Washington, DC in Pictures

Last month I was on the east coast and we spent three days in Washington, DC. You may have read my last post on how I stayed in an Airstream trailer through Airbnb in Arlington. We did quite a bit on our short trip to our nation's capitol, but three days was simply not enough to do everything we hoped to do. In fact, I have a feeling we may not have gotten to everything we wanted on a two week vacation. I'll go more in depth about this trip over the coming weeks, but for now, I though it would be fun to share some of the many photos I took.

a flower in the children's garden of the U.S. Botanic Garden & Conservatory

planes used to be so much smaller

...and, ironically, much more comfortable.

I love how funky the Madame Tussaud's building is compared to the rest of the block

a heroic government pigeon spy

The opening of the 50 Years of Bond Villains exhibit at the Spy Museum

Large portions of the actual Berlin Wall

You know I never go anywhere without trying some delicious foods. 

Yorkshire pudding and chicken curry poutine from Elephant & Castle

Lamb and other kinds of handmade sausages at the farmers' market

Visitors waiting to get into the White House

Unbelievable picture from the top of the Washington Monument

Washington Monument as seen from the Lincoln Memorial

Good ol' Honest Abe

Time to fly. A lovely picture of the city and the Potomac from the airplane window

If you want to find ways to spend your short trip in DC before I share more, you can read Krizstina Williams's guest post and another one I did after that on saving money there. If you visited DC, what were some of your favorite things to do there?

Review: Travelon Convertible Crossbody Duffel

When I travel, it can be difficult to pack light while also bringing the right bags for my trip that can accommodate what I’m bringing with me and what I will probably be bringing back. Generally, on vacation, I like to do a bit of shopping. My souvenirs are minimal, but I find travel the perfect time to find unusual and fun gifts for birthdays and the holidays. I often bring an extra bag with me for my purchases, but the problem with that is that it takes up space in my bag that I need for clothes.

Travelon has solved my problem with the Convertible Crossbody Duffel. It comes in all the newest colors and it’s totally innovative, because it’s two bags in one. When you start your trip, you can use it as a regular crossbody bag, which is perfect, because Eric and I take two personal items on the plane with us for things we want to have convenient and which fit under the seat. The Convertible Crossbody Duffel is just the right size for your books, Kindle, iPad mini and has pockets to keep things organized. Put your card games, snacks and other items in it, then toss the stuff in your pockets into it when going through security, so you don’t have to use one of those bins for stuff like your wallet, keys and change that you probably don’t want other people to have such easy access to.

Just FYI, Eric could have made the strap longer for him and I could have made it shorter for me, but we liked to carry it different ways. 

The padded strap adjusts to anyone’s frame to make it comfortable for them to carry. I used it as a day bag on several days of the trip, because it was fun colored and lightweight, but had enough room to carry everything I needed, including a cardigan that I brought just in case it got chilly. I like that it also has swivel clips, so the strap can never get all snarled and tangled from clipping it on the wrong way.

In the small space of our Airstream camper, we used the bag as a laundry bag, because it was easy to place anywhere.

Once we started purchasing things to bring home, we employed this bag's second feature. The back of the bag unzips all the way around and folds out to a duffel size bag. Not only that, but you don’t have to take anything out of the bag in order to make it full-size. Now you have a second carry-on to bring back with you that has a fairly large capacity and can rest on the top of your wheeled bag, plus you don’t have to spend extra money to check it at the gate. As you can see, the strap clips to two new rings that are revealed when the bag is expanded to evenly distribute the weight and make it into a real duffel. Surprisingly, the lightweight fabric doesn't make the bag bulky in crossbody mode. The duffel part folds into the zipper compartment effortlessly and pretty much is undetectable. 

One of the cool things about this bag is that even though you are using the bag for a new purpose on your way back from your trip, it can still hold the original items without compromising space, because the crossbody part of the bag is still there as an extra section to your duffel. It’s also nice to be able to keep your snacks or whatever else you’ve brought separate from your dirty clothes and you don’t have to open the main bag and dig for things that would inevitably end up at the bottom.

