The ABCs :: Aruba {Spotlight}

[trip style = sun + beach]

{Editor’s Note: After a short and sweet introduction a few weeks ago, this is the second post in a four-part series about the ABC islands. Today we’ll explore the Aruba’s curvy beaches and towering resorts, next week Bonaire’s sporty and petite demure and the following week, Curacao’s lush countryside and historic city centre.}

“Aruba, Jamaica, oooo I wanna take yah” - The Beach Boys

Even since Kokomo raced up the charts in 1988, I knew I had to visit Aruba. The Beach Boys said it was the epitome of tropical, right?

Aruba is a good intro to the tropics. White sand beaches, check; water sports, check; sand-in-your-toes dining, check; over-water bars; check. Checklist aside, it’s safe, you can drink the water and USD are accepted everywhere. Easy-breezy.

Think of it as a larger-scale and more commercialized Ka’anapali beckoning boat loads of cruise ship passengers and a heaping sand-full of Eastern Americans and Venezuelans resortists.

It’s not an odd occurrence to spot locals breaking out into song and dance for no apparent reason, or quoting the island’s tag line “One Happy Island” at every opportunity. It really is a happy place filled with 100,000+ residents who maintain the island's mojo with their spirit and heart. You can’t help but smile in response.

Stay First decide if you want high-rise or low-rise, high energy or anonymity. Palm Beach hosts multiplex resorts, US chain restaurants, hip beach bars and pier-side dining. Eagle Beach is less crowded with fewer mainland outposts. I stayed at two hotels on the bookends of Palm Beach, the multi-wing Marriott and the 70's-contemporary-casual Westin {see my review here}.

Eat

• On a Pier: The Pelican Nest's service and cuisine are approchable with vintage scuba helmets and fishing nets hanging from the rafters above. Drink at Bugaloe Pier where surprisingly stiff mojitos are served at happy hour from 5-6pm.
• On the Beach: Moomba Beach Bar & Restaurant is one of the best beach bars in the world according to CNN, or try Flying Fishbone just outside of town.
• With Locals: The Aruban Chef serves up island fare like calco stoba {conch stew} and fresh fish!
• Behind Palm Beach: The Italian-owned Amore Mio {no website} kneads, spins and bakes melt-in-your-mouth, thin-crust pizzas in a modern, lively setting.

Do Walk along the non-resort stretch of Palm Beach beside fishing huts, surfers and a shipwreck, learn to kiteboard at the Aruba Kitesurfing School or take in a game of beach tennis---one of the country’s most popular sports---behind Moomba bar!

Getting There Direct service from Toronto, Miami, NY and Boston will whisk you away. From Vancouver, get yourself to one of these depature points to start humming Kokomo.

Related Roam+Board :: Sorobon Beach Resort {Bonaire} Roam+Board :: Kura Hulanda {Curacao} ABCs {An Intro} Jetset Jingles :: The Caribbean

[photos by @tripstyler, taken in Aruba last week!]

Travel Beauty :: {Special} Baby Edition

[trip style = any]

{Want more travel beauty? Get your fill the third Wednesday of every month. Lauren, our travel beauty expert, is already whipping up her next concoction post!}

As all moms know, traveling with a baby isn't easy. I recently took my first flight with my 2 1/2 month old son, Joshua, to Los Angeles. Joshua's toiletries are just as important as mine, so I bought him his own case and filled it with my favorites to take away. Here are my tried and tested recommendations for baby beauty---I wouldn't leave home without them!

California Baby Super Sensitive Shampoo and Bodywash, $10.99, Diapers.com My sister turned me onto this brand, which creates fabulous baby products with organic ingredients. This specific product is mild enough for newborns and contains no scents {which can irritate sensitive baby skin} or sulfates. I like that it's a 2-in-1 product, which is great for travel.

Apricot & Chamomile Baby Lotion, $25.95, Theorganicpharmacy.com I was using Aveeno Baby Lotion and Burt's Bees Baby Bee Lotion until a friend told me about this product {thanks Molly}! This lotion smells so heavenly {and is scented with natural essential oils, aka no fragrances} that I have to admit, I sometimes use it on myself. It contains Evening Primrose, Calendula, Aloe, and Coconut Oil and really softens Joshy's skin and is perfect for his nightly massages. If you're ever in LA check out The Organic Pharmacy store in Beverly Hills.

