Travel | Best Results Organizing

When Your European Hotel Room Feels Like an Escape Room — Conquer Confusing Showers, A/C, and Light Switches

Posted on: November 3rd, 2025 by Julie Bestry | 14 Comments

You may have noticed that Paper Doll has been on an extended hiatus. Some of it was because I was traveling in Portugal and Spain for several weeks. But be assured, even when I am away from Paper Doll HQ, I am always noticing organizing challenges in my surroundings and seeking solutions.

Are you thinking, didn’t Paper Doll recently share a travel-related post? And that’s true, back in August I did write How to Stay Organized When Travel Goes Off the Rails (or Runway) with advice for dealing with travel kerfuffles, explaining how to organize your travel information, deal with technology failures while traveling, and assert your travel rights. It was a great companion to posts like:

Drawing on my Portugal and Spain trip, this post narrows the focus to organizing yourself to deal with the smaller, mosquito-bite-level annoyances of hotel travel.

WE CAN’T CONTROL EVERYTHING

Sometimes, there are issues we can’t control. For example, when we arrived in Santiago de Campostela, I seemed to be cursed. We stayed at the oldest hotel in Spain, the Parador de Santiago de Compostela, a 500+ year-old building that was originally a hospital for the those on the Camino de Campostela, a pilgrimage across northern Spain to the Cathedral of St. James.

Though the building itself dated from the time of Ferdinand and Isabella, we’d been assured that it was up-to-date, and in fact, the bathrooms had been remodeled as recently as last year. This remodel did not prevent me (and my college friend and girls’ trip traveling buddy, whom we’ll call Dr. V) from having a Lucy-and-Ethel experience.

Upon our arrival, I went to wash my hands. I barely touched the knob with my ring finger to turn on the water and the entire knob housing fell off into my hand!

Our suitcases were then brought up to the room, so a hotel staffer was nearby; I flagged him down for help, and he sent the engineer, who looked at metal and plastic doodad in my hand, made a face that I inferred meant I was a troublemaker, and communicated to Dr. V in Spanish that he was off to find an essential tool. Within minutes, some spring or other was replaced, and we were back in business.

But wait, there’s more!

Before dinner, my ankles were a little swollen, and because we had both a separate shower (with side-by-side overhead shower heads, which seemed to assume that two people would be showering simultaneously, but in parallel!) and (way across the bathroom) one of those freestanding bathtubs that looked a bit like a gravy boat.

Every since having watched the “Never Bathe on a Saturday” episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show as a child, I’ve always been very cautious in my interactions with hotel bathtubs. So I can assure you, what came next was also not my fault.

(It’s worth watching the entire episode for great belly laughs, but starting from here shows you how Laura Petrie went wrong.)

I turned on the water in the tub, very gently, to ensure that if water was sent to the handheld shower wand, it would not start snaking around and get me soaked.

The joke was on me, however, because although the water did come out of the faucet, a river of water also came out from the (right) knob!

Was I on Candid Camera! (Does that reference dates me?)

While the water from the faucet poured into the tub, the water pouring from the knob gushed over the edge onto the floor, flooding the bathroom. By the time Dr V responded to my shouts, I was in chaos.

I handed her the trash can to collect the water and ran to the room phone to call the front desk. But dialing zero did nothing and I couldn’t get the QR code on the front of the phone to pull up the hotel’s information. I ran back to the bathroom and found that Dr. V was trying (and failing) to wedge the trash can between the wall and the bathtub, so it wasn’t collecting any of the gushing water.

I lifted the can up so that water was pouring directly into the can, and balanced it on the edge of the tub; meanwhile, Dr. V figured out how to call the front desk and spoke in fluent Spanish to explain our predicament. As we waited, I posted in our tour group’s What’sApp group; a more experienced traveler suggested we look for a switch or button near the ceiling for turning off the water.

(Not our shut-off valves, but this is what you should seek in a similar situation.)

Just as I spotted two silver fixtures near the ceiling (and well beyond my reach), the same engineer who’d fixed the sink arrived, looking at us as though we were stupid to not know how to turn off a bathtub faucet. He stormed into the bathroom, attempted to turn the knob from which the water was gushing, and (according to Dr. V) began swearing quietly in Spanish.

The engineer had to turn off the water to the entire bathroom (using the magic shut-off valve fixtures), so we couldn’t use the sinks or the facilities; we just went down early to dinner and used the restrooms there. Happily, by the time we had finished dining several hours later, the front desk was able to tell us that the problem had been fixed, and we returned to a dry bathroom with all the towels replaced. (I did not venture another attempt at the tub.)

TOTO, I DON’T THINK WE’RE IN KANSAS ANYMORE

Traveling exposes us to a wide variety of new foods and cultures, and that’s almost always a good thing. But sometimes, you may find that your travels bring you in contact with mystifying differences.

Three main confounding aspects were showers, air conditioners, and electric lights.

These Are Not the Bathrooms You’re Looking For

If you have never traveled abroad, you might not be aware that European bathrooms are often quite different from ours. For example, most bathrooms include bidets.

In many places, such as Italy and the UK, you’ll generally find that there are no electrical plugs in the bathrooms so as to ensure that visitors do not drop their hair dryers in the sink and electrocute themselves.

But there are other bathroom-y things that confuse North Americans, enough that PBS travel guide extraordinaire Rick Steves’ site has a guide, Europe’s Hotel Bathrooms: What to Expect, covering situations far more complicated than I have faced.

In one least-fancy (though still charming) hotel bathroom in Italy in 2018, the shower was so small that Dr. V could not fully stand up in it (and she’s only 5’8″) and when I raised my arms to wash my hair, at least one elbow hit a wall or escaped the confines of the shower curtain. And in many European bathrooms, non-tub showers have only half doors, so unless you stand immediately under the shower head (or handheld shower) and make very few movements, you will soak your bathroom floor. (Allegedly that this makes things easier to clean, but it’s a source of much moaning by Americans abroad.)

In yet another 500ish-year-old building in Porto, Portugal (this time a former monastery adjacent to a former palace), we had an otherwise modern room until you pulled back the curtains to find stone walls.

However, I’m sure the 16th-century monks did not have to deal with the window built into the wall shared between the bathtub and the bedroom, complete with Venetian blinds on the bedroom side, allowing someone in the bedroom to view a person using the bathroom, and vice versa. (This is apparently a global design trend?)

Organize Yourself for Hotel Showers Abroad

The aforementioned design styles require more acceptance than organizational skill (and I doubt there’s a way around organizing the water not to flood beyond a shower’s half-door). However, figuring out how the showers actually work can require diligent effort.

At home, I pull the handle toward me to turn the water on, turn it left or right to adjust the temperature, and pull up on a doodad on the tub faucet to route the water from shower to tub. In other countries, and particularly as you go from hotel to hotel, the possibilities for “grabbing a quick shower” can seem endless. I advise the following:

When you arrive at the hotel, test the shower. Unlike in US hotels, due to the “half wall,” you will probably not be able to lean/reach in and turn on the water without getting yourself wet, so don’t do this right before you head to a fancy soirée.
Figure out which knobs do what. This may or may not be difficult. For example, instead of pulling a knob fully toward you, you may find there’s a metal “lollipop” stick extended from the knob, allowing you to tilt the knob toward you to turn on the water. While extended at that angle from the wall, you may be able to turn it right or left to change the temperature. (Or, sigh, you may not.)
There may also be flat buttons on the knobs.

You may need to wear your glasses when examining the shower to look for tiny, sometimes microscopic, writing and/or symbols. (Consider using the magnifying feature on your phone.)
Look for red marking or C for hot or a blue marking or F for cold. However, know that the C may be Italian or Spanish for caldo/caliente but could also mean calor/central for controls. Or, there may be no markings, or ones that are meaningless to you.
If experimentation fails you, look for the name of the manufacturer and Google “[the name of the manufacturer] + shower + manual.”
If you are in the UK and unable to achieve hot water, check for a switch outside the bathroom door. Really.

Few of our bathrooms in Portugal and Spain (or on our trips to Italy and the UK) had tub showers. Instead, one knob determined whether the water came out of an overhead “rainforest” shower head or from a slender handheld shower wand that looked more like a microphone.

In less fancy hotels, the handheld wand is your only option. It sits in a holder along a narrow vertical pipe, with a knob to loosen or tighten, allowing you to raise or lower the wand without having to hold it. The advantage is that you can use both hands to lather up; the disadvantage is that at least half the time, the hold will loosen and the wand will slide lower and lower.

On the rare instances that we had a tub, switching between tub or shower (or allowing both) also involved turning a dial affixed to the inside side-wall of the tub. Seriously, you don’t want to face these options first thing in the morning, without coffee or daylight.

One morning, I could not get the water to turn on at all. Eventually, I had to call on Dr. V to help, and we stood — and this is not hyperbole — for five minutes, working as scientists and discussing the variables, turning the top knob to the left and then the right, turning it to the left while pulling on it, turning the top knob and the bottom one simultaneously. Finally, blasted with scalding water but momentarily excited to have any at all, I eventually cried, “But I don’t know what I did!”

When I finished, I noted that the top knob’s lollipop stick was flat with the wall and pointed to the 3 o’clock position; the bottom was also flush with the wall (once turned off) and pointed to the 7 o’clock position, and gently pulling it toward me would turn the water on without changing the temperature.

I conveyed this to Dr. V, but the next morning, I was awakened by her shouting that she could not get the water on, and I sleepily croaked, “Top flat 3 o’clock, bottom toward you and 7 o’clock.” I encourage you to figure out the showers as early as possible in a hotel stay and then write the instructions with a Sharpie on a sticky note and post it near the shower.

I acknowledge that if you live in Europe, I may sound like the proverbial ugly American, but each morning in a new hotel, our group would meet for breakfast and discuss whether we had figured out the various amenities, with the shower (almost) always being the most difficult.

