Fumbling cables

  • How do you keep the cables from tangling up?
  • What you can do is literally wrap the cable in a circle, do the binder clip over it and place the ear buds through the little handle pieces.

Hey everybody! It’s Shauna, the work correspondent for Without Bags. Today, I want to talk about cables. We all love and hate cables at the same time. I know a lot of manufacturers including iBuds and many others, are going wireless. I don’t have my wireless in today because recording definitely works better on a cable. So there are some cases where you need a cable. How do you keep the cables from tangling up? Definitely searching on YouTube provides lots of options.

One of my favorites is actually a binder clip. Let’s see. I’m pretty sure I have one of these guys. Let me show you how this works; so basically what you’re looking at is a binder clip. We absolutely love binder clips. What you can do is literally wrap the cable in a circle, do the binder clip over it and place the ear buds through the little metal pieces; the little handle pieces. That will actually keep your cables from getting totally mucked up and messed up in your bag. Or you can also consider using an old iGlass case,the kind with the zipper around the front, to put your cables in there and that way they won’t get all jumbled up and messed up inside your bag. So definitely like doing some of these stuff on the cheap. I think this was all a five cents at my local office supply store.

So have a great day guys. I hope you are all enjoying your travels in different parts of the world. Love to hear where you are right now. I just came back from Sicily a couple of weeks ago, so definitely check out all the videos and pictures from that, above or below in the feed, whichever way that goes. Hope you guys are having a great day.

So this has been Shauna, work correspondent for Without Bags. Thanks so much, bye.

Happy Halloween! What’s scarier than turbulence

  • How to deal with plane turbulence – sit near the wing
  • Getting the least amount of turbulence in your flight
  • Reducing the amount of turbulence in midair

Hey everybody, Happy Halloween! It’s Shauna, the correspondent for Without Bags. Today being Halloween, what could be scarier than ghost and ghouls? Turbulence? Nobody likes turbulence on the plane but some people are really good with it; they’re totally chilled and relaxed. But listen, if you don’t want to deal with turbulence and want the least amount of turbulence in your flight, sit near the wing of the plane. That actually reduces your turbulence as much as it can be possible in midair.

Tip from the well-traveled, sit near the wing of the plane to reduce turbulence. If you haven’t seen it, definitely scroll up; take a peek through our most recent trip to Sicily, Italy. Otherwise, have an absolutely fantastic Halloween guys. I hope you’re having a wonderful day. Enjoy the night ghosts and ghouls. Bye.

 

What to do with a Chapstick

  • Four interesting places to visit in Italy.
  • Using a ChapStick to hide backup cash while travelling.
  • Why you need to hide backup cash while travelling.

Hey everybody. This is Shauna, the correspondent for Without Bags, here with you today to talk about ChapStick. I know, ChapStick, really? Right? As you guys know, I just came back from Italy. Sicily was amazing. If you guys haven’t been there, Taormina, Palermo, Syracuse, Cefalu definitely take a look at the pictures, take a look at the blog Without Bags. Absolutely loved it, loved it, loved it. Ate way too much pasta, But things to know, okay, ChapSticks. So, of course, most of us carry around ChapStick, especially I’m here from Arizona, it’s hot, even no matter how much water you drink your lips can still get chapped. So ChapStick is just one of those things that I always carry.

Did you know, or have you ever thought about using an empty ChapStick tube, or any other kind of cosmetic, or even sunscreen tubes, that kind of thing to store valuables? Copies of Passports, cash, maybe a backup credit card. So one of the things that I love about ChapStick tubes is they’re tiny, tiny. Right? They can fit in a pocket, they can fit in a separate bag, they can very easily fit in your suitcase that you leave at the hotel, wherever it is. Everybody looks at a ChapStick tube, it’s just ChapStick, so nobody’s really going to be opening your ChapSticks tubes to see if anything’s in there.

I always roll up about $100 worth of cash, stick it inside a ChapStick tube, and carry that with me in a place, or in the hotel, someplace that is kind of hidden. So if I get mugged or robbed, or whatever it is. Thank God that’s never happened, but hopefully never, ever. I’ve got some backup cash, and I have a way to get back to the hotel, you know call whoever I need to call, and make sure that I’m not starving on the streets wherever I am. So highly recommend using cosmetic bottles, ChapStick tubes, whatever it is, something that looks very innocuous. You can cut it open and we’ll try and put some links to some videos down below mine, other great videos on YouTubes to show you how to do this, how to actually make this work.

