Live and Learn: Los Angeles (Part 2)

Los Angeles is awesome. There are so many things to do in and around it, but people tend to get all riled up about how crowded it is that they can’t see how much there is to entertain you. I’ve probably made 15 trips to LA and Anaheim growing up (and grown up), so you would think that by now I’d have it all down. This last trip was the longest I’d ever been in SoCal and decided to do more than make a quick trip into Hollywood for a friend’s birthday. I did one thing right: this time I did a bit of research and started my visit to Hollywood on the Hollywood Blvd, where the action is. I did a lot of other things right, but even after so many vacations to LA, there is still stuff to learn. Last week I gave you my first 5 lessons, and this week I have a continuing list.

Take advantage of freebies at your lodging during downtime. Lesson number one, make sure you plan for downtime, or you will be crazy cranky from being go-go-go for days at a time. Eventually, it saps all your energy from only getting minimal rest. This is also why I like to travel in the fall. The weather doesn’t suck and attractions usually close earlier, making it easy to plan time to go back to your room and chill. Use that time to see what your accommodations have to offer, whether it’s the hot tub, exercise room, dining coupons, movies or other entertainment. We were lucky to get two free movie rentals, which we happily took advantage of while doing laundry and hanging out and relaxing. We also made sure to use the coupons available in the lobby, one of which netted us a free appetizer at Bubba Gump’s (which was only two blocks away).

You may need to use a fancy app to find out wait times at your favorite park rides or call and change a reservation. Whatever it is you need, it will be impossible if your phone is dead. Keep your mobile charged. While this seems like a no-brainer, it can be super-hard to keep your battery from draining in 10 minutes after taking videos of all the fake movie stars on Hollywood Blvd. Turn your background data off, keep your tweeting to a minimum, bring along your car charger or bring a backup battery, just in case. You never know when an emergency will occur, or you need to call to figure out why your attractions card doesn’t work.

Freak heat wave + outside activities = super uncomfortable. So, I always assume California will be warm, but when the temperatures soar over 90, I really don’t know what is happening. Once you get to the theme park and are standing in a barely-shaded line for an hour and you get totally sweaty, you can’t just leave and go back to your room and refresh. I wish I had thought to bring along deodorant wipes and wet naps. After 3 hours, I just felt like I had run 3 miles and then rolled around in dirt. Attractive! Those two things would have been a great addition to my bag…and will be for every vacation here on out, no matter where I’m going or what the weather is going to be.

Did you know it’s cheaper to park in Los Angeles than it is to park in Seattle? This is a good lesson learned, as I was able to park all day for $10. That is less than half the rate at even the cheapest parking garage in Seattle. I was shocked and thrilled, because it saved us a ton…at least on the one day we parked in the city.

So, despite what everyone says, there might be celebrities roaming Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive, but don’t expect to see any. I saw none the whole time I was there. Bummer. Not that I really thought I might see a ton, but something better than the wax figures at Madame Tussaud’s or fake Spiderman in front of Mann’s Chinese Theater. I think if you don’t hope to see anyone from TV, or don’t plan to take up residence in front of Louis Vuitton for the entire day, you should just assume you will see no one.

There’s something to be learned from every trip – some good and some bad – including the fact that I think it’s okay to hit up Weinerschnitzel for a quick meal (hello, pretzel bun!) and an extra camera battery needs to be in my bag or I will only get half a day’s worth of photos in before the first one dies. What are some of your must-remember lessons from past trips?  

Review: Adventuress Travel Beauty Products

As a frequent traveler, it can sometimes be hard to figure out how to cut down on items to bring or find products that will stand up to the rigors of frequent temperature and humidity changes. You want to keep your skin looking great, even if it’s sensitive or acne-prone, like mine is. I am forever looking for a balance between natural products and those that have additives that will keep my skin issues in check. Adventuress products use the best ingredients found in nature to bring out the beauty in your skin.

I received the Adventuress sample tin and was super excited to try a bunch of products instead of just one or two. In the tin there are sample sizes of the skin cleanser, purifier, moisturizer, facial wipes and sunscreen wipes. If you want to test out their line, this is the best way to do it…and then when you buy the larger sizes, hang onto your little sample pots to take with you on your trips.