Take Sides — Advice for Peace in Hotel Bathrooms

When traveling with others, assigning sides, particularly of bathrooms but also sides of the closet, the in-room safe, the mini-fridge, and the top surface of the hotel room desk will prevent confusion and loss of items.

In nicer hotels, we found that bathrooms have two sinks, making it easier to organize our toiletries without getting in one another’s way. Where bathrooms are smaller and there’s only one sink and limited counter space (even with some storage below the sink), dividing the bathroom into “yours” and “mine” may seem like something out of a sitcom, but you’ll thank me later.

If you’re traveling to multiple locations, your side of everything is always on the left or right; if your traveling companion tends not to pay attention to boundaries, separating your own towels (even moving them to the closet until you intend to use them) can help keep the peace. Let’s just say you don’t want to end up like Steve Martin in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.

Keep Your Cool with Hotel Air Conditioning

Air conditioning is not quite as big of a thing in Europe as here, but the hotels in which we stayed promised the availability of A/C through early October. In many hotels, it was as simple as conquering the language barrier (or the pictogram barrier) and figuring out what functions did what.

When you arrive in your hotel room, try to adjust the temperature to what you’d most like it to be when you are sleeping. Almost anyone can muddle through a too-warm or too-cold room for the few minutes you’re in the room during the day, but a trip can be ruined by sleepless nights.

Make sure you know whether you are turning on the heat (often indicated by a flame or a red thermometer) or the A/C (indicated by a snowflake).
Adjust the language and change settings to Fahrenheit unless you want to calculate the difference yourself. Officially, the formula is F=(C×9/5)+32, but you’ll get close enough if you double the Celsius temperature and add 32.
Use the arrows to raise or lower the temperature, usually by half degrees.
Look for an icon of a running man. In six of the seven hotels at which we stayed during our trip, there was an icon of a running man in the upper right corner of the thermostat display. While traveling, nobody could tell us what it meant. We hadn’t bothered to Google it, but during a post-trip dinner with organizing colleague Ramona Creel, she felt compelled to research it, and found: “The running man icon on a hotel thermostat, often mistakenly thought of as a “running man,” is the “man walking” or “walking man” icon, which indicates that the thermostat is in manual mode. This mode means the temperature is set manually and will not change based on a schedule, unlike other programmed settings.”
Recognize that in some hotels, the air conditioning units do not turn on if the sensors indicate that the hotel room windows are ajar. (Yes, European hotel room windows open!)
Know that if you have not turned on the electric power to the room (see the next section), the A/C won’t turn on.
Sometimes, you will be given a helpful sign. However, you may find that the sign and the thermostat do not match. Note below that three of the five icons in the bottom center of the sign, below, do not appear on the actual thermostat. This, we later learned, was because our hotel in Bielsa, Spain, in the chilly Pyrenees Mountains, did not actually have the A/C turned on. (Possibly in September. Possibly ever.)

If you have difficulties, address the problem with the front desk. In Bilbao, Spain, we failed to check our A/C until the evening, when we found that we could not adjust the temperature more than 3 degrees.

About 11 p.m., I had a complicated conversation with a woman at the front desk in my halting Spanish, followed by a more extensive one with her colleague, in English. He insisted that the default temperature could be lowered by nine degrees; I insisted that it could not. Eventually, he accompanied me to the room, where he pressed the down arrow and pointed victoriously to the screen with whatever the Spanish version of “Ta-Da!” might be, only to realize that it had only lowered three degrees.

Deflated, he said there were no engineers on duty overnight, and we would have to wait until the next day to have the A/C repaired. (And then they forgot to communicate this to the staff. Another piece of organizational travel advice? Double-check everything the night shift promises before you depart for a morning’s travels.)

The next evening, the lovely and charming Eduardo, who spoke no English but seemed to enjoy my Spotify selections while he worked, employed a ladder and drill, took apart the ceiling of our hotel room, and after the better part of an hour with his torso and head invisible to us, replaced a mysterious cylindrical doodad.

As women of a certain age know, sleeping temperature matters.

Traveling is NOT as Easy As Flipping a Light Switch

Having traveled abroad before, Dr. V and I have learned some tricks. For example, we knew that in many hotels, there is no power in your room upon your arrival. You must insert your room key, vertically, to turn on a sensor and allow electricity to flow to the room.

When you check in, make sure that you and your traveling companion each have your own key. Otherwise, if the first person to leave the room departs while you are in the shower and takes her key out of the slot, you will be plunged into darkness. Often, the power does not cut off until ten seconds after the removal, decreasing the likelihood of the departing person recognizing the cause-and-effect.

You, plunged into darkness in a slippery shower will, however, recognize the cause-and-effect.

Also, you may find that in some hotels, in lieu of using your actual hotel room key card, a grocery store loyalty card may work just as well. In four of the five hotels in which we stayed that used key cards and not old-fashioned keys, the cards from prior hotels served our needs.

As with showers and air conditioners, the light switches (which are more rocker panels than switches) in some hotels can be mystifying. Our fabulous tour director for the trip warned us as we arrived at one hotel that although he’s stayed there multiple times, he had, on more than one occasion, had to call the front desk and have someone come up and turn the lights off so that he could go to bed. He was not joking.

In one hotel, Dr. V and I had to sleep with the bathroom light on; elsewhere, one of us had to cope with bright overhead light in the room being on while the other took her (pre-dawn) morning shower because we could only get ALL the lights on. And once, we had to have someone from housekeeping re-program the lights in our room because none of the bathroom lights would come on.

When you arrive in your room, note the following:

Many hotel rooms have a master switch (whether or not there’s a key card sensor) that turns on the power to all of the other switches (and the A/C). Turn it on, and then you should be able to turn on (and off) the other lights at will. However, anticipate that the cleaning staff will turn this off, and you’ll be starting from scratch when you return to the room each evening.
There are often duplicate light switches for overhead lights — one by the entry and one in the bedroom area.
There are sometimes semi-master light switches near the bed that will operate overhead lights, along with the lights that work the bedside lamps. Sometimes, only your companions switch will work the overhead lights…or your bedside light.
If you have a lamp that you can’t turn off from any switch (even the switch that turned it on), look for an outlet. You may just be able to unplug it.
Once you figure out what the lights are for, seriously consider labeling a sticky note with what the light does. It may save you from stubbed toes, sleepless nights, and the embarrassment of having to ask Housekeeping for the equivalent of night-night service.

ONE LAST BIT OF TRAVEL ADVICE

Aside from the aforementioned bidet, using your hotel bathroom’s facilities probably won’t be difficult. But public restrooms are a different story altogether.

In Italy and Spain, depending on the quality of the bathroom (bus station vs. fancy restaurant), you may find yourself in a stall without a toilet seat. (Ladies, practice your hovering skills.)

More often, you may find yourself without toilet paper. Once, a bus station bathroom was the only public facility open on a Sunday afternoon. No toilet paper. While awaiting (dreading?) my turn, I shouted to the “the husbands” as we collectively referenced the men on the trip. One hubby pulled a long strip of TP off and handed it to us to parcel out. A moment later, a different husband had jiggled the machinery and pried loose a giant roll of toilet paper, the diameter of a large pizza, complete with the inner metal and plastic fittings, and handed it off to the women.

Paper Doll‘s advice:

Never pass up an opportunity to use the bathroom.
Don’t go to the bathroom by yourself. You never know when you’ll need assistance, especially if you’re traveling where you don’t speak the local language.
Always carry tissues, toilet paper, napkins, or something that approximates their function in your purse, pack, or jacket.

Thank me later.

How to Stay Organized When Travel Goes Off the Rails (or Runway)

Posted on: August 4th, 2025 by Julie Bestry | 12 Comments

Summertime is a high travel season. If you’re ceaselessly online, when you hear “travel,” you’re probably stuck on the non-stop loop of “Nothing Beats a Jet 2 Holiday.” (If you just got the jingle out of your head, I’m sorry.)

Otherwise, you’re either traveling, yourself, or comparing travel horror stories. But as you’ll see, a little organization can make these experiences a little easier to stand.

ORGANIZED TRAVEL IN A DISORGANIZED ERA

Trapped on the Tarmac

A few weeks ago, I did my own little version of Planes (No Trains) and Automobiles. The plan was to fly to Buffalo (by way of Atlanta) for my 40th high school reunion, and after a week with Paper Mommy, rent a car to drive to a friend’s combination vow renewal/housewarming/birthday party in Massachusetts, followed by a short drive to an airport in Connecticut and a flight home (again, by way of Atlanta).

Any trip with that many moving parts leaves a traveler open to a few kerfuffles. There was a one-hour delay on the New York State Thruway near the village of Canajoharie when one 18-wheeler sheared off the back of another 18 wheeler that was carrying giant bags of cat food, littering the highway with both bags and actual loose cat food.

On the return trip from Connecticut to Atlanta, the gate agent seemed particularly surly as she informed us that the airline had oversold the flight, and nobody would be boarding unless three people agreed to give up their seats and fly the next afternoon or evening, and agree to be without their luggage until they did fly! (This came after I circled the airport twice, passing the “Rental Car Returns” sign each time, because my GPS insisted that I should continue further along and return my car to an empty field.)

However, the anecdote that prompted this post was my connecting flight from Atlanta to Buffalo. We boarded on time, but passengers immediately noted how warm the plane was. After everyone had fastened their seat belts, and had their tray tables locked and seat backs in an upright position, we heard the various bing-bongs, but went nowhere. Eventually, a weary voice intoned, “This is your captain speaking…” and we learned that there was a “minor mechanical problem” and we would be delayed fifteen to twenty minutes.

(This wasn’t my flight. But in a way, don’t we all feel like this was our flight?)

The temperature continued to rise. Passengers were polite and resigned, except that after about half an hour, an announcement was made that there would be another delay of about twenty to twenty-five minutes. This continued for about an hour and a half, when we were assured the problem had been fixed and that pending ten minutes of “paperwork,” our flight would take off. But it didn’t.

