Hitting the road this holiday season? Don’t pull an Alec Baldwin and let it stress you out.
Travel and lifestyle expert Stefanie Michaels (aka Adventure Girl!) is here with helpful advice. Dubbed “America’s Tweetheart” by Vanity Fair Magazine for her more than 1 million Twitter followers at Twitter.com/adventuregirl, Stefanie shows how you can travel like a celebrity with tips to make your holiday travel easier.
Traveling lighter with kids the celebrity way:
Traveling with kids can be stressful enough when going through airports, on top of carrying along their extra luggage, car seats, Pack ‘n Plays and toys. Stars Conan O’Brien, Sarah McLachlan and Alfred Molina have made traveling with their children easier by using the Traveling Baby Company, a one-stop shop for baby equipment rental with locations around the US. Log onto their website, choose your destination and order what you need instead of carrying it all along. Safe and clean rentals include everything from cribs, strollers, car seats, high chairs, and toys—trusted brand name items delivered straight to your destination.
www.travelingbaby.com
Less stressful E-mail:
It doesn’t take being a celebrity to get too many e-mails, especially getting an overabundance of them when on holiday. The truth is, as much as we want to get away, escaping e-mails when out of town is tricky. The online service, Awayfind.com, earmarks a user’s important e-mail contacts, and then pings via the user’s cell phone that a special e-mail has arrived. Zac Efron, is that you?
Free download: www.awayfind.com
Medical Services On The Go:
mPassport is a downloadable app for mobile devices, which gives Hollywood stars and travelers access to global healthcare information and medical services—finding trusted doctors around the world, schedule appointments and translate medical phrases. Say, “I have a stomach ache” into the phone using mPassport and the app will translate from English to whatever the destination’s language is.
www.mPassport.com
Get Social and Check In with Family and Friends:
Following celebrity travel tweets from Kim Kardashian and Ashton Kutcher is entertaining. Even more informative for holiday travelers is downloading the mobile Twitter app and utilizing traffic, weather, and airport feeds via Twitter, such as @BostonLogan (airport) whose info includes anything from flight delays and cancelations to airfare sales. For world travelers, @TravelGov – the official US State Department account, sends alerts and travel advisories. There are also local US Embassies on Twitter, which often share news and information that travelers may need if abroad.
www.Twitter.com
Foursquare.com offers a mobile app for travelers to explore locales, check-in and garner local specials and discounts. Users can create a travel log by “checking-in” at places such as restaurants, shopping establishments, museums and tourist attractions via the geo-locating service. Users can also make favorite location lists (Ellen DeGeneres has one, here) and keep track of places visited on holiday. Best of all, users can choose to keep accounts private and share with only family and friends.
www.Foursquare.com
TSA Karma:
J.Lo, Justin Bieber and George Clooney typically walk through airport security with VIP status from the airlines. But, for those of us who have to go it the non-celebrity way through security, there is something I call, “security line karma.” Go through the line efficiently, and security line karma comes back to you the next time.
Prepare ahead of time by removing all jackets, hats, belts, change from pocket, piercings, watches, and computers from bags while waiting in line.
Leave conditioners, lotions, batteries, liquids at home if possible, or place those items in checked bags. You can always purchase those items at your destination.
Don’t want to head into the x-ray screener? Let TSA know at the conveyor belt that a pat down is preferable. No need for wait time once you go through the main metal detector, there will be a TSA person waiting on the other side for you.
*** Pittsburgh Airport now has a TSA Fast Track line for travelers with one piece of carry-on luggage. Pack light and be whisked through their security in a snap.
For more information on Stefanie, check out www.adventuregirl.com.
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