Boogie Wipes Unscented Wipes, $3.99, Diapers.com These genius gentle wipes remove dirt and anything else Joshy happens to get on his face throughout the day. They are extra soft, hypoallergenic and infused with Chamomile, Aloe and Vitamin E to hydrate the skin.

Burt's Bees Baby Bee Talc-Free Dusting Powder, $8.99, Diapers.com This pure powder made from clay absorbs wetness and keeps the diaper area dry. If you're in a hot or humid climate, this powder is a must!

Burt's Bees Baby Bee Diaper Ointment, $8.99, Diapers.com I use this diaper cream every day as a preventative measure. It's gentle, natural, and doesn't have a medicinal smell like many diaper creams do. Plus, it contains soothing ingredients like Chamomile, Sweet Almond Oil, and Vitamins A and E to protect and smooth my baby's bottom. In case of a diaper rash, I do use Desitin, which I think is the only thing that really heals the irritated area.

NEW baby brand to check out: Zodiac Baby This cool new line of baby products are based on zodiac signs and are 99% natural. Each product is infused with astrological aromatherapy: scent blends that are carefully chosen and paired up with each zodiac sign/product. Check out www.zodiacbaby.com!

{Trip Styler Travel (Baby) Beauty Tip :: A word about Diapers.com: Free next day shipping anywhere in the US and an incredible assortment of everything makes it my pick for the best baby website. It's the most efficient, easy-to-navigate website, period. Canadians, ship to your nearest border town and pick up a bulk shipment!}

More Travel Beauty Pink Ribbon Beauty On-The-Go Teeth Cleaning St. Tropez’ Celebrity Tanning Expert’s Self-Tanning Secrets  Pre-Trip Primping NYC’s Best Beauty Dr. Murad Interview The Best Fragrance For Each Trip Style Q&A With tarte Cosmetics Founder Quickie Teeth Whitening

[photos of products sourced online]

Tech Tuesday :: Fotopedia

[trip style = any]

An image tells a thousand words, no? Preview the world from multiple angles.

Question What happens when you add a passionate traveler with the former Apple Apps CTO and a budding photographer?

Answer Fotopedia. The first collaborative, web-based, photographic encyclopedia---an upside down Wikipedia with more photos than words---compiled with user-generated photos sourced via seven different apps. Browse 27 shots of Machu Picchu's peaks and terraced land like you're there or 30,000 photos of UNESCO world heritage sites. Take a rare glimpse into North Korea via 117 blow-your- socks-off photography or gaze at 14 sequined and spicy costumes of Rio's Carnaval {just don't look at photo 7, it's a little too saucy}.

{Trip Styler Tip :: Foto fanatics, check out the site's daily magazine to browse sets like The City Of Angels, Venice Of The North or The Birthplace Of Jimi Hendrix.}

More Tech Tuesday Hipmunk Gets Organized Urban Dig City Guide Travelstormer {Group Travel Planning} Virtual Shopping Get A Callback Google Flight Search Hotel Tonight Getting There Direct

[image via Fotopedia website]

Tips For Frequent & Infrequent Travelers

[trip style = any]

If there's one thing---ok, a few---I've learned packing and unpacking my bags for every trip style under the sun---and rain, and clouds and snow---it's there's a few best practices that accompany every trip. Here's a few chapters {bullet points, really} from my unwritten travel book: {Also, don't miss our suggestions for staying healthy and what to bring in Travel Essentials For Every Trip Style.}

