Eddie Bauer Travel Pillow Review

Pillows are a big deal when you travel. At least they are to me, because I have a lot of trouble sleeping while in transit. Knowing that we would be on long flights on our trip to Europe this summer we knew we would need to find a way to help me sleep on the airplanes. I have already detailed the sleep mask from Skoozzz that I used here.

I was also planning on taking an inflatable camping pillow that I won at the Adventure + Gear Fest, but then one day we were looking around the Eddie Bauer store in the mall, because that is what adventures do when they are at the mall.  We found a neck pillow there and I thought it felt ok. Most neck pillows I haven't been a big fan of but this one felt pretty good. Since Meagan had a coupon and there was a sale going on I decided to get it for our trip

We hadn't realized when looking at it before that it was actually a 2-in-1 pillow that could covert from a neck pillow into a small regular pillow. This was great because it meant I would have different options while flying so I could switch it up depending on how I was feeling.

The pillow is made with the soft bead stuffing. So you just have to unzip the back and you can pull out the fabric for the rectangular pillow and push the beads down into it. Then you push the fabric for the neck pillow into the little pocket and zip it closed.

The pillow is very comfortable in both of its forms. I used it on our long flights in conjunction with my sleeping mask to be able to sleep pretty well. Its versatility means that you can use it like a regular neck pillow or you can switch it to the rectangular form if you are lucky enough to have a window seat. It can also be used as a regular pillow in a pinch, for example when we got to Venice and the hotel pillows were as flat as pancakes.

This Eddie Bower travel pillow has two options for connecting it to your bag while walking through the airport or a city. There is a snap between the two ends of the pillow that you can loop through the handle on your carry on or backpack, there is also a loop on the back that can be hooked onto a carabiner.

Overall this pillow was a good choice for me and I will likely continue to use it on overnight flights. You can get it from Eddie Bauer here, or you can find a similar one on Amazon here.

Fishers Finery Packing Cubes: Review

When planning our 3 week trip to Europe this summer, I knew we would need to be smart about our packing situation. I knew we would be going from place to place and that we would be on a cruise ship with limited space. Because of our on-the-go itinerary and the fact that we got cheap flights because they charge extra for baggage, I decided that we would only take one carry-on and one backpack each for our trip.

After I decided that, I looked at tons of articles on Pinterest to see if there were any secrets to packing for 3 weeks in a carry-on (I'll be doing my own post on that in the future). After much searching, I found out about an item called packing cubes. I was intrigued as to why a little bag that held your clothes that you just put inside of your suitcase would be such a big deal. But the more I looked into it, I realized that we needed some packing cubes.

As I scoured the internet (mostly Amazon) for the cheapest packing cubes possible, I came across Fishers Finery. They had a set of 3 packing cubes (small, medium, and large) that looked like they would fit our needs. And they were so much less expensive than the packing cubes I was finding other places.

The Fishers Finery Packing Cubes come in three different colors: black, blue, and red. We ordered the black ones and the blue ones so that we could each have a set. They are made of durable material that is still lightweight and they have great zippers.

In the smallest packing cube, I found that it was perfect for packing our smaller items like underwear, socks, and swimming suits.

The medium cube held our shirts, my skirts, and a pair of shorts or two.

 

The large cube we used for our bulkier items like dresses, nice shirts, pants and Ben's suit for our cruise.

I was amazed at how much I could fit into each cube! I found that the best way to pack the cubes is to roll up each item of clothing as tightly as you can and then lay next to each other in the cube. Depending on the size of the cube, I was sometimes able to get 2 rows of rolled clothes in each cube.

Another thing that I loved about the packing cubes was the ease we had finding our stuff in our suitcases. I knew exactly which cube I needed to pull out to get a clean shirt or where my extra socks were. I didn't have to dig through my suitcase to find the one item I needed.

Throughout our trip, we re-packed our bags a few different times. Sometimes Ben and I had clothing in each suitcase that we had. It was so nice that we each had our own color of packing cubes because I could just find the medium black one and know that that's where my shirts were or I could pull out the small blue one to get some socks for Ben so he could go rock climbing.

Packing cubes were definitely a game changer for us in the way that we pack and plan for trips. I
highly, highly suggest that you invest in some packing cubes before you go on your next big (or small) trip. They are so awesome and really helped keep me from feeling like we were living out of suitcases for 3 weeks which made our vacation so much more enjoyable.

