Sunday, August 30, 2015

My Travel Must-Haves as a Solo Traveler

Traveling is always fun and exciting. Here's a quick peek of what's inside my travel bag.


cellphone/iPod with waterproof case. My phone will not just let me connect with my friends and loved ones back home but will also provide entertainment just like the iPod while traveling. It is very important for a phone to have a pouch bag that is waterproof as it keeps my phone safe wherever I am.

Check out this cool Universal Waterproof Case I found on Amazon.



camera with extra memory card. I used to have that big, silver cannon camera as you can see in my previous travel photos. But a handy camera will still serve its purpose especially when you need to save some space.

adapter/Charger. When you've traveled overseas then you already know that every country has completely different plugs. These are the things I check first to make sure I have them ready on the day of my trip.

Looking for a great Adapter & Charger All-In-One?





care kit. My travel-sized toiletries that includes soap, shampoo, wet wipes, sanitizer, repellants (optional), toothpaste, toothbrush, femme alcohol, lotion, sanitary pads and feminine wash. I usually add my nail cutter, eyebrow liner, lip balm, moisturizer and sunblock cream inside this bag. Some items like soap, shampoo, cotton buds and even toothbrush are being provided at the hotel or you can easily get them at your destination but it is wiser to bring your own so you don't have to worry about them.

Please always remember the 3-1-1 rules for carry on liquids and gels. 3 ounces or smaller container goes to your carry on bag and more than that should be in your checked in baggage. 1 quart sized, clear, zip lock bag to hold the containers. 1 bag per traveler.

water bottle. I like the idea of bringing my own water bottle especially on long trips. I can save my extra cash and time for buying bottled water and makes me earth friendly too.

travel pillow set- Be it traveling by air or just sitting in a car, couch or train, an inflatable neck pillow that can be folded neatly is always useful. There are sets available now that comes with a sleep eye mask and ear plugs like this Travel Pillow.





sarong or mandala. Though the mandala is more stylish, I prefer to bring my sarong. I use it as my blanket, as towel, cover up, sheet and many more. It's very light and dries up easily.

portable luggage scale. If you are good at estimating the weight of your stuff (like me) then you don't need this one. A very useful scale to carry if you want to save yourself of the embarrassment for removing items from your luggage in front of people at the airport.

medication. I tend to get headaches when I get too much sun exposure so I make sure to bring my necessary tabs.

snacks. Who would want to go somewhere without some munchies?





Credits: amazon.com for the photos (universal waterproof case, adapter & charge all-in-one, Aeris travel pillow)

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Sunday, August 16, 2015

Helpful Tips to Create a All for Free website


I am no expert in creating the best website in the world. When I made mine, I started from scratch. From reading books in Kindle to watching videos on Youtube, I also found other sites online that helped me along the way in order to create http://lingzilifelessordinary.blogspot.com.

The first thing to do is think of a good URL or simply the address of your web page. From there, you can choose a domain host. There are a lot of them available online wherein you will need to pay every month once you register and choose one of their plans. I was able to try this before but found it costly and not practical for me so I revived this travel blog I created almost 5 years ago.

Guess everyone knows about Blogger. Everything works with this tool and you can publish your site for free in less than 5 minutes. Aside from Blogspot, you can also manage your free website or blog through Weebly, wordpress.com and many others.


Then once you have a free domain host and website builder, you are now almost ready to publish your first post. However, you may also wonder if there are other things you need to know in order to create a successful blog or website. I never knew all of them before if not because of my eagerness to learn the dot com world.


Here are some:


Logomakr. Yes without the 'e'. This is where you can customize your logo and it's all for free if you'd like to put one in your browser. This is very helpful for someone like me who's not really good at making digital logos.

Unsplash. This is where you can get free high resolution photos plus you can do whatever you want with them. There's no need to ask permission. Isn't it cool? One disadvantage for using photos from this site is that you might see the same photo on other people's blog.

Niftybuttons. Nowadays, social media is a key driver to gain traffic in any pages especially if you are monetizing your site. Well, Niftybuttons will make it easier for you to embed free social media icons or buttons on your website. There are social buttons that require a small donation if you'd like to get a complete set. I am trying to maintain an 'all for free' site so as you can see my social media buttons are not complete but still served it's purpose once you click each of them.

Olark. For me, this is a very good tool if you want to have visitors on your site to leave questions easily or when you want to interact with your readers and followers every time you are online.

Paint.Net. If you can't have Photoshop, then just go to getpaint.net. This is a free software that you can download for digital image and photo editing for Windows OS users. Very useful if you want to put watermark on pictures you want to publish online to prevent someone from using your personal photos. I just knew this recently so as you can see, I don't have watermark on all of my photos.

Powtoon. Do you want to put animated videos or add unique visuals on your site? All you have to do is sign up with Powtoon. It's also for free plus they have a free mini-course tutorials to guide you.

I'm sure there are still a lot of sites and information out there that I haven't discover up to this time. I've been blogging for years now but I still consider myself as a newbie and I will not get tired of learning everyday.

Do you know any sites or applications like those mentioned above that will help one to create a all for free website? I would appreciate if you can share them.












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