You can carry them with you in your bags, on the beach using a sunscreen bottle. You can leave it right on the beach, right next to your towel, and no one’s going to pick up your sunscreen bottle and think there’s anything valuable in there. So hope you guys are having a great day, and feel free to join us every Tuesday for more tips here on Without Bags. Can’t wait to see you on the next adventure. Thanks. Bye.

Keeping toiletry bags double packed ready to go on the trip

  • If you travel as much as I do, you can have two toiletry bags. Well, really, four. Technically two that I leave at home, that are just like my day-to-day use at home and two that I take with me.
  • The only thing I do is as soon as I come back from my trip I refill all my little mini bottles with all my favorite lotions, soaps, and powders. And put it right back into my travel case.
  • When I’m ready to go on a trip, I can absolutely just throw the clothes into the bag for whichever kind of climate I’m in. I’m a big fan of having multiple toiletry bags.

Hey everyone; this is Shauna, work respondent for Without Bags. Today I want to talk about your toiletry bag, so if you travel as much as I do, one of my favorite ways to deal with this, honestly, is to have two toiletry bags. Well, really, four. Technically. Two that I leave at home, that are just like my day-to-day use at home and two that I take with me. And they just always stay packed in my bag. And really the only thing I do is as soon as I come back from my trip I refill all my little mini bottles with all my favorite lotions, and soaps, and powders, and potions, all that kind of good thing, put it right back into my travel case.

That way, when I’m ready to go on a trip, I can absolutely just throw the clothes into the bag for whichever kind of climate I’m in and off we go on the trip. Big, big, big fan of having multiple toiletry bags. It also saves you from forgetting your toothbrush, or your face scrubbie, or whatever else it is that you take with you when you travel. Big, big fan of having a pre-packed, ready-to-go, in the bag.

I would love to hear what you guys do. How many times have y’all forgotten your toothbrush? I suppose at least toothbrushes are easy to find in most parts of the world. Hope you guys are having a great and will talk to you later. Bye.

Using ATMs to get your local currency

  • We have an upcoming trip going to Sicily; we’re actually going to be meeting some clients for the tax practice in Italy and can’t wait to see Sicily. It’s going to be a flavors event, a flavors tour.
  • Currency conversion, you can get it converted here in the states and bring it with you. You can also get it from an ATM, what I will warn you is that the ATMs at the airport tend to be the cheapest. You can also convert it at the front desk of your hotel. Often, your hotel wants you to be safe and wants to make sure that your money is doing well so they often have just a very slight discount over even the ATMs within the cities.
  • Definitely, take a look at the airport ATM before you leave the airport. The airports on the outside of the gate, once you’ve crossed past that line that says do not turn around. Those ATMs are much more expensive so if you’re going to do it, ATMs inside, before you cross out.

Hey everybody; this is Shauna, correspondent for Without Bags. So, so, so excited, we have an upcoming trip going to Sicily we’re actually going to be meeting some clients for the tax practice out there in Italy and can’t wait, can’t wait to see Sicily, it’s going to be a flavors event, a flavors tour. Super exciting except for the fact that I’m pretty sure I’m going to gain about 10 pounds. But all in the name of travel, what do you do?

One of the things that I wanted to talk about today is actually currency conversion and where do I feel is the best place to do that. Currency conversion, you can get it converted here in the states and bring it with you, you can, of course, go get it from an ATM. What I will warn you is the ATMs at the airport tend to be the cheapest, better only by, generally actually converting it at the front desk of your hotel. Often your hotel wants you to be safe, wants to make sure that your money is doing well so they often have just a very, very slight discount over even the ATMs within the cities. Definitely, take a look at the airport ATM. The airport’s on the outside of the gate, once you’ve crossed past that line that says, do not turn around. Those ATMs are much more expensive so if you’re going to do it, ATMs inside, before you cross out.

But anyway, check out your hotel as well, see if you can call ahead, see if you can get their conversion rates and might as well spend it. Generally converting it back to US dollars is not exactly advisable, you lose a lot of money on that transaction back so whatever you pull out, make sure you spend. Oh, darn. All right, hope you guys are having a great day and I look forward to seeing you guys soon in Italy. Talk to you later, bye.

 

Enable incognito browsing

  • Today, I’m going to talk about one of my favorite tips, which is using incognito browsing. So, if you guys haven’t checked this out make sure that you try it the next time you go to buy a flight or a hotel room. When you go to buy a ticket for a plane or buying a hotel room from any of the websites, they often install little tiny cookies or little tiny app on your computer that tells that website that you’ve been there before.
  • So the first time that you go to the website, like let’s say for example you’re pulling up a flight to Sao Paulo. You pull up that flight and you get the price and it’s $800.00 for the round trip ticket. You get off the site because you’ve got to think about it. You come back, you type in exactly the same search maybe tomorrow or the following day, and now all of a sudden the ticket is $1,100.00 for that exact same ticket, exact same flights.
  • So, website realizes that you are really interested in going to Sao Paulo otherwise you wouldn’t have looked and then come back, so they literally raised the prices on you. So we highly recommend that you use incognito browsing. I know for sure they have it in Chrome, in IE, in Firefox, not sure about some of the other browsers, but definitely use that incognito browsing or private browsing to make sure that you’re not getting tagged and therefore paying higher prices on your tickets.

