by Guest contributor | Mar 21, 2014 | Travel blogger destinations
It’s just so important to get your city break packing list right! There’s nothing worse than arriving at your destination with a suitcase full of clothes and nothing to wear. Getting your city break packing list right is essential for those of us who book cheaper airfares and carry-on-only luggage too. Even more important if you’re travelling solo!
Have you ever been caught at the airport having to pay an obscene amount of money on excess luggage weight? It’s awful, and stressful.
With it being so easy to get to some places now, you don’t want your city break experience ruined by carting around unnecessary baggage. London to Amsterdam or London to Paris, even Brisbane to Sydney if you’re in the southern hemisphere – enjoy your trip by conquering your city break packing list.
City break packing list: the must-have item
As someone who has travelled extensively for my job, I was once asked what one item of clothing was an absolute travel essential for my suitcase.
My response?
A sarong!
Think about it, it’s handy for the beach as a swim suit cover-up, as a scarf, a head covering if needed, a wrap on a chilly flight, it’s completely versatile.
After packing and unpacking a million suitcases, there are certainly many things I’ve learned, sadly by trial and error, in terms of what not to do when packing your suitcase.
City break packing list – the five big mistakes
Not making a ‘what to wear’ list
It might seem excessive, but sitting down and actually planning out what outfits you’re going to need will save you a lot of room in the suitcase. Much in the same way that menu planning saves you money at the grocery store.
If it’s a work trip, remember that if you are seeing different clients on different days, parts of your outfit can easily be re-worn. If you’re on a city break for leisure, you can be much more relaxed about your attire. Let go of preciousness. Be comfortable, be happy.
Taking ‘out there’ items
Sure that wild print dress looks great on, but take items that are easier to mix and match.
Clothes that can be both dressed up or dressed down will get you more mileage and take up far less room.
Taking your shoe collection with you
Every pair of shoes you pack will add at least a kilo to the weight of your bag. Let’s face it, shoes are awkward items in suitcases, making it tricky to pack around them.
Think about exactly what you really need and what you can wear twice.
Most of the time you need a pair of versatile walking shoes or trainers, and a pair of flats or sandals or flip flops. That’s it.
Taking too much gym gear
Yes making time for fitness, especially while travelling on business trips, is important. Too much room service and social drinks can certainly add up quickly, but so can the weight of gym shoes and the extra clothing.
Think about it, will you really use the hotel gym on more than one occasion?
If so, take the gym clothes. If not, think about maybe taking a swim suit instead. Less room in the suitcase and most hotels have usable pools year round.
Taking your bathroom with you
Yes, we all love our little comforts from home. The shampoo we’re used to, the moisturiser we love the scent of. But really we know we could go a day or two without it. Don’t waste space on shampoo, conditioners and lotions which could accidentally break open in your bag and cause a whole other headache when you know the hotels will always have them available. Worst case, you can buy inexpensive version on the road and discard before returning home.
If you’re a frequent traveller and fussy about your brands, packing a travel bag of small sized toiletries and keeping it packed will make it easy for you to re-pack every time you go away as well.
What’s your input on how to compose the perfect city break packing list – what do you class as ‘essential’ to take with you? Drop us a line in the comments below.
About the author
Gwen O’Toole is an accomplished writer focusing on travel, events management and food and wine. She also published a fiction novel while spending the past eight years as a magazine editor and travelling the globe before launching The Ideas Library, a creative services and event management company. She is regularly featured in a variety of travel and leisure publications and blogs.
by Guest contributor | Mar 16, 2014 | Travel Live Learn in the media
And an extra special prize because we thought this entry was, well, extra special! We recently hosted an Australia-wide search for writing talent and received an extraordinary response. Students submitted entries based around a theme, “inspire”, and this week we’ve showcased the final six winners, however, there was one additional entry that we really enjoyed, and while every piece we received was excellent, we felt compelled to also publish this one:
Show your support for our winners’ efforts by leaving a comment and sharing their amazing entries on your social media profiles for a few well-deserved likes.
