Update: Sydney Living 6 weeks Deep

So I have been really bad about updating everyone on how my life is going here in Sydney. In all fairness I haven't really done a ton of exciting stuff. It took me about a month to find a job and then another week to get started so most days have consisted of me sitting around the house and job searching (It's hard trying not to spend what money I have saved). Of course I have gone out drinking on the weekends but that isn't very news worthy.  Anyways, so I have officially started working at an event center as part of the waitstaff. It's casual work so I never know what my schedule is going to be like each week, which kind of stinks but I get paid really well. I am hoping to find a second job that is also casual so between the two I can work about 35 hrs a week.

A couple weeks ago I went to the Tower Eye and saw some amazing views of the city at night. I guess I didn't realize how massive the city actually was.

Also, after my first few days at my new job, I discovered I was allergic to my new work shoes! AHH I had cankles! It was actually really itchy and burned like a mofo for a few days, but I exchanged the shoes and after a few days my elephantiasis went away.

My body seriously hates me....

This past Sunday I was able to enjoy the beautiful weather at the Royal National Park. We walked along some cliffs next to the water, chilled on a beach and drank some Corona's. It was an amazing day, maybe one of the best I have had here so far. The water was beautiful shades of blue and green and the sun was shining with only a few clouds in the sky. 

It felt good to be outside, enjoying the beautiful landscape that Australia has to offer.

I can't wait to have more opportunities to explore this amazing country. 

So that pretty much sums up my first 6 weeks here in Sydney. Now that I have a job and am settled in to life here, hopefully I will have the opportunity to explore new and amazing places around Sydney and beyond. Peace and love until next time.

A Parents Perspective on their Traveling Kid

Fortunately for me (sometimes not so fortunate) my mother is always brutally honest with me. I generally always know her opinion on my life choices. Generally, her opinion doesn't sway me one way or the other but that doesn't stop her from telling me. In this situation, it is nice to hear that even though she doesn't fully understand my love for travel, like why I would enjoy sweating it out in the jungle or living in a house with 35 people and one working shower, she still supports me. If you are ever wondering what your parents think of your travels, it's best to just ask! Their answers might surprise you. Here is what I asked my mother:

BIG NEWS: I am Moving Down Under

That's right! It is finally official! I am moving to Australia this summer (their winter, I am a poor planner). I will be leaving June 21st and have a full year visa, so I can work and live anywhere in their country. I have no plans yet because like I mentioned before, I am horrible at planning in advance. I am super proud of myself because I managed to get my visa approved 6 weeks before I actually leave. My vague sense of a plan is to fly into Sydney, stay in a hostel, find a job, then find an apartment. I need to get that money before I can afford to live in an apartment for $200 a week.
I just wanted to post a quick little blurb about this exciting news! If you didn't know I also have a vlog on youtube where I post videos about travel and my life! I like to think I am somewhat of a better vlogger than blogger, but that's really not saying much. Check it out! Subscribe to my channel! I will be a lot more active on both this blog and my youtube channel once I start traveling again!

There is more to New Orleans than Bourbon Street and Strip Clubs

About two weeks ago my friend Kourtney and I took a trip down to New Orleans.  This would be my first time visiting the city and I was totes excited! Taking it back to Kourtney for a minute, she is one of my best friends from college and somehow I convinced her to spend a week with my crazy ass.  Even though I am older than her, she is definitely the mom (but like a cool mom) of this duo.  She is wiser, kinder, and much more literate than I will ever be so if you want to read something actually good about our trip to New Orleans and other important topics, you can check out her blog here:

So here it goes a complete review and break down of our trip to New Orleans...

Where we stayed:
When I first told Kourtney we were staying in a Hostel she was worried. I reassured her that the Nola Jazz House had a good rating on hostelworld.com and that at least from the pictures it looked pretty nice. I also arrived a day earlier than her so I sent her some pictures before she arrived.  The Nola Jazz House was seriously top notch. It was in a decent location as long as you don't mind a short streetcar ride (which only costs $3 for a day pass). They had free parking out front of the hostel which was nice for Kourtney since she drove in from Mississippi. The most important part... HOT SHOWERS! This might seem odd but I have been in many hostels (mostly in other countries) that do not have hot water and shower is just miserable.  Another exciting perk that they have is a free pancake breakfast. Now after a week of eating pancakes, I never want to see one again, but it is a great way to save money on at least one meal a day.  They also had a kitchen fully equipped and since Kourtney and I were trying to make this trip as cheap as possible, we decided to cook (microwave) a few dinners throughout the week at the hostel. The staff was AMAZING, I seriously can't say enough great things about them.  They were super friendly and always eager to help. We stayed in the 10 person mixed dorm room which was the cheapest option.  I actually enjoyed staying in the room because we ended up becoming friends with a lot of the people staying in there.  They also had lockers in the room and hallways so you could lock up valuables, and all the rooms were very clean. They had a cleaning staff come every day to make sure the bathrooms, rooms, and beds were refreshed.  Finally, and for some the most important thing: free WiFi, and not just free WiFi but like a solid connection that didn't make you want to pull your hair out.  Overall I would give the Nola Jazz House a 99% rating.

