Traveling abroad? the Bahamas? Mexico or Puerto Rico? Then you need a passport. Having a passport is a good idea, anyway. When the zombies hit, you're going to want first dibs at a flight, and if you think post office lines are long at Christmas time..!

Pete has never had a passport [newbie!], so here are a couple links to get you [and him] started:

Passport from US Gov
How to apply
Ready-to-Print Application forms
Emergency Passports

There was a time you didn't need a passport for the Bahamas or Puerto Rico, if you were a US citizen, I'm not sure how much of the rules has changed, but this is a great article for those questions.

You will also need a passport photo. The govt is very specific about these, it must be 2in X 2in, and your head has to be precisely centered, just right. Both ears have to be showing, and the image must be against a solid background, preferably light-colored. I'd keep makeup to a minimum, and your hair the way you typically wear it. I've actually seen people get stopped for looking nothing like their passport photo because they decided to go Hollywood Glam in the RiteAid. You can get a set of passport pics taken at almost any local drugstore, and sometimes, they have coupons!

If you don't have time to run down to the store, many pack-n-ship shacks take the photos, too, as well as official post offices. However! Now you can take your own passport photos! Here is a neat tutorial on making your own passport photo. Do me a favor and don't dig up the 1986 college pic you cling to because your hair hasn't fallen out yet and you didn't need glasses. Either take a picture to crop, or find a current pic taken in good lighting! Here is a site that allows you to do all the cropping online, just upload, crop, and print! It's a neat site, actually- ePassportPhoto.com.

You should receive your passport in a few weeks. After that, keep it in a safe place, keep it clean. There are numerous places to buy passport sleeves, cases, jackets, etc. I have a clear plastic one I bought at CVS for $2, but here is a way cuter one and other passport accessories!

I have a few passports of my grandfather, they are a testament to his life and I cherish them greatly. I travel as much as I can, to places that require stamps so that my kids, and their kids know that I did stuff, went places- and I hope they do, too.

I stumbled on this site today called 'TripOvation,' which I immediately misread as 'TripOvulation.' Actually, maybe I didn't read it as 'ovulation,' it's just that 'ovation' sounds like a word that should be associated with that region.

Anyway! This site is totally new, still being built, I suppose- but I'm super excited to see what it is?! Is it a site for dying people, one last trip? Is it a site for cycling your ovulation cycle with the natural cycles of mother earth? Can you conceive when the aurora borealis starts? In my frantic wonderings, and before I strayed too far, I researched.

"A new kind of travel company for people who love to travel by people who love to travel." This is the tagline on the website. Is it a personal travel concierge site!? That'd be awesome. I read on, StartupSquad reported below:

PEHub is reporting that TripOvation has raised $3 million in Series A funding led by Azure Capital Partners. What will they be working on? Not much is known except for - travel merchandise and travel booking. Will see how that one goes.

They also mentioned other startups on the hunt for capital venture, FareCast and Yapta. Farecast I'm familar with, but what is Yapta?! Yapta is apparently a downloadable app that lets you track and 'tag' flights, it helps you stay alert when a flight drops in price and allows you to organize all in once place. Pretty neat! I'll have to try that out with my latest trip to Japan.

Next, I found that TripOvation recently [5/31/07] released news of securing their first round of VC money, a whopping $3 mil, courtesy of Azure Capital Partners. W00t! I also learned that they are based out of Menlo Park, CA., and according to VentureBeat, the site will serve as a "travel merchandise and travel booking site."

Then, I found a really nice list of travel startups, over at Digital Goggles. Very awesome! The list forgets a couple, though- like triporama!

Last findings:
CEO is Kevin Fleiss.

Well, it's official. We're going to Japan!

Update: Our flight leaves on 5/18 at 7AM, and we land in Japan the next day by 2PM. An itinerary is in the works and I'm finding out what's worth visiting by reading vacation stories on other travelers' blogs.

Be back later!

Yay Disney!

Before you read, play this music thing, please.
Nothing kills me more than seeing the age next to the name of a fallen soldier. You ever looked at the age? Firstname, Lastname, 22, or 20, or 19, or 25...it breaks my heart. It's painful that nothing has changed as far as that goes. Kids going to war...12 to 15 year-olds that fought World War I, kids in their teens fresh out of high school storming the beaches of France on D-Day, college kids going to Korea and Vietnam...what's going on?