We were then told that there was a lightning strike on the field and that all ground crew were ordered inside, so we needed to wait until the weather cleared. At this point, our phones’ weather apps told us it was in the 90s outside the plane; you can imagine how high above 100° it reached inside.

After two hours, a small rumble of rebellion fomented. We were hot, thirsty, late, and cranky.

Over the course of time, passengers started air-dropping and sharing Department of Transportation regulations (of which, more later) about traveler rights regarding delays. After more than 2-1/2 hours boiling inside this elongated metal hot box, we were told that we would de-plane and it would be decided whether we would re-board or be assigned a new plane. (This made us wonder whether the weather issue had been valid at all; had our plane truly been fixed as reported, why would we have needed a new one?)

Long-story-short, we deplaned, had our re-boarding scheduled and canceled multiple times in a short period, and then we were assigned a new plane — which would take off a little more than four hours after our originally scheduled flight.

Welcome to airline travel in 2025.

The Chaos of Air Travel

Of course, my experience is one of many, and a relatively insignificant one. A few days after this, Alaska Airlines grounded its entire complement of planes — 200 flights in all — over a Sunday night and Monday computer glitch.

Because travel has become more chaotic (and more controlled by digital systems), it’s increasingly necessary for consumers to organize their resources to prepare and respond to this chaos. In this post, I will highlight some of the essential information you need and actions you can take to guard against travel frustrations.

Pre-Trip Prep: The New Administrative Burden of Travel

Do you recall the days where you’d call a travel agent, explain where you wanted to go and when, and be presented with a nifty little itinerary and all the information you might need until you arrived at the airport (with your non-wheeled suitcase and traveler’s checks in hand)?

Online check-in and e-tickets began in the 1990s, and though it’s shocking to think how recently it actually was, we didn’t have mobile check-in until 2007, and it wasn’t widely adopted for several years after that. (For those interested, CNN’s Final Call for Paper Boarding Passes: A Visual History of the Beloved Memento offers an interesting look back.)

Book Your Travel Arrangements — With Padding

This is not a travel blog, but one focused on organizing and productivity. If you want good advice on booking travel, I direct you to:

The Points Guy (especially for using credit card, airline, and hotel reward points for booking)
The Blonde Abroad (focused on solo traveling for women)
Nomadic Matt (great for coverage of wide-ranging travel tips and news)
Budget Traveller (particularly for adventurous but cost-cutting travelers)

Travel is messier than ever. It’s not uncommon to hear tales of canceled flights and travelers sleeping in airports, even when weather is not a factor. My advice is to always book your travel with at least one day of padding in case things go awry.

I discourage you from ever scheduling a flight the same day that you need to be anywhere or do anything; that will guarantee more stress than is necessary.

Log all of your travel information

Those 1970s-era travel agents? They provided tickets, itineraries, and nicely organized lists with every date, time, and confirmation number. You are your own travel agent now.

Whether you create a digital, analog, or hybrid record of all of this information is up to you. However, whatever you do to log your essential travel information, provide a copy to loved one or trusted assistant. If technology fails and/or you and your documents are divided, having someone able to see your travel arrangements (and possibly help you alter them from afar) can be the real golden ticket.

Confirm everything a week in advance

During our junior year in college, my boyfriend was seeking a placement for a summer and semester in engineering co-op (basically, a fancy science-y internship). He painstakingly wrote down the details arranged by the company’s office, and arrived on-time at the airport — a day late.

It’s easy to mis-remember details, or to misread what you’ve logged or see in an app. Check your dates and times, even if you’re 100% absolutely, positively sure.

Check in when prompted

Nowadays, check-in has become a part-time job for travelers. I traveled extensively up through 2019, but must admit that I hadn’t traveled (by air or stayed in a hotel) since the start of the pandemic, and was by turns surprised, annoyed, and flummoxed by all the different types of checking in to be done. You will be asked to check in a day prior for:

Flights — You’ll generally get a prompt to check in 24 hours in advance of the first flight in whatever sequence of flights you have. If you haven’t booked via an airline co-branded credit card, you will likely have to pay a fee for your baggage; do it at this time and it will be one fewer thing to worry about when you get to the airport.

Hotels — I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting to have to do this and was surprised when my hotel sent me a text and email to prompt my check-in.

This is where another travel kerfuffle took place. I clicked on the link in the text, which took me to the hotel website, but the page was insistent that my booking did not exist and suggested I call. (I was just delighted that I wasn’t routed to an AI bot.) The phone system immediately recognized my cell phone number and the automated attendant asked if I was calling about my hotel reservation for the next day — at least the robot lady knew that I had a reservation, even if the web site did not.

It took twenty minutes with a lovely gentleman to accomplish the digital check-in; eventually, I had to download the app, log in (twice) and (I think) spin around three times and bow toward the ocean, but eventually it worked.

For this reason, having your confirmation number and reservation information logged and handy will help ease whatever pain the process requires of you.

Rental cars — Yup, I wasn’t expecting this, either. Admittedly, every time I’ve had to rent a car in the past 5 years it has been (sigh) because someone has hit (or stolen) my car, so the reservations have been handled by insurance companies, and the car rental companies have called me to confirm, so I have never had to check in.

Tours, transfers, etc. — Basically, any arrangements you have related to travel, whether it’s a car service, a tour, a transfer (like from plane to bus for a group booking), etc., will likely have a booking. Anticipate your check-ins so that your busy day-before-travel workload is not interrupted unnecessarily.

What happens if you don’t check in?

Wondering what happens if you just don’t bother to do a digital check-in as prompted? Consequences vary.

On a flight, your seat may be given to someone on the stand-by list, particularly if you arrive late to the airport. You might miss important information or changes to your reservation, causing you to be late or miss the trip altogether. Your hotel room could be given away, or your priority level could be reduced.

ORGANIZING YOUR TRAVEL INFORMATION

The New Tech Landscape of Travel: Apps You Can’t Escape

I’m not going to tell you that you have to have all of these apps, but I can tell you from recent experience that downloading travel apps and having the passwords accessible in a digital password manager will save you headaches on a rough travel day. So, at least consider downloading the following apps and saving them all in one travel folder, moved to your phone’s first page on travel days:

Airline apps – Although you can check in to a flight in your computer, phone, or tablet browser, airline apps are pretty much de rigueur for managing check-ins, downloading boarding passes (or sharing them to your digital wallet), keeping abreast of gate changes, arranging re-bookings, etc. The app makes everything smoother.

Across the four flights on my trip, but particularly that hot-box delayed-flight experience, the app alerted me to each change (and even to the location of my suitcase each time it was relocated) long before the pilot or gate agent informed us of anything. Because the new plane was larger and had a different layout, my boarding pass and seat assignment changed, seamlessly. I just had to consult the app.

Hotel apps – You may be wondering why you need an app to basically rent a tiny piece of real estate for a day. (You may also be wondering why you book a hotel “by the day” but can only check in at 3 p.m. and must check out at 11 a.m., getting only 20 hours of any “day.” Sorry, no clue.)

Hotel apps now not only have digital check-in and check-out, but keyless entry and the ability to control the TV, thermostat, and lights, order room service, request amenities (like more towels or toilet paper) or to chat with front desk. If you are an introvert, hotel apps must be a saving grace!

Note, however, that like most of modern travel, boo-boos occur. My Hampton by Hilton digital key on the app should have allowed me to hold my phone against a plastic square above my doorknob to unlock the door. However, after several attempts on my own and multiple re-settings by the front desk dude, my digital key never worked to enter my room. (Strangely, it operated as expected if I wanted to use the fitness center, pool, business center, and laundry room. Apparently, the app felt strongly that I should be a fit, productive, and clean traveler; it just didn’t want me to sleep or be well-dressed.)

I was given a plastic key card, like the kind we’ve been using at hotels for thirty years; however, instead of inserting it anywhere, it required waving it in front of the aforementioned doorknob plastic square thingy at just the right angle or speed.

(For germaphobes like me, being able to control the TV from my phone instead of having to touch the hotel’s remote was a nice feature.)

Car rental apps — Whether you opt for the old standbys like Hertz or Enterprise, or have embraced peer-to-peer car rentals like Turo (basically an AirB&B model for car rentals) – an app may be necessary for everything from rental check-ins and returns to unlocking the vehicle.
Ride share apps — If you spend more time in Ubers or Lyfts than in your own car, you’ve probably got the apps already, but if you only use them to get to/from airports once every few years, you might want to re-install and make sure your saved credit card info is right.
Master itinerary managers — If you prefer a formal platform to DIY-ing your trip, an app like TripIt allows you to gather all your hard-won trip-planning successes in one place. You forward all of your travel confirmations to the app, and it automagically arranges everything into a comprehensive itinerary. TripIt also includes seat trackers (in case a better place for your tush becomes available, fare trackers, point trackers, and document storage. Wanderlog is similar, but includes functions for creating checklists, tracking and splitting expenses, collaborating with fellow travelers, and adding travel guides.
Note-taking and cloud apps — You don’t have to use fancy apps to track your itineraries if you prefer DIY. Just print your travel itinerary info to PDF and save in a trip-specific note in Evernote, Notion, AppleNotes, or OneNote, or upload your confirmation documents to iCloud or GoogleDrive.
Your photo and camera app — These other apps are convenient, but if you really want a failsafe digital backup, screen-shot or make a PDF of mission-critical travel details, like confirmation numbers, boarding passes, airport maps and hotel/resort directions, and important contact info that’s too lengthy to type into your contacts app.
Flight tracking sites/apps — Some people are comfortable trusting the airlines to keep them informed. The rest of us obsess and need to know if our connecting flight is leaving late or if there’s weather that’s going to make our plans go kablooie or if our travel companions coming from other locations meet us on time! Two great site app options for knowing about flight and airport disruptions are FlightAware and FlightRadar24.

