Fashion Friday :: Cozy in the City

[trip style = urban + weekend getaway]

While everyone else flies south for the winter, there must be some logic in doing the opposite, right? Don't let a little thing like winter stop you from visiting your favourite northern hemisphere cities. One of my guilty pleasure internet pastimes is looking at street style blogs. What I love about the cold-weather-city style blogs at this time of year is seeing how people do cold well. People who dress for function - and fashion - in winter conditions. They make a chilly vacation destination seem a little less scary.

Now what to bring?

(clockwise from top left) Madewell silk cargo shirt, J.Crew cashmere v-neck sweater, Club Monaco vera coat, Temple Bags wool tote, Oliver Peoples sheldrake sunglasses, Anthropologie raw citrine earrings, Free People angora convertible gloves, Anthropologie dessau scarf, Madewell biker boot, Madewell rail straight black jeans, Topshop ladder detail socks

Trip Styler Tip: 87% of all lost earrings fall out during the winter. Okay so I made up that stat, but it's got to be something like that. Scarves are the #1 culprit, followed closely by change rooms. Again, I made that up, but I bet I'm right. Always wear earrings with tight backings while wearing scarves and toques. While wearing hook earrings, pinch the hook and add a spare plastic backing if possible (save them when you buy the earrings).

{Fashion Friday posts are published on the last Friday of every month and written by our resident fashion consultant Heather.}

[Street style photos via The Sartorialist, Refinery 29, Mr. Newton, Face Hunter]

Travel Trends :: Solo Travel

Have you ever traveled solo? ....Contiki tours don't count...

Recently I've seen a big push on the part of major travel companies to target solo travelers and create single traveler-friendly accommodations. In fact, a few months ago I received an email from someone who was looking for some sunny, single-occupancy getaway options; I wish some of the below options would have been available at the time.

Because most packaged vacations---whether cruise or all-inclusive---are based on double-occupancy, unless you travel with a stranger, finding a single room and paying a single price is challenging. Traditionally, this has left solo travelers with DIY vacation packages: booking a flight + hotel + ....... which can also be frustrating given most hotel rooms have space for two.

Whether you specifically want to travel solo, or can't find anyone with the same time-off, here are some single travel options for your next getaway:

Single Traveler Getaways [trip style = cruise] Nowegian's Epic, its newest, biggest and most impressive ship---think vodka ice lounge, big-top circus tent & Blue Man Group headline show---offers 128 single rooms. The Epic hit the high seas in June and surprise surprise, the single rooms have been in high demand, which is likely driving the company to come out with more single rooms on two ships it has coming in 2013 and 2014.

Although Royal Caribbean has been known to offer favorable pricing on cruises for solo passengers, they are now refitting the 2,112-passenger Radiance of the Seas and adding 3 single rooms. Three rooms? Really? I understand this decision is bottom-line influenced, but only adding three singles rooms to an under-served market is a short-sighted mess. The newly renovated ship will service Alaska and Vancouver this summer. {via The Cruise Log}

[trip style = all-inclusive] I've heard stories in the past about Club Med Turks and Caicos being a pretty hot & heavy singles destination, and it appears it still is. Targeting "friends, singles and couples", the resort offers group, single and double-occupancy pricing.

[trip style = urban getaway] The ultra-hip Ace Hotels {Portland, Palm Springs, New York, Seattle} offers shared and well-priced standard rooms. Note that most hotel shared rooms mean 3 of 4 beds and a bathroom down the hall. If you're scared off by the shared bathroom, stay in a 3 or 3 1/2 star hotel with shared rooms and the bathrooms are usually cleaned well.

Pod hotels are all the rage in Asia and Europe, and these small-scale, no-frills hotel rooms are fabulous if you're planning on spending most of your time out and about, and not doing any lounging by the non-existent fire in your room. And for those of you who want to venture to NYC, the futuristic Yotel is opening this spring! If you have trouble finding a room I'll be shocked, given the 669 cabins planned. Don't miss your room's signature techno wall.

