Tag: Travel Challenges

The View Matters

November 12, 2025

Living a nomadic life for three and a half years now, I have stayed in many different places of varying size and location. There is certainly something to be said about the size of a place.

I don’t need much as a single person, but I do need to be able to move around. For example, I recently stayed in a Japanese hotel room where it was a struggle to walk around two sides of the bed because the room was tiny. I felt like I was doing parkour to close the curtains at night!

I also need enough space to fold out my yoga mat and do my thing every morning. So, a minimal amount of space to move around works for me.

If I can get a kitchenette, or at least a fridge and kettle, that’s preferable. You can’t eat out all the time.

What I learned on my trip to Japan is that the view from the window matters, too. At my first hotel in Tokyo, I was on the eleventh floor and had a view of Tokyo Bay. It was early October and still warm out. I even had a window that I could crank open a few inches. Not bad at all.

I then traveled to a few other locations in central Japan. The room that I enjoyed the most was compact but designed well. It had the tiniest kitchenette and a washing machine. But I had a view of another building. It was a little depressing. No street view—just the dull, white office building next door.

The worst was my hotel room in Kyoto. Don’t get me wrong. I loved Kyoto, and the hotel’s location was great. It was just a couple of blocks away from the Kamo River, which is a lovely place for strolling and people watching.

My room was in the back of a small hotel on a narrow street. Across from my room were residences. As a way of preserving privacy, the hotel designer put textured glass in the windows, the kind you would find in a bathroom. At first, I didn’t think it would bother me, but after a few days, I found it depressing.

Yesterday, I returned to Tokyo on my last stop before heading home. My flight is at 9:00 PM. So, I decided it would be better to get a good night’s sleep and leave my luggage safely at the hotel for the afternoon to take a final wander around the city.

I was very fortunate to get the best view of my trip, a room on the 33rd floor. I could care less that the hotel is a bit dated. The room is spacious, the bed was comfortable, and wow, what a view! I’m here milking the noon checkout time watching the sun and clouds move across the Tokyo skyline. We’ll call it the grand finale.

(More posts coming in the week ahead…)

Obsessed with Minimalism


July 3, 2023


My recent obsession with minimalism has become excessive.


Last year, I took an epic, life-changing trip to Europe, my first as a nomad. In fact, it was during that trip that I decided to live a nomadic life.


But my suitcase was too heavy. It was also too cheap, and I replaced it halfway through the journey. (The boots were an unnecessary purchase, but they’re pretty cute!) Lots of lessons learned.


I’m currently in my home state, Washington, enjoying the best house-sitting gig ever. My duties include watering plans and…well, that’s it. No pets. My friend is off on his own European adventure for a while, and I get to enjoy his beautiful home as a zero-cost Airbnb.


It’s good to have some time to unpack and assess my travel wardrobe. I am determined to take at least seven pounds out of my suitcase.


In eight weeks, I’ll embark on my longest nomad adventure yet. I’ll start in England and then head to Croatia, Greece, and the Canary Islands. The journey will end in mainland Spain in December, my favorite place to be at Christmastime. In total, I will be living out of my suitcase and daypack for 105 days. I expect to experience primarily warm weather and plan to use layers and my treasured down coat to cover the cooler days.


Thanks to the open closet design of my friend’s modern, eco-friendly house, I have been staring at this space a little too much.


The good news is that I have a couple of shorter trips, one this month and another next, where I can try out the wardrobe before committing to the long journey.


As far as toiletries and accessories go, I’m losing some weight there, too. I’m testing out laundry sheets and have decided that shampoo and conditioner bars will work for backup when staying at places where they are not provided.

Leave a comment if you have a great packing tip to share! I’ll let you know how it goes.

UPDATE: I’ve been back for a few weeks, so I guess I’d better confess that I am still no packing expert.

I intentionally decided to bring a few pieces of clothing that were getting a bit worn with the intention of discarding them as I traveled to lighten my load. That part did work out. I even discarded a pair of boots to make room for Christmas gifts.

I’ve decided on some favorite items and will replace them as needed before my next overseas journey.

And, as you would guess, my load got lighter as I used up certain items like disposable contact lenses and lotions.

The laundry sheets were adequate. I’m not a big fan of the shampoo and conditioner bars, though.

Can I Please Take This with Me?

November 24, 2022

Now that I have been travelling for five months, I can tell you some of the biggest challenges of moving from place-to-place and, well, not having my own home.

Number one: The bed. I am a girl who needs a good night’s sleep. Period. As I have gotten older (I’m in my 50s), I have come to appreciate a mattress with a bit of give. I’m not talking totally squishy, but I love a pillow top or some memory foam.

For the last five years, I had been spoiled with a Sleep Number bed, and I loved it.  I loved putting my feet up and taking a rest after a good hike or a day of skiing. I loved making it a little softer when my body needed some recovery time. And I loved the massage feature; it could get me back to sleep when I had those random 3:00 AM wake ups.

As you can imagine, not every hotel or short-term rental apartment has the best bed. The worst are the firm ones. I can’t say I’ve had one that was too soft yet. When I stayed in Valencia for a month, I got lucky. I really couldn’t have asked for a better mattress. (Well, except for that Sleep Number.)

Number two: Low quality or missing utensils. I like to cook and bake. For some reason making a delicious dinner with few ingredients while travelling is highly satisfying. Sometimes, it’s just throwing in one more thing, like the chopped Italian pancetta that I added to the sauteed vegetables and chicken breast tonight.

Simply delicious!

The problem is that I rarely have a sharp knife to work with, and ugh, sometimes the cutting boards are far beyond the day they should have been replaced. Yuck. Do I really have to eat food that has been chopped on this bacteria-ridden nightmare?

I also don’t understand why so many places have metal spatulas with nonstick pans. Don’t people know better? Don’t they understand that’s why their pans are all scratched up?

Number three: Lack of little comforts. My current journey started in Portugal and Spain in September and October. The weather was fabulous, in the 70s and 80s with very little rain. Then Daylight Savings time ended, and I was in the mountains of Andorra a week later. It was nearly freezing and pouring rain the day I arrived. After that, the days continued to be colder and shorter. In the evenings, I was longing for my favorite throw, the one that is like sheepskin.

Ah…bath time!

Bathtubs are a rarity in hotels and rentals these days. When I get one, I am a happy girl. That room in Andorra did have a tub. It was on the small side, but I didn’t care. A couple of week later, I spent the night in Barcelona before flying to meet a friend in Italy. I was grateful to have tub that night because I ended up walking more than expected that afternoon and evening.

Still, I wouldn’t trade the little annoyances or discomforts for the joy of my nomadic lifestyle.