Organize in Case Your Tech Fails

Apps and the internet are modern and cool and essential for many things. Except, and I’ll hold your hand when I say this, tech can suck. For example:

Some apps only work when you’re online. This is bad news if you’re in a cell tower dead zone or, as happened on my hot-hot-hot delayed flight, the promised Wi-Fi melted down.
You phone may poop out, because the more travel kerfuffles you experience, the more time you’ll be spending on the phone.
- Yes, you should probably travel with a hand-held charger, but if you’ve had to re-charge your digital devices many times, your charger may be weary, too.
- Yes, there are chargers on planes, but if your charging cable is the modern USB-C format and you’re not traveling with an adapter, you may be out of luck, as the weird little charging ports down below the seats and the ones (on larger planes) in the seat-back “entertainment system” are all USB-A.
Digital keys often fail — that front desk clerk is still your best chance at getting into your room. (When you get to the hotel, request key cards. You don’t want to schlep up to your room with all your luggage, only to find the digital key doesn’t work.)
Notifications overload is real — Sometimes, it’s worse if all your technology works than if it fails. There’s too high a chance of important messages getting lost in a sea of “Rate Your Experience!” notifications pinging your phone.

So, as Old School as it sounds, and with apologies to the trees, print your master itinerary with all of the dates, times, and confirmation numbers.

I printed every confirmation email and arranged them in the order in which I would need to use them over the course of ten days. I popped them, along with a pen and one of my beloved purple legal pads, in a zippered Container Store document pouch. It kept my notes dry when I needed to dash a few places in the rain, and the cardboard backing of my legal pad kept the papers from getting wrinkled or squished.

A printed boarding pass works when your phone is freaking out. If the airline or car rental place is having a computer meltdown, your printout will verify your booking and the rates and service levels you were promised.

And Don’t Forget the Telephone

Save yourself the headache of having to Google or look on the back of your frequent flier card — program important numbers for your airlines, hotels, rental car agencies, etc., into your phone.

WHEN TRAVEL GOES SIDEWAYS: KNOW YOUR RIGHTS

The United States Department of Transportation has developed a variety of passenger rights, but many people misunderstand or get them wrong. Some highlights:

There’s a maximum 3-hour domestic tarmac delay at which point airlines are required to “de-plane” you (unless the pilot feels that passenger safety would be compromised).
Airlines must provide food, water, working lavatories, and climate control after 2 hours. During our first two hours on the tarmac, we had only working bathrooms. Just before the 2-hour mark, we were each offered a tiny puddle of lukewarm water, and it took almost half an hour to disseminate those.
Passengers must be notified about the situation every 30 minutes.
The airlines must provide flight refunds if the airline cancels or significantly delays your flight, but only if you decline whatever alternative they offer!

So, if they delay you by four hours but put you on a plane (or get you onto a competing airline’s flight), you aren’t due a refund; but if you had a “non-refundable ticket” and the airline’s delays ruin your trip such that you reject their offer to get you where you’re going a day late and many (airport snack) dollars short, you can be refunded for your non-refundable ticket.

Airplane Photo by Gerrie van der Walt on Unsplash

However, if you have a bad experience, I encourage you to contact your airlines rewards center; they have a chart for depositing extra miles for delays and bad experiences.

You have other rights, too. For example, airlines must refund baggage fees if your bags are lost or extensively delayed. There are also rights regarding compensation for voluntary and involuntary “bumping” due to overbooking. For further reading and resources:

Department of Transportation Dashboard for Airline Commitments

DOT Fly Rights: A Consumer Guide to Air Travel

Keep a PDF copy of these rules on your phone.

During a bad experience, log problems as they happen so you can request compensation later. As we never took off during that hot-as-h-e-double-hockey-sticks flight, my phone wasn’t yet in Airplane Mode, so I was live-texting Paper Mommy, yielding contemporaneous time-stamps for every frustrating occurrence. This made it easier to have my upgrade fee refunded and to secure rewards points.

Experts and seasoned travelers with whom I’ve spoken advise being polite but firm in quoting regulations if you believe your rights regarding tarmac delays (or, y’know, anything else) have been denied.

If the airlines fail to satisfy your complaints, read section 13 of the DOT Fly Rights document (above) to know how file a complaint with the DOT if needed.

Finally, always have a backup plan. Know what other options you have for flights, rental agencies, or hotels are nearby.

For more on organized travel:

We can’t control the skies, but we can control our systems. Organized travel isn’t about being perfect, but about considering what we will need and having appropriate plans and backups. Feel free to share your trips (and travel horror stories) in the comments.

Ultimate Guide to Organizing the Passport Process: In Person, By Mail, & Now: Online!

Posted on: July 1st, 2024 by Julie Bestry | 10 Comments

If you’re organized in approaching the experience, travel can broaden the horizons and delight the senses, as I have talked about in posts like:

Of course, one large part of international travel is having an up-to-date passport, which I covered dating all the way back to 2010, when I wrote “May We See Your Papers?”: Passport Cards and Trusted Travelers. As you can imagine, a lot has changed since then.

And, in fact, a lot has changed in the world of passports as recently as last month! But first, let’s start with the basics.

THE GROWTH IN PASSPORT POPULARITY

In 1990, only 4% of citizens of the United States held passports. This was consistently a shock to Europeans, where international travel between nations was common. Certainly some of this was due to the immensity of the United States, per the old joke:

Texan: “I’m from the great state of Texas. My state is so big that you can get on a train, ride for a day and a night, and still be in Texas!”

Rhode Islander: “We used to have trains like that in Rhode Island.”

However, our expanse of land is not the only reason many Americans didn’t feel the need for a passport. Prior to 9/11, we Americans traveled in a much less restricted way. However, when the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act came into effect in January 2007, the law required U.S. citizens to have valid passports when traveling by air between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda.

Previously, traveling (by land, sea, or air) to these areas was fairly easy and required no passports. (Indeed, having grown up in Buffalo, I recall the many times my family or friends would dive to Canada for the day or even just for dinner, needing only to tell the customs officer our location of birth and whether we had anything to declare.)

US Department of State, Census Bureau, Haver Analytics, Apollo Chief Economist

Over the course of decades, the number of American citizens holding passports has continued to rise. Back in 1997, only 6.3 million U.S. passports were issued; in 2017 the State Department issued a record 21.4 million passports. Now, 48% of U.S. citizens, just slightly less than half, hold valid passports.

Unfortunately, I have no statistics on how many people leave for the airport having forgotten their passports.

BENEFITS OF HOLDING A PASSPORT

Holding a valid U.S. passport comes with a number of benefits beyond having a photo that rivals your driver’s license pic as being one of the least appealing shots ever taken of you.

A passport isn’t just a nifty little book for getting pretty stamps. It’s an essential document that facilitates domestic and international travel, and serves as a crucial form of identification and proof of citizenship. In particular, a U.S. passport comes with additional benefits, including:

Visa-Free Travel — Your U.S. passport allows you visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to much of the world, making international travel easier and more convenient. In fact, current holders of a United States passport may travel to 188 (of 193) countries and territories without a travel visa, or with a visa-on-arrival.

Consular Protection and Services — In case of emergencies (like loss of one’s actual passport, natural disasters, legal issues, etc.), U.S. citizens can receive assistance from U.S. embassies and consulates around the world.

Global Entry Program —U.S. passport holders can apply for Global Entry, which expedites customs processing when you return home, saving time navigating airport lines.

Ease of Travel to U.S. Territories — Your U.S. passport lets you travel seamlessly to U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. No, you don’t have to have a passport to travel to these locations — because they are part of the United States — but having a U.S. passport makes it much easier to travel to territories without any additional documentation.

HOW TO APPLY FOR A PASSPORT

Let’s assume you’re an adult applying for your own passport for the first time. (If you’re seeking a first-time passport for a child under the age of 16, the rules are different.)

Gather Required Documents

This is where being organized comes in handy. Gather the following documentation:

Proof of Citizenship — Usually, a certified birth certificate will suffice, but if you weren’t born in the United States, you’ll need a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA), a Certificate of Naturalization, or a Certificate of Citizenship.
Proof of Identity — No, a note from your mother will just not do. Be prepared to show a valid driver’s license, government ID, or a military ID, and bring a photocopy, too.
Passport Photo — Your latest Instagram selfie may be gorgeous, but you’ll need a passport photo that meets specific requirements: 2″ x 2″, in color, taken within the last six months, with a white or off-white background. You also aren’t allowed to smile! There are apps to help you, but if you’re a member of AAA, I encourage you to get your photo taken there. I’m a “blinker” and the nice ladies at AAA put up with SO MUCH blinking until we secured a decent photo.

Missing any of these essential documents? Check out my post How to Replace and Organize 7 Essential Government Documents.

Fill Out Form DS-11

Fill out Form DS-11 online using the Department of State’s form filler or download a PDF and print it. Alternatively, pick up a paper copy from a passport acceptance facility or any U.S. post office. The DS-11 lets you apply for a passport book, a passport card*, or both. If you think there’s a chance that you’ll be traveling a lot (did you win an around-the-world trip?), request a larger passport book with more visa pages. Just check the large book box at the top of the DS-11 form; there’s no extra charge.
DON’T SIGN THE FORM until instructed to do so at the passport acceptance facility. Seriously, do not sign the form or you’ll have to start all over.

*A passport card is a wallet-sized, plastic passport (so it has no visa pages) that serves as proof of your United States citizenship and identity, with the same length of validity as the passport book. However, it’s not valid for international travel by air; you can only use it to travel by land or sea between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and Caribbean countries.

Submit Your Application in Person

Visit a passport acceptance facility in person. Depending on your location, this may be a post office, library, or other designated location, with official staff for handling passport acceptance. The Department of State has a search page; put in your zip code to find the closest options for your needs. If your travel is urgent and in the next three weeks, make an appointment at a passport agency location.
Bring everything (the completed Form DS-11, proof of citizenship, proof of identity, passport photo, and the required fees (check or money order, only)) with you to the passport acceptance facility.