The first thing I noticed when I opened the facial products was that they were odorless. That’s really one of my pet peeves when it comes to stuff I’m going to put on my face, because a lot of beauty products have added smells and with that normally comes extra breakouts or the odor is way too perfume-y. I am not a fan. You can also see that they don’t have added color either.

Let’s talk about value. A little goes a long way with all three of these products. That means you get your money’s worth. You don’t need to use a ton of any of it to do the job and that is a plus. It means that little sample pot could easily last you two weeks on vacation and save room in your 3-1-1 bag for something you need more room for…or just travel lighter. Of course, all of their “full size” products are also perfectly suited for travel, too. All are 2 oz. or less, so you can easily pop them into your liquids bag or throw into your purse when you’re on the go.

What I think

Clockwise from top: cleanser, purifier, moisturizer

The Naturally Liberating Skin Cleanser is one of the loveliest cleansers you will use on your face. It is lightweight and fluffy and has the consistency of mousse. It clears away dirty while being gentle and silky on your skin. You don’t feel like you need to keep scrubbing your face with it and you genuinely feel like your face is squeaky clean. It uses Boswellian bark “tears” (read – sap) that is the best anti-irritant found to date and helps to calm down inflammations, like acne, and soothe sunburns.

In your beauty routine, you probably use a facial toner. Replace that with the Skin Purifier and you won’t miss it any. It uses quince seed to help your skin retain its moisture and is lightweight and invigorating as a base layer after cleansing.

Follow up your super clean, purified skin with a layer of moisturizer that will help the purifier do its job with the Boldly Nourishing Moisturizer that has antioxidants and more anti-irritants, plus super moisturizers like evening primrose. My skin soaked it right up and held onto the feeling of freshly moisturized skin all night when I used it in the evening and even kept my face from drying out during the day when I wore makeup over it, too. It is sufficiently thick for applications, but feels like your face is bare once you apply it to your skin. Imagine my surprise to know that it is also a great anti-aging moisturizer, because it improves your skin’s texture and reduces wrinkles and, because it’s full of amazing natural ingredients, if you use it a bunch of times during the day, it can only work better.

You know I hate having to pack a bottle of sunscreen and then chance it coming open mid-flight and spilling all over everything in my 3-1-1 bag. I don’t want to get to my destination and have to play clean-up crew, or scrape it off everything and either slather it on or figure out how to get it back in the container so it’s not a waste. The answer? Sunscreen Wipes! They are totally mess-free. Even easier? Ones that have a finger pocket to help you get an even application and keep it even less messy.

The Adventuress sunscreen is non-oily, odor-free and water-resistant. That means it’s as perfect to use on your legs as it is your face, plus it has 30 SPF. They are awesome for everyday use, but if you are going to the beach, you may need to use more than one for enough coverage - or invest in the travel pump of sunscreen. A box of wipes contains 24. Throw them in your day bag when traveling and never worry about being out of sunscreen or having a big soggy mess ever, no matter how much you toss your bag around.

Finally, you don't feel like you need to cut your facial wipe in half.

Ever feel like you just want to wash your face and crawl into bed after a long day of sightseeing or an endless flight? Yeah, me too. I am a sucker for those facial wipes, but not all of them are created equal. Try the Fearlessly Refreshing Facial Wipes and you may not look back. At half the dimensions of a typical facial wipe, they are just the right size and they are so cooling and pick up dirt you didn’t even know was there. I swiped one across my face after a shower and came away with a wipe covered in facial oils and grunge when I thought my face was clean.

It’s odorless and individually packaged, so also a great thing to toss into your bag, whether you’re going to the gym or spending the day at the zoo with the kids. You don’t have to just use it on your face, either. The hydrating wipe is biodegradable and would be nice and refreshing when out at a theme park on a hot day that makes you feel grimy and you don’t have time to go back to the hotel to clean up. I wish I had these on my last trip to Disney when an unforeseen heat wave made me feel covered in dirt after just being out for a few hours.

