Ahh yes, another “must-have” carry-on essentials guide by an esteemed travel blogger. ‘What makes this one different?’ you might be asking yourself. Welp, quite a bit actually. If you follow me on social media or have been a reader for awhile, you know I constantly find myself in mishaps and happy accidents often. Which is why I’ve learned what MUST be with me at all times to avoid discomfort or confusion when traveling. I’ve been traveling my entire life (yup, even as a baby my parents strapped me in on long car rides and drove state-to-state). I started traveling internationally with my firs ..read more

Legendary chef Anne Marie Bonneau once brilliantly said, “We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.” Us humans are messy and complicated and we don’t handle change very well. That’s why asking so many people to give up everything they know and love to go green isn’t exactly realistic. It seems like we need a more reasonable and pragmatic way to travel sustainably, for the sake of our planet. I myself am FAR from perfect. There have been plenty of times that I bought a plastic water bottle in an emergency or that I decided to ..read more

Happy Monday! I know it’s been awhile here on the good ol’ Clumsy blog. And for that I am not all that sorry. I temporarily had a desk job ::vomits:: and realized I needed to get back to what I truly love: writing (and making self-deprecating jokes/stories). Which is what led me to this new weekly series ‘Monday Musings.’ Ranging from my hobbies, recent excursions, funny moments or thoughts, this is the “diary-style” portion of my blog. So now I can finally ask the question: How does one measure the amount of genius found from insanity? Is it a ratio? Are there portions involved? Is it two ..read more

You know those annoying people who have to modify their orders at restaurants? You know, the ones who need to look up diet-friendly restaurants in advance and basically can’t eat anything without 20 awkward requests to the server? Yeah, I’m *that* person. I’ve been gluten-free for about 8 months and dairy-free for 4 and let me tell ya, it’s been quite a rollercoaster of emotions. But as a traveler, I’ve managed to find some gluten-free and dairy-free travel snacks that have eased the pain. Trust me: I know how hard it is to travel with a food restriction.  Airplane food barely meets the bare m ..read more

Oh, France. You’re more than just a beautiful place to drink wine and dance in lavender fields. You were a much needed respite for me. A place to look inwardly, a place to make memories with friends, and yes of course, a place to get drunk on wine. And as much as I love Paris, the South of France holds a very special place in my heart. So whether you’re here for a week or more, I’ve got the *perfect* 7-14 day Provence and Côte d’Azur Itinerary. Unfortunately, my duration in the South of France was cut very short due to scheduling issues. Thus OUR itinerary was only 7 days. Still, there are so ..read more

With a career in travel, people’s go-to question is often, “Where’s your favorite place you’ve ever traveled?” (It’s a pretty vanilla question most people ask when they have no idea how to start a conversation, especially when there aren’t any cocktails around.) And I always say that if I could live anywhere, it would be Australia. More specifically, Byron Bay. Byron Bay is a beautiful, boho escape from the high-energy cities of Sydney, Melbourne and even Brisbane. A chic, upper-class beach town home to several celebrities like Olivia Newton-John, Chris Hemsworth, Gemma Ward and even Matt Damo ..read more

The city of lights… the city of love… Paris is known for a lot of things. But one thing most people can agree on is that Paris is one of the most Instagrammable cities on the planet! And with Paris photography spots at every turn, it’s easy to get a little overwhelmed. That’s why I gotchu with the only Paris photography location guide you’ll ever need! Photography is one of those “eye of the beholder” kinda things. So I can’t possibly list EVERY. SINGLE. SPOT. (And hey, isn’t that kind of the adventure for each photographer?) But here are some (if not most) of the most famous and impressive ph ..read more