(There are also special passport acceptance fairs for processing new passports, but mostly only in New Jersey and Georgia.)

Pay the Fees

As of the latest update, the total cost for a first-time adult passport book is $165 ($130 application fee to the U.S. Department of State and a $35 execution fee to whatever facility takes your application); for a passport card, it’s $65 ($30 application fee, $35 execution fee); for both, it’s $195 ($160 application fee, $35 execution fee).
For expedited service (see below for details), add $60 to your application fee; add the weirdly specific $21.36 to your application fee if you want your completed passport shipped 1-2 days after issuance.
Check the current fee schedule, as fees can change over time.

Wait for Processing

Enroll in email updates to track your passport’s status.

Have your eyes glazed over while reading this? Perhaps a video is more your style.

RENEW YOUR PASSPORT THE TRADITIONAL WAY: BY MAIL

This is all well and good, but what if you’ve had a passport forever, or applied for one the first time you ever read a Paper Doll post about passports, but now need to renew?

Mailboxes by EraserGirl licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

Well, the simple act of renewing your passport was never particularly simple (or swift). The traditional method of renewing your passport by mail still requires the following steps:

Make sure you meet the renewal requirements

You must have your old, undamaged passport in your possession so you can mail it in — The problem? If you travel frequently for work or your personal life, you might have had to cancel trips because you would not have (or would not know if you’d have) your passport back in time.
The passport had to have been issued within the last 15 years to you when you were at least 16 years of age. — The problem? If a college student has to renew a passport received as a child. It’s not always easy for college-age people to accomplish all the steps to renew their passports, as they’ll likely have to get their original documents from their parents, get themselves somewhere to take an acceptable passport photo, and get to a location that helps with passport renewals by mail.
The passport must have been issued in your current name unless you can provide, by mail, a document like a marriage certificate, divorce decree, or court order showing a change of name to affirm gender. (For more on this topic, check out Paper Doll’s Ultimate Guide to Legally Changing Your Name.)
Your passport had to have never been reported lost or stolen (even if you later reported it found or returned).

Fill out the passport renewal form, DS-82

Note, this is not the same DS-11 you use to apply for an original passport, so don’t think you can just send in a photocopy of your old form!

Access the DS-82 online with the passport form filler tool or downloading and printing a PDF and filling it out by hand. Print out the DS-82 and fill it out completely (and, honestly).

Put it all together

Package up and mail the form with your original passport book and/or passport card (which the State Department will return to you by mail), plus:

a passport photo that follows all the rules stapled to the application form
any applicable name certified change documents (the State Department will return your copies)
a personal check or money order made out to the U.S. Department of State for the cost of renewing plus all applicable fees. No credit cards. No cash. No Venmo. Again, if you’ve got a college kid hoping to take a semester abroad, these things may come as a surprise to them. Whether you’re writing a personal check for yourself or your college kid (who may not even have a checking account), be sure to write the full name and date of birth of the applicant at the top of the check!

Send this application package via a trackable method

The State Department can give you status updates once your passport is in the system, but it doesn’t know whether your envelope is in your corner mail box, at the post office, or sitting on a tarmac at an airport in a random city.

A Sidebar on Passport Renewal Fees

There’s a lot going on with passport fees. To start, it costs $130 to renew a passport book, $30 to renew a passport card, and $160 if you want to simultaneously renew both (and sadly, there are no discounts for renewing both at the same time).

However, if you want to speed up your renewal by mail, there are a few different approaches.

Expedited service — Think of this as if you were buying a double-caf macchiato for the folks at the State Department to get them to speed up their time spent processing your passport. This adds an extra $60 to your application.
Faster delivery of your completed passport — This is separate from speeding along the work of the State Department. For an extra (again, weirdly specific) fee of $19.53, the State Department will mail your completed passport (whether you have paid for expedited service or not) within 1-2 days of issuance, and you will receive it within 1-2 days of them having mailed it.

You can also speed everything along by sending your renewal packet (with your application, photo, check, old passport, and any supporting documents) via the US Postal Service’s Priority Mail.

Per the State Department, the current routine processing time for passport renewals is 6-8 weeks; for expedited service, it’s running 2-3 weeks. And these estimates only account for processing, not for mailing (in both directions).

What if you need a super-speedy renewal? In an urgent situation, you can make an appointment to visit a passport agency. You can only secure such an appointment if you have urgent emergency travel to a foreign country in the next 14 calendar days, such as if an immediate family member outside of the United States has died, is dying and/or in hospice, or has a life threatening injury (or if you need a foreign visa in the next 28 calendar days).

Note, if you live in the northeast, you’ll have your pick of options for passport agencies; in the southeast, Atlanta and Miami are your only choices. However, a huge portion of the interior of the United States is a multi-day drive from a passport agency office, so be organized and plan ahead!

Depending on whether you’ve already applied for your renewal and time is getting short or the trip (or the passport renewal) has caught you by surprise, there are different approaches to securing an appointment, so click the above link to see your options.

To wrap it all up, here’s how you renew your passport using the traditional renewal-by-mail method.

NEW: RENEW YOUR PASSPORT ONLINE!!!

Now that you know the standard way to renew your passport (book or card) by mail, here’s a curveball. The United States Department of State has an intriguing new “beta” program where you can renew your passport online!

As of June 2024, eligible American citizens can skip the lines at the post office to renew their passports!

Just don’t think this is going to speed up the process, or expect that it’s going to be significantly more convenient, at least in the near term. However, if you’re eligible, you can at least renew your passport while sitting in your jammies at home.

Woman in PJs at Computer designed with Bing Image Creator

Note, that this is a “beta” release of the online passport renewal system means they are still working the kinks out. Some aspects of the online passport renewal system are similar to what you’d do if you processed everything by mail, but there are several differences, depending on your personal status and your previous passport situation.

Online renewal requirements related to you

You are at least 25 years old.
You are not changing the name, gender, date of birth, or place of birth associated with your current passport. So, online renewal isn’t appropriate for anyone who has changed their name since their last passport was issued, whether due to marriage, divorce, matching their gender, or otherwise.
You won’t be traveling internationally for at least 8 weeks from the date you submit your application. There’s no expedited service during the beta phase of this renewal by mail, so this program isn’t faster; it’s just (when everything else works), easier and prevents you have having to schlep out in the 90°+ temperatures.
You live in the United States (in either a state or a territory). If you’re living in a foreign country or have an Army Post Office (APO) or Fleet Post Office (FPO) address, you don’t qualify for passport renewal by mail. (Again, this is likely because of beta program. Requirements are likely in flux.)

Online renewal requirements related to the passport

You’re applying to renew a regular (tourist) passport. This online program doesn’t cover renewals of specially-issued passport statuses, like diplomatic, official, or service passports. So, if you’re a new American diplomat, like the Stephanie Syptak-Ramnath, our brand-new U.S. Ambassador to Peru, you’ll have to renew by mail (or, y’know, get your fancy assistant to help).
The passport you are renewing was issued between 2009 and 2015, or over 9 years but less than 15 years from the date you plan to submit your application, and it is (or was) valid for 10 years.
You have your passport with you, and it is not damaged or mutilated, and you have not previously reported it as lost or stolen. Unlike when you renew by mail, you’ll be keeping that passport with you; don’t mail it in!

A few other differences exist. For example, you don’t have to (and indeed, can’t) pay your renewal fees by check. Instead, pay your passport renewal fee by credit or debit card. Yes, this means you can get points or airline miles. Yay!

You can upload a digital passport photo. However, it still has to follow all the same requirements, so again, no goofy selfies!

Finally, understand that the passport you’re renewing will be canceled after you submit your application so you can’t use it for international travel in the interim.

Once you know you are eligible:

Create an account at MyTravel.gov.

Sign in to your new account and select the option to renew your passport to start your application. Don’t worry if you get interrupted; you can save your application and finish it later. However, you only have 30 days to complete the application once it’s started; after that, you’ll need to start from scratch.
Enter information about your current passport and travel plans.

Upload your digital photo, following all of the rules.
Digitally sign the application and pay for your application fee(s). You’ll get a series of confirmation emails letting you know that the payment is pending, then that it’s been processed. (This may take up to three days.) If something goes wrong and they can’t process the payment, they’ll let you know that, too, so be sure to check your spam folder if you don’t see update emails.
Wait a week; then enroll to get updates in the Online Passport Status System. (Yes, it’s silly that this isn’t an automatic part of the account set-up process.) They’ll notify you as your status changes, such as when your application is in process, when it gets approved, and then when your passport is mailed.

Sticking points of the ‘beta’ passport renewal program

You can’t necessarily start your application at the time or on the day of your choice.

The system opens for a limited mid-day Eastern Time window each day, and closes once they reach their limit for the day. So, if you try to start your application at 4 p.m. on Thursday and you’re not allowed in, you can either try again the next day (or any other day) or renew by mail.

The State Department just began this program in June, so they’re limiting the number of applications accepted each day so they can monitor the program’s real-time performance. They want to make sure the software (and the employees using the software) aren’t inundated and that nothing breaks. (This is a good thing, so don’t be that person, like in the TikTok skits, complaining that a restaurant won’t stay open past official hours because you’re hungry and arrived late.)

Eventually, this online passport renewal program will get a full launch, and we can expect some (but not all) of the requirements may be relaxed.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO NOW?

Look at your passport to see when it expires.
Consider your travel plans (or make some travel plans) and figure out how far in advance you need to renew to be able to travel. Many countries won’t allow you entry if your passport expires within six months.
If your passport expires in the coming year, renew it now so that you don’t have to worry about additional fees for expedited processing or shipment.
If you don’t have a passport at all, consider the possibilities. It’s not just so you can travel internationally at the drop of a hat if you win a free trip or get offered a job requiring international travel. A passport also offers advantages for flying domestically.
If your college-aged (or college-bound) kids don’t have a passport, encourage them to apply this summer. If they suddenly have the opportunity to study abroad, visit college friends, or participate in exciting school programs (like performing or playing sports abroad), they’ll usually have a very brief time in which to make arrangements.