The only thing worse than that is reading the alarming rate at which our beloved vets are dying. I'm talking about our WWII guys. They did so much for our country, and for the world. In France, on the metro, there are signs that tell you to give your seat up to vets, if you see them. That is wonderful- because you see them, wearing their medals, still.

So, I ask that you take special time to recognize our vets. Please, before they're all gone. And take special care of our troops now. Support the troops, send them mail. Send them puzzle books and coloring books and send them Little Debbie snacks and sunscreen. Send them chapstick and phone cards, or handheld electronics games. Seriously. After 9/11, I saw yellow magnetic support ribbons on each car, or at least an American flag- I haven't seen any lately. Pick it up, people.
So, in honor of all our troops, past and present, pay tribute to the following areas:
Gettysburg and Antietam
Revolutionary Playgrounds: Boston, Philadelphia, Washington D.C.
Normandy/ Omaha Beach, France
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Holocaust Museum, Washington DC

I know that a lot of people aren't as travel-minded as I am. Thankfully, I was blessed to grow up in a family that was not only hooked on traveling together, but did it in ways that I could always appreciate, and never feel like I was being dragged around. Because of this, a general love for history, and the adventurous friends I have, I have been lucky enough to throw caution to the wind [and appropriate requests for time off from employers] and see a lot of places. I've compiled a simple, short list of five things that are travel-related that you should do.

1. Visit a country with a foreign language
There's nothing as humbling as trying to accomplish getting somewhere in a language you have no clue about. However, there is also no better feeling of accomplishment. When you're in a country whose national language is one you're completely unfamiliar with, you're forced to rely on the most basic of human communications: facial expressions, drawings, hand gestures, sounds, acting- it's like massive game of charades. You will often find that many people are willing to help, so long as you are polite, and in agreement with their typical customs. I think finally finding you can communicate with somebody from a completely different culture/language, puts life into perspective a little. The world is not as small as it seems at times.

2. Give a personal tour of an exquisite place
Not everybody wants to see the Mona Lisa, and not everybody cares about Gettysburg, that's why personalization is key. Taking somebody to a place where you have experienced something unique or awesome will make taking them there much more special. Anybody walks up to the Eiffel Tower will generally feel the same thing. However, taking a friend, a parent, your loved one, to a favorite little coffee house, or a hidden church up a thousand steps where you can see all of Paris, will leave a far longer lasting impression.

3. Travel alone
Do you know who you are? I'm not saying that a one-person trip will all of a sudden change your life, but you certainly do learn stuff about yourself. You will also have ample time to think of all the people you wish you WERE with. It's a weird way of making you step back and say, 'huh...I actually do miss them!'

4. Make a friend in another country, while you're there
They don't even have to live there, you just have to have met them there. There's nothing else to this than it's nice to have friends and getting snail mail from somebody with weird stamps is awesome.

5. Take part in a study-abroad program, or international help organization
This is a must- it's a once in a life time experience. You meet a lot of people, hopefully you will make some lasting friends, and you will learn a lot.

I'm going to see if I can find some good links for study-abroad programs. Schools may have them, and many of them will pay for the chaperone's trip, as long as they get a certain number of students- a great deal!

While we were at Blizzard Beach, I bought a waterproof camera to use. It was $22, but WELL worth it. It came with a dorky strap you could attach to your wrist, and then flip the camera up, to snap a picture. The prints aren't the best quality, but I think it's because it was cheap film to begin with. However, I was able to take pictures without fear of the water, or breaking the camera, and even underwater! Unfortunately, I don't have a scanner, so I had to take pictures OF the pictures, by holding them up to the built-in camera on my MacBook Pro.

The plastic case pops open so that you can remove the camera, which is reusable! So you can add more film the next time you go to the beach and go surfing, canoeing, kayaking, or go white-water rafting. You can even take some pretty neat pictures in the rain, but make sure you buy quality film. Apparently, this same company makes digital cameras! But the above link lets you buy the same one I used for a mere $15. Phenomenal!

Enjoy!
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Guess what? I'm starting a newsletter! In it, you'll be getting a snippet of my latest blog entries: travel tips, must-have buyables, and oodles of awesome travel-related links. So sign up! I'm using a really neat [free!] tool called Zookoda, you should try it out!

The service is double opt-in, so after you enter your email address, you'll be emailed a confirmation, asking that you affirm you wanted to sign up for my newsletter, the Passport.

Thanks!