How to get around New Orleans
If you don't have a car, never fear the jazzy pass is here! The street cars are a great way to get around the city. You can buy day passes straight from the streetcar or you can buy a 3,5, or 31 day pass at the vending machines. Some of the vending machines are located at specific bus stops or you can find them in local Walgreen's stores.The "Jazzy Pass" is good for any RTA transportation so you can use it an unlimited number of times on the street cars or buses. Here is their website if you would like to look up a little more information on it. JAZZY PASS
Parking near the French Quater is outrageously expensive so your best bet is to take public transit.  Obviously, a car isn't really necessary in New Orleans, but it is nice if you want to get out of the city for a day. Kourtney and I drove out to the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve one day to check out the alligators and we drove ourselves to our swamp tour which was about 40 minutes away.

Night Life
Even though there is more to New Orleans than the night life, it is still pretty fun to experience. All over the French Quarter you can find fun places to drink like down Frenchman street.  They had amazing live bands and dueling pianos, also it doesn't hurt that the beers were a little cheaper than on Bourbon street.  The great thing about New Orleans is that there is a ton of free stuff to do, you just have to look! We went to a free DJ competition (not really our scene) that was actually a lot of fun AND they were giving out free stuff. There were two different free open mic night/comedy club events, one was at the hi-ho lounge which had its good and horribly bad acts, the other we ended up not going to but it is still a regular thing that happens at the Howlin' Wolf on Thursdays. Now don't get me wrong Bourbon street is definitely something you have to do, if you are of legal drinking age, at least once while you are there. You feel like a real rebel walking down the street with your open container and just waiving at the police officers sitting on their horses. All kinds of music is pouring out of every bar. anything from jazz, blues, r&b, and even today's top pop charts. There are also plenty of strip clubs you can wander into if that is your thing... no judgement, I almost went into a male strip club just to say I did it... then I realized there was a cover AND a one drink minimum... who do I look like Oliver Warbucks?! I'm stingy and am not going to waste valuable drinking money to watch some dude swing his ding-a-ling around like a helicopter. thanks i'll pass. Where we ended up staying most of the night was this amazing karaoke bar called The Cats Meow. We stayed there dancing and singing along past 2am. Now I could go on and on about bourbon street, but I wont, at least not in this post. Next week when I post part 2 of my vlog video I think I will post some safety tips and tricks on here so you can have fun and last more than two hours down on Bourbon Street.

Free (almost free) Stuff to Do
As I said before there is a ton of free (super cheap) stuff do do in New Orleans, even during the day.  Some of the free stuff Kourtney and I hit up were the Louis Armstrong Park (Nice to walk through for a few minutes and get some quick pictures), the St. Louis Cemetery (Kinda creepy but also really awesome, I highly recommend), just walking around the French Quarter or through the Garden District (Highly recommend both), Jackson Square, and the St Louis Cathedral.  Also in the French Quarter there is a market with booths set up for you graze through and on Wednesdays there is also a fresh food market. I would also recommend visiting Pepper Palace to taste some amazing hot sauces and BBQ sauces, but be careful I ended up walking with 3 bottles of sauces because its that good! Another must do is to share a beignet at Cafe Du Monde, they were delicious and you get more than enough to share between two people.  There is also a $2 ferry (one way) to Algiers Pier where you can get a good view of the New Orleans skyline and visit a glass blowing shop to watch them create beautiful pieces.

WWII Museum
One place you MUST visit while in New Orleans is the WWII museum. Seriously, do it. And plan to spend hours going through all the displays and buildings. There is a reason it is the 11th ranked museum in the world. It is worth the money (even though I semi talked our way into the exhibit for free). We only got to spend a short amount of time in the museum and didn't get to check out everything it had to offer, but I could have easily spent the whole day in there.

Food, Food Eat it ALL!!