**This post was not sponsored by Fishers Finery, we just love their product and want to share it with you! There are Amazon affiliate links in this post though if you do wish to purchase these awesome packing cubes. We will receive a small portion of the purchase which will help to support us in writing this blog for you!**

Skoozzz Travel Sleep Mask Review

Sleeping is not something that comes easy to me, and when I am away from my own bed and the best pillow in the world this can be especially true. This is multiplied when I have to sleep in odd circumstances like on a plane or a train. Our recent trip to Europe involved the longest flights I have ever been on, so obviously I was going to have to sleep during travel, if I didn't I would be extra messed up by jet lag since our flight to Stockholm was an overnight flight.

Fortunately for me our friends over at the SKOOZZZ shop on Etsy provided us with their handmade travel masks to review on our trip. And I have to say that it was a total life saver for me on these flights.

Now because of my difficulty sleeping I have been using sleep masks at home for over a year now. But I have never had one quite like a Skoozzz mask. For one thing this mask is much bigger than any I have had in the past, this makes it so that it effectively blocks out all the light. In fact our first night in Venice our hotel room was not very dark at all so I pulled out the Skoozzz sleep mask and was able to fall asleep.

Another great thing about the Skoozzz mask is that it has a pillow that forms most of the strap that goes around your head. This gives your head support while trying to sleep sitting up. The pillow can actually be used in conjunction with a neck pillow quite well, I used it with this one from Eddie Bauer.

I would highly recommend that if you have trouble sleeping while traveling that you get a travel mask from Skoozzz. They range from $12.00 to $20.00 and come in all sorts of fun patterns. I have the Pac-man design which I think is awesome, but there are many other options to choose from.

Disclaimer: Skoozzz provided the travel masks to us to review. All thoughts and opinions on the masks however are our own. We only recommend products that we find useful and we think will benefit our readers.

Pierron Designs Travel Scarf Review

We just spent the last three weeks in Europe for a wonderful vacation. We were able to explore parts of the world that we had never been and our eyes were opened to how other parts of the world operate.

We had been planning this trip for about 6 months and during that time I was looking into ways to travel safely. I knew we would be going to very popular places that were known for pickpocketing and I wanted to find travel accessories that would be able to carry the things we needed while helping me have piece of mind knowing that our important things (passports, money, debit cards) wouldn't get stolen.

While researching, I came across travel scarves. These are scarves with a hidden pocket in them so you can store your passports, phone, money, or cards right in your scarf without worrying about them being lifted right out of your pocket.

As I was looking into getting a travel scarf for our trip, Ben came across a company on Etsy called Pierron Designs that specializes in these scarves. We reached out to them and they gave me a scarf to use on our trip in exchange for a review of their product.

And I have to say, I am absolutely in LOVE with my scarf!

Pierron Designs is a husband and wife duo (Chad and Jessie) who love to travel and create. Jessie is behind the sewing machine and creates high quality scarves in absolutely beautiful fabrics. While Chad does amazing photography and takes care of the Internet stuff.

I received a 100% cotton travel infinity scarf in a teal watercolor print. While this fabric is not currently in their shop they still have other amazing fabrics and patterns. My wardrobe has lots of greens and blues so I knew that this scarf would go perfectly with most of the clothes I was packing for our trip.

Jessie cutting out my scarf!! (Photo from @pierrondesigns on Instagram)

This scarf was the perfect accessory. It made my boring wardrobe of only t-shirts pop with a little extra something. But more than that, it was USEFUL! I wore my scarf when we were traveling through airports both to and from Europe. It was able to perfectly hold both of our passports as well as my phone. It was super easy to pull out our passports as we were going through security and boarding our flights because they were right in front of my face; I didn't have to dig around in my backpack to find them.

While we were out and about traveling, I liked to keep my phone as well as my debit card and some cash in the pocket. It made me feel so safe to have my most important items with me right in front of my face.

Now part of the problem with a travel scarf is that while it replaces the need for a purse in a lot of situations, it isn't a purse. That being said, you can't load down the pocket with too much stuff. If you do, it will start to drag down. The only time I had that problem was when we were in the airports and I had two passports and my iPhone 6s in the pocket. But, because we were mostly just sitting at gates waiting for planes it didn't bother me too much. And after we boarded the plane, I took out the passports to put them away in my backpack and added gum and headphones to my pocket so I wouldn't have to constantly be getting in and out of my backpack while we were flying.

So if you can handle only taking the bare essentials in your scarf (phone, debit card, cash) then it works out perfectly. In additional to traveling to Europe, I used my travel scarf when I took my first graders on a field trip to the zoo. It was perfect to hold my phone, my debit card and a list of my student groups. I love how I can use this scarf all the time, not just when I'm traveling.

