Weekend in Charleston, SC

Posted in South Carolina, Travel Tips, USA by meganandeggs

Yes way FROZE! Last month a big group of us headed down to Charleston to soak up some sunshine, sip on froze and celebrate one of our best friends for her bachelorette weekend. A group of us bridesmaids have been planning this trip for almost a year and for it to have finally come and gone, all I can say is TAKE ME BACK!

There was a lot to think abut when planning this trip. First of all, there were thirteen of us. Yes you heard that right… 13 girls! Second of all, none of us had ever spent too much time in Charleston, or that area of South Carolina, so we were planning a lot of the trip blindly.

Where We Stayed: the islands vs. Charleston
Having never been, we used Google Maps to our advantage. We opted for a beach house on the Isle of Palms, an island about a half hour outside of the city. According to the locals, IOP is mostly full of vacation homes locals rent out for most of the year.

I personally really enjoyed staying on IOP. There was a little bit of everything you may need. A grocery store, a decent amount of restaurants options, a golf course and a marina for boaters. But my favorite part was the beach. Charleston itself doesn’t have beaches to lay out on. For a proper beach day, you need to head out to the islands, and IOP’s sandy beaches and warm water was perfect for our trip.

One thing to know is that if you’re looking for nightlife, you may want to stay closer into town. We wanted a nice quiet weekend by the water and that was what was perfect for us. We had a general store down by the marina that we were able to walk down to in the mornings for coffee and breakfast, and for nightlife there was really only one bar to hang out at: The Windjammer.

Pro-tip: We didn’t rent a car, and there were a lot of us so we needed a few Uber’s when heading into town or areas of the island we couldn’t walk to. But calling a rideshare wasn’t the easiest during this time of year. (We went in early April.) I’m not sure if as the season picks up this is easier but just give yourself time if you need to call a ride.

Sullivan’s Island is the next island south of IOP and is connected by a small ridge. This island has a much more local feel with a bunch of restaurants and bars along Middle St., right by the town hall. The famous writer, Edgar Allan Poe, had spent sometime on Sullivan’s Island and you’ll see a lot of acclimates to him, including restaurants, and street names.

The other two popular islands are Folly Beach and Kiawah Island, both of which are south of Charleston and neither of which we went to. According to a few shop owners and Uber drivers, Folly Beach has a pretty bad reputation for being a big party area. Something our 22-year-old selves would have loved, but at 32 we were happy we didn’t pick that island for our weekend home. Kiawah, while popular for boating and fishing, is most well known for the beautiful golf courses they have.

What We Did:
We spent our first day in Charleston exploring King St. King St. is the main drag through Charleston and has storefront after storefront of amazing restaurants, shops, cafes, and ice cream stores. Super cute but go here during the week because it gets packed! Friday when we were walking around it was pretty busy, but Saturday it was insane. A few of us went into town to do some quick shopping and it was a mad house walking up and down the street.

Friday night we went back into Charleston to be as basic as we could get and go candle making. Candlefish not only sells hand crafted candles with over 100 scents to choose from, but they also offer DIY candle making workshops where you can be your own Chandler (candlemaker). What I loved was there were a lot of us that night and we each have our own fragrances we prefer and lean towards. I gravitate toward musky, woodsy smells, while some of my girlfriends go for the florals or vanillas. We had so many options to pick from and could really choose what we each liked.

Everyone made two candles, they set overnight and we were able to pick them up the next day or get them shipped (which we opted for). One of the best parts of the whole experience…. BYOB. We brought a few bottles of wine and while I’m sure wrangling 12 tipsy girls in their 30s was not what our Chandler wanted to do on her Friday night, Sarah was amazing with us.

Saturday, we spent the day on the water with Aqua Safaris. We chartered a sail boat, the Serena, to pick us up in Isle of Palm. Captain John took us out onto Copahee Sound and into the Atlantic Ocean. Our three hours on the water was the perfect amount of fun in the sun to completely drain us for the rest of the day.

We were able to bring our own food and drinks onto the boat, so we stopped at the Marina Market right near the dock to grab lunch for the sail. Captain John and his first mate did an amazing job of bringing us around the area and telling us about the nearby islands. They made sure we had an amazing time.

Since we lucked out with such amazing weather for our sail, we decided to keep it going with a full beach day on Sunday. A few of us went exploring and we headed over to Sullivan’s Island to check out the Lighthouse and Fort Moultrie which are both part of the National Park Service.

