Travel With Us! ✈️ Hotel Tour, Packing Tips & Vacation Outfits

Come along with me on our kid-free work trip as I share behind-the-scenes moments, hotel reviews, travel tips, packing essentials, great food, and everything we learned along the way. Whether you're planning a couple's getaway, traveling for work, or looking for practical travel tips, I hope this vlog gives you inspiration for your next trip. If you've been here a while, you know that I have four kids ages 5 through 12, so it can be very hard to get away, so I was so excited to have some alone time with my husband. We've been together for over 20 years. We are also both entrepreneurs, I'm an influencer and YouTuber if you're brand new here, and my husband is a realtor. I eat paleo due to a health condition, I'll share more about that later, and I have some really great travel tips for you. And of course, I'm going to be highlighting and showcasing the fashion along the way. Good morning, it's 4 16 a.m. I got up at 3 45 per usual to get some work done, get some meditations done, and so I'm going to try to get a couple of hours of work before we head out for our couple's slash work trip. I'm also going to try to get a workout in as well, but very excited for these next four days, should be fun and lots of learning. Okay, let's get this out of the way super quick. Whenever possible, I really, really try to book good travel time so that I can stay on a routine. Routine is huge for me in my everyday life, and especially while I'm traveling, so that I'm able to get my workouts in, I'm able to stay on track when it comes to eating, and I just feel better overall. So it is travel day, and I woke up at my normal time at 3 45 a.m., which I do every single day. I know it's crazy, but you can probably understand if you've had multiple kids or you've ran your own business before, you got to fit it in when you can. I always try to get some work done in the morning after I've done some journaling and my meditations and these eye patches. I am obsessed with them. In fact, well, my husband uses them. I'm sure he would be fine with me sharing that, and they're perfect for travel as well. They just hydrate my skin, especially being 41, and the only thing that I currently do to my face cosmetic-wise is I do get Botox every three or four months or so. After I got an hour or two done of work, it's time to get my workout in. I am a ride-or-die workout person. I love it. If I keep it in my routine, then I'm going to stick with it. It just gets those endorphins going. It helps with my muscle because, you know, ladies, as we get older, it can be a little bit tricky, especially when it comes to bone density as well. I know that can decrease, so I do whatever I can. And here is a typical paleo breakfast that I eat, and I try to maintain this when I'm on the go. We have some eggs and some sausage, and I try to pair it with something sweet, some fruit, a pear, watermelon, or even a banana. I find that if I eat a high-protein breakfast, I stay much fuller for longer until lunchtime. I try not to snack, if at all possible. And of course, if I do, it's going to be something healthy like some almonds or some fruit, banana or apple, of course, or maybe a little scoop of peanut butter. Now let me know if you can relate to me. Thumbs up if this applies to you. I am a last-minute packer, so yes, I am packing literally a couple hours before we have to leave. I get overwhelmed with all the choices. I try to focus on my work as much as I can before I have to leave, and so packing gets put to the back burner. But I think it definitely helps because I have some really good packing tips and tricks, so I'm able to whip things together pretty well despite all my outfit options. These packing cubes are an absolute must-have. They keep everything nice and organized, and if I'm going to be unloading my clothing when I get to the hotel in a dresser, I just keep them in these packing cubes, or I'm just going to, you know, wear out of my suitcase, which is what I did for this three-day trip. Everything is still nice and organized in those packing cubes. And then again, when I come home, because I put the dirty clothes in the packing cubes, all I have to do is bring them to my laundry room and then get them washed. In fact, I'm going to link all my travel must-haves in that description box below, and of course, I'm going to link all the outfits that I share throughout this travel vlog. And these shoe bags, these are a must-have. Shoes are so absolutely dirty and disgusting. I do not want them touching my other clothing, so my husband and I both use these, and it makes it so much easier to keep your shoes organized and contained. And again, you can just put these bags right in your dresser drawer. We were recently in Daytona, Florida, for two of my daughter's dance nationals, and this is exactly what I did, except at that time, I put everything in the drawer in the hotel because, well, we were staying there longer than three days. Let's talk about day one travel outfit. When it's hot and in the summer, I like to wear shorts when I travel, despite airports and airplanes being extremely cold. But I have a little trick for you that I'm going to share a little bit later in this video, and I like to wear a tank top and then some sort of button down or a zip up. I'm not a huge fan of wearing pajama clothes to the airport, do you? I mean, there's no judgment here, but there's several reasons why I like to put myself together. One, it just makes me feel better. And two, when I get to my destination, I do not have to change into anything, so I'm ready to go to a dinner should we want to. And because where we are going, it's hot, all I have to do is wear my cute shorts, my tank top, and then I can put my button up over top if it gets a little bit cooler. We arrived at the airport, and typically we fly Delta. In fact, over the past five years, that's all I have flown. So this time we decided to fly Frontier, and my friend, it was not a good experience. Needless to say, I will never fly Frontier again, although I heard that Frontier has changed over the years, but I definitely was not a fan. If you have any insight into your experience, let me know, but I am a Delta girl through and through. It's just so much easier for so many different reasons. I won't go on and on about it. But we finally got to our destination, which is Alpharetta, Georgia, around 8 p.m. and checked into our