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Lemonada Summer it's when we share more time, more memories and more photos. And at, at and t, the iPhone 17 Pro is your summer essential. Its center stage front camera auto adjusts the frame to fit everyone into group selfies. You don't even have to turn your
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phone and AT and T makes sharing those pics with everyone easy. Right now at, at and t ask how you can get iPhone 17 them with eligible iPhone. Trade in any condition requires trade in of iPhone 15+ or higher. Excludes iPhone 16e and 17e requires eligible plan Terms and restrictions apply. Subject to change. Visit att.comiphone or visit an ATT store for details. You can focus on exercise, nutrition, all the things you're supposed to do for your health. But if you are not sleeping well, it is very hard to feel refreshed.
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Especially when you wake up overheated in the middle of the night. That completely affects my sleep, which is why I Love the Chilipad 2.0 by Sleep Me. It is a water based mattress topper that controls your sleep temperature and works with your existing mattress. And if one person sleeps hot and the other sleeps cold, and that's Adam and me, each side can have its own temperature setting, which is amazing.
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It's and I also love that it automatically starts when you get into bed so it feels seamless. Visit www.sleep.me Gretchen to get up to $255 off your Chilipad 2.0 with code Gretchen. This special offer is available for happier listeners and only for a limited time. Order it today with free shipping and try it out for 30 days. You can return it for free if you don't like it. With their sleep trial. Visit www.sleep.com S L E E P Me Gretchen and see why cold sleep is your ultimate ally in performance and recovery. Hello, we're here for More Happier, a podcast where we get happier. Join us for some weekend listening. It's observations and reflections with a looser vibe and hey Elizabeth.
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Hi Gretchen.
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Today we are revisiting some of our favorite hacks for making summer travel more convenient and less stressful.
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Yes, and we've gotten so many great suggestions from listeners over the years. Things I never would have thought of myself.
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I know exactly. I feel like we could do many episodes on nothing but travel hacks. We cannot get enough travel hacks. But Elizabeth, I have to ask, do you have any summer vacations planned?
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Gretch I feel like it's my summer of New York. I'm going to New York at least twice.
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Yes, and I'm So excited I get to have the pleasure of seeing you without leaving New York City.
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Yes. How about you?
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Well, one place I know I want to go is Kansas City, so I know that that's in my future.
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Yes. So, Gretchen, these hacks are very relevant to us. As always, listener hacks help us as much as anyone.
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Yes. Very relevant. Okay, let's listen back this week. The try this at home suggestion for the very special episode is to remember these travel hacks. Because one of the biggest challenges, I think, Elizabeth, is you can learn a hack, but then you have to remember to use it at the right time. So you can learn these hacks, but then you have to remember the hacks.
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Yes. I was actually thinking, I need to listen to this episode back, like, three times to get all these hacks into my brain.
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Well, and speaking of that, way back in episode 180, we did a very special episode that was all travel hacks. But this is such a common hack, and people have so many great suggestions, it feels worth revisiting. But if people want more ideas, you can go back to 180 and listen to a bunch of them. Listeners have such great ideas. There's so much creativity and ingenuity. I just love these things.
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It always blows my mind. Gretch. Well, let's start with some of your favorite travel hacks.
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Okay, So I love to read on vacation. Elizabeth, I know you love to read on vacation, but one thing I've learned is don't bring a challenging book on vacation. Because often I'm like, oh, I'll have all this free time. I'll be able to constantly. But I'm on vacation. I don't want to read something that's very difficult. So now I try to read books that are really good, but that are not demanding, like academic books or something like that. I now pack a travel mug. I like a huge mug, bigger mug than anybody else wants. I don't like drinking out of, like, a little dinky mug. And so now I pack my own mug if I possibly can. Here's one that's important. Okay. And this came up in our trip to England. Elizabeth, use a roller bag if you possibly can. Because even if you think, oh, I'm just going from the car right into the airport, and I hardly need to carry it at all. So often things happen. You have to be rerouted. Something isn't working. When I was in England, the travel conveyor belts weren't working, so I ended up having to carry my bag. We couldn't get a ride from the Train station to the hotel. We had to walk with our bags.
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Yes.
