Packitupwithanne

02/08/2024

Sharing a recent article I contributed to from Buy Side from WSJ - a great variety of Passport cases to consider for your next International trip! ✈️

Tip: Be sure to check your passport expiration date. Most countries require 3-6 months validity 🌎

No need to fly by the seat of your pants when it comes to carrying travel documents—these secure, stylish picks will ensure you’ve got it all together.

01/18/2023

And I can’t wait! 🧳
Where in the world is your next vacation? 🌎 ✈️ 🚙

05/14/2022

You rock Rachael Ray!
💛 🇺🇦 💙

05/09/2022

Hi Travelers!
It’s Souvenir Sunday ☀️

Cookbooks are a great souvenir for anyone who loves to cook - the best part is you can make delicious dishes you enjoyed on your travels once you’re back home with family and friends 🏡 🌎

A few years ago I had so much fun in NYC filming travel and packing tips with Rachael Ray on Rachael Ray Show - I’ve never laughed so much on a TV set as I did with her. Rachael autographed a few cookbooks for me to bring home as souvenirs for friends and family and I decided to actually make - yes cook - something. Voila!! photos attached 🌟 I surprised myself how well it turned out - super easy directions and delicious! 😂 💙

Travel tip: Be sure to check out Chelsea Market when you’re in NYC. Lots of great eateries and a foodie paradise.

What type of souvenir do you like to bring home? ⬇️

04/10/2022

Hi Everyone!
It’s Souvenir Sunday☀️

What could be better than finding a double-decker souvenir bank while cleaning out my closet? If it was full of coins and English toffee!! 🇬🇧 💂🏻‍♂️ 🇬🇧

Love this ‘money box’ from a trip to iconic Harrods of London years ago 🇬🇧 💂🏻‍♂️ ☎️

Have you been to London? 🇬🇧Share a favorite memory or souvenir ⬇️

03/21/2022

Hi Everyone!
It’s Souvenir Sunday ☀️
I love postcards - writing them, sending them, receiving them - it’s all part of the fun of traveling for me ✍️ 📫 🧳

So - no surprise one of my favorite things about AmaWaterways river cruises is they provide complimentary post cards AND they pay the postage to mail them for you ⚓️ 🤍 How great is that?!

But wait - there’s more. I just received a thank-you postcard from my recent Dec AmaSiena cruise in the mail yesterday ⭐️ It made my day! I especially love wondering where it’s traveled to since it was mailed three months ago 😉 📫 🌍

Travel tip: AMA Christmas Market cruises sail Nov thru Dec - so pack your Christmas card list/addresses and send everyone on your list Fröhe Weihnachten Merry Christmas postcard wishes from Europe! 🌍

Do you send postcards? Have you ever mailed one to yourself?

Let’s get packing! 🧳

03/02/2022

Hello from the Oregon Coast!☀️

Travel tip: when booking a hotel room - ask a few key questions like which side of the hotel has the better view or less noise. And if you’re a light sleeper - consider packing ear plugs. 🧳

This is the amazing view from my room at Hampton Inn & Suites - Astoria, Oregon The good news here is when my door is closed I don’t hear the sea lions 🦭🦭🦭 and the location is great! 🛳 🍺 🚃

Do you have a favorite hotel from your travels? Where in the world is it? 🌎

02/16/2022

Before your next adventure - be sure to complete - and update - page four of your passport and put a Post-it Note on it with your cell phone number. ☎️

If your passport is misplaced along your travels - it might just catch up to you. ✈️

Let’s get packing! 🧳

02/06/2022

Hi Travelers!

