The Art of Road Tripping

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This past weekend I took a quick trip to Ireland with my Irish friend who was picking up her cat and car from her family home. The plan was to fly down on Saturday and after a days rest, eating all the food and drinking all the wine, heading back home to London. The whole journey was a leisurely 7 hours (including a 2 hour ferry ride and 1 hour rest stop) and I learned a few things along the way about being the ideal road trip passenger and the weighty responsibilities it held...

1. The Art of Not Getting Lost

You and you alone are reading the instructions printing off of Google maps; navigating your way through streets you can't pronounce (Thanks Wales for your lack of vowels) and ignoring a Tom Tom GPS from 2003 who insists you are driving through a field and wants you to make a u-turn. No pressure. (I swear I heard Tommy say at one point "You are lost.")

2. The Art of Radio Dialing

When requested for some tunes, don't turn on the radio hit scan and proceed to scan the same 4 stations repeatedly without noticing and then forget that you've hit scan until the driver asks you politely to just pick something. Instead settle on some Motown straight from America, snapping your fingers and seat dancing until the driver gives you side eye. 

3. The Art of Snacking

This requires a bit of pre-departure planning. The day before you are set to leave head to the grocery store and purchase fun snacks, preferably with lots of salt and/or lots of chocolate and don't forget a caffeinated drink to give the driver a kick until the next rest station and coffee. Europe is severely lacking a box of timbits  which got many a Canadian family road trip through to the end without killing each other.

4. The Art of Not Annoying Others

This may be a tough one. Learn to read your crowd. 
Some of the best conversations happen while driving. It's also okay to be quiet and enjoy the scenery, however, make sure you driver doesn't do the same (eyes on the road!). 
Feel free to share random thoughts that pop into your head, the weirder the better. You might just discover how much you and your driving buddy have in common.

5. The Art of Distracting Cats*

This might be a rare occurrence, but when the day comes and you find yourself on a road trip driving across Ireland, Wales and England with a cat in a crate, a friend at the wheel and a Google map in your lap, you will remember this post, this list, THIS MOMENT and thank me. 

Not our ferry, but you get the idea

Google maps!

Just outside Holyhead, Wales off the ferry

*Bacon fat, cat toys, and a soft reassuring voice

Fun travels!

Vermont in Pictures

Vacations are great, but never long enough. I spent a great week away with perfect beach weather and perfect rainy afternoons for shopping. The week finished off with a bbq at my 93 year old grandmother's house with both sides of my family coming together to eat food and catch up.

In pictures top left to right: 

     1. packing for the week

     2. long drive up to Montreal

     3. my old analog camera I played with all week

     4. my drink of choice

     5. there was a mug there that looked just like Betty

     6. rainy day

     7. beach day

     8. black raspberry creemee

     9. I LOVE VERMONT sugar

    10. watch for 1920's children playing

    11. one of many bike rides along the lake

    12. what one wears on a cool rainy day to go shopping

Follow me on Instagram at edeerich

Fun travels!

Vacation Packing

Every year my family rents a cottage (camp) for a week in Colchester, Vermont. As such the panic for packing for a 10 day trip away from home sets in. I thought that I might do a post about my tips for packing, however it turned into a “I want to pack everything summery I own, this is my last chance to wear it all!”

I notoriously over pack. Since we drive down I always figure I can take just one more thing, even if I have to drive 8 hours with it on my lap. But this year I thought I’d try to not over pack and not just throw a bunch of stuff in a suitcase.  Taking a page from this article and fashion bloggers everywhere, I grabbed a weekenderbag and started pulling some of my favourite items keeping in mind possible outfits. I tried to stay with one colour palate in order to have a wider range of options. Like George Costanza, I happen to dress based on mood.
I still did my typical, throw-a-few-extra-things-in-the-car-at-the-last-minute-before-heading-out with a few items though. Obviously that can't be helped.

     How do you pack for a week vacation?

 As I packed I was struck with a thought. “How am I ever going to pack for England.”

Fun travels!

Doors Open, Open Doors

A few weeks ago I talked about being a tourist in your own backyard. But if this is a challenge for you--from not knowing what's happening in town, to prohibitive costs for bringing the whole family--the  Doors Open is just your thing.

Doors Open is a great volunteer run, community based event, started in 2000, as a millennium project. Toronto hosted the first North American event and since then more communities have opted to take part in the annual event.

Visitors are provided the opportunity to explore interesting sites and buildings not always open to the public and get behind the scenes tours free of charge.

The first time I heard about this type of event was in my first week living in London, UK when I happened by an old stone church which had its catacombs open for the Open House London (as it's called there). It was thrilling and cheap (free). I felt welcomed to my new neighbourhood and learned a bit about it's rich history. When I returned to Canada and heard about a similar event in Toronto, I convince my parents it was something they would enjoy (which they did) I made them drive to as many locations as we could fit into the day.

Doors Open Toronto-Toronto Archives 2008

Doors Open runs in various Southern Ontario communities from April to October. This year the Ontario Heritage Trust has selected a theme focused on the War of 1812's 200th anniversary celebrations occurring in Southern Ontario. Check it out!


Fun travels! 


For a full history of Doors Open events check out the Doors Open Ontario website here.
Image from Doorsopenontario.on.ca
Toronto Archives image from Creative Common by Commodore Gandalf Cunningham

The Weekender Bag

Summer is coming and that means road trips and weekends away. To have a successful trip you need to have a great weekender bag. The more colourful the better, in my opinion. Sure, you could go the classic route of a brown leather duffle bag, but where's the fun in that? They stand out when traveling in groups, they don't have to match your outfit, and it's just plain fun.

Here is a small selection of fun weekend bags found on Polyvore.com

Whether you are taking to the air, rail or road for a long weekend, the elements that make a great weekender bag are it's compact size, durability and light weight construction. It's size means you don't have to check it for a flight and it doesn't take up much room in the trunk or shared hotel room.

Everyone should own at least one great weekender bag, I have a bag obsession and own about 4. If I went on more road trips I could easily talk myself into "needing" more.

Road Trip Bags by erdeer featuring a vintage inspired luggage

5. FOSSIL vintage inspired luggage, $198
6. Vera Bradley quilted bag, $118
4. Cath Kidston floral print handbag, $145
1. Diane von Furstenberg travel bag, $100
2. Vera Bradley gym bag, $108
3. Marc by Marc Jacobs nylon tote handbag, $198


Fun travels!