You can't visit New Orleans without eating all of their amazing food. It doesn't matter were you get it but if you leave New Orleans without trying gumbo, jambalaya, and pralines I will personally come slap you.  Kourtney and I decided to knock all three out at the New Orleans School of Cooking with I will talk about in a minute. One place you have to visit is Arabella's Casa di Pasta (I know, I know, it has nothing to do with Cajun or Creole food, but trust me) it is an amazing Italian cafe where you can essentially build your own pasta dish with fresh, made at location, pasta and sauces. Seriously, best. pasta. ever! And don't even get me started on their canolli's. You can try a Po boy if you wish but I didn't really see what the big deal was. It is essentially a sub sandwich on Italian bread. Unfortunately we were not there in the right season to get a good craw fish boil but I heard it is delicious... so do me a favor and go down in the warmer months, try it out and let me know if it is as good as they say.

Cooking Class
As I mentioned before Kourtney and I went to a cooking class at the New Orleans School of Cooking.  We learned all about the secrets behind cooking gumbo, jambalaya and pralines. Both the gumbo and jambalaya was made with andouille sausage which was on point! mmhmm. Big Kevin was our chef and he was amazing, he gave us a lot of useful information and had a brilliant sense of humor (which I can always appreciate).  It was only $25 for the class and becuase we got to eat the food after it was cooked, it doubled as our dinner for the night. (We are so thrifty that way)

Swamp Tour
Finally, the one and only tour Kourtney and I took. It was a swamp tour through Cajun Encounters. Unfortunately, it was cold all week because a cold front had come through the south so we didn't get to see any alligators... sigh. But we still saw wild pigs, raccoons, birds, and the vegetation was beautiful even though it hadn't bloomed yet. The tour guide was friendly, talkative, and willing to answer any and all questions.  This tour was only $25 because we drove ourselves to their location but it was definitely worth the money! I would just suggest going in the warmer months so all the flowers and trees are in full bloom and you will have a better chance to see more wildlife like the massive alligators they claim to have. (They will pick you up if you don't have a car, it just costs more)

So that was our week trip to New Orleans it was an amazing time and I would love to have the chance to go back when it is nicer weather! I hope this information gives you a good idea about New Orleans and if you have any questions feel free to leave a comment below. I would love to hear what your favorite part of New Orleans was.

Also, here is part 1 of my vlog of the trip! Part 2 coming next Monday along with my tips and tricks to surviving Bourbon Street!

Epic Snow Day

So I was going to post about New Orleans this week but instead I have decided to share a video of the fun I had playing in the snow this weekend. I returned home from New Orleans and it snowed another couple inches on top of the snow we already had, I was bored, so this happened... So here it is, a video of me being a grown child after it snowed... Deal with it.

I will post about New Orleans next week in a two part vlog where I will be reviewing and commenting on everything I did while I was down there. Along with some advice, tips, tricks, etc. that I learned along the way.

Tips for Packing

So over on my YouTube channel I posted a video about weird stuff I do while packing for trips. I will admit I am not the best packer in the world. But I have picked up a few tips and tricks along the way to help me make it through the packing process semi-gracefully. If I have learned anything from my various travel adventures in the past two years it is that THERE IS NO PERFECT PACKING LIST. I don't care how vigorously you search through the bottomless pit that is pinterest (although it is a brilliant place to get all sorts of information on everything travel), you will never find a packing list that is perfect for you, your style, and every climate you could potentially encounter. With that being said there is a rough outline that you can follow in order to make sure you have everything that you need without overpacking. You just have to remember to ask yourself these important questions.

So here it is:

First: What is your luggage situation?
- Small carry on, a duffel bag, backpack, garbage bag? Once you have figured that out you can then pack accordingly.

Second: What is the forecasted weather at your destination?
- Arid desert, impending monsoon season, are you heading into a blizzard or that perfect 75 and sunny San Fransico weather? (PS screw you San Fran, we can't all be so awesome)

Third: How long is this trip going to last?
- Is it just a quick weekend trip, month long hiatus, or a year long adventure?

Fourth: What kind of activities will you be participating in?
- Will you be chillaxing on a beach, hiking everest, or drinking and dancing your way through any and every club that will allow your sloppy, drunk ass into?

*The devil is in the details people!*

Once you have answered these important questions, you should have a pretty decent idea of what you need to pack. Now for the hard part... not over packing. You should always leave room in your suitcase whether you are travelling for 2 weeks or a year. That way you will have plenty of room for souviners and any extra clothes you might pick up along the way. If you are looking for an exact estimate of how many: shirts, pants, skirts, dresses you should pack you have come to the wrong place. You are just going to have to sort that out for yourself (which is made a lot easier if you answer the four previously listed questions). Here is a list of random items that I have forgotten over the years or found to be useful in many situations.

