Global Kristen Suzanne

My 3 Must-Haves I Pack for Family Travel

April 24, 2018 by Kristen Suzanne

Travel must-haves

I saw the question on Twitter,”What are your travel must-haves?”

It got me thinking.

I have three.

There are three that I won’t go without, because we’re a family (that’s the key for two of them), especially for world travel. Must must pack.

My Minimalist Frugal Travel Coffee Brewing Method

April 23, 2018 by Kristen Suzanne

Coffee

I love living a minimalist life.

I enjoy having fewer things. It’s fewer distractions from what’s really important to me, it’s more energy in my life as a result of less decision-making fatigue, and it just feels damn good.

Being a minimalist while traveling is beneficial because I pack less and carry less. That’s important when I’m trying to utilize only a backpack for travel. I haven’t achieved that goal yet, because I’m still using a small portion of the suitcase that Kamea and Greg use. However, with each new destination, I learn to live with a bit less.

I’m also living a frugal life. Why?

We have a major awesome life goal to be financially independent and retired early. Don’t be confused by the “retire early” part to mean we don’t want to work. We want the experience of “not having to work” on any given day should we choose.

Being minimalist and frugal go hand in hand 🤝 (especially when traveling).

Being a minimalist and frugal make travel a lot easier… most of the time. I’ll admit to a few sacrifices and challenges along the way, but all in all, a much better travel experience when being minimalist and frugal while traveling.

I’m also a big coffee drinker. ☕️

I’ve been drinking it since high school for better or for worse. To be honest, my Nana (full blood Italian) started me with my first sips of the black elixir when I was seven.

I’ve carried on the tradition with my daughter, of course.

So… being a frugal minimalist traveling coffee drinker… what do I do?

4 Tips for Staying Fit While Traveling the World (Digital Nomad)

April 22, 2018 by Kristen Suzanne

I have finally, in my 40s, figured out one of the things that makes me feel the best.

Being lean, fit, and strong.

I’ve had many periods in my life where I relaxed my exercise, cut loose with my food choices. In these times my body composition changed. I put on a few pounds. I had some softness around the midsection.

I kept saying, “No big deal, I’m still in good shape.”

I see women of all shapes and think the ones with curves are very pretty and just as attractive as those without them. In those times I encourage myself that it’s ok I have gained a few pounds. It never gets higher than about five pounds anyway.

Then, I figured something out. I realized that I regularly go back and forth with the same five pounds. Get too relaxed with food and exercise, gain a few pounds, feel kind of “off” and not comfortable in my clothes (I’ve always disliked anything tight on my waist – even back in high school I always opted for a baggier waisted option, something that hung a bit more lose.)

Then, I’d lose the few pounds, which required exercise and good food, feel AWESOME.

Back and forth. Again and again.

After leaving to travel the world, my soft waist came back from lack of exercise and my eating changed to omnivore with mostly good choices, but not good enough to maintain my treasured leanness.

When I eat well AND EXERCISE… I feel EMPOWERED!

I feel STRONG!

To be clear, it’s not about being skinny for me. I don’t want to be skinny. It’s not a body image disorder, at least I don’t think so.

I’m into a strong and lean body for me. Tight.

It’s very much about how I feel physically inside my body and outside. I have this total bad-ass feeling when I’m in really good shape. I feel like I’m in control of my life. I don’t feel lazy. And, I think there’s something to that.

So, I finally said to my self, “SELF! I figured out something that positively benefits my life experience, and that is to be lean and strong.”

2 French Dreams Come True for Me Today

April 18, 2018 by Kristen Suzanne

One of my dreams regarding travel was that Kamea would learn languages. I had visions of her meeting up with kids who didn’t speak English and Kamea wouldn’t know their language and, yet, they’d figure it out.

Today, my dream came true.

We’re staying in a house in Mitry-Mory, France, and there is a very tiny neighborhood. We heard children’s voices outside and opened our door.

Voila! 3 young French girls. 👊🏼

Kamea didn’t hesitate a second to run out there and play, even though she couldn’t communicate with words.

Immersing in the French Culture: We Took the Bus. (Digital Nomads Travel)

April 17, 2018 by Kristen Suzanne

That’s my refrigerator in France after having gone shopping.

After walking into town the other night and finding an ATM along with survival food, we had plans to find the promised supermarket and mall. So, yesterday, we took our euros and braved the bus in Mitry-Mory, France. 🚎

Braved…. not really, but it was something we hadn’t done before in another country. We didn’t have tickets and hoped we could get on with money. Everything we were looking at for planning the trip was in French and that took a lot of effort to attempt translation… trying to figure out the times, the drop-off, the process, etc.

It was a gorgeous day though. We felt hopeful. ☀

We figured if we got lost, we could figure it out.

We Made It to France. Why Are We Doing This?

April 15, 2018 by Kristen Suzanne

We made it to France. 🇫🇷 😀

I’ve always wanted to visit France since taking French in high school and college.

We took the Eurostar train from London to Paris which was a good experience. The St. Pancras train station is nice with plenty of shops and restaurants.

I bought a cup of organic coffee, figuring I could bring it on the train.

However, we needed to go through a security check before boarding the train.

Turns out, very cool… They actually had a cup holder in a security bin for my drink. It went through the security system along with my bags and electronics. :)

Once we landed in Paris though, it was a bit confusing. We needed to get on a train to get to a little town outside of Paris and it required buying tickets from a kiosk in Paris.

I was under a bit of stress after having landed in a crowded train station where everyone is speaking French and I speak a little but definitely not enough. I have a young daughter in tow, always a bit stressful on travel days, we’re lugging heavy backpacks and a suitcase, and there’s many blog posts warning about pickpockets in Paris. Plus, we’re on a timeline with people expecting to pick us up at our final destination. People who don’t speak much English.

My 3 Must-Haves I Pack for Family Travel

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