Pack Like a Pro: Toiletries

TSA security checkpoints have had their liquids system in place since 9/11. In the last few years I've noticed the security checkpoints at various airports have become very inconsistent in how strongly they're enforcing this rule. If your ticket says TSA pre-check they want you to go through the pre-check line. I didn't sign up for it, I didn't ask for it but I got it anyway! This is great if you're traveling alone or don't mind separating from your party because odds are not everyone in your party got it and they can't go with you. When you go through this lane (as of 8/2015) you do not have to take off your shoes and you do not have to take out your liquids. This is always a nice perk to get! 

On one occasion I have gone through the regular security line only to have mine merge with TSA pre-check and it became very confusing, very fast. A TSA agent on a power trip was directing people and when I asked if we needed to pull out our liquids he replied, "Did I say you need to pull out your liquids?" Wow... somebody hadn't had their coffee yet! On another occasion I asked an agent and she asked me how much liquids I had. I replied back, "A standard quart size bag." She thought for a moment and said, "Nahhh it'll be fine." I'm in the airport roughly every other month and I never know what to expect when going through the security because it seems to change every day and even different security checkpoints at the same airport are run differently. 

Over the past year I have tried to develop the perfect system for getting your toiletries through security easily while keeping what you need on hand easily accessible. Typically, I fly in the early mornings where I'm rolling out of bed and into the car so I'm doing my morning routine either in the car, in the airport bathroom or on the plane. 

The first thing I bought was this:

I thought it would be perfect. With a million pockets and pouches, everything would have its own place and I would always know where something was. This turned out to be true... unless it tipped over and everything fell out. Which happened a lot. I also found that the size and shape made it hard to pull out of my carry on bag easily and anything sticking out of a pouch got caught on my bag. This made it through one trip until it got the boot.

In my efforts to be ready for anything when it comes to security checkpoints, I always have a liquids bag ready for removal and my current toiletry system is in three bags. 

1. Liquids Bag:

This is the current bag and bottle set I use for liquids. All of my required liquids fit in this little guy. The tubes have held up quite well but the bag stopped sealing properly after about 6 months of heavy use. 

2. Essential Toiletries

I have a small pencil pouch sized bag that has everything I really need for traveling and the things I usually need quick access to like chapstick, makeup and contacts.

3. Non-essential Toiletries

This is a slightly larger bag that contains everything else. I always try to get this bag in my backpack but sometimes it ends up in my roller bag. It contains things like a little hair brush, makeup remover wipes and bobby pins.

These bags also contain all of the items I usually keep in my purse so I don't normally take my purse with me when I travel. I opt for a wristlet, mini crossbody or my husband's pockets :) 

Aussieland Day Eight: Non-Revving Cairns-Sydney-Honolulu-Los Angeles-Seattle

Our last day in Australia put us in a very interesting non-rev situation. The night before we left Cairns, we tried to check in for our flight from Sydney to LAX only to find out the entire flight had been cancelled. Not only were we not going to get on but 200+ people who had actual tickets for that flight were now being rebooked on every other possible option we had to get home.

We got up extra early to take the first flight to Sydney we possible could in hopes that we could catch an earlier flight that other passengers may not have been aware of. What we didn't account for was landing in Sydney's domestic terminal and trying to get to the international terminal. I've never been to an airport where you had to buy a ticket to take a bus from one terminal to the other. The bus didn't run very often, it stopped in a bunch of places along the way and we ended up missing the first flight.

Take me with you!

We sat in the airport for 12 hours trying to hop any flight that would get us back to the west coast but everything was well overbooked. We racked our brains and tried to find any flight on any airline that would move us in the right direction. Finally, that evening, we got tickets from Sydney to Honolulu. We were told that because of the flight being cancelled there were people displaced for days, so somehow this flight to Honolulu must have gotten overlooked!

We made it to Honolulu the next morning, went through customs and out of security, grabbed our next set of standby tickets and went right back through security. I got in a couple of deep breaths of sweet tropical air before getting right back on a plane bound for Los Angeles. From Los Angeles we were able to catch the next flight to Seattle and we were home that evening. Overall, it took 30 hours to get home. I was exhausted and in dire need of a shower but we made it! Breaking up the journey by traveling through Honolulu was really nice and I recommend it to anyone who's feeling a little leery about a 14 hour flight to Sydney from LAX!

