Episode 47: 10 Things That Worked For Christmas Travel

In this episode, Chandra reports back on the "Things That Worked", for her family as they traveled back to America from Europe for Christmas for the very first time (at Christmas). There are practical tips and travel hacks AND listen all the way until the end when Chandra shares her first ever stateside "Chan Select", you won't want to miss it!

• This episode's "Chan Select": Mesa Verde Bar & Grill in the Denver International Airport
• Follow us on Instagram: @Expatriotical
• Episode Reference: Episode 42: Navigating the Holidays as an Expat
• Quote of the Day: “Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out.” -Coach John Wooden
• Other References: Kendra Adachi a.k.a. The Lazy Genius, Pylones water bottle, Amazon Basic packing cubes, and Tello eSim card.

"Live and Travel in the Know" with Expatriotical!

Transcript

Bienvenue, Benvenuti, and Welcome to Expatriotical, the podcast for expats, travelers, and other adventurous souls. I’m Chandra Alley and after living as an expat with my husband and 4 children in two different countries for 6 years, I’ve learned the arts of pivoting during pitfalls, traveling tastefully for less, and soaking in amazing new cultures without losing your own.

Join me, as we dive into the joys and challenges of travel and the expat life in every episode!

Hey guys! I hope that you are doing great and that your New Year is off to an excellent start. As I record this, which will be two days before it airs, my kids are in their first morning back at school and I am back at my computer ready to bring you another episode.

As I've mentioned before, I do have a list of ideas that I keep on my phone and I will be dipping into those ideas for future episodes, but today because I kind of let you in on my family traveling to America for the very first time at Christmas since going abroad or moving abroad. And to clarify, that's not the very first time ever, that's just the first time we've gone back at Christmas. I've said that to some other people and it made for a bit of confusion because they thought it was the first time we'd ever returned to America, and so I'm simply clarifying that to say that that is not the case, but we have never traveled back or had never traveled back in the winter at Christmas time.

But I kind of in Episode 42: Navigating the Holidays as an Expat, shared what my tentative plans were for going back at Christmas, because we had gotten this really great deal with Air France, but we could only have a backpack and a carry-on, except for my husband being able to check one bag because he had higher flight status with them.

And So I was thinking about it as we were driving back to the Denver International Airport and I thought I should tell everybody how things went. So that's what this episode is about, we will be talking about or I will be talking about the 10 things that worked for me during Christmas travel.

So let's go ahead and jump right in. The first thing that worked for me during Christmas, and honestly it works for me every time I go to America, is my travel uniform. I know that sounds weird, but I kind of pulled this idea from Kendra Adachi, who is also known as The Lazy Genius. In several of her podcast episodes in the past, she mentioned that she had a Monday uniform, I'm not sure if she still does that anymore, but she basically made it easy for herself on Monday mornings, when things were chaotic, by choosing to have a basic quote unquote “uniform” of like jeans and a black shirt. So that if the morning was imploding or exploding, she already knew what she would wear and that would be one less worry.

Now, honestly, I had done this before listening to Kendra, but I only had done it randomly, and listening to her podcast made me realize that it was a random thing that worked, and that I should stick with it. So every time I travel, I wear a bright orange, thin, long-sleeved shirt or a bright yellow t-shirt, and green floral leggings.

The reason for the brightly colored shirts are simply because they matches the leggings, but I've also found that it could be great for my children if we.. being able to spot me if we were to ever get separated. And the leggings are just ridiculously comfortable. They are made by a multi level marketing company that I'm not going to mention by name, and I wish I could find something equivalent made by a different company, because I would buy more of them, but they are fantastic to travel in because they keep me warm, regardless, of whether it's summer or winter, because I tend to get cold on planes, but in the summer, they also are lightweight enough that I'm not too hot when I get off the plane and the sun is beating down on me.

The second thing that worked for me was bringing labeled lightweight water bottles for my kids. Normally, I buy everyone a water bottle once we arrive in Colorado, and then we just reuse it. But I know that that's not the best since they are single-use water bottles, and a lot of times they get broken or lost or people can't remember who's is who’s.