[trip style = budget conscious] Some hostels are grungy, but others can be really nice {like this gem I stayed in while in Cusco, Peru}. So, if you don't want to do the out-of-university budget travel thing, but want a decent, value-priced place to stay {where you can be as social as you want} don't dismiss a hostel. Find a hostel search iphone app here.

[trip style = luxury] Seasoned solo travelers who prefer the finer things in life swear by 5-star hotels with a busy bar and/or coffee shop scene. This way, a social gathering place is mixed into the overall experience.

PS - Today is our 300th post! Thanks for reading {and sometimes skimming:}. Please continue to pass it on as we dish out daily travel to amateur jetsetters.

[photo by @TripStyler at the Eiffel Tower. The first time I visited Paris it was on a 4-day solo trip---fabulous experience.]

Fight or Flight

Have you ever had a fight with an airline fare, and it won? I've booked my fair share of great flight and vacation deals, but my recent misstep was a doozie, so I decided to use the misfortune as an example of what NOT to do!

Like stocks, airline fares fluctuate. Buy your ticket on a good, down day and you're happy. Buy it on a bad, up day and you're mad and out money. I was abruptly reminded of this fare dance when I booked a flight down south---apparently this youngish snowbird momentarily left her head in the clouds.

Fighting the Flight Recently my husband and I were in the market for a flight to Scottsdale, AZ. When we initially surveyed the options a month and a half before our departure date, the fare was $300 return YVR to PHX---not a bad price for a direct, weekend {friday - monday} flight. Why we didn't just book our flight right then is beyond me, but the story gets worse. A few days later, we remembered we had to book our flight, so we went back online and noticed it had gone up by $100. Great. At the time, we were on vacation in Mexico and again, forgot to book. I wish I could blame it on the tequila, but, I don't like it very much. Finally, the next day, we wised-up and booked the flight. The only problem? It was $200 more than a few days before. Yes, we could have flown out of an alternate airport or changed our dates for a slightly cheaper price, but it wasn't worth it. So, we swallowed our pride and handed over $500 to US Airways....thank God for the points on my travel reward card.

Taking Flight {Best Practices}

• Follow these recommendations {from Kayak's Chief Scientist} for the BEST TIMING to book a flight
• Set up a fare alert with Kayak or Yapta for the flight you're eying
• Worried your flight price will go down after you book? If so, Yapta can help you get back the difference.

Moral of the story: if you're within a month and a half of your estimated departure, don't fight the flight, just book it!

[photo by Victor Dee]

Travel Apps :: Book Crazy

In our digital world, there's something comfortingly cozy and stormy-weekend-in-Tofino-y about flipping though the pages of a book, versus swiping an e-book's pages on a screen. But in the interest of joining the 21st century and packing light, reading books on my iPhone is a travel must. E-Reader Apps {in my order of preference} Kindle I wrote about kindle for iphone last april, and Amazon's genius little app opens a world of possibilities {to the tune of 800,000 books} given any book you download can be shared between the multiple devices it supports: kindle reader, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Blackberry, Android, etc... To put this in perspective, let's say you're reading a book on your kindle device while waiting for your flight, then, your batteries die, so you continue where you left off with that same book on your iPhone. Cost: free.

iBooks Originally debuting on the iPad and later released for the iPhone and iPod Touch, iBooks is Mac's attempt at competing with online book giant, Amazon's Kindle. Although Mac's iBook reader might have a prettier, quintessentially Mac-esque design, it offers similar functionality to the Kindle, yet you can read Kindle over multiple, cross-platform devices. Currently, iBooks only works with iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, but like Kindle, can wirelessly synch between each. Cost: free.