Aussieland Day Seven: Cairns

Our last full day in Australia ended up being my absolute favorite day of the entire trip. We woke up in the morning, grabbed our swimsuits and towels and headed to the marina. Just past the lagoon at the end of the boardwalk is the marina where there are tons of boats just waiting to take you out on an adventure! We booked an all day snorkeling and diving expedition on the great barrier reef with Reef Experience. They were well priced, they feed you a great lunch and their staff was warm and friendly. We rented an underwater camera. They had a photographer on board taking photos but it was a large group for just one photographer and we really wanted our own camera. They also sold pouches to make your phone waterproof which would be a good slightly cheaper option.

We spent the morning in one reef spot and then retreated to the boat for shade and lunch while they took us to a second reef spot. We both took an introductory dive which was absolutely amazing! If you've ever thought about trying to scuba dive, you can't go wrong with the Great Barrier Reef!

One thing the staff did not go over was what kind of things you would see. We saw tons of different kinds of fish and we know there are turtles but unfortunately, we didn't see any. However, we did see a black tip reef shark. He wasn't huge by any means, about 3-4 feet long at most and skinny. It was startling to see and it definitely got my heart racing!

It was a full day at sea and I had the sunburn to prove it. If you ever have the chance to go to Australia, the great barrier reef is an absolute MUST! I discovered diving wasn't really my thing but I love to snorkel and reef is so shallow that snorkeling gets you a front row seat to incredibly diverse and colorful sea life.

Aussieland Day Six: Cairns

We woke up in the morning and headed to a village up in the rainforest called Kuranda. What I love about this village is the way you get to it- by gondola. We had a couple of morning times to choose from and I highly recommend picking the earliest one! There's actually quite a lot to see up there and the village shuts down by mid-afternoon so go early!

The gondola ride provided awesome views as you headed up the side of the mountain and into lush rainforest. We opted for a glass bottom gondola so we could see the tops of the trees below our feet! They offer a couple of stops to get off at and explore a little and they have guides there to tell you about the plants and wildlife.

We saw the biggest spider I will probably ever see in my life. His body was about the size of my palm and his legs could've easily covered my entire face. It was terrifying and awesome all at the same time. If you have an extreme fear of spiders, just don't look up!

One of the main reasons I wanted to trek up to this little village is I had heard that somewhere in that village, you can hold a koala bear. I wasn't disappointed! At the Kuranda Koala Gardens you can hold a koala bear, feed kangaroos and see all kinds of other wildlife. It's not cheap to hold a koala bear but it's a once in a lifetime experience that I was more than willing to pay for!

After going through the koala gardens, we did a little souvenir shopping, grabbed lunch and headed down to the train. You can take a gondola back down or you can take a vintage train back down. My husband and I wavered a bit and considered taking a gondola back down (we're not big into trains and they have no air conditioning) but ultimately decided to take the train for the experience. If you're into trains and a slow, scenic route, this is for you. If you're not that into trains and all you want is A/C after being hot and sticky in the rainforest all day, take the gondola.

By the time we made it back to our hotel it was about time for dinner. We changed, headed to the boardwalk and sat down at one of the many amazing restaurants to eat at. We were feeling pretty adventurous so we ordered what the restaurant called "Hop, Skip, Jump and Swim" which was four of the most Australian meats you can eat- Kangaroo, Emu, Crocodile and Burrumundu (white fish). The emu was our favorite! After dinner we took another walk through the night market to pick up a few souvenirs for home.

Aussieland Day Five: Cairns

When we woke up in the morning we took our rental car back to the airport and hopped the first flight to Cairns. We boarded an A320 that had no first class or business class, just rows and rows of coach! I had never seen anything like it!

It was a 3 hour flight and we admittedly slept most of the way there. When we landed we felt as though we had definitely arrived in a magical, tropical location. The air was humid and we were surrounded by lush rainforest. The airport was small and only 10 minutes from town. We took a taxi to our hotel and the people behind the front desk showed us that everything in and around town was less than a 15 minute walk away.

We walked down the boardwalk and had pizza at a local restaurant. The boardwalk was high above the beach and there were ladders every so often to get down to the beach below. However, a local informed us that the beach if off limits due to crocodiles and to go hang out at the lagoon instead. I've seen beaches closed down due to jellyfish and a shark sighting but never crocodiles!

What Cairns lacks in beaches, it more than makes up for with the Esplanade Lagoon! It's a giant, shallow, warm, salt water pool that is right on the boardwalk and is open to everyone for free. You can lay on grass or sand and there are plenty of trees for escapes from the ozone free sun.

As the sun started to go down, we headed back to our hotel, changed and headed back out for a night on this little town. I had been warned about bats but I was still unprepared for just how many bats and how loud they would be!