Still need encouragement? If you renew your passport and go to France, you can send your envious friends postcards and letters emblazoned with La Poste‘s new scratch & sniff “La Baguette” postage stamps!

Paper Doll De-Stresses Your December

Posted on: December 4th, 2023 by Julie Bestry | 10 Comments

Did December sneak up on you? Were you so focused on Thanksgiving that when you got to the other side of it last week and flipped the calendar page, you gasped to realize how little of the year was left and how much was suddenly (or still) on your plate?

Today’s post offers some cut-to-the-chase advice for organizing your December life, whichever way your sugar cookie is crumbling right now.

DON’T BE LISTLESS

Even Santa can’t keep it all in his head. No matter how organized you are throughout the rest of the year, December often feels like people are whizzing tennis balls at your head from all directions. As I wrote about in Paper Doll on the Magic of Making Lists, a good list can help you brainstorm, set and maintain boundaries, recognize your priorities, organize your mind, relieve anxiety, and aspire to greatness.

A good list, especially in December, can help you brainstorm, set and maintain boundaries, recognize your priorities, organize your mind, relieve anxiety, and aspire to greatness. Share on X

Get in the habit of writing everything down the minute you think of it; don’t trust that you’ll remember it later. It doesn’t matter whether you create your lists digitally or on paper, as long as you commit to putting them in one place and referring to them often. However, for lists you’ll be referring to annually, you may find it easier to keep organize digitally so they’ll be easier to update from year to year.

Create Gift Lists for Others

Obviously, it would have been better keep a running list all year, and to have taken notes when inspiration struck or clues were dropped. But meet your holiday shopping conundrums where they are, not where you wish they’d be.

Start by listing the people for whom you need/want to buy (or make) presents and note what you know they like. This may seem obvious, but keeping a written list will ensure you won’t have seven gifts for one person and none for another. Have a column on your lists to keep track of which gifts you’ve already purchased and for whom so when it’s time to wrap them, you can do it quickly (or even delegate it to your favorite Santa’s helper).

Made in Santa’s Workshop Photo by Samuel Holt on Unsplash

If you can get giftees to share clues or you can find their Amazon wish list, all the better. Otherwise, whenever possible, let the internet do the labor for you. There are numerous blog posts with titles like, “Best Holiday Gifts for Teenage Girls” or “Best Presents for Seniors.” While nobody wants to be a stereotype, everyone would rather get a present that’s at least somewhat apt for them rather than a generic candle or picture frame.

Don’t forget “white elephant” gift exchanges and gifts or gift cards for the people who make life better for you and your family, like teachers and service providers.

(Consider wrapping gifts as soon as you buy them, complete with a gift tag with the recipient’s name. Wrapping two or three gifts a night is less exhausting than having to lock yourself in a room for two hours to conquer everything.)

Create a Gift List (and a Gift) for Yourself

The surest way to be disappointed in the holiday season to hope you’ll be surprised and delighted by receiving gifts from people who either aren’t good at it, or who’ve embraced learned helplessness. Don’t be a martyr. Be clear about what you want.

If you are the partner in a couple who takes on all the emotional labor (year-round, but especially at the holidays), you may find that each year, you’re the recipient of last-minute gifts. And I always hear about children pointing out that Daddy and all of the kids have full stockings hanging from the mantle, but Mommy’s is empty. This is the year to up-end that unfortunate tradition.

Keep a gift list of what you want, either specifically or categorically, and don’t feel at all guilty saying what you don’t want. (Nothing that brings you more labor!)

Share the link to your Amazon or other wish lists, and let go of the idea that if someone really loved you, they’d know what you want. Some people are just really horrible at buying gifts and lack the gene or skill for listening for clues all year. (Note: this advice assumes your person is otherwise stellar. If failing to really “know” you is the least of the reasons why your partner is on Santa’s naughty list, I’m not being snarky when I say to give yourself the gift of counseling to see if that is not the right partner for you.)

As for someone not picking up the slack, leaving you with all of the emotional labor and mental load, it may be helpful to re-read a post from a different holiday season, Paper Doll’s Pop Culture Guide to Decluttering with Your Valentine, which covers navigating these kinds of imbalances regarding expected responsibilities. Then you may want to check out Dr. Regina Lark and Judith Kolberg’s Emotional Labor: Why A Woman’s Work is Never Done and What To Do About It.

Outline a No-Surprise Budget

Most people don’t create holiday budgets, and when they do, they focus on gift budgets. But the holiday season means shopping for more than gifts, including decorations, food, special event clothing, travel, and more.

Decide on how much you’re willing to spend on these holiday expenses, and keep a running tally as you go along. If the money appropriated for that category runs out, either make do, or borrow from a different budgeted category. Keeping up with the Joneses in December can make it hard to pay the electric bill in January.

Check out Capital One’s How to Make a Holiday Budget and Stick to it in 7 Easy Steps.

Don’t Just Plan the Big-Deal Meals

Start with your lists of favorite recipes and needed ingredients for shopping and preparing holiday meal, whether it’s latkes on the first night of Hanukkah or the multi-generational family dinner for Christmas or heavy hors d’oeuvres and desserts for a New Year’s open house.

Knowing what you’ll be cooking for what events will help you create the shopping lists for those recipes. If this isn’t your first jingle bell rodeo, then you may have this down. But don’t forget to master plan your regular meals — at last dinners — for throughout the month. With parties at school and in the workplace, and after holiday recitals and concerts, various members of your family are likely to fill up on snacks and noshes and not be hungry at regular meal times. Give yourself a break, and plan ahead that on those nights you can skip the prep and have leftovers or make breakfast for dinner.

Don’t Leave Home Without It — A Master Travel List, That Is

Whether you’re going over the river and through the woods to see the USA in your Chevrolet, or you’re jetting off somewhere tropical, you’re going to want lists for getting your home in order (setting the heat, putting the lights on timers, stopping the mail and the newspaper, having someone water your plants), shopping, packing, making travel plans (getting tickets, ensuring passports are up-to-date, making reservations), and more. For help on this, check out:

Paper Doll’s 5 Essential Lists For Planning an International Vacation

Paper Doll on the Smead Podcast: Essential Lists For Organized Travel

Paper Doll Organizes Your Space, Money, and Well-Being While Traveling

Please Mr. Postman (and Yourself) with Card and Mailing Lists

Keep a list of people to whom you want to send holiday cards or to whom you’ll be shipping gifts and care packages. Digital lists allow you to update them, so when you get cards from others, check the return address against your list to make sure nothing has changed.

Check cards and packages off your list and make a note of when you sent them (in case someone asks) and be sure to insure any valuables.

The United States Postal Service have tables of Holiday 2023 shipping and mailing deadlines on the website. At the above link, click the red “recommended shipping dates” to get a sense of when to ship for domestic and international deadlines to get your goodies where they’re going on time.

Then check out my post How to Organize and Track Your Packages and Mail for ways to keep tabs on all of your shipments.

When To Many To-Dos Make You Forget What To Do

Sit down with your family to map out all the to-do items you can brainstorm. Be sure to keep this list to use as a template for next year.

For example, there might be date-specific tasks, like picking up Aunt Gertrude at the airport, or more general tasks like cleaning and organizing to make your home company-ready or decluttering the pantry so your ingredients are all fresh.

Don’t Eat Your Heart Out About Giving From the Heart

First, remember that your charitable gifts, whether monetary or tangible, are needed all year long. Don’t feel compelled to do all of your giving in December. Second, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Decide what charities you want to support and give according to a plan, rather than feeling guilty about not giving to every charity that asks. (It’s just like how you should shop based on what you want or need, not because an ad has snuck into your feed.)

When you do make charitable gifts, keep a log of the amounts and the organizations to whom you’ve given so you’ll be prepared when doing your taxes.

Make Catastrophes Less Catastrophic with Emergency Lists

Being organized doesn’t prevent emergencies, but can make them less anxiety–provoking. One year at Thanksgiving, my sister and I, in separate areas of her house, each used our hair dryers, causing a half-house power outage. (Yay to my college bestie, Mark, for walking us through my sister’s weird fuse box over the phone!) Another year, the night before Thanksgiving, the kitchen sink started leaking flooding the cabinet underneath!

Paper Mommy can recall the number of times I got sick on holidays, particularly getting chicken pox on Easter (which, while not our holiday, made it hard to get ahold of a doctor).

Before you need them, make sure you have numbers to cover various emergencies so you have a better chance of finding help if you need a plumber, electrician, baby sitter, etc., whom you can call during the holiday season, as well as a short list of restaurants, pharmacies, and doc-in-the-box locations open on holidays.

KEEP YOURSELF ON AN EVEN KEEL

All of the foregoing lists can make sure you can keep everything straight. But that doesn’t mean you won’t be exhausted. Here are some ideas so you won’t be one big raw, frazzled nerve by New Year’s Eve.

Practice Graham Allcott’s Battery Saver Mode

Productivity Ninja Graham Allcott has a great newsletter, Rev Up for the Week, that arrives in my newsletter every Sunday. A few months ago, he talked about what I think is an absolutely brilliant way to say “No” in a way that people can actually understand.

In Battery Saver Mode, Graham talked about how we all reach a point where we’re just a bit of burnt toast. We see this most at (and just after) the holidays. It’s not that we don’t experience burnout and overwhelm at other times in the year, but this is the time of year where everyone is weighed down all at once, running on too little sleep, too much sugar (and maybe adult beverages) and way too many activities and obligations.

Graham makes the point we all recognize, that in order to meet our current commitments, we have to maintain our boundaries and guard our energy by not taking on further commitments.

