Holly's Terrific Traveling Tips

Welcome all to Holly's final blog post during her 2012 Munich stay! Holly is presenting to you all today:

HOLLY'S TERRIFIC TRAVELING TIPS!

1) Bring your own food! Yes it's allowed! As long as it's not in liquid or paste form, bring whatever you'd like. Apples, bananas, energy bars, cookies, candy, pretzels... the possibilities are endless and the best part: you know what's in your food and you don't have to touch airline entrees!

2) Know how to kill boredom! Let's face it, bringing a book is fun and all, but it doesn't take away that feeling of being in an airport or airplane. Movies are good too if you have decent battery life on your computer or iPhone/iPod, but personally I suggest anything pencil and paper oriented. Crosswords, word searches, sudoku, nonograms, coloring books, anything that will stimulate your mind with more than just your eyes.

3) Sleep? What's that? Here's another thing that most people don't do: sleep enough. This is especially difficult before and during long flights. If you can't get enough sleep beforehand, and I know it is difficult, don't fortify yourself with coffee or sugar. Take little walks around the airport or airplane to get blood flowing or get yourself some whole nuts or dried fruits to snack on. Or, if you want to try to sleep, bring your own pillow! No one cares. I can't sleep on moving objects but it does help me to feel relaxed.

4) Carry-ons are great! Sure, they're a bit annoying sometimes, but think about it: feel like your checked-in bag is over the weight limit? Your carry-on bags have no weight restrictions (probably because no one wants to carry 50lbs. of stuff) so this means you can pack to your heart's content... as long as it all fits in the required size dimensions. Plus, you're only carrying it from place to place... the rest of the time it's on the ground or in the air.

5) Patience is more than a virtue. It's a way of life. It's the way to help the time pass smoothly. Anxiety can be a problem for some people, but stressing about something you can't control will only make things worse. Just take a deep breath and relax. Everything will be fine.

6) Airsickness can be avoided. If you're truly prone to it, take a Benadryl or Dramamine beforehand. Otherwise, just don't eat within two-three hours of take-off. And before that time, eat something with pro-biotics like yogurt and possibly pre-biotics like oatmeal. Avoid eating or drinking on the plane. Long flight? Desperate? Nibble, and I mean nibble, on crackers or pretzels (both contain baking soda which helps the tummy) and sip, yes I mean sip, water.

7) Stretch! Even if you want to stay seated, just push your legs out a bit and stretch your arms. It will prevent you from knotting up.

That's all I've got for today! I have to leave around 6:30am tomorrow morning, a change in my schedule because of when my host father leaves to go to the airport. It's almost 11:30pm here and I have to get up at 4:30am or so! I have to get some rest!

The Squishables Trio will relay travel information when we return home!

My List is Now Complete... With a Visit to Lake Starnberg

Hello!

As all of you had known, I had one final thing on my list to do before I felt as though my visit to Munich was complete. And that was to visit Starnberger See, or Lake Starnberg in English. The lake has a lot of rich history stemming way back to King Ludwig II who died in this lake and it's also worth mentioning that I believe he died during the construction of the castle in Neuschwanstein.

Anyhow, I loved my visit there although the weather wasn't exactly perfect and I didn't stay very long. I took a few pictures and I walked around quite a bit. It was a nice enough day to go for a nice walk along the water and there were several people swimming but with the amount of dark clouds swooping in I decided to head out after an hour and a half or so. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

I could have taken a tour on this boat but I wasn't sure if I felt up to being at sea today. This was also the first thing I really saw when I got off the train.

This building holds some kind of historical significance though I'm not entirely sure what. I liked it though!

I always think it's funny when I see the German (left) and the Bavarian (right) flags flying instead of the U.S. flag and the respective state flag.

I thought it was kind of cool that I saw this military vehicle during my walk around Starnberg.

Here is the actual lake. This is probably the best picture I got. It is a very nice lake.

There was this little statue of abstract-type art in the water. There was a little sign with the history of the monument but I didn't take a picture of it.

I also did my other final two minor things, one was to purchase a bag of tea, and the other was to eat one small bowl of organic ice cream... which was delicious but some may argue that the "sorbet" I had was technically not "ice cream." I didn't take a picture of the ice cream, but I had mango on one side and strawberry on the other with a waffle circle on top! Very pleased with myself.


I also finished packing today. I thought it would take me much longer than it actually had which is why I started and inevitably finished today. However it does free up my schedule a bit for tomorrow and Monday so that's one less thing to worry about. Plus I am allowed to have two checked bags which takes a load off my mind. That's right... tomorrow and Monday. That's it before I leave. I'm still in denial. I love Munich so much and I do hope to come back someday... but I know it's time for me to go.

Despite my sadness, which is pretty sizable and comes and goes in waves, I will post at least one more blog entry (my Holly's secrets to making flying fun) and I believe the Squishables would like to report on the homecoming experience. But until then...

... have fun!