No joke, take a look at the links below.

Don't take 'flight is full' for an answer! Know your passenger rights, visit http://www.mytravelrights.com/travellaw.cfm?ai=3 for full information.

Rule 240.

Before airline deregulation in 1978, Rule 240 was literally a federal requirement. Nowadays, it's a term describing what individual airlines will do for late or stranded passengers. In fact, the major airlines have filed "conditions of carriage" with the U.S. Department of Transporatation (DOT) guaranteeing their respective Rule 240s.

If your flight is delayed or cancelled, or if you've missed your flight connection, these policies may give you free meal vouchers, hotel accommodations, phone calls, and other amenities. You may be booked on a substitute flight -- even on another airline -- and you may be compensated or given a full refund if the flight problems persist.

Next stop, fancy travel is for sissies. Be a man, get a backpack, get some foot salve and some baking soda powder for anti chaffing, a map, and ID- hit the road, Jack. This awesome travel blog provides a great list of top backpacking destinations- check it out! From Nicaragua to India, Nepal to Thailand- tons of information for the adventurous traveler. [That's you!]

Ok, so maybe you're bad at planning and picking your own travel adventures. That's cool, use somebody else's. A new site called TripWiser now allows users to post their successful itineraries, so that you can partake in their fun! It's cool because people create trips like 'Weekend Boston trip with kids in mind,' so you can very specifically choose a trip that's tailored to your needs!

Another fellow travel blogger has posted a great list on planning and executing your travel plans. To be more specific, he's got tips on making your 'Travel Dream a Reality." There are a lot of good points and I certainly encourage you to visit!

Do you use evites? Evites are a great way to share your plans with a group of people, but they're not exactly meant for planning multiple-people travel adventures! That's where sites like triporama and triphub come in! You can use these sites to send 'invitations' to your travel mates, to share plans, itineraries and schedules, update eachother on travel prices, everything you would typically have to do through a looonnggg string of emails. You can assign tasks to people, like searching for airfare, finding activities to do, or booking a hostel. Definitely a great find!

Yay for cooperation! Triporama is my favorite, it's easier and a lot more user friendly.

I don't think I've posted about this, so I thought I would.

Last year, Kevin, Andrew and I decided to jump in CF2 [catfish=Ford Taurus, 2=Kevin had the first, I have the second] and drive to NC. Honestly, I was waiting for that car to just give up, but it didn't! It got us there safe and sound- and back, too!

We made it to the Georgia/Florida border from Orlando in just under 4 hours. A miracle, I know, and we were through Georgia in a clock tick- but not before being hit in the face by the awful smell that eminates from Geogia's soil. As you can see from the above image, Kevin was not pleased with the stench.

The rest stops are always interesting. One gas station, called 'El Cheapo' had this little quote, "Sex is so good." It was quickly reprimanded by the following quote, "Shut up You need Jesus Amen." Amen, indeed! When we got to NC, I remember it raining immensely. It was ok, though, it left a very fine mist. We were also high up in the mountains so the fog was awesome to look at. Our first day in NC, we drove out for breakfast and stopped at some local antique/thrift shops, where I fould 'The Ungame!' If you've never heard of it/played it, you're missing out!

The diner we went to for breakfast had awesome food, too!

Big cities= big walking.

That means a couple things, comfortable feet and sturdy shoes. I have no arches, and neither does Kevin, so we make sure to have this covered, because we're both pretty cheap when we travel. When we went to Savannah, we covered every square of that city on foot. When we went to Europe, we took full advantage of any available public transportation system. Even our trip to Chicago was wrought with aching feet and endless accomodations to help them recover from the many miles covered.

Here are a few buyables you should consider, from experience:

-Shoes with a thick sole, like Doc Martens or Bumpz
-Don't skimp during the summer, a nice pair of sandals with thick soles is safer and far more durable, but they don't have the advantage of throwing a flimsy and cheap pair of flip-flops out after use
-Desenex, spraying your feet and shoes before a big walking day will keep them dry, which means your travel partners won't freak out over your bodacious foot odor
- Disposable socks, these are awesome! After a long day, just throw them out. On the way home, your bag will be lighter, too!
- Charge your feet by using a nice heat rub at the end of the day- you'll feel a difference!

Now, with all this walking, you certainly have to have your stuff together. The internet is amazing because you can find entire subway, metro, and tube layouts! You can also buy passes online for extended periods of time. Below are a handful of links to get all your city slicker travel needs taken care of. These sites also offer printable maps for your walking convenience!