Media Bootcamp national writing competition winner Australia – a badge for extraordinary effort, Patrick Gibb, VIC
When I was about to die, I thought of King Henry the Fifth’s speech, written by Shakespeare. With hindsight, it seems stupid, but those words were the most clarifying I have ever known.
Lying face-down in a ditch, ready for a stray bullet to plunge into my body, a dead friend lying next to me; ice-cold terror gripped at my heart. I was oblivious to the overwhelming enemy gunfire or the screaming of pain from somewhere nearby. But Graham’s eyes pulled me out of the trance just before I was dunked head-first into shock. His eyes should have been green, but in the shadow of the ditch, the blood frozen in his veins, they had turned ocean-blue.
I wasn’t aware I started to cry until much later, but the tears must have pulled me out of my trance. I could hear the roars of the machineguns, and the barks of nearby assault-rifles. To my right were two soldiers behind a rock. Doc was crouching over Macillan, doing his best to patch up the wounds. Macillan was screaming in pain, his sobs piercing my ears. I looked left, past Graham’s body. There were three other guys behind a destroyed car. They were attempting to return fire on the machine-gun nest, to no avail.
I tried to build up my courage to help my squad. I closed my eyes, trying to shut out my heart, which seemed to have taken a jackhammer to my ribcage. I tried to control my breathing, which seemed to be catching onto something in my throat. I felt a warm tear roll down my cheek.
I suppose that’s what hopelessness feels like. I had to do something. Anything. I opened my eyes, and looked into Graham’s blue ones.
“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers”
I gritted my teeth, suddenly furious. And pushed myself off the ground.
“For he to-day that sheds his blood with me”
My gun was in my hands, blood pumping in my ears. I faced the enemy positions head-on, fearless.
“Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile”
I could see the bright muzzle flashes from the windows of the huts. I stepped out of the ditch, breaking into a sprint.
“This day shall gentle his condition”
My boots pounded the grass, enemy guns turned to face me. My team watched in utter astonishment as I charged the machine-gun nest.
“And gentlemen in England now a-bed”
I pulled the trigger as I ran, feeling the recoil of every round against my shoulder. Enemy bullets whipped past me harmlessly.
“Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here”
I grabbed a grenade from my belt, still firing my rifle one-handed. With one fluid movement, I pulled the pin from it.
“And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speak”
I roared out loud, and threw the grenade with all my might, the explosive arcing over the battle, straight into the enemy machine-gun nest.
“That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day”
For Graham.
Patrick, we love this! You’re a talented storyteller and we’re forwarding you a prize to encourage you along the path to your dream career. Keep up the terrific work!
This competition was brought to you by Sugoi Media, Media Bootcamp, Get it Magazine, Get it Media, TravelLiveLearn.com, Hot Tamale Media Australia Pty Ltd
by Guest contributor | Mar 15, 2014 | Travel Live Learn in the media, Traveller tales and interviews
Listen to Lauri’s March 2014 podcast on the book marketing process
There are any numbers of ways for authors to write, market and promote their books. The right way is whatever works for them. It’s a very individual choice. This article is to help people write books that achieve the author’s personal and professional goals.
Marketing is the key to success. A great book without good marketing has very little chance of success; however a decent book with great marketing can be very successful. The earlier a marketing plan is developed and executed, the better the result.
Book marketing process
Start Early
It’s best to start marketing a book is when it’s still in the development phase. Find out what the reader wants early. This will prevent wasting countless hours writing a book that people aren’t interested in reading.
Marketing campaigns should create interest for the book and the author. The idea is to have people hungry for the information included in the book, prior to the launch. By marketing right away and incorporating content marketing strategies, the author will excite and engage potential readers, while moving them closer to the sale.