Kobo Like the Kindle and iBooks apps, Kobo offers similar basic functions, but its claim to fame is the 1.8 million books subscribers can download for free. The app works and syncs the 'place' in your book between iPhone, iPad, iTouch, Android, Blackberry, Palm Pre and its own e-reader. Cost: free. — Get more travel tips and updates like this by subscribing to RSS or email. —

Other Travel Apps Don't forget to peruse the other 60+ travel apps we've reviewed from travel first aid, to luxury and boutique hotel finders, to border waits, to trip itinerary management. Here are the most recent:

• TomTom
• Get Packing
• Picture Translate
• Flightcaster
• Boiling Frog

From the Archives :: Travel for Free

{This was originally published Monday, December, 7th, 2009---the month Trip Styler first started stylin'. It has been republished below with enhancements.}

Although the notion of traveling for free does sound too good to be true, it is completely and legitimately possible. All it takes is a little insider knowledge and planning. Whether you travel once or ten times per year, traveling free boils down to a) being strategic about your {travel} spending, b) being serious about your hotel and airline loyalty, and c) tracking your points and miles in order to take advantage in a timely fashion.

If you are serious about reaping the benefits of travel, here are 3 major ways to start accumulating points, miles and dollars toward travel.

1) Get a Travel Credit Card Getting a travel credit card was one of the best decisions my husband and I ever made. Rather than selecting a credit card with points toward a GM vehicle or cash back, every time we spend money on our card our travel points go up. Our Travel Rewards Card has no black-out periods, an online booking portal and if you book your travel via expedia or the like, you can apply your points/cash to your purchase. The most popular travel redemption credit cards in Canada are RBC's Avion, CIBC's Aventura and TD Canada Trust's First Class. The Travel Strategy: Rather than using a combo of cash, debit and credit for your purchases, use your travel credit card{s} {responsibly} for everything, and the points will accumulate much faster. Another way to collect points quickly is to put business expenses, charitable donations or big-ticket purchases on your card. Both regular and one-time payments add up, so if you are disciplined, using a credit card for the majority of your purchases can get you one step closer…to Paris!

2) Join an Airline Loyalty Program As mentioned in Friday’s post, making a point of choosing one or two Airline loyalty programs can be advantageous. Since most airlines are part of larger syndicates, you gain points flying with multiple carriers through programs like One World or Star Alliance. Try to find flights with one of the carriers within your preferred airline’s alliance to amass points every time you fly. I hear the Seychelles whispering your name. The Travel Strategy: When possible, look for flights with carriers within your preferred airline alliance. Redeeming your points in low season will render the greatest bang for your buck. Here's an example. Also use airline points to upgrade to business or first class, or to redeem non-travel related items {like a slow-cooker} through their loyalty page. Finally, many carriers' points expire after 18 months. So keep track of your points through a website or app like PageOnce.

3) Join a Hotel Loyalty Program Choosing to be an Intercontinental Ambassador or Starwood Preferred Guest has its benefits, and this too can put you on the path to free getaways. When planning your trips, seek out your hotel group’s properties, and if the price is right, try to give them first right of refusal. Often, joining programs such as these will give you the inside track on new property openings and discounted rates, so it pays to be loyal and in-the-know. The Travel Strategy: When possible, stay at one hotel group's properties to continuously gain points. Most hotel points programs have a yearly cycle, meaning you need to achieve a certain amount of stays each year to keep your status. Also, knowing your loyalty program's benefits and fine-print is a must to fully take advantage. Some hotel loyalty programs offer more than just free stays. Between complimentary dinner or spa vouchers, additional points towards a partner airline’s miles program, free internet, upgrade or 3rd night free certificates, it is important to familiarize yourself with your program’s opportunities so you can effectively reap the rewards.

Using Free Travel Some people save up their travel points for that one, dream vacation. I know someone collecting and holding onto their points for a rustically fancy, over-water hut in Bora Bora. Or, there's the use your points as you go method. I've opted for the latter to ensure none of my points expire and I take advantage of everything. Both strategies have their time and their place. My biggest piece of advice for free travel is be intentional about spending on your travel credit card, be intentional about your flights and hotel stays and monitor your points and miles. Having lost points before---akin to losing money---I'm now committed to keeping track, so I can consistently redeem points and miles to offset the cost of puddle-jumping from one continent to another.

[photo by moi, taken at the Marriott Wailea, Maui]