So my kids’ school had given them all small stainless steel water bottles, and I had already put labels with their names on it, and as a last minute decision, I decided to bring them. And it worked out great because they fit easily into their backpacks and we weren't spending money buying plastic water bottles so often.

I'm sure a lot of you had already done this, but I had been worried about my kids losing their water bottles… I like for example we bought them water bottles at the beginning of last school year, I believe it was. And they, not the one, not 2024 but 2023 and they were expensive, they were like $20 a piece or something like that, but they work great, but I didn’t want to lose those. But since these were freebies, it just gave me peace of mind knowing that if they lost them, it wasn't a big deal.

And for Chris and myself, Chris used an old IKEA two euro or three euro water bottle that had been mine, and I had recently gotten a super cute and colorful smaller water bottle that would fit in my purse, from a store called Pylones, that’s P-Y-L-O-N-E-S, I don’t think you say the “s”, I don’t think it’s Pylone “s” or PIlones. Not to go on and on about the water bottles, but I really love this one as it's not tiny, so I still can have a good amount of water, but it is small enough to fit in my purse, there are so many designs to choose from at that store, it's really good plastic and well-made, and it has a fabric handle attached to the top.

And I will be sure to include a link to the Pylones store in the show notes, in fact, I will include links for a lot of the things that I mentioned in the show notes for you to check out. But there are 79 Pylones stores in Europe, and even one in Dubai if you want to check it out. And you can order online, though I'm not sure where they ship to.

The third thing that worked for me this trip, was not taking my computer with me. Due to the weight restrictions of only being able to have 26.45 pounds or 12 kg combined between our… between our backpacks and our carry-on bags, there was no way I could bring my new computer. But also due to my Microsoft package not transferring onto new said computer and being stubborn and not wanting to purchase Microsoft every year since they’ve changed how they do things, because that just doesn't make sense to me, I reverted to using Google Drive. The reason why I would even need my computer is because I still have to pay bills while we're gone, and in the past, I had an Excel spreadsheet, and I would need my computer to be with me to do that, to pay bills and keep track of stuff.

But Chris was on call and had to work during our Christmas vacation time, so he just said I could borrow his computer and I was able to access my spreadsheet via the Internet, no problem!

I cannot tell you how happy this made me! And it has made my decision to use Google Drive, and not buy the Microsoft package, feel even better!

The fourth thing that worked for me with Christmas travel was packing a carry-on suitcase inside of a larger suitcase. I remember that I said in Episode 42 that I wasn't sure if we were going to have to pay to check an extra bag, but Chris was able to do all of his packing into that smaller carry-on and then put it inside of the larger bag that he was allowed to check for free. Which is something we normally do, but because of the Christmas presents I wasn’t sure how that was going to work out.

And by God's grace, I was able to get all of the Christmas gifts, which I'll talk about more later, and all of our American goodies, like four large tubs of peanut butter, 14 cans of roasted, diced green chilies, and multiple things of deodorant and stuff like that, into that large checked bag and make it underweight (or actually like .2 kg over, but the lady was really nice and didn’t say anything), and then Chris just simply wheeled his carry-on onto the plane on the way back.

The fifth thing that worked for me, and has been working for me for a while so it wasn't new or anything. Were packing cubes by Amazon Basic. I was introduced to these probably in 2020 when a friend or two of mine told me about them and one friend in particular said that she used them to pack an entire day's worth of clothes for her family in each cube. Now that's not the way I use them, though I thought that is pretty genius, but that was how it was introduced to me.

For me, I use small packing cubes to keep my kids’, underwear, socks, and swimming suits, when it’s the summer, together and easy to find. I find that before I did this we were always searching for their underwear and socks and now I always know where they are (and so do they) because they go straight into these packing cubes.

And honestly, I love it for me because it’s easy to pull out or to stuff into small crevices in the suitcase where I have a little bit of room but not a ton. Again, I will include the link for these in the show notes, and I should say that for all of the links I am not an affiliate, just a fan.