We spent our last day in Charleston exploring the city itself. We started down by Washington Square and headed over to Rainbow Row before cutting over to Waterfront Park. Wow, wow, wow. Every turn was more stunning that the last. We spent a lot of time at Waterfront Park, soaking up the time by the water and avoiding the crowded, city streets filled from the cruise ship that was in port.

Pro Tip: Charleston is a super walkable city. Looking at a map before we got there, it seemed like everything was pretty spread out. I assumed we would need to Uber or get taxis to get around, but once you are in the city you can really walk anywhere.

On our way out of Waterfront Park, we did a little shopping on Vendue Range before climbing to the highest floor of the Vendue hotel for a cocktail at their rooftop lounge. The 360 views of the city were stunning during the day. From our seats you could see over to Mt. Pleasant across the Cooper River and even to the Ravenel Bridge, which is a must for all Bravo fans.

Another must see spot in town is the Historic Charleston City Market where you can pick up souvenirs from local artisans. Homemade soaps, artwork, sculptures, clothes and spices lined Market St. for nearly four blocks.

Where We Ate
After a long travel morning, the first day we dropped our luggage off and headed straight to the Daily, a coffee shop on King St. to fuel up. Their cold brew was exactly what I needed. The Daily had lots of quick bites, dips, grape leaves, couscous and noddle salads. Perfect options for a quick lunch or even to pick something up and bring to have lunch at Waterfront Park.

For lunch we headed south on King St. and stumbled into the Rarebit, a small restaurant with a 60s vibe and retro feel. Their Bloody Mary’s brought us all back to life but definitely ask for it spicy. It was insane. Most of us had salads and sandwiches but since it was national grilled cheese day I had to indulge. Their grilled cheese and tomato soup were amazing and hit the spot.

We wandered down King St. to the Skinny Dip, a cute boutique on the first floor with an even cuter second floor cafe to get their super instagramable frozes on the rooftop patio. We spent our first night in Charleston living up the rooftop life at one of their most popular lounges, Eleve. We started outside with their truffle fries and flatbread and a few bottles of champagne. But when the live music began, we headed inside for a sit down dinner. The truffle fries were so good we had to get a second round. I also got their lobster and crab bisque and fried oysters. Heaven.

For brunch one morning we went to the Barbados Room at the Mill House, a Wyndham Grand Hotel. Charleston has a thing for their crab soup and this did not disappoint. Their oysters were pretty amazing too, and that’s just what we started with. At this point I was in desperate need for some greens so I was more than happy with my shrimp Caesar salad.

Charleston had so many amazing eateries we had heard about we obviously couldn’t make it to them all so here is a list of some places I’d want to try next time I’m in town:

Callie’s Hot Little Biscuits
The Ordinary
The Rise Coffee Bar
Magnolia’s
82 Queen
Leon’s Oyster Shop
Poe’s Tavern
Stars Rooftop
Charleston Crab Shack

Because we had a pretty fully packed weekend, we decided to spend out last night in an hire a private chef to come to us. Chef Jen Solazzo came to us and prepped a three-course family style meal of amazing Southern food. We started with buttermilk biscuits with brie and fig, deviled eggs with bacon, pimento cheese with a huge platter for dipping and of course a huge salad. And that was our cocktail hour. Jen then served us our dinner of homemade shrimp and grits which were probably the best grits I’ve ever had. We ended with a homemade cheesecake for dessert.

I honestly couldn’t recommend her more! She did it all from the shopping for groceries, bringing the serving plates and dishes, plating and serving the meal and even the cleanup. I’m pretty sure that kitchen looked way better after she left then when she got there. Jen does private parties of all sizes and occasions, cocktail parties and even food styling and recipe development. If you’re getting a house, a private chef is the perfect way to unwind, all you need is to bring the wine and relax as you live like luxury.

Have you guys ever been to Charleston? What were your favorite places to grab a bite to eat or drink??

11Mar2019

Weekend in St. Augustine

Posted in Florida, Travel Tips, USA by meganandeggs

Hello friends and happy Monday. How was everyone’s weekend. Here in Connecticut if finally broke 40 degrees so pull out the bathing suits!! Summer is here. (eyeroll)

I have been dreaming about the warm winter days I had a few weeks ago in northern Florida. These below freezing temps we have been getting along the shoreline in Connecticut have been killing me. If it’s going to be cold can’t I at least get a snow day out of it? Instead mother nature has been hovering at a whopping 24 degrees for the past few weeks. Instead of sitting through this crazy weather, I decided I needed a mid-winter break and headed down to St. Augustine, FL for a few days.

