Life Skills: Packing Light and Smart

Another great post from guest VikingKitten - a veteran traveler with some tips on keeping your suitcases light!

We travel a lot, so we know what you’re thinking:  You don’t want to be THAT person—the notorious over-packer who takes 5 suitcases on a week-long trip, but you also don’t want to leave anything important behind.  Here’s our top 10 tips for packing light while still covering all the bases:

1.   Make the room to bring a camera:

You’ll regret it if you don’t.

2.       Check the weather before you leave:

This point cannot be emphasized enough, but always remember that weather can be unpredictable.  Make sure to take advantage of layers, and consider bringing a jacket, umbrella, and hat.

3.       Choose clothes in travel-friendly fabrics:

Knit, cotton, and denim travel better than linen or silk, particularly if ironing won’t be an option.  Opt for easy-case fabrics that will retain their shape without the fuss.

4.       Bring versatile shoes:

The average female traveler packs 5 pairs of shoes—what a waste!  Bring a couple pairs of versatile, comfortable shoes in neutral colors, and at least one pair that can handle water/rain.

5.       Make your own travel-size toiletries:

Don’t waste space packing your huge shampoo bottles, and avoid wasting money buying travel-sized bottles of all of your favorite toiletries.  Instead, fill up reusable travel-sized bottles, like these with your existing shampoo, lotion, conditioners, and other toiletries to save both space and money.

6.       Use plastic bags to avoid potential spills:

Speaking of toiletries, make sure to put any bottles containing liquids that may leak into plastic bags to avoid a disaster.

7.       Try space-saving bags:

Affordable bags such as these get great reviews from frequent travelers who want to save space.

8.       Stick with color schemes:

Color schemes make outfits easier to coordinate.  Neutral colors are better because they are easier to mix and match and can handle many climates.

For women in particular—it’s always wise to pack a dress in a neutral color, which can be dressed down during the day with sandals and dressed up at night with heels, jewelry, and a cardigan.

9.       Remember your chargers:

For your phone, camera, laptop, etc.

10.   Pack a scarf:

Scarves are an underrated travel accessory: versatile and worth the space.  They are good for cold weather (for warmth) or for warmer weather (to dress up an otherwise bland outfit). 

And finally, some inspiration:

http://ericlefou.1.online.fr/MES_TRUCS/MESobjets/Mon_equipement/international.htm

http://sites.google.com/site/1ozluggage/pictcase

Any more tips readers? What are your tricks for keeping everything in the carry-on?

Life Skills: Giving actionable feedback

Giving a colleague, roommate, or partner feedback is difficult. No one likes to be criticized. However, actionable feedback (i.e., constructive criticism or praise, AKA communication) is key to healthy working - and interpersonal - relationships. Here are some tips to delivering feedback in the most painless, useful form.

1. Begin with the positive. People tend to focus on the negative, especially when they hear it from someone they wish to please, so it's even more important for you to emphasize the positive to avoid your small critique getting blown out of proportion. If people feel too threatened by the feedback they're getting, it's hard for them to absorb it. This is most important when you are just starting to give feedback - eventually you may develop an environment of continuous feedback, and people will welcome any input.
2. Be specific. Give specific examples of the behavior in question. It may have made a strong impression on you, but the person receiving feedback may not have noticed anything unusual. However, don't let examples distract from your core point--people sometimes respond to examples by giving excuses for that specific instance. You can say, "This is one example that shows the behavior I mentioned, but I've noticed it other times."
3. Make it actionable - suggest a future course of action.
4. Remember to give positive feedback as well! If you like what someone is doing, let them know so that they keep doing it.
5. Forgive and forget. Or as the great Jimmy Buffett would say, "breathe in, breathe out, move on!" This is good advice if you're giving feedback (don't bring up something repeatedly if you've already let the other person know of the issue, unless they don't make an effort to change), but even better if you're getting it! All input is good input, but one person's opinion does not define you.

The classic format for feedback is "When you (specific example of action) it makes me feel (how you feel). In the future, (alternative action)." This is dirt simple, but it works! The format forces you to think of both an example of the behavior and solution, and will signal to the recipient that feedback is coming.

How does your garden grow? Femonomics goes suburban

I live in an apartment building in Manhattan, where the closest thing I have to a garden are the sad little planters attached to our wrought-iron fence, and the three houseplants we constantly forget to water.  But, that doesn't mean I don't dream of fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and especially herbs.  Growing up, we had a vegetable garden in the front lawn (we lived in the suburbs) until my mom got tired of us kids refusing to weed and water, and the special taste of fresh-grown, warm from the sun produce lingers in my memory.  Spring is here, and I'm eying the flower, herb, and vegetable plant palettes at the farmer's market with envy.  So I thought I'd do a link roundup of gardening resources for those of you lucky enough to have a little patch of soil to call your own.  Feel free to share your gardening tips, or jealousy-creating tales of biting into the season's first tomato, in the comments.

Apparently, growing vegetables upside down is a big trend.  This works with anything that's not too heavy to strain the vine (so no melons), and has the advantage of eliminating the need for stakes and cages, and cutting down the weed burden.  It also seems to me it's an option for people who have a porch, fence, or outdoor stairway landing they can claim, but no yard.  (So, it would have worked in my old apartment in Chicago, another reason I miss it.)  There's a brand of upside-down planters called Topsy Turvy that has been selling its wares on QVC and late-night infomercials, but (the internet tells me) it's easy to make your own from an empty soda bottle or milk jug.  Here's a great list of 66 things you can grow without a real garden, in suitably sized pots or other containers.

Here's a nice guide for starting your own vegetable garden, unfortunately all the contacts are in the UK.  For more resources, the site DIY has about a million links to answer all your questions, as does the Backyard Gardener.  And you know we can count on Martha for some tips, both for herb and vegetable gardens.  Fruit is a little trickier to grow at home, but here's a list of varieties that work (although it may take you several years to get returns, and you generally need more space).  My family's had great luck with raspberries, which took over our backyard like weeds, but sometimes it's a matter of trial and error to find what works in your climate and soil.  For people who don't want to eat garden produce, but do want to spruce up a dreary lawn, this site has some great tips on growing all types of flowering plants. 

For general gardening tips, the Weekend Gardener is a good resource.  Once you get your garden going, you'll need to maintain it.  Here's some weeding tips.  Also, if you want to keep your gardens chemical-free, here are some tips for dealing with pests (and here).  I've also always heard setting out cups of beer is the best way to get rid of tomato slugs.  Silly alcoholic slugs.

Happy spring!  If you get to put any of these into action, you know I'm jealous!