Today I’m going to talk to you about one of my favorite tips, which is using incognito browsing. So, if you guys haven’t checked this out make sure that you try it the next time you go to buy a flight. So, really what ends up happening is that you have … when you go to buy a ticket, right, for a plane or buying a hotel room or whatever those websites often install little tiny cookies or little tiny apps, honestly I’m not exactly the most technical person, but they install this little thing on your computer that tells that website that you’ve been there before. So the first time that you go to the website, like let’s say for example you’re pulling up a flight to Sao Paulo. You pull up that flight and you get the price and it’s $800.00 for the round trip ticket. You get off the site because you’ve got to think about it. You come back, you type in exactly the same search maybe tomorrow or the following day, and now all of a sudden the ticket is $1,100.00 for that exact same ticket, exact same flights.

Really what’s happening is the website realizes that you are really interested in going to Sao Paulo otherwise you wouldn’t have looked and then come back, and then looked and whatever, so they’ve literally raised the prices on you. So we highly, highly recommend that you use incognito browsing. I know for sure they have it in Chrome, in IE, in Firefox, not sure about some of the other browsers, but definitely use that incognito browsing or private browsing to make sure that you’re not getting tagged and therefore paying higher prices on your tickets.

Hope you guys are having fun traveling the world and enjoying your adventures. If you have any questions feel free to leave them in the comments, reach out to us on Facebook, Twitter, wherever we are without  bags. Alright, I’ll talk to you guys later. Bye.

 

Make sure that you call your credit card and debit card companies before you travel

 

  • One of the most important things that you can do to avoid this situation is to call your credit and debit card company to make sure that they know that you’re going on a trip.
  • I have done so much traveling in the US, they don’t make me do that anymore but definitely, if you’re going to a foreign country, make sure that you call them. Just give them a heads up.
  • I have my favorite traveling credit card, which is my American Airlines Card. I can actually log in online and tell them I’m going to this country and they just accept it online. So it’s super simple to do. Make sure you’re doing that before you head out of the country.

Is Shauna, correspondent for Without Bags and today, I wanted to bring a story, if you guys have been following along with us, we’ve just come back from Washington D.C., our other business is a tax business, so we were fighting the good fight against the IRS. But as I was in D.C., you know, normally our headquarters are here in Arizona and as I was in D.C., one of the ladies at the conference said that her bank had actually turned off her credit card and she was stuck in D.C. with no way to access her money. Her debit card and her credit card had both been turned off.

So one of the most important things that you can do is call your credit card company, call your debit … you know, whoever’s got your debit card, your bank, make sure that they know that you’re going on a trip. Now, I have done so much traveling that in the US, they don’t make me do that anymore but definitely, definitely, if you’re going to a foreign country, make sure that you call them. Just give them a heads up. I have my favorite traveling credit card, which is my American Airlines Card. I can actually log in online and tell them I’m going to this country, that country, this country and they just accept it right online. So it’s super simple to do. Make sure you’re doing that before you head out of the country. The last thing you want to do is get overseas and have no access to your money.

So I hope you guys are having a great day and yeah, I guess we’ll talk to you later. Shauna with Without Bags. Make sure you’re traveling for fun. Bye.

What we love & what we hate about Washington DC

  • Today we will be talking about what we love and hate about D.C. So, first thing that I absolutely love about D.C is beautiful greenery, it’s absolutely lovely! Now, the downside to all the greenery is, we do have some rather interesting humidity. If you guys know Arizona at all, I think our humidity, even in the stormiest of weathers, is 22%. And I think it’s 90% right now.
  • A second thing that we love about D.C. is, the people here are actually really talkative. I have met all sorts of cool people, with Uber, on the plane, and all over the place where I visited.
  • Remember, traveling in Without Bags is so much better. Nothing to check, nothing to worry about, carry on is awesome. So, carry on, and travel soon.

Hello everyone; it’s Shauna from Without Bags. We are currently in Washington, D.C. We are super excited to be visiting family. We’ve got these adorable two little nephews. They are just so cute.