Let’s talk travel books! 📚

I recently spent some quality time at Powell's Books, Inc. in Portland looking for some new travel books 📚 I’d forgotten how much I enjoy wandering through bookshelves of inspiring travel guides and beautiful coffee table books full of photos of far away places 📚 🌎

Here are two new books I discovered:
📕Clanlands -since I’m planning a trip to Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
📕Q&A For the Traveler - a sort of journal/memoir 📓

And - I thought it would be fun to share a travel book - fiction or non-fiction- that you enjoyed or inspired you to travel📕 🌎

I’ll start: I read The Yellow Envelope ✉️ a few years ago - a true story of a couple who traveled around the world🌎 Before they left they were given an unexpected gift: a yellow envelope of money with instructions to give it away to people they encountered on their journey. I found it fascinating…

And - by the way - do you travel with an e-reader/kindle or pack actual books when you travel? I’m still packing books and would love your suggestions ⬇️

Travel Tip: Next time you’re in Portland make Powell’s a destination. Did you know their flagship downtown store is so big they actual provide a map to find your way around?! 🗺 🗺 🗺

01/28/2022

Find your next adventure 🌎 and learn how to pack for it! Join us tomorrow Jan. 29th for Packing for Cruises and Solo Travel Tips⚓️⚓️⚓️ Let’s get planning 🗺 and packing! 🧳 Register below👇🏻

Join us for our Virtual Traveler Showcase starting January 26th! We'll be featuring webinars from our top Cruise partners, such as Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Holland America Line and more. Cruise webinars run January 26th - 29th and tour webinars from February 2nd - February 5th.

Register now & find your next adventure! https://bit.ly/31qNpQj

01/23/2022

Hi Everyone! ☀️

In addition to big adventures I love local trips and this weekend was perfect weather for an Oregon Coast getaway! 🚙 😎

Lincoln City is just a two hour drive from Portland and I’ve always wanted to join in Random Acts of Findness: where glass treasures made by local artisans are hidden on the beach continually through out the year. I didn’t find one this time - but I’ll be back in the future for sure 🍀🤞🏼🍀 They also have special dates where they drop more treasures - including Antique Week coming up Feb 12- Feb 21 - with 100 Japanese Floats! Go to for more info.

As much as I’d like to say I found the Japanese floats in these pictures - they’re actually floats my dad found at sea many years ago ⚓️ 🌊

Travel Tip: Pack a warm coat - even on a sunny day it’s always colder than you expect at the coast! 😎 ☀️

Have you ever been lucky enough to find a glass float, sea glass or something interesting at the beach? Where’s your favorite one day getaway? ⬇️

01/13/2022

So… there’s a contest over on Instagram to take a selfie with a flight attendant and nominate them for recognition. I didn’t have a selfie with my favorite flight attendant John Layton but wanted to nominated him - don’t you just love how creative he was to send me this pix!? 📸

Once you read the heartfelt letter two Army Veterans gave him/his flight crew I think you’ll see why I hope this nomination is one of the winners 🤞🏼 If you’re on Instagram - please like our post ✈️

And- just for fun- here’s a photo of John and I from our Holland America Line days⚓️

01/09/2022

A few more amazing moments - and photos - from my Rhine River Cruise. Memories to last a lifetime!

A huge thank-you to our AmaWaterways Cruise Director Cesario - who went above and beyond to make sure everyone had a great time!!

From the fine dining 🍽 to beautiful staterooms 🛌 to the
excellent tours ashore 🏰 and the outstanding staff 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 this truly was a cruise of a lifetime!

And a big shout-out to AAA Oregon/Idaho for making it all happen! We had such a great time! 🌟

Travel Tip: With travel guidelines changing - sometimes daily - simplify your travel with a trusted name. AAA Travel Agents are a must have tool for travel planning! ✈️ 🚙

Here’s to 2022 and beyond and making many more travel memories!