He calls this concept “battery saver mode,” like how your phone puts you in the low-power red zone and gives you an alert when it hits 20% and then 10% and then shuts down. As Graham says,

“Battery saver mode is the idea that if it isnt a core commitment, I’m committing myself to saying no to it. I’m waiting til I get myself charged up again, and not putting a timeframe on when that’ll be.”

Being honest — with ourselves as much as with others — about what we can take on can make all the difference between maintaining our focus and energy and becoming so scattered that we burn ourselves out.

Prioritize taking care of yourself or you will soon find you won’t be able to take care of anything or anyone else. For more on this idea, I direct you to The Magic of “No”, an article I wrote so long ago that babies born the day I published it can now vote.

Schedule Time for Yourself

None of us can live only for others. Just as my recent post, Take a Break — How Breaks Improve Health and Productivity, talks about the importance of taking a break from work to keep yourself physically, cognitively, and emotionally vital, it’s just as essential to take these breaks for yourself.

That means that if you have to delegate tasks (even if that means lateral delegation to your partner) so that you get time to eat, sleep, meet up with friends, get a massage, or just have quiet time away from the kids and your mother-in-law, so be it.

Just as you block out times on your calendar for meetings or obligations that benefit your employers or your family members, you need to take time for yourself and self-care.

Figure out and prioritize what parts of the holiday season will give you joy and revitalize you (even if that means taking a few hours to escape the holiday season, itself).

Think Blue Skies, Not Blue Light

There are three important reasons to limit how much time you spend on your devices, especially at the holidays. First, the more time you spend online, the less time you can engage with the delights of the holidays and the people you care about.

Second, stressful news updates and social media can provoke anxiety in anyone, and can especially lead to feelings of isolation for those without social support during the holidays.

Third, extended use of devices is just bad for your health. Bad posture from shlumping at your desk, gripping your phone, or hyperextending your neck is all the more problematic in a season of sitting shlepping through airports, climbing ladders to decorate, and sitting on uncomfortable elementary school auditorium seats. Exposure to blue light emitted by phones, tablets, and computer screens can also produce insomnia, which can further impact your ability to focus, either on work or joy.

I’m not saying to cover your phone in wrapping paper, but limiting your device use may bring back some of the old-time joy of the holidays.

Chill Out

With the exception of college students home for winter break, nobody gets enough sleep or relaxation during the holidays. Lack of sleep can exacerbate stress, and the less recuperative sleep you get, the more you’re putting your immune system at risk just when you’re also being smooched all over by relatives, friends, and random acquaintances who’ve been hanging out with germy (though adorable) grandkids and fellow airplane travelers.

To preserve your physical and mental health, you need relaxation and sleep. There’s an internet full of advice on both topics, so I’ll just share a few ideas.

Practicing mindful relaxation techniques doesn’t have to be a huge thing. If you’re excited to embrace formal meditation, yoga, breathing techniques, or whatever, there are numerous apps for that.

If you’re not sure what methods you want to try, but know you need some guidance, UCLA has a whole website of guided meditations in multiple languages.

These include “drop-in” meditations in podcast form, as well as longer meditations for health and wellness, body scans, developing lovingkindness, and breathing. Languages offered include English, Arabic, Armenian, Cantonese, Farsi, Filippino, French, Greek, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Mixtec, Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese, and American Sign Language.

You can download the UCLA Mindful App for iOS or Android at no cost.

Another option is Yoga Nidra, also called Non-Sleep Deep Rest (or NSDR). It combines controlled breathing with comprehensive body scanning to yield a state of heightened awareness and profound relaxation.

The idea is that NSDR activates the parasympathetic nervous system and helps stimulate the release of serotonin so you can go from stressed out to blissed out. While it doesn’t put you to sleep, it makes it easier to relax so that you can fall asleep. Here’s one example, with more than one million views.

There are oodles of YouTube videos for trying out Yoga Nidra. Just don’t listen to them while driving or after you’ve put something in the oven or on the stove.

KNOW THAT YOU’RE NOT ALONE IF DECEMBER FAILS TO DELIGHT YOU

Are you looking at the month ahead and feeling let down? Maybe you’ve recently moved, broken up, or moved across the country from your family? Perhaps you recently graduated and this is your first year on the job, so you don’t have a social circle yet? Or, worse, maybe you’ve suffered a loss in the past year and you’re not up to celebrating.

As a society, we put so much emphasis on the spectacle of the holidays that it’s hard to know what to do with yourself when it seems like everyone else is having a better time than you. If you don’t celebrate the December holidays, or just aren’t feeling up to it this year, you may want to consider organizing your month in a number of alternative ways:

Get a head start on your 2024 goals or resolutions. There’s no reason you have to wait until the calendar flips to commit to something requiring your attention and focus. If you plan now, you’ll be miles ahead of everyone else on January 1st!
Volunteer. Many agencies and programs have difficulty finding volunteers during the holidays because individuals who usually help are overwhelmed with other obligations. AARP has a great Create the Good volunteer search page. Just type in the type of volunteering you’d like to do and/or your zip code, and it will provide a list of options. Whether you want to be care for animals, cuddle newborns, or support those less fortunate, you may be surprised how much you can boost your mood by feeling a new sense of purpose.
Explore your community as a tourist. So much of the year, we spend rushing to get to and from work and through our other tasks. Use your downtime in December to see where you live with new eyes. Check out Wanderlush‘s How to Be a Tourist in Your Own City: 12 Easy & Creative Tips.
Organize! December is a stellar time to put on some music (and no, it doesn’t have to be holiday music — Weird Al Yankovic is always a good option) and pick a closet or cabinet to purge and downsize. Donate what doesn’t serve you and know that it’ll be a blessing to someone else.
Get some fresh air without feeling like you have to rush anywhere in particular.
Start in on that self-care I was talking about!
Get support. It’s much more typical (let’s not say “normal” — that’s just a setting on the washing machine) to feel let down or lonely during the holidays. Reach out to friends and family, or to a mental health professional whose whole professional purpose is to have the expertise to show you how talking about your feelings can be therapeutic. (If you or someone is struggling and in need, there are also peer-run warmlines and the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

FOR MORE DECEMBER GUIDANCE

If you’re tired of the holidays making you feel like you’re taffy being pulled in several different directions, check out my ebook, Simplify the Season and Save Your Sanity.

Have a wonderful December!

Paper Doll Organizes Your Space, Money, and Well-Being While Traveling

Posted on: July 10th, 2023 by Julie Bestry | 12 Comments

The year is now officially half over. Have you used many of your paid vacation days? Have you used any of your vacation days?

One of the signs of toxic productivity is the sense that there’s always more work to do, more things to accomplish, and that vacation time will always be there. But the human mind needs rest just as much as the body, and going without both rest and recreation is a recipe for disaster.

via GIPHY

Going without time off is called vacation deprivation, and according to Expedia’s 2023 Global Deprivation Report, Americans take 8-1/2 fewer vacation days than our global cousins, and nearly half (45%) of Americans left vacation days untaken last year. And that’s on top of the fact that we already receive fewer paid vacation days than most of the industrialized world.

Of course, even those who have vacation days and value the time off have been squeamish about traveling. (I’ll admit, I’m one of them.) COVID is still out there, and inflation means our hard-earned pennies don’t go as far.

Still, a staycation often doesn’t feel like a vacation, and getting out of Dodge for a while is a great opportunity to reset your perspective. So, let’s at least look at some options for saving time time and money and making the travel experience less stressful.

Of course, Paper Doll has covered travel-related topics before. Back in 2018, I wrote Paper Doll’s 5 Essential Lists For Planning an International Vacation.

For what it’s worth, it’s almost entirely applicable to domestic travel, too, and covers lists of:

What to acquire for your trip
What clothing and accessories to pack
What other essentials to pack
What to do before you leave
Important phrases (admittedly, the most “international” of the lists)

For those who prefer to listen rather than read, much of the material covered was included in two interviews I did on the (much-missed) Smead podcast, embedded in Paper Doll on the Smead Podcast: Essential Lists For Organized Travel.

Today’s post is more along the lines of “travel tidbits,” a collection of nifty options for making travel situations more organized so you can focus your attention on relaxation.

GET SOME ELBOW ROOM AT THE AIRPORT

Let’s start with stuff. As you prepare to travel, you gather a lot of stuff to keep handy — to watch, to use, to eat. But it’s not always convenient to access it.

goDesk

Have you ever tried to set up an iPad so you and your traveling companion (or your tussling tiny humans) can watch a movie?

Have you ever tried to eat a meal balanced on your lap in the boarding area because there were no tables near the restaurants, but there were also no tables at your gate?

Do you know what’s is like to struggle to find something in your bag but there’s no place to put the items as you take out and sort through them?

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a desktop space when you’re traveling? But obviously, you don’t want to schlep around an actual desk when flying, and those beanbag-bottom laptop desk surfaces designed for when you’re sitting on your couch aren’t really workable in those teeny airport chairs. But I’ve recently found what seems like a nifty solution.

The goDesk lets you transform your rolling bag into a desk/entertainment center.

Taking advantage of the fact that almost all modern luggage pieces, particularly carry-ons, have those collapsible/telescoping handles, the goDesk can attach to your bags telescoping handle in seconds. It gives you enough desk space to securely hold a full-sized laptop, your airport meal, your child’s tablet, or the contents of your tumbled purse.

Later, when you’re ready to board, use the on/off release knob, and goDesk detaches in seconds. It’s got a slim profile, so you can just slide it in your outer luggage pocket.

The goDesk’s unique lock/latch system makes it compatible with most 4-wheel carry-on roller luggage, and it supports up to 12 pounds. The whole unit measures 11 1/2″ wide x 10″deep x 7/8″ high (with a 10″ x 10″ desktop surface) and ways only one pound.

There’s a flip-up media stand to use with iPads and other tablets, smart phones, or small books/notebooks, and a slide-out cup holder so you don’t have to worry about your beverage wobbling and spilling on the desktop surface (or your pricey devices).