I love my scarf so much that I can't wait to get one of their jersey knit scarves. While I did use my scarf a lot in the airports and quite a bit while we were in Paris, once we hit the Mediterranean on our cruise, I didn't use my scarf as much because the weather was SO HOT and the fabric was a little heavy for 95 degrees with high humidity. If I had had a jersey knit scarf as well, I probably would have used it during that part of our trip.

Jessie and Chad are so wonderful to work with. They really care about their customers. And their packaging is absolutely gorgeous. It is an experience on its own opening up your scarf from them.

Now come on, isn't this the cutest packing you have ever seen! (Photo from @pierrondesigns on Instagram)

I seriously can't say enough kind words about Pierron Designs. They make beautiful, high-quality products with breathtaking packaging. They are also very kind, happy people.

To see their latest work, go check out their Etsy site here. They have some good discounts going on right now on some of their patriotic merchandise. And to stay up to date on their newest designs as well as some behind the scenes info, check out their Instagram feed.

Here are three of my favorite scarves they currently have in their shop:

Navy Polka Dot (100% Cotton)        Beige/Black Aztec (Jersey Knit)       World Map (100% Cotton)

**We received this scarf free of charge to review on our blog. All opinions are 100% my own.**

Review: Eddie Bauer Stowaway Backpacks

When you are traveling, especially while you are hiking, one of the most important items to have is a good backpack. Enter in the Eddie Bauer Stowaway Backpacks.

We purchased these backpacks earlier this year and we have been so happy with them! We bought them after our Grand Canyon trip. On that trip, we used another Eddie Bauer backpack (similar here) that was great, but it was a little much for what we needed.

These Stowaway backpacks are lightweight, collapsable and the two different sizes are perfect for what we need on our hikes and while traveling.

Ben has the smaller, sling style backpack. It has one large pocket and one smaller pocket on the front of the bag. On the strap it has a small mesh pocket that perfectly holds a cell phone. It also has a water bottle pocket on the side that is perfect for carrying your water bottle or a yellow van. In this backpack we usually carry our DSLR camera in the larger main pocket. It makes it super accessible for me to pull out the camera while we are hiking since I am the main photographer. We also put our selfie stick and Gorilla Pod in the main pocket. In the smaller pocket, we usually keep the yellow van.

I have the larger, normal style backpack. It has one large, main compartment as well as two smaller pockets on the front. One pocket is towards the top of the bag and is a half circle style. This pocket is perfect for holding small things that you don't want to get lost. I usually keep my phone and charger, battery pack, and chapstick in this pocket. The other small pocket has a vertical zipper that opens into a pocket that takes up most of the front of the backpack. In this pocket we liked to keep maps and sunscreen. The main pocket held all of the random things we might need on the hike like sweatshirts, hats, a gallon water jug and snacks. My backpack also has two water bottle pockets on the sides. One always held my Atlasware water bottle while the other one often held a can of sunscreen.

One of our favorite things about these bags is that they are collapsable; they fold in on themselves to create tiny pouches that make it so easy to store! Instead of taking up the room of a normal backpack in our closets, they fit nicely into our box of travel items. Sometimes when we travel, we don't need the backpacks for the actual travel, but rather for an activity once we get to our destination. It is so nice to just throw them into our suitcases and then unfold them when it's time to use them. When folded up they have a nice handle that you can clip a careener to and then clip the folded up back onto another bag as well.

We are so pleased with these Stowaway backpacks from Eddie Bauer. They are very high quality, lightweight, and don't take up too much space.

**We did not receive any compensation for reviewing these backpacks. We just think they are a great product**

*This post contains affiliate links*

Chimani Arches and Canyonlands National Parks Apps Review

As you have probably noticed we had a fantastic time down in Moab visiting both Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. The area is absolutely amazing and full of beautiful places and natural wonders. There is so much to do though that it can be a little overwhelming, so for both parks I used the respective Chimani apps to help plan and carry out our adventures. I used the apps on a iPhone running iOS 9, but they are also available for Android.

These apps function very similarly to the Chimani Grand Canyon app that I reviewed a while ago, but it was my first time using the new interface that they updated too. And I have to say that it worked ok, but not as well as I was hoping. The new interface looks nice, but finding what I wanted wasn't always simple, more on that in a minute.

The Arches app and Canyonlands app are almost identical in form and function, only the specific information is different, so I will treat them as one thing for the sake of this review.

App Organization 

When you open the app you will be presented with a menu screen like the one shown below.