Where’s one place you’re dreaming of traveling to? 👇🏼

01/02/2022

Hi Everyone! Woo whoo!!
It’s Souvenir Sunday! 🌟

Here are some - ok lots 😊 Christmas Market souvenirs and pictures from my recent Rhine River cruise. I can’t believe it’s been only a few weeks since we were cruising through Holland 🇳🇱 Germany 🇩🇪 France 🇫🇷 and Switzerland 🇨🇭on our amazing AmaWaterways cruise making
memories to last a lifetime! ❤️🎄

Travel Tip: Pictures make great souvenirs - you can frame them 🖼 to remind you of your journeys and they don’t take up any room in your luggage! 🧳

Packing tip: If you’re buying something large - like a cuckoo clock - ship it home to save valuable packing space - and use a credit card that has insurance coverage. Yes - one of our group bought a beautiful Black Forest cuckoo clock - hopefully🤞🏼 we’ll see a photo soon! 🕰 Update: Clock photo posted in comments below 👇🏼

What’s a favorite souvenir of yours? Share a photo or travel memory below ⬇️

01/01/2022

Happy New Years Eve!🎉🍾

I love traditions! Growing up we always rang in the New Year by banging on pots and pans at midnight - hands up if you ever did this! 🙋🏼‍♀️

Flash forward a few years: here’s a photo from a fun NYE on board Fairsea where we celebrated the British 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 New Years tradition of the Wishing Tree: writing wishes on a piece of paper 📝 tying them to the branches 🌲 and the wind blows 💨 them away to make them come true. Note how helpful I am 😉

But possibly my favorite New Years tradition is from Columbia 🇨🇴 where party-goers carry empty suitcases 🧳 around at midnight in hopes of inducing a year full of travel!! ✈️ 🧳 🌍

Wishing you a great year ahead with lots of happiness and travel!

Share a favorite tradition below ⬇️

12/26/2021

Hi Everyone! It’s Souvenir Sunday!

Just home from our European adventure on AmaWaterways having coffee fireside in my new Glühwein mug from the Cologne - aka Köln - Christmas Market. 🇩🇪

I have a collection of mugs from over the years - but I especially like this whimsical one with the angels 😇 that seem to be diving into my coffee. 😊 😇 😂

Travel Tip: On long overseas flights be sure to get up and stretch your legs whenever possible. And while you’re up: check-out the galley for snacks between meals like these fan favorites Biscoff from my recent flights. ✈️ I may - or may not - have made numerous trips through the galley 😉😉😉

A special thank-you to Delta Air Lines pilots, crew, flight attendants and ground crew/staff for all your care and kindness on our flights! ✈️💙✈️

PS: The great thing about souvenirs is they bring back amazing travel memories we might tend to forget with time- just sayin’😉

Do you have a favorite souvenir? Share below ⬇️

12/26/2021

We celebrated many Christmas🎄traditions 💚 on our AmaSiena cruise ⚓️ including carols lead by the crew, tree decorating and even a surprise appearance from a special guest 🎅

One of my favorites: Traditionally children put their shoes 👟 outside their door in hopes St Nicholas would fill them with sweets if they’d been good. So … we were all instructed what night to put out a shoe - or slipper - and apparently everyone onboard was good this year: there was a sea of chocolate up and down the passage-ways 🍫🎅♥️

Travel Tip: Pack a collapsible duffle bag in your suitcase so you have an extra bag for shopping/souvenirs/gifts on the way home. 🧳

Have you ever put your shoes out for St Nicholas? Share a favorite tradition below ⬇️

12/25/2021

Happy Holidays! More magical moments from my recent AmaWaterways Christmas Markets Cruise🎄💚🎄

There’s nothing better than starting off the Holiday Season enjoying European Christmas Markets- with old - and new friends. Our cruise took us to four different countries: The Netherlands 🇳🇱
Germany 🇩🇪 France 🇫🇷 and
Switzerland 🇨🇭

Here are some photos from our first two ports: Amsterdam and Cologne. Fortunately we only had rain at the beginning of the trip - but it didn’t matter: we had lots of chances to warm up including a walking tour to the famous Gaffel am Dom Brewery for Kölsch Beer tasting!🍺 🍺 🍺
One of the things I like most about river cruises - they usually include one - sometimes two - tours in each port🌟

I also love 💙being welcomed back onboard with a mug of warm Glühwein - hot spiced wine.