Did you know St. Augustine claims to be the oldest city in the country? I’m not really sure how they can back that claim because Florida wasn’t part of the original 13 colonies but its okay. I’ll let them have it. So, in St. Augustine, you can see the oldest house, oldest street, oldest school house, and pretty much oldest EVERYTHING. It became the running joke of the trip, but they sure are proud of their history.

What We Did
We decided to take the Old Town Trolley Tours. Essentially it is a hop on, hop off trolley tour of the town, which happens to be a fantastic way of getting around town. We ended up getting a three-day pass which was perfect because we were there for just that amount of time and we were able to see everything we wanted with those three day tickets.

The first day we spent the morning on St. George Street, the uber popular pedestrian-only street that is full of original buildings that are now chalk full of restaurants, candle shops, clothing boutiques, ice cream shops, and handmade pottery stores. Walking the streets, especially so early in the morning, before the crowds came out, it was easy to feel like you stepped back in time.

We wandered down to the Plaza, which we learned was a requirement that Spain had for every major city in the new world. Lining the Plaza was also the Government House and Cathedral Basillica of St. Augustine, also both required by Spain, plus a ton of shops and restaurants (required by the present day tourists).

On the far end of the Plaza is a trolley stop where you can pick up a beach shuttle. This was perfect because we essentially never needed our car during the day. We hopped on the beach shuttle and crossed the Bridge of Lions over to St Augustine Beach. Here you can make stops at the Alligator Farm, the super popular St. Augustine Lighthouse and museum or head out to the beach like we did to relax under the Florida sun.

The shuttle runs every hour so you can really spend a good amount of time on the other side of the bridge.

After a long day of exploring we needed to check out the libations that St. Augustine had to offer. We took the trolley over to the St. Augustine Distillery, an old ice plant turned small batch distillery who specializes in whiskey, vodka, and gin. The quick half hour, free tour tells the history of the locally owned distillery and how they are involved in their community, shows tourists how the different spirits are created and what makes them different, and ends in the tasting room where you can try three different mixed drinks. All curated from the spirits created right there in that building.

What I really loved about the distillery is their dedication to their carbon footprint. For instance, all of their bottles are hand bottled, sealed and labeled. Because to ensure their whiskey can be labeled bourbon, all of their char-oaked barrels can only be used once. So instead of getting rid of the barrels at the end of the aging process, they share them with local wineries and other distilleries to create other spirits.

One of the wineries the St. Augustine Distillery shares their barrels with is the San Sebastian Winery just up the street. This was our next stop on the trolley. The San Sebastian Winery was built in an old railway building and they get their grapes from the west coast of Florida at their sister property, Lakeridge Winery. San Sebastian Winery focuses on dessert wines. Sweet wines are not my favorite and I didn’t honestly love any of them but they have won a ton of awards for their wines so if sweet wine is your thing, defiantly check them out. They also have an amazing roof top that I would absolutely check out again. Thursdays through Sundays the rooftop is open where they have jazz performers. The view from the top is beautiful.

Another one of my favorite stops off of the Old Town Trolley was the Castillo de San Marcos. This was the main fort for the village of St. Augustine to protect against intruders. In the 17^th century, if the city of St. Augustine was under attack all of the towns people, and their animals could fit in the fort and in the dry moat that borders the base of the fort. This National Monument covers 20.5 acres of land and is run by the National Parks Service so there is a small fee to enter. If you like history, check it out. It was really interesting. And if you don’t like history, check it out anyway. There are some beautiful views from the top of the fort.

The Old Town Trolley Tour had so much to offer. Below I listed some other stops that I would love to check out next time I’m in town.

Lightner Museum and Café Alcazar – This was formerly a hotel which Henry Flagler (who pretty much built up St. Augustine) built for his famous and rich New England friends according to the Old Town Trolley Tour guides. The Café is super popular for lunch and is in the base of the pool of the hotel. Like what!
Flagler College – Named for the city’s founder this college has the largest collection of Louis Comfort Tiffany stained glass windows. Can you imagine being in college and stumbling into the cafeteria hung over to sit next to the largest collection of Tiffany’s stained glass. What the heck!

