Travel tips

Traveling around the country for thirty days offered a number of different climates to contend with. There were the cloudy days, the drizzly days, the rainy days, the clear days, the extremely hot days, and the freezing windy days.

One trick I learned on the first trip I took to Washington D.C. a few years ago was to bring along a few garbage bags. You know the big black bags that stinky stuff goes into and is taken away to the landfill. They are so compact (lay them on the bottom of your suitcase or fold them into a hockey puck size) and versatile to use. I had originally taken them to keep my dirty and clean clothes separate.

On the first day I was in Long Beach and everything was wet. I pulled out one of the bags and laid it on the bench. It also provided a little barrier to the freezing cold bench.