There's a casino nearby if that's your kind of thing but we spent our evenings at the Night Market. It is a partially outdoor market filled with vendors for everything you could imagine. If you ever wondered where you could get every souvenir imaginable, dinner, a massage and dessert for very little money- this is the place! We spent every evening we had in Cairns exploring this market, it was so much fun!

Aussieland Day Four: Melbourne

After a very late night with the penguins, we awoke early with an hour drive ahead of us to meet our helicopter pilot. Yes, oh yes, we were headed to see the 12 Apostles! I should point out that in Australia they refer to them as simply the Apostles because there are no longer 12 of them and there haven't been 12 for decades. And they will get annoyed and correct you. Every. Time.

We hit the road and made our way from the east side of the bay to the west. Most people who head out to see the Apostles drive and make it a day trip or rent a camper van. It takes about 3-4 hours to drive out to them making for a 6-8 hour round trip. You can also take a day trip by tour bus. My husband and I were on a very tight schedule so we opted to take a helicopter instead! It was definitely our splurge of the trip but our helicopter tour was completely private and it only took 2 hours round trip.

We arrived at the rustic Geelong airfield and our pilot came running out to meet us. I set up this adventure entirely by e-mail due to international calling and the time difference. They were flexible, answered all of my questions completely and were just so great to work with- thank you Geelong Helicopters!

We had a great chat on the way there and back with our pilot about all the differences in the English language and what they call things vs. what we call things. He made a few passes over the apostles and made sure we got all the photos we wanted before he headed back.

Currently, there are four apostles and the ocean waves continue to erode the stone around the base until eventually they fall over into the ocean. Our pilot told us in just a few decades there probably won't be any left.

After landing, the pilot pointed us towards the nearest beach and town with some recommendations for lunch. We set out to downtown Barwon Heads and wandered Hitchcock Ave. We ate at an adorable little restaurant called BeachHouse and found this great unique smoothie joint planted on a little hill of grass between buildings. After some wandering we set out to see some of the beaches! We drove to Raffs Beach and although it was a bit cold and windy it was nice to enjoy the sand. There were lots of spots where you could drive your car right down to the beach and have your own little cove to yourself.

By the time we made it back to our hotel we were starving for dinner and decided we wanted one more taste of the amazing burgers over at Dandenong Pavilion. They did not disappoint although there was quite a wait for dinner! When we got back to our hotel after dinner we melted into the bed. Knowing we had an early flight to Cairns in the morning we were asleep within minutes.

Aussieland Day Three: Melbourne

On day three we woke up fairly early and decided to check out of our hostel early. We headed to the airport and were off to Melbourne! Melbourne (pronounced Mel-bin) was on my list of cities to see for two reasons: Phillip Island and the 12 Apostles.

When we landed we found ourselves instantly surrounded with a sea of people of China. What I didn't realize was that we had decided to travel on Chinese New Year and Australia is an extremely popular vacation destination from people in China! We found a payphone in baggage claim and called our hotel to let them know we were coming in early (to which they replied "no worries" because Australians are awesome like that). In all of our last minute scrambling and planning I did not secure us a car rental in Melbourne which turned out to be a bit of a hassle. We were able to finally secure a car rental from an off-site rental place. Truthfully, we lucked out. Big time!

Once we secured our rental car we headed off to our hotel! We stayed in the Dandenong suburbs of Melbourne. I was hesitant about driving in Australia so I didn't want to stay too close to downtown and I wanted easy access to the freeways to get to our major destinations. Driving a right hand drive vehicle on the left side of the road was terrifying for the first 10 minutes, stressful for the first half hour and an absolute blast after that!

Once we made it to our hotel we were starving for lunch! We did a quick search for local places to eat and ended up at Dandenong Pavilion. What we didn't realize was we stumbled upon the best little burger joint we've ever been to. Seriously. They were voted best burgers in Australia and they even have a secret burger menu. We loved this place so much we ate here twice in the two days we were in Melbourne! We had an awesome chat with the waitress who told us about all the local events going on and she said she loved our American accents (but I think we loved your Aussie accent more)!

After lunch we headed out to Phillip Island for the Penguin Parade. The penguin parade is a nightly occurrence that happens year round in Melbourne. Every night at dusk dozens of penguins come out of the ocean and make their way up the beach and into their burrows. They have grandstands that sell out often and fill up early! We chose to pay a little more and do the Aboriginese Heritage Tour. It gave us reserved front row seats, a little bit of background information on the area and access to another reserved area for an extended up close viewing of the penguins. We weren't allowed to take photos so you'll just have to trust me when I say it was a once in a lifetime opportunity!

Picture courtesy of visitphillipisland.com