Kind of in line with the fourth thing, but sort of separate, is the sixth thing that really worked for me was only packing carry-on bags. I was really nervous about this, because it was the first time we had limited ourselves to only doing that and it was winter. So I knew I could only pack for 5 to 7 days of clothes and it had to be pants and sweaters and bulky stuff instead of shorts and T-shirts, but I had just planned to do laundry and because we were traveling to America doing laundry was not a problem.

We never ran out of clothes because I would just wash some, and it was a short enough period of time that nobody complained about wearing the same thing, not that my kids would complain about that, well at least at least the boys wouldn't because they tend to wear the same thing over and over anyway, but it worked.

The seventh thing that worked brilliantly for Christmas travel, was my mom giving activities as gifts. I mentioned that she tends to do this anyways, but this time it made for so much fun for all of us to have together while we were with her that first week we were in Colorado. One day we went to the trampoline park, and jumped until we were exhausted, one day we went rollerskating and if I'm honest, I haven't been rollerskating like that in a rink probably in that exact same rink actually. Since I was probably 12 or 13 years old. And it was a blast!

And then our last activity was to go ice-skating, which I think was my favorite of all and was also the favorite of a lot of the kids. These activities gave us something to look forward to on those days, and also were indoor activities for if it ended up being cold, which honestly it wasn't too cold while we were there so that wasn't a problem, but they were great ways for the kids to use up a lot of energy. And good ways for Chris and I to help burn off some of the extra calories that we were eating since we were in America and enjoying a lot of our American junk food favorites! And let's be honest it was the holidays so we were eating more in general.

The eighth thing that really worked at Christmas, was giving matching pajamas for the cousins along with a movie night and treats as a gift. On Chris's side of the family, he and both of his sisters each have with their spouses, four kiddos. And usually we have them exchange names for their gifts. Whether we are with each other at Christmas or not. Which usually, my family is not there.

But since we needed to come up with lightweight gifts, one of Chris' sisters, I'm sorry, Sarah and Katie I can't remember, which of you it was, came up with the idea of doing matching pajamas, and then we added in the movie night.

So a couple days after they opened their gift, they sat down and watched Home Alone, I believe it was, and each of them got a mini soda and a few candies and I popped at least seven bags of popcorn and they had a fantastic time.

For my kids, I think it was especially a treat, because they got root beer, which is really hard to find here in Europe, and also Butterfingers, which I don't think I've ever seen here in Europe, and for all of them I think they really liked wearing the matching pajamas!

Other gifts that my kids got were jewelry for Lilliah, and then the boys got bow and arrows (which were light weight) and could come apart, but they we were able to fit in the suitcase and we got them back to Paris.

The ninth thing that worked for me “again” I have to say, because Christmas time wasn't the first time I used it, was an eSIM card from Tello. My friend Regan told me about it after I had sent a text out in the schoolwide chat asking for help when I discovered that my AT&T  prepaid SIM card could not be reloaded here in France because it required that I would be sent a code or pin to that number, which could actually not be used here in France.

It’s a long story, but I had not found a way from the French company that I use to have a number that worked in America, I had arrived in Chicago, headed to LA, in the summer of 2023 after we had moved to Paris and discovered that my phone was merely an expensive paperweight after I had purchased a plan from that company that was supposed to work, but didn’t, it actually ended up being a plan where you could call FROM France TO America for like a couple of hours worth of time... Anyway, so I had purchased this AT&T prepaid card while I was in America so that I could have a phone while I was there that summer.

But when I discovered I couldn't reload it or put any more minutes on it this last summer in 2024, I had a problem. That's when Regan told me about Tello. Basically you put in your information on their website and find out if your phone is even compatible to have an eSIM card, and if it is, you can pick and purchase your plan.

So when I'm in America once or twice a year, I raise my plan up to unlimited calls and a ton of data for about $25 plus tax, the rest of the time I lower my plan to no data and 100 minutes I think it is, for five dollars a month plus tax. It's a very small price to pay throughout the rest of the year to know that I always have cell phone coverage when I get to America.