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Even airports these days are so gigantic, you might end up walking 5,000 steps just going to your gate. And so unless your bag is incredibly light or you're extremely strong, I would say always use a roller bag if you possibly can.
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Very good advice. Yeah. Roller bags are something where once they were invented, it was just game on. We're all getting roller bags.
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For some reason, Jamie is very averse to them. I think he feels like it's more authentic. I don't know. I'm like, suit yourself and I'm taking roller bags.
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Greg, here's something you learned the hard way.
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Okay. If you are in a city that has multiple airports, double, triple check your airport. I am looking at you New York city with your LaGuardia, Kennedy and Newark airports. I am looking at Dallas, that has Love Field and it also has Dallas, Fort Worth, London has them. I have more than once gone or at least headed in the wrong direction to the wrong airport. And so double check.
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Yes, my sister in law and her whole family did that in Los Angeles when they were were going to Europe. So that was an adventure.
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Another hack I have is if you're in a country where you don't speak the language, you can use your Google app on your phone to translate the package. We did this in Japan where it's like, what is this item? And it will tell you. Sometimes it's fun to be in suspense, but sometimes you really want to know what's inside or you want to know the name of something and that just gives you quick, easy translation. It's amazing. And then also if you want white noise, I think a lot of people in a hotel room or if they're in an unfamiliar place like to have white noise to help them sleep. This is a little bit of a process. But I will say the steps. If you're on an Apple iPhone, you go to Settings, then you go to accessibility, then you under hearing, choose audio and visual. Then you choose background sounds on and off. And then you can choose ocean, rain, stream, balance, noise, et cetera. It took me a couple times before I could do it pretty easily to remember the steps. But then it's great because you can just have a white noise machine playing and you can have it playing as long as you want. So that really helps me to sleep sometimes if I'm in an unfamiliar place.
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Yes, very useful.
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And then the final one that I have is what I would call grocery store grab bags. So when I went to Japan, there was a Day where we were tired out and just wanted to do something really simple. So to make it fun, we went to a grocery store, bought a lot of food. Kind of unusual things that we didn't know what they were exactly. And then we just had a picnic and we called it Grocery Store Grab Bag. Cause everybody just grabbed things that caught their eye. And then we had fun tasting them. So that was just a really fun way to do something. Something a little bit different. It was extremely inexpensive and it had a picnic feel. It was very fun. Yes.
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There's something about going to a grocery store that gives you a different experience of a city.
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Yes, absolutely.
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Gretch, I wanna recommend an app. I think I've mentioned it before, but I'm such a fan. It's called Split Wise. And if you're taking a trip with friends and you wanna keep track of expenses, I won't go into all the details of how it works, but just suffice it to say, this will make your trip so much easier. And it will absolutely streamline everybody paying each other back for dinners and tickets and whatnot. And it's really easy to use.
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So this is great if you're traveling with a bunch of people who need to split expenses. So this is like the bachelorette party or the college reunion.
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Exactly. Split Wise.
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I actually have a travel app that I really love too.
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It's called Tripsy, and it's a travel planning app. And you can send all of your
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flight information, your trains, restaurants, hotels, and
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all you have to do is email it to the Tripsy app. And it puts it all in one organized planner. And you can go to it at
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any time and see your whole day's
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itinerary and share it with your family
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or whoever else you're traveling with.
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It works great.
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Oh, wow. I cannot wait to try that. Right. Because sharing information is one of the hardest things on a trip, I find.
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Yes. And having everything in one place.
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Yes. So you don't have to keep switching between different documents or different screens. But, Elizabeth, what are some of your hacks?
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Well, you know, Gretchen, I love my Calpak bag. I think we mentioned it in the gift guide. It's the Puffy. I have a tote bag and a little mini duffel. And my hack is to have a Puffy bag and use it as a pillow on the plane. It is. If I have a window seat, I put it up against the window, I lean against it, and it is so comfortable.
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Okay. So it's good for carrying things, and it's also good for leaning against.
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Yes, yes. And then my other hack, Gretchen, is travel with dogs. It is really fun. I'm not talking about plane rides here, although I know a lot of people love to bring their dogs on the plane. We have not done that, nor do I think our dogs would be good on a plane because they bark so much. But if we take driving trips, we always have so much fun when we bring them. Yes, it's a hassle, but it just adds to the excitement and the fun.
