Shereen Rayle's Blog, page 11

The New Portland International Airport

For the last 4 or so years, PDX (Portland International Airport) has been going through a transition. Now, we were voted Best Airport by Travel + Leisure for 5 years in a row before this, and everyone has always said how much the loved coming to it, because we have local shops and restaurants and it feels inviting and we don't mark up prices like every other airport does, so when they said we were getting a huge remodel, I wasn't sure why...but we're halfway through it and I am in love.

Let's loo...

6 Items You Don't Want To Forget At Home

There are a lot of things that you can buy when you get where you're going, but sometimes that isn't convenient or economically feasible. I've, unfortunately, forgotten some necessary things when I've traveled, and I've remembered to never do that again, but sometimes you just miss something. 

I always suggest having a standard packing list for your trips that have all the essentials on it and can be changed up for everything else. Here are 6 things you don't want to forget or pack in your checke...

My Denver Wish List

Soon, I'll be jumping on an early morning flight to Denver to spend 3 days before Eric has to work and I have to come back home to work, too. We will be relying on public transportation to get around, but we'll be staying in a new-ish vacation rental called Sonder. I have things I want to get to and also a Denver CityPASS, so let's look at this ambitious wish list I have:

Photo by Marc Pineda on Unsplash

For Eric's birthday, I bought two walking tours as experiential gifts. One was for Sacramento,...

3 Weeks' Worth of Clothes In a Backpack

I rarely take trips that are longer than 10 days to 2 weeks, but I also like to have options when I travel. That can be difficult when you also want to travel light. As you know, if I go solo, I pretty much always pack in a backpack, because I don't like to hold people up trying to wrestle a bag into the overhead. It's entirely doable though, especially when traveling in the summer, spring, or early fall.

Now, the way to really get a lot out of your travel wardrobe is to not pack by day and inste...

Shereen Travels Cheap Turns 14!

After, basically, a year of California travel (though I'm not complaining) and a quick road trip to Vancouver BC, we're finally getting back on track with more regular (for us) travel and our lives. While we didn't end up going to Hawaii this year, we have two trips in the books and two (or three) more on the calendar. The blog has hit yet another milestone. We've been around for 14 years! 

Although we were promised a Travel Goods Show move to Chicago, it has once again returned to Las Vegas, whi...

Start Planning Your Holiday Travels Now

You may not be planning your winter travels yet, because it's August, but you should be. Budget flights are probably going to be hard to come by and they will, for sure, be overbooked and going to the airport will be stressful and annoying. If you haven't already, sign up for flight alerts right now. If you just aren't sure how to pull off an affordable holiday trip, my ebook can give you all the inside tips for planning, booking, packing and not killing your family out of stress.



For l...

Explore Culture Through Cuisine

Are you like me and plan full days of vacation around places you want to eat, or are you normal? Just kidding. I know a lot of people who do that, so if do, that's cool, and if you don't, that's cool too, but don't be the person who actively avoids new foods, because it's too scary, or you hate change or whatever. You can eat a hamburger at home, so maybe try something you've never heard of before.

I get so excited about trying a new food, so tell me what your favorite food city is.

5 Budget-Friendly Destinations for the Solo Traveler

I'm a big fan of solo travel. Not only does it give you a new outlook on a destination, but it can give you a newfound sense of freedom and teach you about yourself in the process. If you've never traveled alone, you should do it at least once. On our last trip, I didn't go alone, but Eric went on ahead of me and I showed up 2 days later, giving me the opportunity to take myself to the airport, do all the stuff there, fly alone, and also pick up a rental car on my own. 

It's not a full solo trave...

What Are The Top Reasons To Use A VPN?

Using a VPN has become common practice for many people. However, there are still a lot of individuals out there that never use a VPN. By not adopting this tech, you could be missing out on a huge range of benefits.

Photo by Stefan Coders: CCO Licensed

But before we go into these benefits, let’s work out what exactly is a VPN. Commonly installed as an app, a VPN is an internet security service that can conceal your IP address and encrypt your data. This prevents hackers, advertisers, websites and o...

Happy Birthday Harry Potter

It's that time again. Summer has rolled around and this is the part of the year where my world becomes a lot more magical. Between June, July, and August we do a lot of Harry Potter events in celebration of the Chosen One's birthday. (We also tend to pack a lot into December.) 

We had an extra special even this year to kick off the "season" and if you are following me on IG, then you have already seen a bunch of posts.

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