruba return for 25,000 miles {read how here}.

{photo by Benjamin Griffiths}

32 and a small q

[trip style = luxe + sun + beach] {more pictures below}

I don’t typically frequent the same resorts as Oprah. Our tastes and budgets are a little different. But recently, I made an exception involving a birthday, a villa with views, mojitos crammed with hand-crushed ice and enough lime and mint to freshen my breath for years, and some of the best cuisine I tasted in Australia. This place was qualia---with a small "q" to underscore the brand of refined and understated luxury served at the lush resort overlooking the Whitsunday Isles.

Visiting qualia marked a special occasion for my husband Nathan. It was his 32nd birthday and we decided to celebrate in style (so in style it will be his birthday present for years to come!). From the moment we rolled down the hill and into the resort's sturdy front gates, I knew this experience would go beyond any version of luxury we'd ever encountered. And it did. Walking the short and shaded corridor leading to the lobby, we were met with two glasses of bubbly and an ocean vista so piercingly blue, I couldn't take my eyes off of it.

The champagne did not stop here; there was a bottle of chilled Veuve Cliquot waiting in our villa. Of course there was---I should probably be used to this by now. As we were getting settled in the room, we were startled by visitors. Not the kind that knock, but the kind that talk. Two cockatoos landed on our balcony and proceeded to fan out their bright yellow mohawks and initiate a serious staring contest with us. The timing was so perfect, I thought they might be mechanical birds sent via remote control to every guest's balcony upon arrival, but when I came face-to-face with the most colourful parrot I've ever seen in town, I realized that's life on Hamilton Island. And quite a life it is.

Each villa came with its own golf cart, so after making small talk with the cockatoos, we donned our beachwear and floored it at 20km/h to the seaside infinity pool. This foliage-filled scene was so soothing and inviting, we didn't want to leave, and in fact didn't until dusk, closing the place down that evening. Pool-party animals? Not quite, since all our smoothies and mojitos were virgin. We just revelled in the opportunity to watch the sundown in such a setting.

I'm glad we saved that bottle of Veuve from our villa, because the next day, it was the perfect complement to our private beach drop-off. Yes, in addition to the visiting birds, golf carts, bottles of champagne, free-flowing virgin bevs and the most sophisticated version of included breakfast I've ever been served at a hotel, qualia also includes daily, off-site, beach drop-offs to guests who want to get away from it all, like they're on a luxury, celebrity version of Survivor.

What to Know

• For a more detailed account of my stay at qualia, read my Trip Advisor review here
• qualia is an exclusive all-villa resort and spa on Hamilton Island
• Villas start at $950 night
• The resort has two types of villas: leeward and winward {winward villas have afternoon sun and private plunge pools}
• Included amenities: wi-fi, daily breakfast, all non-alcoholic beverages, a personal golf cart and private beach drop-off
• Hamilton Island is accesible from major cities in Australia, with multiple flights arriving and departing the island daily. Otherwise, you can take a 30-minute Fantasea Ferry from Shute Harbour in Airlie Beach. Note: if taking the ferry from Airlie, you must set your Hamilton Island arrival point to "Marina" not "Airport".
• Hamilton island has a host of family-friendly and adult-only accommodations
• There are multiple restaurants on the island

Pictures {The pool.}

{View of pool from poolside cabanas.}

{The beach.}

{A cockatoo on our villa's balcony.}

{The villa's sitting area.}

{The villa's sleeping area.}

{The bathroom.}

{Breakfast appetizer.}

{Breakfast main.}

{The beach drop-off.}

{Sunset bevvies poolside.}

{Sun setting at qualia's pebble beach.}

More Australia Month Planning a Trip Up Australia’s East Coast JetSet Jingles :: Australia Spotlight :: Syndey Ultimate Urban Adventures & the Sydney BridgeClimb Heavenly Huts :: Wilson Island Tea, Tim Tams & Tides :: Whitsunday Islands

{all photos by @tripstyler and @nate_fri}