Spotlight :: San Diego

[trip style = weekend away + beach + urban]

San Diego's sea breeze and surf life has been calling my name since high school, the last time I visited. I remember very few details from the trip other than one vivid moment: seeing A.C. Slater {of Saved by the Bell fame} walking down the street. I was so embarrassed---for who I'm not sure---I looked the other way.

MORE PHOTOS BELOW.

Prior to my brush with Mr. Mullet, my only interaction with this Southern Cali city was a quintessential kid-trip to Sea World. My sister and I sat in the splash zone for Shamu's show. We left with soggy bums and ice creams to forget the wet.

Mr. Trip Styler and I have been talking about strutting down to Ron Burgundy's stomping grounds forever, so this June we finally flew to the coastal cosmo and tried the adult version on for size. It fit just right. Because people surf before work. Because there's 100+ kms of coastline. Because everyone rides cruiser bikes. Because the temperature is just right---not too hot, not too cold. Because there's a brood of restaurants and shops and neighborhoods outside of tourist areas with a laser-focus on their food, their craft, their brew, their goods, and differentiating from the crowd.

Trip Styler Tip :: Find more San Diego deets in two articles I wrote for Expedia in the Expedia Viewfinder Blog: 48 Hours in San Diego and Beach 101.

Like modern explorers we sailed {read: drove} around town in search of a motley crew of cool; this makeshift map documents our tried, tested and trip styled recommendations. If I take the winter off, you'll know where to find me.

{To make things clear as ice, I've loaded each hotel, restaurant and lounge mentioned above into Google Maps, as well as tagged my San Diego snaps on Instagram as #TSsanDiego so you can search them easily.}

Photos {Tower 23 Hotel. San Diego's it shore-front sleepover.}

{Pacific Beach.}

{Sessions Public. Pictured here: part of our happy hour feast!}

{Lifeguard station. I had to.}

{Coronado Beach.}

{Monello Italian restaurant. Cool trivia: they serve Cicchetti at happy hour, aka you order a drink and the chef prepares you a petite appy.}

{Pigment. A shop. My muse avec air plants, beach wood furniture, handmade leather goods, etc... }

{Great Maple, a gorgeous diner-turned-restau dishing out chic comfort food.}

Related Roam+Board :: The Pearl Hotel {Where to stay in San Diego}

[photos by @tripstyler]

When A Weekend Away Goes AWOL

[trip style = any]

Last weekend I got stranded roadside with Mr. Trip Styler, Ms. Fashion Friday, and Mr. Nacho King {my pup}. In the process, we were picked up {and pulled} by a tractor, and rescued by way of an animal shelter and a do-gooder named Randy.

For the first time in nine years, our SUV shut itself down {while driving!} due to an electrical issue in the engine. To make matters worse, it was a Sunday so n-o-t-h-i-n-g was open, and we were in another country {the USA, aka, using our Canadian cell phones was uber-expensive}.

Sometimes weekends away {and all travel} go belly up. You come home stressed rather than relaxed. You're down and out due to something in your travel plans going awry---a feeling exaggerated by being away from home and out of your comfort zone. But here's the good part: it also forces you to reach deeper into your soul, use your intuition, trust strangers and rely on the help of good Samaritans. Strangely, the situation refreshed me.

While talking travel troubles isn't TS's normal flight path, our situation is a good reminder to keep cool, even in the face of travel challenges. In the moment it feels insurmountable; in retrospect there's always a silver lining, or some life lesson or truth we can glean!

What Happened {Coles Notes Version} Our car stopped in its tracks across the street---a busy street---from the Camano Animal Shelter. In order to get our vehicle to the other side of the highway, it was towed by a tractor that 'happened' to drive by just when we needed it. On the other side, we asked an electrician for a jump, and he said no. {Strange in that he had a Bible verse plastered over his work vehicle (FAIL).} The animal shelter, 100 meters away, empathized with our situation and allowed us to use their wifi and computers to research what to do. While searching for a solution, the lovely worker referred us to her next door neighbor who drove down to the shelter to assess our vehicle.