Today we will be talking about what we love and hate about D.C. So, first thing that I absolutely love about D.C is beautiful greenery, it’s absolutely lovely! Now, the downside to all the greenery is, we do have some rather interesting humidity. If you guys know Arizona at all, I think our humidity, even in the stormiest of weathers, is 22%. And I think it’s 90% right now. It’s like 80% or 90% humidity. The weather is crazy here as bad as Thailand.

A second thing that we love about D.C. is, the people here are actually really talkative. I have met all sorts of cool people, with Uber, on the plane, and all over the place where I visited.But, of course, there are some people that are not so nice. But I suppose those people are everywhere.

So, if you guys are headed out this direction, be careful while you’re driving. And otherwise, hope you guys are having some amazing travel adventures yourself, and we’ll talk to you later. Remember, traveling in Without Bags is so much better. Nothing to check, nothing to worry about, carry on is awesome. So, carry on, and travel soon. Bye!

Protecting your important documents

  • Things like your passport, travel itinerary, credit cards and a lot of documents that you take with you when you travel, if you lose them that could be a serious issue.
  • One of the things that I like to do is actually make a photocopy or take a picture of those documents with your cell phone, email them to yourself and upload them into a secure place like Dropbox or Google Drive, but definitely check on the compliance and security of your uploading location.
  • Upload them at a secure place because if they get lost or stolen while you’re overseas and you need access to those documents, you will always have a copy of them.

 

It’s Shauna, your correspondent for Without Bags. Today I wanted to talk about my favorite way to protect your important documents. So things like your passport, your travel itinerary, credit cards. There’s a lot of documents that you take with you when you travel and if you lose them that could be a serious issue. So one of the things that I like to do is actually make a photocopy or take a picture of those documents with my cell phone and email them to myself or upload them into a secure … you know probably HIPAA compliant storage like Dropbox or Google Drive, but definitely check on the compliance and security of your uploading location. But scan a copy, take a photocopy, take a picture of those items and email them to yourselves, or upload them, because if they get lost, if you lose your bags, if your purse gets stolen, if your backpack is stolen, whatever it is while you’re overseas and you need access to those documents, you will always have a copy of them … a very, very easy accessibility for yourself.

So that’s our little tip and trick for the day from Without Bags. I would love to hear if you guys have a great idea on how to protect your important documents while you’re overseas. Alright, thanks so much. And talk to you guys next week.

Rolling your clothes One of the biggest travel debates

  • KonMari Folding Method, Shove them in a duffel bag but what is the best way to get the most amount of clothes in a single bag?
  • My favorite is rolling the clothes. I absolutely love it. I have tried the KonMari Method and the duffel bag. I personally find that I get the most amount of clothing in the rolled fashion.
  • Silk packs down super tiny, and you can wash it really easily. It stays warm when you want to be warm, and it’s cool when you want to be cool, so I am a big fan of silk.

It’s Shauna, from WithoutBags, and today, I want to talk about one of the biggest debates in the travel industry, which is, should I roll my clothes? Should I use the KonMari Folding Method? Shove them in a duffel bag? What is the best way to get the most amount of clothes in a single bag? As you guys know, without bags, I travel with my one carry-on and that’s it, so personally, you really, really, really want to know? My favorite is rolling the clothes. I absolutely love it. Tried the KonMari Method. I have tried the duffel bag, like just shove in there kind of method. I personally find that I get the most amount of clothing in the rolled fashion.

Now, complete side tip, depending, of course, on where you’re traveling to, I also love silk. Silk packs down super, super tiny, and of course, you can wash it really, really easily. It stays warm when you want to be warm, and it’s cool when you want to be cool, so I am a big, big fan of silk. It packs super tiny, so super, super secret tip. Silk clothes are amazing. If you guys have any questions, I would love your opinion on the fold versus roll versus I’ve seen vacuum pack, shove it in a duffel bag. I would love to get your guys’ feedback and opinion on this, and let me know, so Shauna, correspondent for WithoutBags, and hope you guys are having an amazing day.

Can’t wait to take you guys on our upcoming journey. We’re going to Washington, D.C. I’m actually going to go visit some family, but definitely, there’s if you guys don’t know, our other channel, taxgoddess.com and Strategic Tax Coach. I am CPA. I know, I know, CPA with a personality, but love to travel, so I’m going out for an IRS conference, and so maybe we’ll shoot some video while we’re there for WithoutBags, show you guys some of D.C. Hope you guys are having a wonderful day, and we’ll talk to you soon. Check us out on WithoutBags.com, our blog, Facebook, Twitter. Reach out to us any way. Would love to get you guys’ feedback. Rolling, packing, shoving, vacuum sealing, how do you guys get the most in your bags? All right, I’ll talk to you later. Bye.