Mix it Up
A content generation strategy uses content to attract the audience. The best strategies deliver a mix of content that incorporates the three learning styles, which are visual (seeing), auditory (hearing) and kinesthetic (engagement). When I create content marketing campaigns, I focus first on my client’s primary method of delivery, then round out the content with secondary methods. For example, if my client is a writer, most of the content will be delivered in written form. The writings are supplemented with videos, MP3s, photos, music, quizzes, questions, surveys, contests, games, etc. Of course, Social Media platforms are used extensively. We work hard to provide information so valuable that people will eagerly exchange their name and contact information to get it.
Develop As You Go
One easy way to create content is to choose some of the main points of each chapter and write an article about each of them. If you plainly state that the information is from your forthcoming book, people will have their curiosity tweaked. After they see a few of these articles about your book they will be hooked.
Invite people to preorder your book. A savvy web developer could set up a landing page that will support preorders. Make sure to be creative in your requests.
Roll Cameras
Video is another powerful tool in the marketing campaign. People increasingly make purchasing decisions as a result of watching videos. A series of clips promoting the book could dramatically increase orders. One great thing about video is that it works while you sleep; meaning people are tuning in, watching, leaning and thinking about your book while you are free to manage other things.
These are just a few of the things that I use to position my client’s books as bestsellers.
- Did you miss Step One – How to Begin the Book Writing Process? –read more
- Or Step Two – Understanding Your Book’s Reader? –read it now
Stay tuned for Step Four – Author’s Checklist – Know the Parts of Your Book
About the author
Speaker, author, TV host of Focus Forward, Lauri Flaquer has extensive entrepreneurial and media experience. As founder of Saltar Solutions, she guides her clientele of international business owners to excel as entrepreneurs. Formally in TV production at NBC, CNBC and Bloomberg LP, Lauri produces/ hosts Focus Forward, a show dedicated to helping entrepreneurs soar! Lauri has been the publicist and marketing director for several best-selling book campaigns. To learn more about marketing contact Lauri or Tweet her, @SaltarSolutions.
Are you in the process of writing a book, or have you just finished one? We’d love it if you left a comment below, or found us on Facebook or Twitter. And if you think others would find this series useful, go ahead and share.
by Guest contributor | Mar 15, 2014 | Travel Live Learn in the media
Rounding off our winners, here’s another from VIC: We recently hosted an Australia-wide search for writing talent and received an extraordinary response. Students submitted entries based around a theme, “inspire”, and this week we’re showcasing the final six winners (in no particular order).
Show your support for their efforts by leaving a comment below and sharing their amazing entries on your social media profiles for a few well-deserved likes.
Media Bootcamp national writing competition Australia – Danni Tzivakis, VIC
I wake up as light starts to pour through the window. My shoulders are sore from being hunched up from the cold and my back aches from lying on my thin, air-depleted mattress that rests on hard concrete. I have been showering in a river and using a squat toilet.
And I have never been happier in my life.
I sigh with absolute joy. I walk outside, and let my eyes feast on the spectacular view of the green mountains looming above. Surrounding me are bamboo huts and children running through the field kicking a deflated soccer ball, laughing merrily. In the distance, the construction site anticipates its completion so that more dedicated children can be educated.
I stare through the open window of a classroom – I have taught a class of forty grade three students in there. I smile at the memory of yesterday and how I had them all standing up exuberantly singing ‘Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes’. When they sang it all by themselves my heart jumped with delight; I felt like a proud mother as I watched.
But my favourite part of the day is playing with the kids.
Yesterday Say and I were racing up an uneven dirt hill; I lost my footing and fell over. He had already scrambled up to the top, but turned, holding out his hand to help me up. Then he scuttled all the way up a tree, and came back down with a bunch of lovely yellow flowers that he proudly presented to me. We held hands and skipped through the village then I grabbed his hands and spun him around until we both got dizzy. He is the sweetest eleven year old I’ve ever met.
What I’ve learnt here is that happiness comes from the simple things; not a fancy car, a luxurious house or a well-paying job. Putting a grin on a child’s face or seeing them light up with laughter – that is what makes me truly happy. I wake up every day to picturesque mountains instead of a dull suburban street full of dull houses and greedy, complaining people. I would much rather be here and forego the unnecessary luxuries of beds, hot showers and televisions. Obviously people are happier without them anyway.