Long story short, this dynamic duo helped us troubleshoot, drove us back to our weekend abode for the night, gave us extra dog food {because OF COURSE we'd run out} and picked Mr. Trip Styler up the next morning to go and search for a car part. All this because they were nice people. When Mr. TS asked the good Samaritan for his rate, he said he it was nada---he tries to do one good thing a day. In that moment---exhausted from sitting roadside and hatching fix-it plans---I burst out crying. Somehow, we'd met the nicest person on the island!

The next day, the car part came in, worked like a charm and the good Samaritan gave us MORE of himself, aka, a piece of his handmade art. For the record, I will NEVER get rid of his orange-hued artifact, a metal crab made out of two horseshoes. This crab has quickly become one of my most prized travel possessions. In the end, we paid him anyway. He only accepted the money "for his art."

Travel always surprises. Sometimes in the form of delight, sometimes in the form of relaxation; this time in the form of grace.

Dear Randy: I'm not sure if you'll ever read this, but you saved us when we were down and out. It's people like you who make this world a better place. Thank you.

Roam+Board :: The Pearl Hotel

[trip style = budget conscious + sun]

What The Pearl Hotel is a compact throwback recalling its groovy 1959 beginnings. Fashioned around a vintage, oyster-shaped pool, the 23-room hotel is misted in mid-century, whimsy and San Diego's quintessential beach life. It's a place where shag carpets hobnob with driftwood and in-room 'pet' Siamese fighting fish.

I shacked up at The Pearl for a few nights in June, and wish I could have stayed longer. By morn, Mr. Trip Styler and I would take out the complimentary cruiser bikes for a spin around nearby Shelter Island; by aft, we'd lounge at the pool sipping lemon water under a living wall of succulents; by eve, we'd explore our sand and city surroundings. We were in our element.

MORE PHOTOS BELOW

Rooms are efficiently designed with all the amenities you'd expect from a swell stay---wifi, cushy bed, flat-screen TV, etc... The decor is the modern side of mid-century mod, mingling clean lines, whitewashed tile bathrooms and a beach-hued color wheel. I viewed the room as a place to sleep, the rest of the hotel's splashy scene was that inviting.

Sadly, our pearly pause in Ron Burgundy's stomping grounds did not coincide with a Wednesday, the night when summer dive-in movies play. Next time I visit I will coordinate my overnight with a movie night, so I can watch Top Gun or Point Break poolside.

Trip Styler approved.

Where Parked between marinas and a residential neighborhood along a busy street in the Point Loma neighborhood near San Diego Bay, The Pearl is two blocks from the ocean, and an 8-minute drive from the San Diego Airport {SAN}.

When San Diego's surf and sun abounds year-round. Winter temperatures hover around 18 degrees Celsius with a touch of rain, and summer clocks in at a breezy 26C. May and 'June gloom' can be a little grey when morning clouds linger.

Who/Why Vintage updos are your thing, both the hairstyles and the hotel facelifts. It's no surprise, then, you feel at home while on the road in a 1950s motor hotel that's been retro- and reno-fitted to its original glory---with a few mod amenities for good measure.

Cost Rates start around $100 per night and include WiFi, morning coffee from local roaster Cafe Moto, use of the hotel's cruiser bikes, and a fish in your room. Bring earplugs to this adult-only hotel to guard your beauty sleep from street noise or outside  chatter.

Trip Styler Tip: Parking at the hotel is $10, yet there's plenty of free spots in the residential neighborhood surrounding the hotel.

Photos

More Roam+Board The Templar – Toronto Encuentro Guadalupe – Mexico Hotel Havana – San Antonio The Amersand Hotel – London Mount Engadine Lodge – Canadian Rockies Lava Lava Beach Club – Hawaii Island Ace Hotel – Seattle The Wickaninnish Inn – Tofino The Burrard – Vancouver  Hotel de Glace – Quebec Alcazar Palm Springs – California Jumeirah Zabeel Saray – Dubai Makena Resort – Maui Find more R+B hotels featured here, plus our it list of worldwide hotel picks.

