Shereen Rayle's Blog, page 132

I Stayed in an Airstream Trailer and It Was Awesome

It's true. We were on the East Coast a few weeks ago and on our Washington, DC portion of our trip, we scoured Airbnb for affordable places to stay. We found a place that offered everything we were looking for (kitchen, WiFi & TV) in Arlington, it just happened to be an Airstream Trailer in someone's backyard. Now, I have touted my love of Airbnb before, and I recommend it highly. Not only can you save quite a bit of money over traditional hotels and even vacation rentals, but you feel mo...

Prepare for Life's Unexpected Turns

Insurance is boring...and choosing the right benefits can be confusing. Unfortunately, this makes actually signing up and picking the right benefits for you and your family seem very daunting, so some of us just don't do it. Those of us that do may not be spending enough time and effort on it. Did you know that nearly half of millennials spent 30 minutes or less preparing for and selecting their benefits in 2013. I know we're all pressed for time, and probably planning your next vacation seem...

How to Survive with Fewer Things When You Travel

What if I want woolly socks?What if I want to wear a Hawaiian shirt?What if I need extra boots?What if I need more pajamas?What if I'm asked to a gala and I don't have a tuxedo?What if I go sailing and don't have the proper shoes?What if I want to go spelunking and I don't have ropes?Will people know where I'm from? Better pack four or five more Oregon shirts!

Yes, some of these questions are totally ridiculous, but if you're an overpacker, it might be hard to figure out which ones....

Managing Your Passwords Online

If you think about it, you probably have 50 or more online accounts, all of which require passwords to get in and change your info or to post as yourself. Do you have 50+ different passwords? If you're like me, you don't. I have four varying passwords for all my accounts, because some require numbers, longer character length and some want special characters. Even with so few passwords, it can be difficult to remember which one goes with which account. F-Secure KEY helps you keep all your long...

My Totally OCD Travel Personality

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm very serious about my travel planning and everything that goes along with it like packing and making reservations for everything possible right away. I'm totally crazy when it comes to planning a trip and I'll do 95% of all the work myself, because I'm a control freak that way. Not only that, but if I could do it all a year in advance, I'd totally do that too. So, if you'd like a look into my OCD travel personality, I'm giving you a peek at it and you'll pro...

How to Travel Europe on a Budget

Fall is a great time to visit Europe. Airfare is lower, hotels and vacation rentals charge less and the crowds are considerably smaller. That's by no means the only way you can save, but it's definitiely the easiest rule to follow. The following infographic gives you some fantastic ways to stick to a budget. While I never stay in hostels, don't rule it out if that is something you're willing to do. If not I would rather opt for a vacation rental through Airbnb and the like so I have my own ki...

Halloween Costumes for Travel

You know how I always like to travel around Halloween. It's not just because it's cheaper for me to take a trip then, but also because we're often somewhere that we can dress up and have fun, like Disney. If you also plan to travel near or on Halloween and want to wear a costume that doesn't take up a bunch of space in your carry-on bag (because checking a bag to accommodate a costume means you might as well have bought one once you get there), then I've found some great ideas that will make...

Fun Ways to Celebrate Fall and Halloween

Can you believe fall is almost here? Now's the best time to travel to a lot of places, because airfare and hotel deals are less expensive than other times of the year. We tend to do a lot of things in the fall, including going on our big yearly vacation. It saves us money this way and the kids are all in school, so there are smaller crowds and fewer lines everywhere we go. Want to make the most out of your fall? Then here are some fun ways to celebrate the season and Halloween.

Our dog Rikka c...

Win an iPad Mini + 12 Months of F-Secure Key

Last week I wrote about a great service that keeps track of all your passwords with one master password. One password to rule them all! If you missed it, read about it here. Now through next Tuesday at midnight (PST) I'm going to be running a promo. Leave a comment on my Facebook post about F-Secure, share my post with your Twitter followers or leave a blog post comment and you could win a 16GB iPad Mini and 12 months of F-Secure Key. Sounds easy, right? Enter below! (Sorry, open to US reside...

Feeling Homesick While at Home

It'll catch me at random times, like standing in line at Starbucks or in my own kitchen. I'll sigh and desperately wish for some truly delicious coffee. It's one of the things I miss the most about Paris, and though we have a fantastic French bistro we go to for breakfasts sometimes, and they make a mean croissant, the coffee is just wrong somehow. While driving in bumper-to-bumper traffic, I long to jump into the nearest Tube station. To walk along the river and eat at that beautiful re...