The goDesk is made in the USA with TSA-approved materials and comes with a one-year warranty. It’s available from the goDesk website for $39.95 and ships with 2-3 day delivery.

AVOID EXCESS FEES WHILE TRAVELING

The first time I ever did any significant traveling without my family was when I was in college. I was going to be working on a special school-sponsored project in San Francisco. Although I had a debit card and a credit card, Paper Mommy took me to AAA to get American Express-backed travelers checks, where I dutifully filled out forms and signed the checks and registered them. I was told I would then countersign them when I used them to purchase anything, and if they were lost, I could easily get them replaced, just as Karl Malden promised in all those commercials.

I don’t know anyone who uses travelers checks anymore. Most of the time, you’re going to use a credit or debit card, or something like ApplePay from the wallet in your smart phone using magic technology. But sometimes, you want to have cash on hand, whether to tip a bellhop or give money to a talented busker or just pay in local currency.

The problem? When you aren’t getting cash from your own bank’s ATM, you’re likely to have to deal with an ATM surcharge fee. However, there are a few ways around that problem.

ATM Fees/Surcharges

In the US, different ATM machines (whether they are associated with banks or not) are affiliated with ATM networks. If you look on the back of your ATM card, you’ll see the network in which it participates, and there should not be a fee if you use an ATM that is also part of that network. So, if your bank uses STAR, or PULSE, or PLUS and you find an ATM in that network, there shouldn’t be a fee. However, it’s going to take some digging to get that information and locate the right ATM, and that will add frustration and take time out of your precious vacation.

ATM Keypad Photo by Eduardo Soares on Unsplash

Luckily, there are a few options to quickly identify which ATMs do not have surcharge fees.

The Allpoint Network has more than 55,000 fee-free ATMs. Download the app or use the website. Enter your zip code, and the Allpoint search will identify which ATMs in your vicinity do not charge a fee. Scroll through the map or list to find an ATM near your current location or in the neighborhood of where you’re planning to be. (Note: the app has a geolocator function, so you don’t have to type in your zip code, which is convenient when you’re traveling in a strange city and don’t necessarily know the zip code.)

Similarly, you can use the ATM locator on the MoneyPass website. Type in your zip code and then click on the “Search options” button. From the drop-down, make sure “All Surcharge-Free ATMs” is checked. (Other options include deposit-taking ATMs, handicapped-accessible ATMs, and 24-hour ATMs.) You’ll be able to see your options on a map and in a list.

If you’re traveling abroad and want cash, it can be especially frustrating, as surcharges may vary from non-existent to upwards of $8. (If you have to pay a flat fee rather than a percentage, consider taking out more money but less often so you won’t be drained by excess fees.)

For foreign ATM withdrawals, try ATM Fee Saver, available in 40 countries in North, South, and Central America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. ATM Fee Saver’s app is available for iOS and Android. The site also has a great blog with travel-related financial advice, like this one on the 9 best ways to save foreign ATM fees.

FIND A LITTLE EXTRA HELP IF YOU NEED IT

Traveling with a disability can up-end all kinds of travel plans. Whether you’re traveling with service animals, need alternative security measures (for example, if you have an implanted or attached medical advice), or will need a wheelchair or other accommodations at your destination, you’ll need to plan ahead.

To ensure that you’re getting all the right information you need, be sure to review the following resources:

Traveling with a Disability (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) — This covers a wide variety of tasks, like contacting your physician in advance of your travel to ensure you have destination-specific care, acquiring MedicAlert jewelry or other notification-bearing items, to specialized considerations for air and cruise travel.

Traveling with a Disability (U.S. Department of Transportation) — This includes the Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights and other helpful information.

Travel: Tips for People with Disabilities (DisabilityInfo.org)

10 Tips for Traveling With Physical Disabilities (Travel Channel)

Traveling abroad with disabilities: Here’s a post-pandemic guide (USA Today)

How to Travel with Invisible Disabilities (AARP)

6 Tour Companies Dedicated to Travelers with Disabilities (Condé Nast Traveler)

Speaking of disabilities, it’s been really gratifying to learn that great strides are being made in helping travelers living with invisible disabilities.

In case you’re unfamiliar with the term, invisible or hidden disabilities can refer to any type of disability that is not obvious. If you see a person in a wheelchair, using crutches, or walking with a white cane, that’s a visible disability. Invisible disabilities may relate to physical concerns that are not immediately apparent (anything from deafness to asthma, heart conditions to diabetes). But they may not be primarily physical in nature — consider Alzheimer’s, aphasia, dyslexia, autism, etc. Any of these can make traveling problematic.

Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Program

Recently, I was fascinated to learn about the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program. This program provides lanyards with yellow sunflowers on green backgrounds to alert airport and airline workers that the person wearing one might need some extra time or assistance. Imagine how much easier it would be to have people trained to look for the lanyard rather than always having to jockey in line to request assistance for yourself or someone with whom you’re traveling!

The key is that you don’t need to disclose your specific disability to get a lanyard, nor does the lanyard say why you need help, because “why?” is beside the point. Instead, workers are trained to recognize that individiuals wearing the lanyards may need help, support, or additional time, and should ask, “How may I help?”

That said, individuals can personalize the card (for purchase at a small fee) for their lanyard with up to five different icons (of 25 available) to help identify the kind of assistance they may need. For example:

Hidden Disabilities Sunflower initially launched at the UK’s Gatwick Airport in 2016. The program has now grown to include about 216 airports worldwide in 30 nations, including 93 here in the United States (of which 19 will be launching the program soon). British Airways, Air France, and ten other airlines, along with many other businesses, have also signed on to participate in the program.

In addition to prioritizing assistance, airports and shopping venues are developing Sunflower programs. At the Pittsburgh airport, to help individuals with sensory issues, they’ve developed a room with tunnels, wall displays, rocking chairs and special lighting to create a soothing environment. The Seattle airport has a similar Sensory Room and Interfaith Prayer area.

Learning about this reminded me of the large tunnel between concourses at the Detroit airport with psychedelic lighting, which I originally saw in 2016. On each side of the tunnel, there’s a button to push so that people with epilepsy or other sensory issues for which the tunnel would create difficulties can stop the effects. Push the button and the strobe and lighting effects cease for the period it takes to cross to the other side, then start again soon after.

So far, the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower index includes more than 900 disabilities, and there’s a form to list any that have been missed.

The Sunflower lanyards are free.

Find an airport or business participating in the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program here.

If you do travel in the coming months, I hope you have a safe, serene, and organized journey.

Best Results Organizing

Follow Me

Latest Posts

Search Best Results Organizing

Subscribe to the Paper Doll Blog via Email

Archive for ‘Travel’ Category

When Your European Hotel Room Feels Like an Escape Room — Conquer Confusing Showers, A/C, and Light Switches

WE CAN’T CONTROL EVERYTHING

TOTO, I DON’T THINK WE’RE IN KANSAS ANYMORE

These Are Not the Bathrooms You’re Looking For

Organize Yourself for Hotel Showers Abroad

Take Sides — Advice for Peace in Hotel Bathrooms

Keep Your Cool with Hotel Air Conditioning

Traveling is NOT as Easy As Flipping a Light Switch

ONE LAST BIT OF TRAVEL ADVICE

Paper Doll Post:

Like this:

How to Stay Organized When Travel Goes Off the Rails (or Runway)

ORGANIZED TRAVEL IN A DISORGANIZED ERA

Trapped on the Tarmac

The Chaos of Air Travel

Pre-Trip Prep: The New Administrative Burden of Travel

Book Your Travel Arrangements — With Padding

Log all of your travel information

Confirm everything a week in advance

Check in when prompted

What happens if you don’t check in?

ORGANIZING YOUR TRAVEL INFORMATION

The New Tech Landscape of Travel: Apps You Can’t Escape

Organize in Case Your Tech Fails

And Don’t Forget the Telephone

WHEN TRAVEL GOES SIDEWAYS: KNOW YOUR RIGHTS

Paper Doll Post:

Like this:

Ultimate Guide to Organizing the Passport Process: In Person, By Mail, & Now: Online!

THE GROWTH IN PASSPORT POPULARITY

BENEFITS OF HOLDING A PASSPORT

HOW TO APPLY FOR A PASSPORT

Gather Required Documents

Fill Out Form DS-11

Submit Your Application in Person

Pay the Fees

Wait for Processing

RENEW YOUR PASSPORT THE TRADITIONAL WAY: BY MAIL

Make sure you meet the renewal requirements

Fill out the passport renewal form, DS-82

Put it all together

Send this application package via a trackable method

A Sidebar on Passport Renewal Fees

NEW: RENEW YOUR PASSPORT ONLINE!!!

Online renewal requirements related to you

Online renewal requirements related to the passport

Sticking points of the ‘beta’ passport renewal program

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO NOW?

Paper Doll Post:

Like this:

Paper Doll De-Stresses Your December

DON’T BE LISTLESS

Create Gift Lists for Others

Create a Gift List (and a Gift) for Yourself

Outline a No-Surprise Budget

Don’t Just Plan the Big-Deal Meals

Don’t Leave Home Without It — A Master Travel List, That Is

Please Mr. Postman (and Yourself) with Card and Mailing Lists

When To Many To-Dos Make You Forget What To Do

Don’t Eat Your Heart Out About Giving From the Heart

Make Catastrophes Less Catastrophic with Emergency Lists

KEEP YOURSELF ON AN EVEN KEEL

Practice Graham Allcott’s Battery Saver Mode

Schedule Time for Yourself

Think Blue Skies, Not Blue Light

Chill Out

KNOW THAT YOU’RE NOT ALONE IF DECEMBER FAILS TO DELIGHT YOU

FOR MORE DECEMBER GUIDANCE

Paper Doll Post:

Like this:

Paper Doll Organizes Your Space, Money, and Well-Being While Traveling

GET SOME ELBOW ROOM AT THE AIRPORT

goDesk

AVOID EXCESS FEES WHILE TRAVELING