 There are a bunch of different categories to help you out so it is suppose to be easy to find what you want to do. Unfortunately I was not always sure where different activities would show up, for example the line between auto touring and hiking is very blurred with some of the same locations showing up in both places. That confused me for a bit, but I guess it makes sense if it is an attraction that can both be hiked to and seen from a pullout or parking lot. If you are not sure what category a particular attraction or activity might be found under chances are that it is under multiple.You can also use the search feature if you want to find something specific.

The menu grid is easy to navigate, although all the topics can also be found in list form under the side menu. One thing I wish though is that you could arrange the sections in the order that you most use them. For example the tab trip planning was not something I used, so if I could have replaced it with the hiking tab that would have been more useful to have at the top of the screen. 

Planning Your Trip

These apps are very useful in planning your trip to the parks because they will tell you how difficult the hikes are and about how long to expect on each. There is a section of the app called "Trip Planning" but I did not find this to be useful at all. It doesn't really help you to figure out what you want, so I would avoid it.

The best thing to do is just go look at the sections of things you like to do, in the case of these apps mostly hiking. When you find an activity that you want to do on your trip, or might want to do, just bookmark it by tapping the bookmark in the upper right hand corner of the details screen.

Now I'll do you a favor and tell you where to find those bookmarks later, since it is not apparent from the app itself, in fact I did not figure it out until after we had already come home from Moab. From the Home screen tap the banner at the very top, the one that says the name of the park and shows your rank (normally scout). This will take you the "My Chimani" section of the app where one of the sections is "bookmarks." This will make your trip much easier. Simply bookmark the activities that you want to do and then you will be able to easily find them while you are in the parks. This will prove useful when using the maps as well. 

Maps in the App

When using the app on are trip I thought the map portion of the app was virtually useless because it looked like this just a couple big orange circles and numbers.

You have to zoom in for individual places to appear and when you do you are so close that you can't see it in relation to anything else.

For this reason I relied mostly on the park guide that the rangers give you when you come in for navigating.

Since the trip though I have figured out how to make the map portion much more usable, which is good since some National Parks are no longer handing out the park guides to save paper. In the settings section of the app (at the very bottom of the side menu) turn off cluster map pins.

Although this still is not perfect (it would be nice if you could set some filters) it is much more usable. If you have bookmarked any spot it will appear as a tan pin making those easier to find. I hope to see more improvements to Chimani's maps in the future.

Also remember that you can download the maps to the app before you head out so that if you run into dead zones (you will) the map will still be available to you.

Badges and Account

As mentioned above there is a section of the app hidden in the title banner (also appearing on the side menu) called my Chimani. This is the area that stores your bookmarks and also your badges. Because I couldn't find this portion during our trip I never used it. So I don't know a lot about the badges, but it appears that if you hit the plus icon on an activity or place in the app then you will get the badge for that thing. I tried it on a bunch of the things we did down in Arches, but never got close to leveling up my rank, so I think the "verified" visits must be worth more, but I haven't tried since I am not on location currently. The badges are a nice way of keeping track of what you have done though.

Sum Up

The Chimani apps are really useful, despite a few drawbacks they will help make your trip to Arches and/or Canyonlands a lot better. You can't complain too much about something that is free. If you use my tips in this post it should work out even better than it did for us on our trip. Remember that Chimani has apps for most of the National Parks, but they all have different features depending on what the park has available (such as shuttle bus schedules in the Grand Canyon). 

Adventure + Gear Fest in Salt Lake

This past weekend we arrived back from Moab Friday evening and the next morning immediately went to the Adventure + Gear Fest at the South Towne Expo Center. Having just gotten back from a week of hiking and camping we were in a great mood to be excited about everything we saw there. Here is the run down on some of our favorites.

Activities:

This was a very active expo with a lot more to do then just talk with vendors. When we came in we could sign waivers at the entrance and get a wrist band with a QR code on it that they could scan at the different activities to keep you from filling out a bunch of different waivers for each place. Alternatively you could get waivers at the specific activities if you wanted. 

I did several of the activities but Meagan didn't feel up to doing them after hiking all over Moab her back was a little sore. I climbed both rock walls, despite the fact that I had unwisely worn my sneakers. I also took a paddle board out in a wading pool, road a big tricycle, and climbed inside a giant truck. Here are some videos and pictures. I really enjoyed the focus on activities at this particular expo; it made it a lot more fun in my opinion.

Products:

There were quite a few vendors at this show selling everything from vacation packages to hammocks to glasses cleaner. We actually made two purchases which is unusual for us, but there are times when you get really good deals because companies offer show prices. 