Here it is so easy to be happy; back home I usually only feel happy when I get an A+ on an exam, but here I walk outside, hi-five a kid and my heart flutters with happiness.
The people here do not live to make money, they are not consumed by greed; they purely live for joy and for community.
First world countries have a lot to learn from the third world.
I am making a difference and it feels good.
I feel inspired; I am inspired by these kids and their joy, by this village and its simplicity. Being here has sparked something in me that this is what I want to do, and here is where I want to be.
Danni, congratulations on being one of our six 2014 national winners. We were inspired by your entry – it certainly belongs right here on a space about travelling, living and learning. We hope you’ll endeavour with all three of those elements in your life.
This competition was brought to you by Sugoi Media, Media Bootcamp, Get it Magazine, Get it Media, TravelLiveLearn.com, Hot Tamale Media Australia Pty Ltd
by Guest contributor | Mar 14, 2014 | Travel Live Learn in the media
Another talented young writer from Victoria: We recently hosted an Australia-wide search for writing talent and received an extraordinary response. Students submitted entries based around a theme, “inspire”, and this week we’re showcasing the final six winners (in no particular order).
Show your support for their efforts by leaving a comment below and sharing their amazing entries on your social media profiles for a few well-deserved likes.
Media Bootcamp national writing competition winner Australia – Julia Sansone, VIC
Inspire is more than a word. It’s more than a feeling one obtains when looking at a painting, or an outfit, or even another person – it is how our world, despite its inexhaustible variety, remains existing.
Inspiration lives in the veins of every human being, and with that inspiration, we feed off one another, linking hands and reaching into each other, bringing back something new every time. Inspiration is what starts the small things and ends up encapsulating an entire life. Inspiration comes from the note of a song, a ray of light or the glimpse of beauty when driving in the car. Inspiration comes to you, it comes like a day at the beach, slowly, slowly then all at once the tide is kissing the edges of your towel on the sand, giggling at your panic to grab your things before it swallows it whole. Inspiration is through the eye of a lens, the gesture of a stranger and the first bite of a hard earned meal. Inspiration is missing the bus home, getting caught in the rain and taking the wrong turn. Inspiration greets you like a friend and holds your hand on the way home, often fluttering away on the occasions you need it most.
Inspiration peers around the corner of your bleakly lit study, heavy eyes trying to pull something out of your head and turn it into scribbled handwriting. It greets you with a warm cup of coffee at 1am, or even visits in your sleep, soon to leave before the morning hits your eyes.
People who inspire don’t intend to inspire. Footprints that want to be left in the sands of our history are never positive ones, and the best kind of marks left on the world are by people who don’t take the tracks, but struggle through the shrubbery to find their lost possessions and discover even more on the way.
But most of all, like most things in the world, to be inspired comes from within. Seeking for another word to write, or action to take… but the catch is – what you are looking for will always reside with you and hover over you, just waiting for you to look outside and say hello. Inspiration is very good at hide and seek and is teaching you that as a part of life, you must keep looking. Keep on searching and question everything that comes into your eyes. Look at what you see, and then look beyond what you’re really looking at. Remember the feeling of being inspired, and in turn, embrace that feeling with both hands, grasp it firmly and let it grow like a wildfire in the summer and like vines in an unkept garden – what some consider a beast others see as a blessing.
Maybe you can’t inspire the world all at once, but if you are making at least one person’s life a little happier – you are inspiration.
Julia, congratulations on being one of our six 2014 national winners. We loved your piece because not only is it well written, but you’ve managed to reflect upon a wide variety of every day inspiration that anyone can take a lesson from.
This competition was brought to you by Sugoi Media, Media Bootcamp, Get it Magazine, Get it Media, TravelLiveLearn.com, Hot Tamale Media Australia Pty Ltd
