Games on a Plane - How to Pack for Flying

beach day - the other 2 went to a baseball game

I just got back from our Florida vacation, and it was awesome! We had a very nice condo with plenty of space, a few quirks, but a terrific location. We went to the Theme Parks and the Beach with some down time to play games and rest. As vacations go, this was one of the great ones!

Some of the keys to a smooth vacation are Planning & Proper Packing
But I think the most important key is Flexibility!

Here are some Travel Tips:

• When you have a tentative schedule, it will help you plan what to pack.
• When flying, you don't want to over pack. If you can fit everything into a carry-on, you'll save the extra money for checking a bag, depending on your airline.
• Sometimes, we ship our stuff to the place we're staying. It depends on the cost. 
• We love playing games, but with the tight packing for flying, it's hard to fit those clumsy boxes... so I get out my ziplock bags and cut the size of the games down by 75%!

before

after!

Ziplock bags are the best! They're great for:

• packing lotions and shower items
• packing powders and sprays
• packing snacks
• keeping the phone dry at the beach or pool
• keeping credit cards or park tickets easy to find in a cluttered bag!

And when things don't go according to plan, or if it rains on a day you're supposed to go to the beach - have a backup plan, like going to the movies or playing games! Plans change, even on vacation. There's no point getting upset when things go wrong--we just have to deal with it and adjust!

Your vacation is as fun or stressful as you make it. Don't worry about the things you can't control - like the weather, nature, and personalities! Do you have any travel tips?

Hope you've had a great summer so far!

Roanoke or Bust!

Happy Friday, friends of mine!

Today I’m writing to you from the past because at the moment this posts I’m going to be en route to Roanoke, Virginia for an appearance at the MystiCon Fantasy and Horror Convention. And I’m super, super pumped about it. I’m going to be an author guest and breathe the same air as George R. R. Martin!! (the author of the A Song of Ice and Fire series best known as Game of Thrones) I’ll be a little excitable all day to say the least.

As most of you probably know, I’m a fantasy novelist and I do my best to attend as many fantasy/science fiction conventions as my schedule allows. Over the years I’ve accumulated a rather, um... unique list of items that I can’t go without at a con and I thought I’d share some of the special ones with you here. No judging!

#1: Extra deodorant. Oh yes, this one deserves to be at #1. Cons can be hot and crowded, and you’ll want to have a travel-size deo in your purse at all times, lest you join the smelly masses.

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#2: An assortment of hats. I can’t feel authory without a proper author hat. So while some of you might be packing bags of shoes for trips, I have a bag of fedoras, caps, and bowlers.

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#3: Cat-ear tiara. Duh! Because TIARA + CAT = AWESOME. But if you want to see the real thing, it's part of my Twitter profile pic :-)

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#4: Bubble Wands. Those little bubble wands that you usually get as party favors are PERFECT attractors to your book signing table. Crowd a little thin? Pucker up and blow some bubbles because even grown-ups get like this over bubbles.

 
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#5: My purple hair extensions. Because if I can't have purple hair at a fantasy convention, what's the point of having hair at all?



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So now it's your turn! What's the craziest thing you've ever packed for a trip?

Let's Make This Beach Easy

Vacations are great for energizing the soul, but the getting ready for vacations? Not so much....

Like I said on Monday, I just came back from the beach. Two weeks of fun with the family. Visits to lighthouses and the spot where pirates are said to gather- all exciting stuff! And most of which went pretty much undocumented because I forgot to pack the freaking camera! 

Yes, we had iPhones and got some good shots, but that Nikon I forked out a fortune for? The one with the crisp zoom that would have gotten me pictures of my family of ocean swimmers from my comfy spot on the beach? It sat at home.

That wouldn't have happened if I had better execution. And planning. 

On the ride home, as I moped about coming home reflected fondly on our trip, I came up with a solution- I need to put an end to harried, haphazard packing.

I decided to make a master packing list. One I can keep on my hard drive and print out when I’m ready to start tossing stuff in the trunk.

Now, next year, when I pack, I’ll print one out and I’ll check it twice. (And I’ll print one for the man and each kiddo, so they don’t have to keep asking me what to bring!) 

Print one for this trip...

Save one for later...