As sturdy as this bag is, I wouldn’t suggest loading it up with heavy items, because it is nylon (though ripstop) and doesn’t have a structured bottom. Even so, we put this bag to the test and filled it with a mixture of clothing, food items and souvenirs. It was fairly weighted down on the trip back home, but I wouldn’t do this on a regular basis, nor would I check the bag, since it fits easily in the overhead. If not totally full, it would still fit under the seat.

You can feel free to take this bag with you everywhere. Though it’s nylon, it is stain and water resistant, so whether you get caught in a rainstorm or go to the beach, you don’t have to worry about your stuff getting all wet and soggy.

I’d also like to call some attention to the zippers of the Convertible Crossbody Duffel, because they have nice ergonomic zipper pulls which helps to give the bag a cute sporty look. The bag is quite good for both men and women, as it’s not girly and comes in colors that are appealing to everyone. I see us using this bag often on our future trips and even around town, simply because it's cute and versatile. Even if we decide to pack the bag to use at our destination, it doesn't take up much room. 

The only thing that would make this bag better is if it had a bottle holder, though that might compromise the structural integrity of it. Even without one, it is a fantastic bag for traveling, overnight trips and even everyday use, like going to the gym. Because it is dual-use, we ended up getting a lot more use out of it than expected. Also, the price-point makes it a wonderful gift, as it's pretty budget-friendly, and your recipient probably has never seen a bag with this kind of innovation.

More information

Size: 9.25 x 11 x 4 , Duffel Bag: 24 x 11 x 9.25 

Colors it comes in: black | lime | teal (shown) | pink berry

How much is it?: $45.00

Where you can buy it: Travelon website

Other specs: 190T ripstop nylon

Like Travelon? You can also find them on Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram

Stay tuned for two other great bags from Travelon that I tested out on my trip. 

Disclaimer: I was provided with the Convertible Crossbody Duffel for the purposes of this review, but all opinions are 100% mine.

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 more like a local and you usually have a kitchen to make meals and sometimes laundry facilities.

Now, staying in a trailer in someone's backyard may not sound like much fun to you, but I thought it was awesome. I have always wanted an Airstream of my own and now I definitely do. I found it small enough to feel cozy, but large enough for the two of us to feel comfortable. The bed was surprisingly comfortable and actually better than the one we slept in when we stayed in a timeshare accommodation in Williamsburg. The shower was a bit of a squeeze, but bigger than you would think. 

If you ever feel at home in an airplane bathroom and kind of want to build a similar one at home with a bit more functionality, an Airstream has you covered. Every space is usable, with hooks, towel racks or storage everywhere. I felt right at home, and our hosts couldn't be nicer. We were in a fantastic neighborhood that was quiet and close to a ton of ethnic restaurants. 

Meaza'a Ethiopian Cuisine - totally worth a visit

On the advice of our renter, we drove up the street to an Ethiopian restaurant. I had never had Ethiopian food before, except at a food cart festival, but I was quite surprised by how good it was. It was probably a good indication of the cuisine quality that we were two of only four white diners. I feel like if an ethnic restaurant is packed with people of that ethnicity, it probably means it's pretty authentic. 

Anyway, back to our trailer and our adventure in glamping: We used the tiny, but efficient kitchen to make breakfasts (including coffee) and to store our groceries. The couch was super comfortable and a great place to use our phones while they were charging. I was amazed that even the Airstream had more outlets than a standard hotel room. There was another convenient outlet under the table, perfect for plugging in our laptop while in use, and ones next to the bed and built-in shelves to place your items while they were plugged in overnight. 

I was even able to test out the outlet in the bathroom where I used my flat iron to try to make myself look presentable for the day. While it doesn't seem like there was much counter space, it was more than enough for our toothbrushes and other necessary toiletries. Everything else stayed in our toiletry bag, which I hung on a towel bar, so it was out of the way, but also really accessible. 

So, would I do it again? I certainly would! If you would like to stay in an Airstream in Arlington, too, you can request it on our host's Airbnb page. And if you want to try Airbnb and get $25 off your stay, sign up here for free.

Have you ever stayed in on offbeat vacation rental or want to give a shout out to a great Airbnb host?