Paris Metro passes
London Tube passes
Japan Subway tickets
Eurorail tickets
US Amtrak tickets
NYC Subway Info
Boston T Info
Germany Subway passes

I'm sure you've noticed my super fancy slideshows! I used to use photobucket, but no more! Ashley turned me onto BubbleShare- a neat site that lets you upload your photos and videos and create awesome slideshows from albums. You can also take photos and stick clip-art bits onto them! Sersiously, it's awesome.

That being said, using a free site like BubbleShare is awesome because you can find an internet kiosk or internet cafe nearly everywhere across the globe and unload your packed memory card! I've placed my photos on it from my most recent trips, and I can't wait to get the rest on there. I honestly believe it even beats out Google's Picasa tool.

The only problem with digital cameras/photos is this: you don't print them out! Let's face it, very few people print those out anymore! That's why I love love LOVE my Canon Rebel. It was a gift and I treasure it so much! It takes amazing pictures, but I'm deathly afraid of breaking it, so I rarely take it with me. :(

The second problem is that with digital images, photographers become careless. Since 'film' is expendable, you take pictures of everything! This is a huge waste. I try to keep one of each picture. I delete a LOT- you should, too.

Anyway, below are some slideshows from April's trip to the Blogher conference in NYC with Ashley. Enjoy!

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Man, I haven't been here in a while, but be ready for the SLEW of posts I have half-written, waiting to be completed and unleashed. I have tons to write about, but I thought I'd focus on this past weekend's super awesomeness.

Friday night, I left work kind of late, but I popped in About Schmidt, starring Jack Nicholson and Kathy Bates. Let me tell you, I saw Bates boobs, and Nicholson boobs. Yeah. When you're that age, guys, it's time to tuck it in. Please. Kathy, you're my girl, and a fabulous actor- you don't need your burlap sacks swingin' in the wind, ok? And Jacky-boy, you're a millionaire already, if these are the only projects you have left...move on, man. Move. On.

Anyway, Kevin and I were left staring at the screen, blinking. It was late and we were generally confused, we went to bed. Saturday morning I awoke to the very loud midi-sounds of my cell phone. I know it's old, don't hate.

Pete: Hey, you up? Me: What? Yeah, when are you getting here? Pete: I'm outside. Me: Oh. Bye.

So I squeezed into my bathingsuit, like a gentle porpoise trying to slip into a body stocking. It's a one-piece, I'm not brave enough for even a tankini. I grabbed my trusty beach bag, and the three of us drove to Blizzard Beach! Kevin hooked us up with sweet $20 tickets- Yay for connections! We had a few hours before Kenny and Julius show up, so we went to town. Lazy river, wave pool, team tubing, toboggan racing, you name it! I could tell Kevin was kind of apprehensive with the heights, but he was a good sport and waited patiently while Pete and I ran upto the 'Slush Gusher' slide- I swear I came off that damn thing- and I had the WORST wedgie afterwards!

After Julius and Kenny showed up, we did it all again! None of us got burned, but we did suffer a few scrapes from the rough bottoms of the wave pool and lazy river. For lunch we hit up Golden Corral and got our fat on. Julius kept trying to befriend this little lady bug, he was concerned it would die what with being stuck inside the restaurant. Then, he accidentally killed it. :( He was genuinely sad. Then we went to see Shrek the Third. It was cool, and my lover was in it [John Krasynski].

That night, we went to sleep bronzed, fat, and happy. The next morning I took Pete and Kevin to the Breakfast Club, downtown, for breakfast. It was good, and then Kevin and I drove to Mall at Millenia. I bought a ton of stuff, and then we went to Celebration, where we enjoyed amazing Kilwin's Ice Cream! I'd never been to Celebration, but I highly recommend jumping in your car and just driving around. It's a ton of fun. The shopping goal was to find the perfect 'cool' outfit for that night: the Arctic Monkeys show. I wore an awesome pair of long brown shorts, and a black top, with my new orange flats. Kevin wore some shirt and corduroy blue pants! Super awesome!

Then I got my eye brows did, where I was partially assaulted by the little Asian lady. In short, her plans to attack my bikini zone were thwarted, but she succeeded at a sneak-attack of my upper lip! Ouch. :( Enough said.