Where We Ate
We didn’t get to explore the food scene in St. Augustine the way I would have liked. I have a cousin that lives a half hour away so we spend one night with them having a little cocktail party with amazing appetizers that filled us up completely. But I do have a list of a ton of restaurants I’ve heard amazing things about, and some that my cousin’s wife recommended first hand.

Maple Street Biscuit Company – I’ve heard so much about Maple Street Biscuit Company that when I found out there was one in St. Augustine, I dragged my non-breakfast eating mom to try it out. (She’s fine, she had kid’s mac and cheese at 9am and was a happy camper.) I totally over indulged and got the Ralphie and added a fried egg on top. It was A LOT! One of the breakfast sandwiches would have probably been enough but how do you go there and not try their gravy?? I may need to try to push a trip to the Maple Street Biscuit Company for our Charleston trip in April.

The Kookaburra – This Aussie-American coffee shop is located right on the Plaza in St. Augustine and was a perfect spot for an afternoon pick me up. Their cold brew was everything I needed and their Aussie pies were an awesome snack. The actual location was so small and got pretty tight when a group of 8 business men came in to place their order also. Just a little tip- they have a small location just outside and across their patio for a sitting area.

Salt Life Food Shack – I would LOVE to check out Salt Life during the summer. This restaurant was across the Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine Beach, it had a huge outdoor patio with a fire pit and outdoor bar. There was, what looked like, a pretty big rooftop that during the day you would have views of the beach. The rooftop was closed while we were there, I’m assuming because it was January.

I started my dinner with a bowl of Bahamian Fish Chowder which was delicious… but HUGE. Definitely only needed a cup of that to try the soup. I ended up having Lobster and Shrimp Pasta and it was amazing (and again, huge). My parents both had tacos and they looked amazing. They have a full raw bar and sushi as well as burgers and sandwiches. Anyone can find something there and I’m pretty sure everything would be awesome!

Here is the list of other restaurants we didn’t get to try but came highly recommended:

A1A Ale Works
OC White’s Seafood and Spirits
The Tini Martini Bar
Raintree Restaurant
Columbia

To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of Florida. It’s hot and sweaty, and sticky and yuck but this trip gave me a different perspective of our southern most state. St. Augustine was so charming and historical. I’d love to go back to St. Augustine and explore a little more. Have you ever been?

10Feb2019

Weekend in Philadelphia

Posted in Pennsylvania, Travel Tips, USA by meganandeggs

Hey there friends, and happy Sunday! I spent the last week catching up and getting back to work. I was away for a long weekend that spilled into last week’s work week. This year, one of my goals was to visit 10 new cities and so far I got two under my belt. Last weekend I went down to St. Augustine, FL to do a little exploring, but a few weekends ago a group of us headed down to Philadelphia for my first weekend trip of the year.

I have a friend I grew up with who plays base in a band, so when we had the option to go to Boston, which we’ve all been to a million times before, or Philadelphia to see the Revivalist play, my friends and I chose Philly. We had the show at the Met on Saturday night so that gave us 24 hours to eat all the cheese steaks and visit as much of the historical city as we could.

What we did and Where we ate
Our first stop was food. We headed to Reading Terminal Market to explore Philly’s food scene. Conveniently located across the street from the Pennsylvania Convention Center, and just a few blocks from Philadelphia City Hall, Reading Terminal has a plethora of coffee shops, fish markets, cheese stands, and a ton of cheese steak places. We started our food explorations with Old City Coffee and an amazing black iced coffee.

For our first Philly Cheese Steak we tried Spataro’s traditional with cheese whiz and grilled onions. I know, I know I questioned it too but it wasn’t half bad. I’m not a huge fan of cheese steaks to begin with so this one didn’t really knock my socks off, but it was ok.

We walked a few blocks up Arch St. to snap a quick photo of the Chinatown Friendship Arch. There were so many eateries I would have loved to run into but we had just left Reading Terminal Market and were not ready to stuff our faces with Pho and Dim Sum.

After checking out Chinatown, we really wanted to see Love Park. We headed down Arch St. until we essentially walked straight into Love Park. Beautiful. The views down Benjamin Franklin Parkway, with the stunning views of the Philadelphia Museum of Art were outstanding. I would love to see these views during the summertime. I could only imagine how stunning it would be.