I simply go to “settings” in my phone and toggle on the Tello number once I have landed in America and toggle off my French number and then take my phone out of airplane mode and voila, I have service. When I get back to France, I do the opposite. I turn my primary French number back on, turn off the American number, and take my phone out of airplane mode.

It truly is that simple and I am so grateful to have the service!

And the 10th and final thing that worked during Christmas travel, and again anytime I go to and from America is taking melatonin. Now this is something that you need to consult your primary care physician or your children’s pediatrician before doing so, but I find that using melatonin really helps us to transition to the new time zone better and getting longer more restful sleep when we are jetlagged.

Again, please do talk to your doctor before taking it, I am not a doctor and cannot recommend how much, etc etc… but I will say that for the first couple of years of living abroad, we did not use it, and once we did, it was a total game changer. Again, not going to be held liable you really to see a physician or ask them about using it before taking it, but keep it under your hat for the next time you travel.

And those are the 10 things that really worked for me and my family when we traveled abroad or back to America, I should say, at Christmastime.

Now let's go ahead and jump into this week’s “Chan Select”. It crossed my mind recently that I could probably share things that are in America that I like and those things can still be a “Chan Select” because people travel to America internationally and they may want to try things that I recommend.

So this is a “Chan Select” that is based in Denver. It’s called Mesa Verde Bar and Grill and it is located in the Denver International Airport, so pretty perfect if you are traveling there.

When Chris and the kids and I arrived at the airport, on New Year’s Eve we were pretty much ready for lunch, but didn't really want to eat any of the fast food that was in the main food court area of our terminal. So we started walking around and I saw the sign that said Mesa Verde restaurant and pointing up the escalator.

So we went upstairs and found that they had two options. A quick take away area, and a sit down restaurant. Because we had plenty of time we decided to sit down and enjoy one last meal of Mexican food. Which we pretty much gorge ourselves on as much as we can when we're in the US.

I'm really happy to say that the prices were really good. The kids' meals were reasonably priced and generous in portions, and I think for the six of us to eat including Chris and I each having a beer. It only cost $86 total. Which for airport food at an actual restaurant seems to be amazing to me.

But the really cool thing was that their Pueblo style green chili was excellent! Green chili is Chris's favorite food in the whole wide world, and it's not something you can find really outside of the states of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and maybe a little bit in Utah. It's a very regional thing, and he pretty much only gets it when we go to Colorado in the summertime, and when I make it for him on his birthday, because it tends to be a bit of work so I don’t make it more.

And so that's what he ordered and when he tasted it, he said, “This is really solid.” So I tried it and I totally agreed.

But so was my Caesar salad, and the Carne Asada fries that Lilliah and I shared, they were awesome. Of course the menu was much more extensive than that, but the boys stuck to corn dogs and chicken tenders on the kids meals so I can only comment about those other things, but I will say their fries, in general, were delicious.

Also, the service was great, the restaurant environment worked not only for families, as our family of six (with four children) we were surrounded by other families that had two and three children of their own, but also for couples, it worked great for couples and solo travelers. I will be sure to include a link to their Instagram page in the show notes, and as always, I am not an affiliate just a fan!

And now for our “quote of the day”. Since this episode is all about “things that worked” for me traveling this Christmas, I thought I would give us a quote about things working out. The quote comes from American basketball coach John Wooden, who won 10 national championships with the UCLA Bruins in a 12 year period, seven of which were won in a row- a feat which is a record and has never been accomplished since.

Wooden had many quotes that I really love actually, and was known for his simple and short inspirational messages to his players aand this quote definitely falls in that realm. Coach Wooden said, “Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out.”

A simple statement that is so true, and one that I honestly need to put into practice more.

That's it for this episode everyone, I wish you a great rest of your week and before I sign off I would love to ask you if you would take a moment to share this episode if you heard any particular tips or travel hacks that you think would be helpful to someone else, would you pause this or at the end of this episode go into your podcast app and click the share button and send it to that person that comes to mind? I would greatly appreciate it as that helps to grow this wonderful community that is being built.

That's it for today everyone, I'll meet you back here again next week and until then this is Chandra Alley reminding you to “Live and Travel in the Know” with Expatriotical.