hotel. Neither of us have ever been to Georgia, and so we were very excited. For the past year, I've been staying at Holiday Inn. This is not sponsored by Holiday Inn, but there's several reasons that I love them. The prices are pretty affordable, the rooms are almost always clean, they have free breakfast in the morning, which includes a hot breakfast like the typical sort of paleo things that I would eat, and their workout gyms are very clean. And as you might know, the gyms at hotels are typically empty, which I'm a huge fan of. So the room was absolutely perfect for us for the few days that we are here in Georgia for a conference. Since we got in so late, we decided just to walk across the road of our hotel. We were able to find a Chipotle, which I love, especially eating paleo. It's one of the few places that you can find things that are nice and tasty. We had a nice dinner together, which is pretty rare because, you know, with four kids, it can be a little bit challenging to get away. Although my oldest daughter is 12 now, so she can help out with a little bit of babysitting here and there, which is fun. But it was nice just to spend some time with my husband, reflect on the travel day, and get ready for tomorrow. Today is the first day of our conference, and yes, I did wake up at 3.45 again, headed to the lobby to get some work done. Again, I like to plan for my day, figure out what needs to be done. I feel like if I can get a few work-related tasks out of the way even on vacation, it just makes me feel so much better. I absolutely love what I do, so it doesn't even feel like work. Oh, and did I mention also at the holiday end, you can get coffee 24 hours a day, even decaf? Now here's something that you may find strange. When I'm on vacation, I go to bed in my workout clothes, which typically includes some leggings or some biker shorts and my workout top. That way, when I'm leaving the hotel room really early, I don't wake anybody up because I'm already dressed and ready to go. I don't have to rummage through suitcases and drawers. I've reduced the barrier to getting up and working out on vacation. I got a really great workout, got those endorphins flowing. I was ready to go, especially because I knew that I would be sitting pretty much all day during this conference, which I was very, very excited about. Now this travel steamer, I use it and my husband use it almost every single day in our everyday lives at home, but it also travels so nicely. And my friend, I have used so many different steamers, so I'm going to be sure to link this one down below for you because it is so good. And this DAE hair smoothing stick, ride or die, I swear by it. I've purchased it multiple times. I'm going to link this as well. This is especially perfect for humidity in Minnesota. We get a lot of humidity and also down South. I know there's a lot of humidity as well, but it just makes your hair look so nice and it smells so good. I like to keep it really simple when it comes to fashion when I travel. So you're going to see for day one and day two of this conference, I'm pretty much wearing a very similar outfit. All I've changed out are the pants and the blazer and maybe some jewelry. I'm absolutely obsessed with these Capri pants. They fit so nicely. They're nice and high-waisted and these crop blazers are so cute. I got it in the blue, black, and I also got it in a white version. And in fact, I have a pink one on the way to my house here. It'll probably show up today or tomorrow and some really nice, comfortable slingback heels. Headed down for breakfast and had my usual, which is a banana and some sausage and some eggs. It was tasty and filling. And then I always try to grab some snacks to go like an apple and banana, especially if your hotel offers some sort of continental breakfast like that. Day one was a full day of learning. It was so fun, but also pretty exhausting at the same time. And I was like, do we really need to go to the banquet dinner? And I was like, yes, yes. That's why we're here, Andrea, like get out of your comfort zone. So we got back to the hotel around 4 30 PM and I had to take a little nap around six o'clock. I started to get ready for dinner and I was so excited to wear this outfit. In fact, the outfit is what really got me excited to get ready to get up and get going. It's this yellow fringe skirt that I shared in a previous video. It's just so beautiful, so effortless. We had a beautiful time at the banquet. The food was absolutely delicious. We met lots of new people, got out of my comfort zone, and we just really had a nice time bonding. Although we didn't get to bed till like 11 30 at night, but I typically never stay up that late. In fact, I'm usually in bed and sleeping around 9 PM. I'm sure you are wondering, especially because I wake up at three 45 in the morning. It's the next day and you better believe, even though your girl did not go to bed at her appropriate bedtime, I got up at three 45 to get that workout and I just stick with the routine. It feels weird if I get out of the routine. So if you are struggling to stay on track when it comes to eating or exercise, this is like my best tip for you is just like you get up no matter what. I knew that I could go to bed earlier today, which is exactly what I did. Okay. Just got back from working out puppy still sleeping over there. It is seven Oh seven. I got to shower and then get to the conference by eight 45. So let's do it. It feels good to get that work done a little sweat on, but I am definitely going to bed early tonight after being up till like 11 30. Day two of the conference was really good. I learned so many different things, met so many great people, had a really nice time with my husband. And as you might know, my husband and I actually have worked together for quite some time and he still helps me in my business. So he definitely has his hands full. So now let's talk about paleo eating. I've been doing it for about four or five months. Maybe I was recently diagnosed with Hashimoto's hypothyroidism. And basically what it means is that my body is attacking the thyroid. I also struggle with low iron levels. So I do take a prescription medication for that. Now it's really interesting is in fact, I was diagnosed with this in my twenties. I had some random blood work done. My husband used to be a personal trainer and they offered this and this came up in the lab results. I was like, no way. Like I don't