After all of our exploring and walking we needed to sit down and enjoy some of the libations Philadelphia had to offer. Sansom St. was very good to us. We visited Mission Taqueria, a cute bar that channeled all of my Los Angeles vibes with the indoor-outdoor feel and cute little outdoor courtyard in the middle of the restaurant. The drinks were fantastic but my favorite was the Bee Sting.

One thing that we kept hearing the entire day was that we needed to try Jim’s Steaks on South Street. Before this month, when I hear of Philly, I heard about Pat and Geno’s. The two dueling cheese steak restaurants that are open 24 hours, and fight for customers as well as the title of best cheesesteak in town. But the locals (and Ubers) said they’re both overrated. (Listen to your Ubers people, they know what they’re talking about.) We needed to go to Jim’s. We went late night, and it may have been the drinks from the concert so take this with a grain of salt, but Jim’s was lifechanging. But in all seriousness, the area was beautiful. Skinny streets, pretty row homes, it looked like an area that would be great to walk around during the day, close to the water with a super local feel.

The next morning, we headed back to Sanson St. to Harp & Crown for one of the best brunches I ever had. Harp & Crown is a beautiful English pub style restaurant that apparently has a secret basement bowling ally for late nights. Next time I fully intend on taking advantage of this.

How we got around
Ultimately Philadelphia is a very walkable city. We stayed across the Schuylkill River right near the campuses of Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania. To get over to the city center it was about a 10-15 minute drive but parking is not too easy to find, and definitely not cheap. We decided to try out the SEPTA, or subway system.

We are used to New York City subways, where the stations are packed and the trains are plentiful. This was the complete opposite. There weren’t a ton of people on the subway, and it was pretty easy to get to different areas of the city on the subway, but we waited for about 10 minutes for our train. Once we were in town, we decided to check out Ubers to get back to our hotel and the price was AMAZING and there were a ton of cars available. It was even cheaper, and quicker to grab an Uber from our restaurant back to our hotel. From then on, we stuck to rideshares.

We didn’t get to try it out but there is a trolley system also run by SEPTA and it seems like there are a ton of stops as well. Maybe something to try out when the weather is a little warmer.

Where we stayed
We ended up staying a little out of city center, but the Sheraton Philadelphia University City was a great place to stay, especially if you are visiting either Drexel or the University of Pennsylvania. For us it was right along the subway line and just a quick two stops to city center. There was a good amount of quick bite restaurants around and a few shops that we ended up taking advantage of to buy new outfits for the concert.

9Nov2018

Friday Five – October & November

Posted in Massachusetts, Updates by meganandeggs

Happy Friday!!! Who else is pumped to gain an hour this weekend?? I know my waking up in total darkness the past few weeks has not been prime motivation. A few weeks ago I was able to take a three day staycation and it was fabulous. I binged “Anne with an E” on Netflix and relaxed for a few days, just in time for the craziness of the holidays to swing in full force.

I’m looking forward to the holidays more than usual this year. I have some exciting news in early December but I can’t say much for now. For now, here are five things that are getting me through October and November.

A night at the theater
When I was living in California I really started to fall in love with the theater. My good friend’s family ran a local community theater and their productions were out of this world. Being that we were in Los Angeles, there were even a few professional actors that performed at the theater on the side. I really fell in love with Les Misérables while I was out there so when tickets went on sale at the Shubert Theater in New Haven, I new I had to see the national touring company perform live. It was insane!

Day tripping to Newport, RI
I think Newport, RI is such an underrated city. In the summer it is the perfect New England city with fresh seafood restaurants, little shops to explore, and breathtaking sunsets over the water. In the winter the town gets sleepy but winter is the perfect time to go to Newport and truly rest and relax. The skinny streets make you feel like you’ve gone back in time and wandering in and out of bars is really the best way to spend a snow day. I went last week to explore something else that is famous in Newport. The Newport Mansions. Not too long ago New York City’s elite used Newport as a place to summer. Their summer “cottages” were bigger than my high school. A few girlfriends and I took the two hour drive east to explore the Breakers and Marble House, two of the Vanderbilt family’s homes from the late 1800s.