Tavel Guide For Any Trip Style

• Three night rule. If you've taken a plane, train or automobile away to play, try to stay in each location at least three nights so you can get to know the area and culture. Plus who wants to pack and unpack every night, even with a carry-on this takes time.
• If your hotel room has no mirror, check your look by snapping a full-length picture of yourself with your smartphone or digi cam.
• Always bring washable, rubber-soled slippers on vacay: good for use on long flights {with sox}, as well as for hotels who don’t provide them {carpets = yucky}.
• As much as I love digital travel itinerary managers {like TripIt}, always travel with a paper copy of your itinerary and photocopy of your travel documents. As a third back-up for the uber prepared, take pics of important docs, passport and driver's license with your smartphone...just DON'T lose your smartphone.
• Have a map in case there’s no wifi, or your phone dies. Fold it so you only need to look at a small square every time you take it out of your pocket.
• Go informed, even if that means reading a five minute "intro to Columbia" before you leave, know at least a little about the culture and practices before you enter a country. Basic info like accepted currency, plugs, typical cab fares, important national holidays that might coincide with your dates or safety precautions are invaluable bits of info when you hit the ground.
• Unless you're surrounded by the protected walls of a secluded all-inclusive, dive into local culture by trying to live like locals do in Italy...in Paris....in New York. One of travel's greatest joys is observing and experiencing how others live.
• Find cool. Whether it's a restaurant server, shop owner or bartender, meet locals and get their suggestions for what to do and where to eat!
• Be yourself, but blend in so you're not a total tourist target. This goes both ways. For example: dress down when locals do, dress up when locals do...}
• Bring a little cash, always in small bills for tipping.
• The shower cap or plastic hotel laundry bag in your hotel room works wonders for a wet bathing suit or dirty clothes {see New Uses For Common Travel Items}.

[photo by @tripstyler taken of Bonaire's main airport]

Roam+Board :: Sorobon Beach Resort

[trip style = sun + beach + active & adventure]

{Editor's Note: In observance of the Canadian national holiday (Remembrance Day) on Friday, we will be publishing Roam+Board today, and taking tomorrow off. See you Monday.}

What Thirty clay-roofed and whitewashed oceanfront chalets {aka chalet-looking duplexes} are clustered around a white sand beach overlooking a knee- to waist-deep sandy bay that goes for three kilometers in each direction. The beach bar of your dreams serves as the central hub of activity, complete with bar stools, wooden banquettes with multi-coloured throw pillows and white triangular sails to shade from the sun. The basic rooms have everything you need for the tropics: a hammock, air conditioning, big fan, door and window screens, and to top it off, an outdoor shower that spouts water out of a conch shell. Life is good at the Sorobon Beach Resort, and having just stayed there, it is Trip Styler approved!

Where Bonaire. Sorobon is only 10 minutes from the Island's main airport, Flamingo International. The resort will pick you up if pre-advised of your arrival time, or you can take a taxi which costs $20. Getting into Kralendijk, the country's capital city, takes 13 minutes by car. Only European carriers have direct flights into Bonaire, so to get there from North America you must transfer through Aruba or Curacao, then take Insel Air or DAE {the two largest carriers bookable online} into Bonaire.

When The weather in Bonaire is inviting all year, but when you go will depend on why you're going! Bonaire is typically known for diving, which can be done anytime of year. Windsurfers love the island in June and July when the wind is strongest. The rainy season is in November, and this also happens to be when the mosquitoes are worst. You don't notice them in the day, but unless there's a big wind at night, dining al fresco can result in polka dot effect. Mosquitos are the least present January to March.

Who/Why Your idea of the perfect getaway is bringing more bathing suits than clothes, walking 10 steps from your cabin to the ocean and sitting at a beach bar with a bottle of Bright {The ABC Islands' local beer} watching the sun go down.

Cost Beach chalets start at $120/night on Kayak.com. Includes free wifi in the open-air lobby area as well as free parking. Note, the rooms have fully equipped kitchens and bathrooms, but you must bring your own soap!

{Trip Styler Tip :: Most people rent cars in Bonaire in order to drive to dive sites (with more than 87 official sites scattered throughout the island), go to restaurants and get groceries.}

More Roam+Board Kura Hulanda – Curacao Hotel Kakslauttanen – Finland The Met – Vancouver Custom Hotel – LAX Bitter End Yacht Club – BVI Sleep On The Water – London A Woodsy Hideaway – Big Sur, CA

[photos by @tripstyler]