I lead a very quiet life. Nothing too exciting happens to me. This past week I was lucky enough to attend a Blogging Conference in New York called Blogger Bash, and it was truly empowering. In my 19 years of being a Mom, I have never gone away by myself. I know, call my crazy, but it just has never happened. I was encouraged to attend this conference by my family. Yes, they were all very supportive and agreed that I should go. I stepped way out of my comfort zone, and spent 3 days in NYC and I had the BEST time. It was so much fun, I am looking forward to doing it again soon. Today’s Six on Sunday will focus on the 6 things that made my trip to NYC possible. Next week I will start to focus on some of the super cool toys and products that I saw in NY and we will be making many Youtube videos and posts to share these new products with you! My kids are so excited to help me do this. After all the cool things that I brought home, and pictures that I showed to them, they are wondering when they can send me away again 🙂
Six things to help you travel like a PRO:
- Use UBER POOL! If they offer UBER in your city, you seriously need to try it. Why is UBER better than a cab ride? You know the cost before you get in the car. I took a few NYC taxis and they were so much more expensive than the UBER Pool. What is the Pool part you might be asking? It stands for carpool. In the area I was staying in, you could go anywhere in a certain radius for $10 and you might pick up a carpooler going in the same direction you were. I often did not have my ride turn into a carpool, but the two times it did, I met two pretty awesome and interesting people! If you click my UBER link, you will get a $20 credit towards your first ride.
- Bring rechargeable power for your devices. When you attend a busy conference you will be on your phone, tablet, etc more than usual. Your power will drain and you will need to get more juice. I did receive a few rechargeable devices at the conference, but if you do not have any, you need one like this.
- I could not have accomplished this trip without my Iphone. I know many people love their Android, even people in my own family, but I am an Apple girl and I find the Iphone so easy to travel with. I used the Eventbrite app for my tickets, the Uber app for my car trips and had my social media apps right at my fingertips the whole time. I do not know how I ever lived or accomplished things without my Iphone. No Iphone is complete without a good case, right? My favorite case is the Pong case. I worry about radiation from my cell phone (along with many other worries, hahahaha) but with my Pong case I have many fewer worries in that area. I love the way my Pong case looks and I love that it is protecting me, and the newer cases even have a built in antenna. Plus, this case protects your phone from drops. This case is the best there is!
- Amtrak was such an easy way to get to NYC from DC Union station. No long security lines, quick travel, comfortable seats, and they even let us go on an earlier train with no change fee! I would not go to NYC any other way.
- A good suitcase is really key. A quick tip is to bring an empty bag or two inside of your suitcase to fill up with goodies. My favorite suitcase for traveling is my American Tourister suitcase that I got after hosting a Disneyside party. American Tourister is the official luggage of Disneyworld and I can see why. My bag has incredible wheels that spin in many directions, and holds tons of stuff inside. My bag has been on some cool trips and I look forward to taking it on many more adventures.
- Last by definitely not least. Let down your guard, and make some new friends! I met so many awesome ladies at BloggerBash. These ladies made me laugh harder than I have laughed in forever. It was so much fun to have no worries for a few days. Day to day life is quite stressful with five children (two with a serious illness). I realize now that laughter really is a great medicine. The friendships I made will last a lifetime. I rarely have time to go out and meet new people and have some ME time. Lastly, having a train travel companion was awesome. We chatted, we laughed, and we held each other up. I seriously cannot wait until my next conference. I hope these tips will help another new blogger before their first conference. Hope to see you there!