Pumpkin carving parties
My girlfriends and I try to get together as often as possible, but with husbands, kids, careers, and side projects, it’s not always the easiest. Last weekend we were able to be festive all weekend. We celebrated our favorite two year old’s birthday with a Halloween themed birthday party on Saturday, and Sunday had a Halloween party and pumpkin carving contests as a housewarming at another friend’s. It was the perfect way to get into the spirit of the season before fall blows away from us completely.

Exploring the Viking Star in Boston
Part of my full-time job is getting out of the office and visiting the ships that we send our clients on. When Viking Ocean Cruises invited a few travel agents onto their ship, the Viking Star, I jumped at the opportunity to see this ship. Viking is known for their river cruises, being one of the largest river cruise companies in the world, but when they expanded into ocean cruises a few years ago, I knew I wanted to see their ships. I love the clean lines, and the Scandinavian style of their ships. What I love about Viking is their attention to detail and how although they’re not a luxury cruise line, you still feel like a princess while a guest on their ship.

Making a Murderer part 2
A few weeks ago, I did a post about my favorite bingeworthy shows and since, I’ve already gotten through the new Marking a Murderer part 2. I actually watched it in just three days. If you watched part 1, be prepared that this one moves a little slower. We know the story already so now we are going through new evidence and learning information we didn’t know before.

7Nov2018

Tips to Get You Through a Long Flight

Posted in Travel Tips by meganandeggs

Flying can be exhausting. I’ve done a lot of long flights. A red-eye across the country can be pretty draining but really, that’s a simple and common flight if you really think about it. Trips to Asia, New York to Hawaii, coming home from Eastern Europe, that’s a true long flight. Here are some tips to get you through any length trip that you may a little help with getting through.

Wear layers. No matter what the weather is, I always travel in a light top and with an oversized scarf. Wearing a light top makes layering easier and even though 90% of the time your flight is going to be cold, you really never know. The scarf you can use it as a pillow, blanket, shawl, or wrap. And easiest thing is that it can be taken on and off easily. I also try to keep a light jacket or sweater handy if it gets too cold on the plane or in the airports.
Have your snacks prepared. The worst is when you aren’t prepared with any type of snacks and you can’t find anything in the airport that’s easy to snack on. Back in July, I was so early for my flight and hadn’t brought anything to the airport, I ended up buying $20 scrambled eggs and literally wanted to die. TSA will let you bring anything that is not opened through security (as long as it’s not liquid obviously.) I usually take some sort of nuts and protein bars with me in my bag.
Dress comfortable. Not like a slob, comfortable. If you want any chance of getting an upgrade at all, whether it’s at an airline, car rental or hotel, you need to be dressed properly. I’m not saying dress up but there’s a way to be comfortable and still not look like a hot mess express. I love a good pair of compression leggings, a cute top and sneakers.
Have your technology prepared and backed up. I always make sure my laptop and phone are fully charged, as well as my back up battery pack. Before any flight, while I still have WiFi, I make sure to download my favorite podcasts or movies. I’ve sat on too many planes in front of a broken TV with nothing to do for five hours to not have a back up plan anymore. I also make sure I have multiple headphones. I once downloaded a bunch of podcasts just to get on the plane and not have my iPhone headphones. (palm to face)
Pack up my toiletries. I make sure I always have WetOnes, tampons, tinted moisturizer, mascara, deodorant, hand sanitizer, and a toothbrush at arms reach. Usually right under the seat in front of me. There is nothing worse than being stuck in the window seat and needing to grab something from the overhead bins. Talk about annoying. So, keep them close to you so that you can grab them all if needed.
Have a pen handy. Especially when traveling internationally. You don’t want to be that one asking everyone around you for a pen when you’re filling out your immigration forms. Stick it with your toiletries for easy access.
Back up sleep aids. Sometimes, no matter how tired you are, you just can’t get comfortable enough on the plane to sleep. It’s terrible. I’ve tried a few different tricks though: sleepy time tea, wine, taking melatonin. My new favorite is using my Young Living sleep spray. I brought this with me to Canada and spayed it on my chair before we took off, and on my pillows before going to sleep and I slept throughout the whole night.
Have a good bag. I FINALLY found my favorite carry on. For me, a backpack works best. I found this one on Amazon a few months ago and it worked perfect for my trip to Canada. There’s a spot for my laptop, a cord to charge your phone, an outside pouch for those easy to grab items you may need (ID and passport), and not too big that I’m going to load it up. I actually used it while hiking too and it was perfect.