The Savvy Traveler :: Marissa

[trip style = active & adventure + wine tasting + beach]

Marissa is a loyal student of any task she takes on---be it fashion design, tai chi, triathlons or travel. After a recent e-introduction to this 29-year-old traveler, I was impressed by her energy, drive and the personal challenge she set to visit 30 countries by the time she's 30. A serious athlete her whole life, she doesn't let jetsetting slow down her pace, in fact, the local forms of working out she picks up along the way only add to her active lifestyle and fuel ideas for her business. Nine to five she's a fashion designer who studied in Italy and at the Parsons School of Design in NYC, and has since founded her own line of activewear. Now at the helm of BORELLI Design she creates apparel inspired by her life on the go. Meet April's Savvy Traveler, Marissa, and find her online on Twitter and Facebook!

1/ Your top 3 trip styles and why?
[trip style = active & adventure] I have trouble relaxing, even when I’m on vacation. The best places I’ve visited so far for fitness and adventure are New Zealand; Moab, Utah; Vietnam {hiking the rice patties in the hilltop village of Sapa is a killer workout} and Lake Tahoe, California.

[trip style = wine tasting] I never pass up a wine tasting trip. In Napa we stop by two to three wineries post spa at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn or Indian Springs Resort.

[trip style = beach] Out of the 29 countries I’ve visited, so far 23 have involved a day or week at the beach. Anguilla and Captiva Island {off of Florida} have the softest sand I’ve ever felt. My mind is clearer and more creative when I’m near the water. I run or walk along the beach daily in San Diego.

2/ How do you stay in shape while traveling?
I stretch while waiting to board my flight or do squats in the hallways. My favorite way to see a new place is to explore on a run or a hike. I see getting lost in a destination as a good thing, and often find local gems off the beaten path. I refuse to go to the gym while traveling. Instead I try out the local workouts, for example, in India I took a yoga class and attended Laughing Club {works all the muscles in your belly while teaching you why Indian people are so happy}.

3/ What is the ONE THING, you won't travel without?
A Borelli scarf. It's the most versatile accessory I own. On the plane I use it as a scarf or a blanket---airline blankets are useless and scratchy. If I'm at the beach, its built-in SPF 20 provides sun protection. Post hike or waterfall jump I throw it on as a skirt or dress and it dries in minutes! While I'm away, I wash it in my hotel room's shower or sink and lay it out to dry. The more you wash it the softer it becomes!

4/ Last trip, next trip & what destination{s} are on your radar?
Last trip: Cabo San Lucas. We stayed at the Villa La Estancia for a week. I took the SUP (stand up paddle board) out daily and we celebrated my 29th birthday dancing on a boat at sunset.

Next Trip: Belize. Four days in a resort, three days at a yoga retreat. I will be researching textiles for Spring/Summer 2013 and attempting to relax.

On my radar: Completing the 30 by 30 challenge in Iceland. I’m excited to hike a glacier and volcano in the same day.

5/ Either/or...
Beach or pool? Beach, no question. The perfect combination would be a hot tub in the sand after a swim or wakeboarding session.

Mojito or margarita? Mojito. We grow our own mint because we like as much and mint and lime as the tongue can handle, with just a pinch of sugar.

Big or boutique hotel? Boutique. The smaller the better. In Mykonos we were the only people at the hotel and were invited to dine with the owners! It felt like our own home.

Walk or cab? I rarely take cabs, even when I lived in NYC.

Checked bag or carry-on? A bright red Swiss Army carry-on I picked up in London. I spent five weeks in New Zealand, Australia and India with only a carry-on!

More Savvy Travelers
Jason, Living To Travel
Shaun, Packing Like A Rock Star
Christina, Taking Care Of Biz

{If you know anyone who should be featured in our once-monthly The Savvy Traveler series, drop us a line!}

[photo c/o marissa]

GG in AZ

[trip style = weekend getaway + sun]

{Editor's Note :: Over the next month we're going to feature one of our favourite trip style = sun destinations: Phoenix/Scottsdale. Select hotels will be featured in Roam+Board, special mentions in IMG_FRI and features in destination Spotlights. Enjoy!}

Girls' getaways rock; the name, not so much. If men have the mighty mancation, can ladies have shecations? I'd use shetreat, but that's just wrong. Whatever we want to call them, they don't happen often enough, which is easy to say when you're in the moment. Suddenly you realize that a change of scene + a change of environment + good friends = something you should do more often. It's no wonder future vacations are planned while on vacation!