Cool outfits purchased, and bellies full of ice cream, we went back to my house so that Kevin could pack-up. After, we drove to HardRock and at the prestigious Café. It's not that expensive, I definitely recommend it! When we got into the show, some bleach-blonde stick of a girl was convulsing on the stage. As Kevin says in his blog, "

Of course, being the spontaneous people that Nicky and I are, we tried to dance like her. Needless to say, it hurt our bodies and we were quick to stop writhing with her."

But when the Arctic Monkeys came on, all bets were off. We were out of control. We clapped, we yelled, we threw our fists into the air and kicked around. It was like we had our own show, pretty much- everybody else just faded away. Good thing, too, they were boring anyway. After the show, we drove home, straining out our voices to that skkkyyyy diving, rocky mountain climbinnngggg song. :) It was an awesome weekend, and I'm sad it's over, but it reminded me of how much fun hanging out with my friends and family is- given the right environment.

Kevin, you're welcome. :)

There are a few sites that let you take a map and place markers on certain cities, countries, etc- to show your readers where you've been- and this is one of them! http://www.wayki.com/

You can see other people's markers as well as cool places to eat, visit, to pick daisies in, or whatever. You can even load photos of things you've seen, like roadside attractions, and send those links to your friends. This is a neat one called 'japanoid cars.' You can leave comments, too! This is neat because, instead of emailing my mom 9 emails with 146 digital photos each, I can just send her a link to my map and load up a handful of pics that she can comment on. This site barely has any markers, so before it become overrun, add your own!

I stumbled on a great site today for helping you pack all your belongings into one bag. I'm serious, I have an awesome retro and vintage luggage collection, but I don't like clutter and I don't like hauling bags through airports.

Also, when I travel with people and somebody asks me to help carry one of their 4 bags, I usually say no [until I feel bad and conceded]. My reasoning? I worked hard to pack all my stuff in one bag just so didn't HAVE to carry more bags, you wanted to bring all that? Then YOU carry it!

Just like in Spaceballs...take only what you need to survive!

So here is the link for the One Bag: One-Page Checklist. The site also has pages on luggage and where to get it, etc- a great resource! I buy stuff through-out the year, I keep travel in the back of my mind so I buy 3/4 sleeve stuff, thin stuff I can layer, simple black sweaters I can dress-up or dress down, etc. And, of course, I do it on a tight, tight budget! Case in point, yesterday I drove by a Bealls store that was closing, so I shopped! I got two shirts.

Observe! Each one was $25, but they were 70% off! I paid like $7 for both of them!
[That's my industrial strength hair-dryer, and I can't-live-without-it!!]

Do you get DailyCandy? If you don't then you should. Check out this awesomeness I received a while ago...funny thing is I actually HAD Clear, but you have to renew it yearly, which I forgot to do...so I don't have it anymore. Bummer!

Since the Concorde doesn't take flight anymore- I guess that's what multiple crashes will do to ya...the world is waiting to see the Airbus! Faster than a speeding bullet, stronger than a steel train...um...comfier than a cloud?

Honestly, I had a blast on the regular Virgin Airlines flight- they give so much free stuff! Everyone got their own TV with movies and video games and music, it was fantastic! We wanted to get seats together, since Grant bought his tickets separately, though we could have used SeatGuru.

Here is a great link to take a virtual tour of the Airbus: http://www.airbus.com/en/aircraftfamilies/cabin_showroom/360_degrees_views/ACJ.htm

SeatGuru is a neat site that lets you take a peak at your flight- you can see the kind of plane you'll be on, what movies will be playing, and you can of course pick your seat! It really is an awesome online tool and it's great for loonnggg flights, too- that way you can look forward to your online movies, and not be surprised by 'Because of Winn Dixie'...

which, by the way, is an alright movie...I saw it on the way to Paris- and back. Yep, twice.

I'm an old-fashioned girl. I wish I had a bike, I have a car full of cassettes labeled things like '50's favorites!' and 'Bandstand Charttoppers' and I still use my 35 mm camera. My friends have digital cameras, and they're great! I just honestly believe nothing beats a crisp roll of black and white photographs.

What my camera doesn't have? Video-capturing capabilities, and this leaves me fuming. Check-out some of the stuff Andrew and Kevin got on our trip to Europe.

Kevin at Gatwick airport, part one:
Kevin at Gatwick airport, part two:
We visit the Eiffel Tower:

My traveling cohort Kevin sent me his iPod must-have list. These are only songs, as notes in his email to me, "I didn't inlude any show-tunes...that's a whole other thing!"