Unshoes 

We knew that Meagan was going to need some new, more comfortable sandals for hiking and for our adventures this summer, so we looked at several different options in the Chaco-style sandals at the show. Finally she decided on the Unshoes and we got a good show price on them. They look like they will be very comfortable (they had some rocks that she walked on) and the team at the booth was really friendly and helpful.

Z Clear Lens Cleaner

In our more unexpected purchase of the day we ended up buying some lens cleaner from a company called Z Clear. It was a bit impulsive on my part, but the salesman was extremely good and when he handed me back a pair of glasses that were as clear as the day I bought the cleaner. I was sold. I have notoriously dirty and scratched glasses, so I hope that in the long run it will turn out to be a good purchase. 

Tentsiles 

We didn't buy one, but I wanted to. These awesome hammock-tents use three straps to suspend your shelter in the air between trees. They were probably one of the more awesome products that we saw at the show. I tried one out and seemed to be very comfortable as well as being very awesome. 

Freebies:

We also got a couple things just for showing up. First we were greeted by the Jeep booth, which gave us t-shirts, that would have been a little bit more exciting if they had had some that weren't larges, but it was free. 

There was also a whole set up from the Recreation Outlet store where they were selling a lot of camping gear at pretty good prices. They had a wheel you could spin to get something for free, so of course we spun it. I really wanted a self inflating camping pillow since I had not been very happy with my regular pillow (which is normally awesome) while camping in Moab. I was so excited when I spun the wheel and it landed on free pillow! Meagan's spin landed on a water proof card case for river rafting, fishing, or water hiking.

Sum Up:

The Adventure + Gear Fest was a blast. We had a lot of fun and saw a lot of great products. They haven't posted the dates for next year on their website yet, but definitely keep an eye out for it if you live in the area.

Review: Atlasware Waterbottle

I am a water bottle snob. I had the same metal water bottle for almost 5 years before it finally bit the dust. And in the last year I have gone through 5+ water bottles trying to find the perfect one.

Until we went to the Great Outdoors Expo, I had been using this water bottle. It checked off a lot of things on my check list: holds a decent amount of water, doesn't make my water taste weird, easy to carry and clean, doesn't leak and looks cute :) After meeting with Dan Barney of Atlasware and telling him how much of a water bottle snob I was, he gave me one of his water bottles to try out. Now I'm converted. This Atlasware water bottle checks everything off of my list and more.

Atlasware water bottles are insulated and keep your drinks cold (and hot!) If I have cold water, I am a lot more likely to drink it. Because I'm a teacher, I can't always go grab a cold water from the fridge. After using this water bottle, I have nice cold water all day long. I don't even need to put ice in it! But when I do put ice in it, my water stays cold for an entire day.

Somedays when I'm out shopping, I like to have a bottle of water with me to stay hydrated. I usually keep my water in the car so I don't have to lug it around, but I don't like how it gets so warm when it sits in a hot car. This is not the case for Atlasware water bottles. My water stays nice and cold.

When we were hiking last week in southern Utah, my water stayed nice and cold even while being in the hot sun for long hours every day. It was so refreshing to stop for a cool drink during our hikes.

The bottles come with two lids: one is a cap lid that has a flat top and the other is your standard metal water bottle lid with a place to clip on a carabiner. I really like the look of the cap/flat top. I think it makes the water bottle look cute (which is one of my criteria for water bottles). While I like the look of the lid, I have noticed that it doesn't insulate as well as the other, plastic top.

For drinking, I love how the bottle has a narrow mouth. I hate it when my drink comes too fast at my mouth and I end up spilling all over the place. I haven't had that problem since I've started using my Atlasware water bottle. The only downside is that it is hard to get ice cubes in. If you have crushed or pebble ice it isn't too much of a problem though.

With ice, my drinks stay cold for more than 24 hours. Without ice, they stay cold for 12-18. I haven't had any hot drinks in my bottle but their website says that they stay hot for 18 hours.

My bottle is a 16 oz size and it is perfect! It is big enough that I don't have to fill it up every two seconds, but still small enough to be portable. It also fits nicely in the cupholder in my car.

Throughout our travels the last few months, I have dropped my water bottle multiple times on mountains, parking lots, hiking trails, etc. and the it has not scratched or dented at all. For someone who is as clumsy as I am, this is a huge feature that I love.

Atlasware bottles come in different sizes and lots of fun colors. Some of my favorites are the pink, purple, and of course yellow.

If you're in the market for a water bottle definitely look into Atlasware, especially if you're a water bottle snob like me :)

I was given this bottle to review on our blog, but all thoughts are completely my own.