have hypothyroidism. These lab results are false. And then when I turned 40, I did a brand deal with function health and I got some lab work done and it came up again. And I was like, Oh my word, it's time to finally address this and come to terms with my health. I'm sure that you can relate to this. If you have kids, you take care of everybody else. And then finally worry about yourself last. And now that my kids are a little bit older, I was like, I finally need to address this and reduce things in my diet that can cause inflammation and irritation and possibly cause my body to attack the thyroid and have to say, I've been feeling so much better. I have better energy and I'm excited to continue on this journey and just share all the results with you. I will be getting some lab work done again in September. So we'll see. Now here's a little caveat. I absolutely love ice cream, especially scooped ice cream. So I do make some exceptions when ice cream is available. So maybe once a week, I'll treat myself to some Ben and Jerry's or maybe some Jenny's. We don't have a Jenny's in my area in Minnesota. So my husband and I definitely enjoyed some really tasty ice cream. We ended up walking around this place called the Avalon in Alpharetta, Georgia. It is so cute. If you've never been there, you absolutely need to go see it. It is so clean. It's so stunning. It feels so chic. We headed back to the hotel around 630 and just ended up laying low. If we go back to the hotel room, I am not leaving again. It is our final day in Alpharetta, Georgia. And of course I got up early, got my journaling done, got a good workout in, a good sweat. Okay. Something I get asked all the time is Andrea, what sort of skincare do you use? My friend, I keep it pretty simple, but I have to say this color science face shield sunscreen has been awesome. It also has tint in it. It makes your skin look flawless and it has SPF. So it's going to block those sun rays, which I absolutely want, especially being at the age of 41. I want to keep that skin looking younger for longer. I'll be sure to link this down below as well here for you. I swear by it, you're going to love it. Another influencer recommended it to me and she was 1000% right about it. When it comes to my outfit on this going home day, again, I opted for a really fun, comfortable white pair of shorts, my base tank top. This is by the brand Derong. I have this tank top. It has a built-in bra in like seven different color options because it is so comfortable. And I paired it again with a nice denim button down so I can take it on and off easily. Especially knowing when we land in Minnesota, it's going to be over 90 degrees. In fact, there's a heat advisory. What's also really nice about several button downs, if you pack them well, they're lightweight and they can fold up really nicely. And I just use my steamer should I need to. But you can wear them over your workout clothes. You can take them to dinner. You can throw them in your purse. You're going to be warm whenever you need to. Maybe you are out in the sun all day and you want to keep some of that sun off your shoulders. The button down is where it's at. And can I mention, they just make you look so chic and elevated. Okay, here's my little travel tip when it comes to warmer weather climates. You don't want to be sweating when you get off that plane and then sitting in your Uber and then you're in the hotel and you're in your pajamas and then you got to go change and do all that stuff if you want to go to dinner. No, I packed this travel blanket with me and it also doubles as a pillow. It also came with this carabiner so you could hook it on your backpack or any sort of travel accessories. I love this so much. I got it in literally five different color options, each for my kids and for myself. And I love using this when I'm at the hotel as well. In fact, I lay it over my pillows when I'm sleeping because I try to choose clean hotels, but it just makes me feel better if you know what I mean. And then when I'm in the airport or on the airplane, I just take the blanket out of the pillow and I wrap it around my legs or whatever's feeling a little bit cooler. And then when I'm ready to get off the plane, I just fold it up, zip it back up in its little pillow and then take it with me to go. So my top tips when it comes to traveling with your husband, with your kids, maybe solo, are to keep it simple. If you find a blazer or button down or a pair of pants that you really love, just buy it in multiple colors so you don't have to think a lot about it. And you can interchange the color combinations and jazz it up with your shoes and your jewelry and your handbag. If you know that you're going to a warm weather destination, travel to the airport with a button down, wear some shorts so that you're comfortable when you get off the plane and you're riding in that Uber to your hotel room. And that travel blanket, hands down, a great gift for yourself or anyone else in your life to keep you nice and warm and cozy. When it comes to staying on track with your health and fitness goals, I recommend get up early, get your workout in before the rest of your family gets up. You're so that it's going to keep you full and set you up for success for the rest of your day and your trip. Indulge in the things that you love with moderation, but you don't want to come home from your trip just feeling not good about yourself, extremely bloated, like feeling like you need to start all over. So you definitely can have it all. So this is the first time that I've ever done a vlog on this channel and I've been doing YouTube, I want to say for about seven years now, but this is something that's going to be a part of this channel. And I'm so excited to be sharing the tips and tricks with you. And of course, highlighting the fashion, because that is so much fun when it comes to travel. If you enjoy this video, will you please give it a thumbs up, be sure to hit that subscribe button so that it can reach more people and a little sneak peek here. We are traveling to New York in the next week and a half or so with our two oldest kids, ages 10 and 12. So if you're looking forward to that, also be sure to follow along on Instagram at Andrew and Jean co because I share every single day on Instagram stories, sneak peeks, things that you will never find here on YouTube. I love you so much. Thank you for being here and I'll see you in the next one.