702 - Where My Girls At
98 Degrees - Give Me One More Night (Una Noche)
Alicia Keys - Karma
All American Rejects - Happy Endings
American Hi-Fi - The Art of Losing
Anberlin - Never Take Friendship Personal
Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Backstreet Boys - The Call
Black Eyed Peas - Monkey Business
Black Eyed Peas - Elephunk
Blu Cantrell - Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)
Bon Jovi - You Give Love A Bad Name
Bon Jovi - Livin' On A Prayer
Cake - Short Skirt, Long Jacket
Cameo - Word Up!
Carrie Underwood - Before He Cheats
Coolio - Gangsta's Paradise
Dean Martin - Hey Mambo
Destiny's Child - Bootylicious
Destiny's Child - Survivor
Destiny's Child - Bills Bills Bills
Destiny's Child - Jumpin' Jumpin'
Eve 6 - Here's to the Night
Fall Out Boy - From Under the Cork Tree
Fall Out Boy - Infinity on High
Gavin DeGraw - Chariot
Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
Gym Class Heroes - As Cruel As School Children
Hot Action Cop - Fever For The Flava
Ima Robot - Monument to the Masses
Jason Mraz - Mr. A-Z
Jet - Get Born
Khia - Kwang
LeAnn Rimes - Life Goes On
Lynard Skynard - Sweet Home Alabama
Maroon 5 - Songs About Jane
Michael Jackson - Number Ones
Mika - Life in Cartoon Motion
Missy Elliott - Lose Control
Missy Elliott - Gossip Folks (Remix)
My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade
Next - Too Close
OK Go - Get Over It
OK Go - Here It Goes Again
Rascal Flats - What Hurts the Most
Rockapella - Carmen Sandiego
Scissor Sisters - Scissor Sisters
Sir Mix-A-Lot - Baby Got Back
The Veronicas - 4ever
Timbaland - Give It To Me
TLC - No Scrubs
TLC - Unpretty
Toya - I Do!
Unwritten Law - Rest of My Life
Will Smith - Gettin' Jiggy With It

Having a swingin' soundtrack is essential to the perfect trip. Think about it this way, in the soundtrack of your life, or rather, during this 5 minute vacation montage of your life, what songs do you want expressing the fun you're having? I know when I went to Chicago, I made sure to download some awesome stuff so I could feel amazing strutting down the Magnificent Mile. My list is shorter, but it's a lot more swing and oldies, and Christmas music...

I also love to download LadyRaptastic podcasts and ThisAmericanLife podcasts, both of which are available on iTunes.

There's nothing worse than having a trip ruined by something as preventable as the aforementioned items. Incase you skipped the title, for whatever reason, I will list them again:

• Sun/wind Burns
• Chafing
• Sore Feet
• Stiff Neck

These are all easily treatable, and even more easily prevented! Whether you're visiting a sun drenched spot or dry, blistering freeze blast of a city, your skin is going to take a beating. Two things: sunblock and moisturizer. I've found the best source of two-in-one is Oil of Olay's basic face moisturizer has an SPF of 20 and the little travel tubes work great.

Chafing. Well, this one's a bother. If you've already chafed, that sucks. Here's what you do, wash. Then powder up with Arm and Hammer's - it's in a green bottle and it does the trick. It took us YEARS to figure that out, but Kevin is a huge proponent of anti-chafing so he set everyone straight. Also, I hear that for guys, boxer-briefs instigate less friction.
Tip: Don't do a theme park where you WILL get wet and then walk around in your jeans for 2 hours. Bring an extra pair of shorts or something.

My feet hurt all the time. So do Kevin's. I have falling arches and Kevin has completely flat feet. Kind of like a duck, really. Anyway, the only way to combat achy feet is to buy sturdy insoles for your shoes. I like Dr. Scholls, personally. The ones that provide extra heel support as well as arch support. I also make sure to wear the comfiest in shoes. Especially when I know I need to do a lot of walking.

As far as the stiff neck goes, I have found that it happens because I don't have my usual pillow with me. Maybe Kevin has it right, maybe I should just pull a pillow off of my bed and bring it, but I don't. I do, however, use that squishy black travel pillow a LOT! It's completely moldable and it helps me neck out a ton. Get yourself a nice squishy travel pillow, for reals.