Items Not to Forget:

• Underwear/bras/socks (This might seem obvious, but I have often overlooked all three before in my hasty attempt to pack.)
• Power cords (There is nothing worse than trying to explore a foreign city for a week with a dead cellphone.)
• Fabric softener sheets (They help keep your clothes smelling fresh if you strategically place them throughout your suitcase AND you can use them on your hair to get the static out.)
• A combination lock (This is pretty self explanatory)
• Plastic Bags (Anti-spillage, dirty/stinky clothes, keeps important stuff dry)

Other Random Tips/Tricks for packing:

• Pack clothes that are versatile (The more clothes you can mix and match, the longer you can go without doing laundry )
• Layer up (pack less bulky clothes and instead, if you are cold, wear layers)
• Accessorizing is a MUST (pack your jewlery in pill bottles or bead boxes so they wont get tangled or broken)
• Finally, don't be like me and procrastinate packing until the last minute. Make sure all your clothes are washed and you are packed and ready to go the night before you leave. That way you are not scrambling around hours before your flight, stressing about what you might have forgotten to pack.

If you really need a break down of what to pack for any location in the world, there is no site better than: http://travelfashiongirl.com/packing-lists/ ... Seriously you will never need to read another packing blog again. Not even mine.

Nola Bound!

Today I am leaving the bitter cold in Cincinnati, Ohio and heading to New Orleans, Louisiana. I will be meeting up with my friend Kourtney who lives in Mississippi. I somewhat spontaneously booked this flight because it was only $150 round trip through Allegiant! What a steal! Of course, you have to be careful because they will nickle and dime you on the small things like costs of carry on baggage and drinks in flight. Also, don't be shocked when you finally sit down in your seat and instantly feel like you are packed in like some sardines in a tin can on their way to a Caesar salad. It's ridiculous, my elbows are tucked into my gut right now trying to type because my surface is as wide as my seat and with the keyboard attached it has to be turned sideways on my lap to fit. But hey, you get what you pay for and all the flight attendants seem super friendly. Hat off to you Alligiant, I appreciate the super cheap flight, and the $50 rebate. Two thumbs up!

We will be spending a week in New Orleans exploring anything and everything that is free (because we are broke, just out of college kids, with student debt up to our eyeballs). Obviously there will be lots of drinking, eating, an dancing involved as well, because there is no way I am flying all the way down there and not experiencing bourbon street and all it has to offer. Lets not even get started on how excited I am to try authentic Cajun and creole food. Let the good times begin!

This flight smells like feet... and no it's not me, I left my shoes on.

Time to Answer all the 'Whys?'

Why is your blog name Red Velvet To Go? It’s really not an interesting story but it all began back when I was in college. My roommate and I went out to the bars for some casual drinks on a Tuesday night. For obvious reasons, the bar was pretty dead so we started chatting up the bartender and taking one too many shots. We were feeling frisky and decided to come up with drunk alter egos.  The bartender dubbed me Red Velvet and it has become my drunk alter ego ever since. Most recently my new hobby at work is to convince my colleagues and bosses, with elaborate stories, that I had to strip through college in order to pay the bills and Red Velvet was actually my stripper name. I can tell that some of them actually believe me, I don’t know whether that makes me a good story teller or someone who looks like they stripped through college. Either way I will take it as a win. So to make this explanation even longer, I decided Red Velvet was the name to use for my blog/vlog because not only is my drunk alter ego sassy and eccentric, but I am also such a foodie when I travel. That pretty much sums up what my blog is going to be about as well.

Why do you think you are interesting enough to write a blog? Really this blog is not my main focus. I am actually going to focus on vlogging but use this page to write additional information if necessary and to share my videos. Either way I am not really doing this because I think I am interesting and have all this amazing information to share. Really it just looks like fun and an easy way to keep in touch with my massive family while I travel. This brings me to the topics I will be covering in both my blog and vlog. I promise it won’t always be me rambling as I have in this post (learning curve people). Since graduating college I have developed a passion for traveling. It really doesn't matter where I go as long as it is somewhere new.  My plan is to share my limited knowledge, yet outside the box perspective, on everything travel. Topics from how I pack a week’s worth of clothes in a carry on to annoying things people do on airplanes. Also, I plan on moving to Australia in June so I’m sure I can come up with some exciting and helpful things to talk about while preparing for that adventure.

Why Should you continue to check out my posts? Honestly, I don’t have a great answer for you yet, but hey even if this was the worst blog you have ever read, it can only go up from here. So give me a second, third, maybe even a fourth chance to win you over with my sparkling personality and stupid sense of humor.

If you have actually made it through this entire post and want to watch my first ever vlog here’s the link below! (I promise I will do my best to improve my blogging/vlogging skills!)