Packing tip: Save valuable packing space by leaving your umbrella at home ☂️ A raincoat with a hood makes navigating busy sidewalks and markets much easier than trying to use an umbrella.

And- if you want an umbrella Amawaterways provides them onboard! How great is that?!

Wishing you lots of Cheer and Joy this season! 🌟

12/18/2021

And just like that …
I’m home from my first International trip in two years!
✈️✈️✈️ 🌍🌍🌍

This week I’ll be sharing magical moments from my AmaWaterways Christmas Markets on the Rhine Cruise.
⚓️⚓️⚓️🛥🛥🛥

First up: A special thank-you to Capt. Jan Tensen - and the entire ships crew and staff - for the most AMAzing Rhine River Cruise - and for the photo in front of our beautifully decorated AmaSiena ⚓️⚓️⚓️🛥🛥🛥

And thank-you AAA Oregon/Idaho for making it all happen!

I’ll also be sharing travel and packing tips like how to pack a stay-healthy comfort kit for long flights and did I really need three coats and three pair of boots for a ten day trip?! Short answer: no 😂

For these and more travel tips be sure to follow .

Have you been on a Christmas Markets River cruise? Share a favorite memory ⬇️

Let’s get packing! 🧳🧳🧳

11/25/2021

So much to be grateful for! 🧡
Happy Thanksgiving! 🍁 🧳 🍁

11/22/2021

Hi Travelers! Vintage trunks are great for so many reasons: You can use them for storage, as a coffee table, and of course for storing travel photos and souvenirs. 🧳

Question: have you ever lost your key?! 🔑 Well - I did 🙄

It’s been an adventure finding a replacement key - I tried every local vintage hardware and antique store and online. Luckily BrettunsVillage.Com came to the rescue 🔑 with the best customer service ever!!!🌟

Trunk Tip: Most locks have the key number on them - see photo. And some keys open different locks - #46 opened my #44 lock - so try a few. Or on some locks you can just remove the bottom screws😉

And if you need to borrow a key - I’ve got a few 😂

So … how do you use your vintage trunk? 👇🏼

11/21/2021

From someone who’s packed a few bags 🧳 I’m taking this figuratively - not literally. 😉 🐘 🧳

11/14/2021

Hi Everyone! What book/s inspired you to travel? 🌍 Whether it’s a book you read as a child or a recent bestseller - share below ⬇️

Here are some of my favorite childhood books 📚 that undoubtedly helped inspire my love of travel 🧳 I’ll share more recent books in a future post.

🇫🇷 Madeline’s Rescue
Hands up 🙋🏼‍♀️ if you read this classic! My favorite - everyone wanted this one - which is probably why I put my name in it 😂

🇳🇱 Tales from Holland
How this book survived four children intact is a miracle - printed in 1926! Beautifully illustrated with one story from each of the eleven Dutch Provinces. Amsterdam - I’m on my way! ✈️

🌍 Children Come Running
Children around the world have ‘always come running’ to enjoy games and stories and I love that this book is filled with colorful images of children playing and learning about their history from so many different countries. Interesting note: This book was a collaboration between UNICEF and Golden Press and all the illustrations have been UNICEF greeting cards - the first one in 1949 by Jitka Samkova - of the Czech Republic 🇨🇿

🇧🇪 The Advenures of Tintin
The Secrets of the Unicorn is the most popular in the Tintin series - but I have to admit - it wasn’t my favorite😉 Check out the first paragraph about ‘pickpockets’ 😳 😂

Travel tip: Children’s books in other languages make fun souvenirs - and a good way to spark interest in learning another language. And there’s always Google translate when needed 😉 📚

11/07/2021

Hi Everyone! It’s Souvenir Sunday! ☀️

Today’s souvenir is from a trip to Belfast’s Titanic Museum🇮🇪 Part of the fun of traveling is discovering unique mementos - and just when I thought I’d seen it all I found: TeaTanic, the unsinkable tea infuser. 🫖 ☕️ 🫖