[photos taken by @tripstyler]

Travel Tech :: Bird's Eye View

[trip style = any]

We interrupt our regular summer trip styling for the next incarnation of the teddy bear cam. Something to protect and monitor your home base while you're flying away. Think of it as a bird's eye view of your abode, aptly called the Canary Home Security Device {$200 usd}, landing May, 2014.

The minute I read about this I had to share it because I'm forever researching simple ways to monitor things {dog, stuff, etc..} back at 'the ranch' when I've 'gone fishing.' A few weeks ago this desire became even more acute when part of my building flooded. While my suite didn't get drenched---thank Goodness---my memories are still a tad damp from another flooding incident I encountered. In that situation, the Canary's ninja intuition would have been helpful.

Capable of sensing it all {and then some} it spies with an HD Camera including---how cool is this---night vision, listens with a microphone, monitors motion, and reads temperature, air quality and humidity. On top of this, there's an app for that: once plugged into your home network, download it to your iPhone or Android to dial into its six senses.

Use it for your home or office, or to monitor your dog {or as a skookum baby cam}. It's for anyone, anywhere with a wifi network and connected smartphone. Mount one, two or three.

[photos via canary home security]

Chic Camping 101

chic camping

[trip style = camping & glamping]

Trip styling, in every shape and form {read: from vacationing like Oprah to camping by the sea}, is my obsession. Even when I take to the mild wild. The only requirement: fashion has to rival function.

Recently my husband and I decided to go camping---'tis the summer season---and when I put my campsite = glampsite  blueprint in front of him, he turned a shade of winter. Once I told him I'd do the majority of the 10-minute set-up---oh yes, chic camping is that easy---he literally said "Ok, I'll play ball" as his cheeks rosied at the thought of sipping crisp rose out of a mason jar at our tenting scene-stealer.

There's camping, then there's trip-styled camping. Here are some tried and tested ways to turn your good ole' site into a fetching summer sight:

chic camping 2

Chic Camping 101 {I made the garland at home with twine and pieces of heavy canvas. The blanket is from Mexico, the pillows are from Ikea, and the throw in the basket is Pendleton. For the record, I fell asleep here one afternoon. PS - if you are camping at a site with a dirt floor, bring a tarp to put under your blanket---the concept still works.}

chic camping 3

{I turned these utilitarian camping chairs into something a little more sassy with faux-fur throws, $12 from Ikea. Bonus, if your thermarest looses air throughout the night, these do a bang-up job of cushioning your core.}

chic camping 4

{I elevated the eating surface, aka picnic table, to a woodsy table pour deux with this wipeable table cloth (I think it was $3.00 from the camping store), beach wood, beach rocks and a bunch of wildflowers. I brought the lantern from home.}

chic camping 5

{While sleeping bags are best for more extreme camping, I opted for a zebra-print throw as my duvet. Life is too short not to.}

chic camping 6

{Morning coffee.}

chic camping 7

{When we walked 20 steps to the deserted (yay!) beach, I re-purposed my Mexi blanket and pillows for the afternoon.}

chic camping 8

{Bird's eye view of the beach, a triple threat mingling driftwood, pebbles and sand.}

chic camping 9

{Where I sipped wine at sundown.}

Recap --- camping at Fort Casey on Whidbey Island is $26/night {in my humble opinion the best campsites are 11, 12 and 13} --- For Casey is 1.5 hours from Seattle and 2.5 hrs from Vancouver --- chic camping essentials: a heavy blanket to create a petite paradise (and a tarp), outdoor pillows, faux-fur pelts, a lantern and a garland if you're feeling extra crafty --- the menu: - breakfast: eggs in a nest - lunch: veggie salad wraps - appetizer: bocconcini s'mores {you roast cheese over the fire and place it on top of a cracker or slice of baguette with basil and sun-dried tomato tapanade} - dinner: roast chicken with veggie kabobs and salad

[photos by @tripstyler]