On Friday some TS contributors and I pulled a damsel departure and flew South for a trip style = {extended} weekend getaway. Right now I'm in Scottsdale drinking wine on my balcony after a day scaling 1.5-billion-year-old boulders up Camelback Mountain, followed by bathing suit bliss in the 25 degree+ Celcius sun---not a cloud in sight.

GG in AZ Itinerary

• Fri - arrive PHX at noon, check into the Arizona Biltmore Hotel, pool time, dinner at Wright's
• Sat - gym/run, Spring Training {Cactus League} baseball game, check into Hyatt Regency Scottsdale, shop
• Sun - morning hike up Camelback Mountain, pool day; chef-designed, kitchen-front dinner with southwestern flair at SWB
• Mon - massages at Spa Avania, spa time, late checkout, depart

Grab the gals, plan and do a gals' getaway. Finding the time is the biggest hurdle {aside from finances, but there's always trip style = camping}. If you go to AZ, direct flights into Phoenix from Vancouver cost approximately $400 return, year round with US Airways and WestJet.

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[photos by @tripstyler taken while as a guest of Scottsdale and Pheonix CVBs]

Tech Tuesday :: Informed Hotel Booking

[trip style = any]

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One of the biggest travel time wasters is fretting over what hotel to book, getting stuck in research mode comparing features, price, location, etc.

Have you been there? I have, and it results in hotel decision paralysis. The worst case scenario---like shopping at the dual-winged multi-floor Macy's NYC---is you get overwhelmed by the options and give up.

Over the past year, Kayak's been working on a series of solutions for "hotel research purgatory", with the latest of three launching last Thursday. Now, when you research a hotel on Kayak, there are three hotel recommendation check boxes in the left column for filtering results by Trip Advisor reviews, Frommer's or Budget Travel picks. Check one box, or all three for super filtered results. {Trip Styler Tip :: As of Friday, March 9th, Kayak added Jetsetter and Travel+Leisure recommendations to above list as well.}

It's like having a friend or hotel expert from Frommer's or Budget Travel help you decide which hotel is the right fit for your trip style = ........

How It Works

1. Go to kayak.com and enter a destination and date range.
2. Once the results appear, click one of the hotel recommendation filters on the left column.
3. Search results are then filtered based on recommendations from your selection{s}---Frommer's, Budget Travel or 60,000 million+ Trip Advisor ratings---rendering a massive list of possible results, manageable AND informed.
4. Further constrain results by filtering price, stars, location and hotel brands.

Hotel research crisis averted.

More Tech Tuesday STOP, Are You Using A Promo Code? Trading Airline Points The Six-Week Rule For Buying Airline Tix Dashboard To Wall Hotel Tonight

[img via kayak]

KinderHop :: Intro To Keryn

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On behalf of the entire Trip Styler editorial team, we're excited to welcome Keryn as our newest columnist. Her topic will be kids 'n travel, aka KinderHop, which will publish on the third Monday of every month.

I met Keryn last summer in Vancouver at a massive travel blogging conference, and she dazzled me with stories of taking her baby on more than an in-flight snack pack's worth of domestic and international jaunts. She was a traveler before kids and has maintained this wanderlust with her family of three---soon to be four---jetting off or road tripping once monthly! Since then, we've kept in touch and I've followed her Seattle-based travel blog about traveling with kid{s}. I'm looking forward to bringing this travel go-getter's perspective and expertise to the TS crew, which even had her taking multiple road trips in her third trimester! To kick things off, a formal introduction:

"Never think a trip is impossible. The hardest step is the first step out the door. After that it just gets easier." - Keryn

1/ Former day job? Production manager at an art book production house in downtown Seattle.