Directions: “Fill the hull with loose tea leaves and set it adrift in your cup to steep. You’ll feel like you’re king of the world after 3-5 min when your tea is hot and delicious. Enjoy with cream🥛 lemon 🍋 or on its own - whatever floats your boat”. ⚓️

Travel tip: If you go to the museum - which I highly recommend - don’t miss my favorite part: The Shipyard Ride (it’s on Level 4 - I almost missed it 😉) Here we rode small cars on a track to experience a simulation of a working shipyard including the very intense heat of the steel and the incredibly loud riveters at work - as it would have been over 100+ years ago for everyone building Titanic. So impactful.

Do you have souvenir or travel memory to share?
Your turn ⬇️

11/01/2021

What’s your favorite -
window or aisle seat? ✈️ 💺

It’s window for me! ✈️ 🙋🏼‍♀️

Statistically - the aisle seat is more popular - with easier access to restrooms and the possibility of a little more leg room. ✈️

I like the window seat because:
a) I love to look out the window at take-off and landing
b) some aircraft have more room under the seat in front to store my personal bag
c) no one’s climbing over me to get out and stretch their legs.

What’s your favorite? ⬇️

10/25/2021

Hi Everyone! It’s Souvenir Sunday!

If you’ve traveled to Alaska chances are you’re familiar with the American artist Rie Muñoz: In 1951 she traveled up the Inside Passage by steamship to Juneau - and remained there for decades - capturing the culture of Alaska through her art - which is now carried in galleries throughout the world 🌍 🗺 🌎

This print is entitled ‘Fish Grader’ and I knew when I saw it on a Alaska cruise it was coming home with me 🧳

Back story: I spent college summers working at Bumble Bee Seafoods in Naknek, AK as a Fish Grader - so you could say it spoke to me 😂 From cannery to cruise ship - quite the journey - great memories from both experiences!! 🐟 ⚓️

Do you bring back art 🖼 from your travels? Have you taken an Alaska cruise or have one planned - and what was your favorite port, memory or souvenir? ⬇️

10/14/2021

🧳 ✈️ 🧳 🚙 🧳 ✈️

10/12/2021

Sunday Sailing!! ⛵️ ☀️ ⛵️

I took a fun day trip yesterday to Astoria to celebrate the dedication of the new Warnoch Commons and Model Boat Pond at the Columbia River Maritime Museum. ⚓️⛵️⚓️

It’s a beautiful addition to the museum and the really exciting news: They have remote control sailboat rentals Saturday’s from 11am-3pm! ⛵️⛵️⛵️

Travel Tip: Astoria is about a two hour drive from Portland and the museum has so many fun things to do - even has a 3D movie theater! 🎥 😎

And… they have the BEST museum store - with all proceeds from purchases supporting educational programming for all ages - I’ll be sharing some great gift ideas in an upcoming post.

So … where in the world is a favorite museum of yours?🌍

10/03/2021

Hi Everyone! It’s Souvenir Sunday! ☀️
3 years ago today we were in Ireland creating memories to last a lifetime with AAA Oregon/Idaho Travel 🇮🇪 🏰 🇮🇪

A few of us were in search of an Irish Claddagh ring - and had lots of fun chatting with the shop keeper as she shared the meaning behind the classic design - two hands clasped around a heart topped with a crown:
🤚 hands = friendship
💛 heart = love
👑 crown = loyalty

The variety of rings to choose from was overwhelming - simple silver bands to gold set with diamonds and emeralds - it was nice to have a little help deciding from friends 😊 As you can see from the photo we all opted for no gems to save $ for future travel adventures 😂

Solo Travel Tip: Traveling solo within a group has so many benefits - one of the best is meeting new friends and sharing amazing experiences!

I can’t wait for our next adventure! ✈️✈️✈️

Share a favorite souvenir or memory from your travels ⬇️