I’m so excited for Adventuress to now be part of my travel routine. I know it’s going to make my life a lot easier and keep my skin looking great even when the elements are trying to wreak havoc on it. It can do the same for you, whether you’re a business traveler, backpacker or just an active parent. Men as well as women can benefit from the ingredients that make up Adventuress products. They are high-quality and can still be owned for a fraction of the cost of similar name-brand items on the market. Start with the sample tin and, once you’re hooked, move up to the larger sized products. You’ll want to use them everywhere you go and at home.

More information

Where to buy: GoAdventuress Website

How much is it? $10-35

Important specs: Uses all-natural ingredients, all containers are travel-friendly

Want to know more about Adventuress? Check them out on their website, or find them on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Disclosure: I received a sample tin from Adventuress for the purposes of this review, but all opinions are 100% my own.

Live and Learn: Los Angeles

It’s been a while since I’ve done a live and learn post. I like to think I’m getting closer to being a super-efficient traveler. While I packed even less this time and only didn’t wear one thing I packed (two if you count a Halloween costume), I still found that I learned quite a bit of stuff on my trip. Some is universal, some is specific to the Los Angeles/Anaheim area, but all may be helpful to you. It just proves, there’s always something to learn, no matter how experienced you are. This is true in life and in travel.

The least amount of clothes we've ever packed - almost perfect!

Everything takes longer than you think it will

This is especially true in the LA area. If you want to go anywhere around the city or to/from a nearby city (like Anaheim to Hollywood), give yourself a good two hours to get there. It may not take as long, but chances are there will be some sort of hold-up, like an accident, and you’ll be glad you left early. It took us 30 minutes to drive 2 miles in the city. We probably should have just walked.

Horrible picture of the Disney Symphony building

Don’t take a city tour at night

If I had known what sorts of cool stuff our tour guide was taking us to see, I would have opted to take a day tour of the city rather than the Los Angeles by Night one we went on. It was very cool – especially since we were the only ones on it – and the tour guide was amazingly knowledgeable, but it’s terrible trying to take pictures in the dark even when you aren’t in a moving coach. Read about mytour here.

I love these shoes, but they are a poor substitute for flip flops

It’s never a dumb idea to pack flip flops

So, I would think after a billion trips I would have learned by now that flip flops are always a good idea. Knowing that I was going to be spending 75% of my time in theme parks, I figured there was no point in packing these, but I was wrong. My feet hurt so badly one evening when we got back to our room that I took my walking shoes off and tried to put on a pair of walking flats I had in my bag. My feet had swollen so much they were more painful than the trainers. I planned to go downstairs to the gift shop for a pair of flip flops when I realized that I had packed a pair of foldable flats. They are great, because they aren’t structured, so they can feel like walking barefoot, but without getting the bottom of your feet icky. I wore those downstairs to buy a pair of flip flops.

This was just the line to get through security!

Get to the parks at least an hour before they open

We didn’t take our own advice and showed up right before opening on a Monday at California Adventure. The weather was unseasonably warm and the lines were longer than I’d ever seen them. Even the lady who checked my bag at the gate said it was like summer crowds and crazy. We ended up standing in two different lines to try to beat the odds, but still didn’t make it into the park until 30 minutes after it opened. Even if you’re visiting Disney during the week on the off-season, get there way before you think you need to. If there’s no line, you can always go grab a coffee at La Brea Bakery (or similar).

At least I didn't have to buy shorts, too!

Always bring a warm weather Halloween costume

I realize this is an odd problem for anyone to have. When we go to Disney, we often do it during the Fall and Halloweentime. We buy tickets to go the Halloween party and bring costumes to get into the spirit. As I said, it was crazy warm in Southern California when we went at the end of September. I had brought a sailor costume that had pants and long sleeves (and was polyester). I realized the days before the party that even at night, the temperature was not going to be cool enough for me to not die of heat stroke in my costume. We hit up Target, but their selection was miserable, so we ended up going to a local shop that had sports gear and I shelled out money for an Angels t-shirt and ball cap. It was unimaginative and used money I could have spent on something else, but at least I can re-wear it. It would have been smarter for me to have brought an outfit that was good for summer weather and a pair of tights to wear in case it was actually cold. Now I know!

There are more things I learned in my 11 days in the Anaheim/Los Angeles area, but we’ll save that for the next post. What useful things have you learned on your last trips that could help others when they travel?