2/ Current day job? Mom, playmate, family travel agent and explorer of all things that can entertain a mom and toddler for a morning out of the house.

3/ Number of kids? One 2.5 year old boy, Dek, and another little one on the way at the end of April.

4/ First flight with your son and where? Dek was 3.5 months old when we flew from Seattle to Philadelphia for the holidays. Our longest flight was when Dek was 14 months old from Seattle to Hong Kong for my business trip. In that same trip we did an add-on and flew to up to Beijing for a week of fun.

5/ Have your top trip styles changed with kids? We favour trip style = beach, urban and budget conscious with or without kids, and prioritize travel even more with kids than we did before! It is our guaranteed, uninterrupted family time. Work and life get in the way too much.

6/ Rent a condo or stay in a hotel room? We rent a condo or house whenever it is more affordable, which is most of the time. If it's a quick weekend trip we will grab a hotel room or a suite. This summer my husband is pushing for trip style = camping!

7/ Last few trips, and upcoming travels? Over the last four months we've been to Whistler, Victoria, Hawaii, Orcas Island and did Asia in the spring. Looking ahead, we're trying to do New Hampshire this summer and a big trip to Europe in the Fall {London, Switzerland, Italy and Sicily are in the works at the moment.}

8/ Traveling with kids is awesome because... They make you stop and really look at where you are. No one can slow you down like a toddler, but that is not a bad thing. Instead of rushing through 15 sights on a trip, you get to invest in and learn about 5-10. Travel stress goes way down and you learn to move at a different and much more enjoyable pace. You are supposed to be on holiday after all, you should enjoy it!

"If it's horrible, you can always come home." - Words Keryn's dad imparted as she embarked on her first international trip at 16.

[photos via keryn]

Spotlight :: Harrison Hot Springs

[trip style = spa + weekend getaway + active & adventure + budget conscious]

{Editor's Note: Today is Trip Styler's introduction to Harrison Hot Springs, look out for some of the area's foodie stops and wilderness adventures on Friday.}

—————————————————– Dear Harrison, At multiple junctures we've almost brushed shoulders. It's not that I didn't want to meet you, our paths never crossed.

And then, late in 2011, mutual friends connected our interests and a date was set. Harry, apparently you were making up for lost time, pulling out all the stops with a soak in the spring-fed mineral pools, massage in the spa and an evening of dinner and dancing. xoxo, Trish —————————————————–

It was a cold and rainy late-November day and with a weekend bag and still-warm Creme De La Crumb scone in tow, I made the arrow-straight, highway journey to Harrison Hot Springs from Vancouver. This road is well traveled in summer; in winter the lake-front destination is quiet and cozy with budget-friendly appeal.

The area's farm-to-table foodie stops and world-class nature exploration notwithstanding {more on this Friday}, the natural hot springs and spa at the Harrison Resort & Spa are the pièces de résistance. Luxuriate in the mineral pools in the early morning or at night {fewer spa-goers at this time} to watch the steam dance and water glow against the surrounding blue-black mountains.

When the clock strikes eight, get dolled-up like Marilyn Monroe and Cary Grant, and go back in time {literally} at the hotel's legendary Copper Room supper club. Dressed-up tables with dimly lit lamps are intimately arranged around the well-heeled dance floor, used every night thanks to the longtime crooners, The Jones Boys. Watching "Erma and Norm" storm the dance floor at the first hint of Moonriver, will make even the most timid dancers bust out their limited moves in the name of love.

—————————————————– Harry, I wish our first date would have resulted in a rose ceremony, but I'm a modern girl, so I'll settle for an itinerary filled with romantic gestures instead.

What To Know

• Getting There: Harrison is about an hour and a half from Vancouver and three hours from Seattle.
• Hotel/Spa/Mineral Pools: A series of adult and family-friendly pools at varying temperatures fit everyone's needs. Comfortable hotel rooms with modest bathrooms start at $99 {includes access to the spa's pools, complimentary parking and wifi}.

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[photos c/o abundantc, harrison resort & trip styler, taken while a guest of tourism harrison]