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Oh, that's fun. Yeah, I love those hacks.
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All right, Gretch. Coming up, we have lots of amazing hacks from listeners. But first, this break.
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Summer always changes what I want to wear. I stop reaching for anything heavy or complicated and just want pieces that feel light, comfortable and easy from the, you know, the first second I put them on. That's why I keep coming back to Quince. Their linen pieces especially have become my default this time of year. I have a linen button down from Quince that, you know, it's one of those pieces that works for everything. For travel, for dinner, for weekends. It feels much more expensive than it is. I love that Quince uses high quality materials like European linen and organic cotton, but everything is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands because they work directly with ethical factories.
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Elevate your summer wardrobe. Go to quince.com Gretchen for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's Q-U-I-N C E.com Gretchen for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com Gretchen I had one of those
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weeks where the to do list just kept growing. Little repairs, things to mount, random projects I kept putting off, and eventually it all starts taking up mental space even when you're not doing it. And that's why I've been using TaskRabbit. You can book a skilled tasker for furniture assembly, home repairs, mounting, yard work, whatever you need help with.
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And you can search based on reviews, availability and cost so you feel good about who's showing up. I finally handed off a project I had been avoiding and let me tell you, it was such a relief just to have it done. I use TaskRabbit and you should too. When life happens, your to do list grows. Get ahead of it now and get $15 off your first task@taskrabbit.com or on the TaskRabbit app using code HAPPIER. That's $15 off your first task using promo code HAPPIER with the TaskRabbit app or at taskrabbit.com you're listening to this
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podcast, so I know you've got a curious mind. Here's a helpful fact you might not know yet. Drivers who switch and save with Progressive save over $900 on average. Pop over to progressive.com, answer some questions and you'll get a quick quote with discounts that are easy to come by. In fact, 99% of their auto customers earn at least one progressive.com and see if you can enjoy a little cash back.
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Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates national average 12 month savings of $946 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2024 and May 2025. Potential savings will vary okay, let's dive
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into these travel hacks from listeners and Elizabeth we'll go through these quickly because we got so many. We want to just share as many as possible because each one applies to different people. We're all in slightly different situations, different stages of life, so you have to pick and choose the ones that work for you. So the first set comes from Courtney. She says, I have been a flight attendant for 25 years, so I have a lot of travel hacks, but here are a few that I think are most beneficial. Many people have a picture of their passport in their phone, but I also pack a photocopy in case my phone is lost along with a passport. Yikes. Yeah, that would be bad. Always, always bring an empty water bottle to the airport and fill it once inside. Security 3 in flight Entertainment systems and wi fi are fantastic, but they don't always work. Actually just happened to me last week on a nine hour flight. I was a passenger and my TV didn't work and the wi fi didn't work. So download movies, TV shows, podcasts, books, et cetera and or bring a physical book. And last, I always carry an extension cord. It takes up very little space but can make things so much easier when outlets and airports and or hotel rooms are in hard to reach. All such great ideas, yes.
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And Gretchen, these hacks come from Pauline. She says planning and booking a few key stuff ahead. No one wants to queue five hours in the sun in front of the Uffizi in Florence. Bonus. It makes you look forward to your trip even more More happiness before the trip has even started. Staying flexible when things don't go according to plan and scheduling lots of unplanned time because it should also be an adventure. Moving every few days to a new spot makes a trip feel so much longer and full of new experiences like I can't believe we were in Blank Location just three days ago. And then she says mosquito repellent. Because never underestimate the power of a single mosquito.
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Adrian says, choose a national airline that gives you free stopovers in their country. Some, especially to the United Emirates, will even pay for a day or two in a hotel and pick you up from the airport. I traveled to London, but first to Istanbul. I, I went to LA from Amsterdam with a wonderful stop in Casablanca and Marrakech on Moroccan Airlines. I think you can do this with Iceland. When I went to Iceland, they said you could have a free stopover on your way to Europe. And I thought, oh my gosh, that sounds so luxurious.
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I never have heard of this. That's a great tip. Kirsten says, I always try to check out a local library. You can tell a lot about a community by its libraries.
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I've heard of this with grocery stores and with drugstores. I think checking out a local library is a brilliant idea. Lisa says. As a contact lens wearer, I repurpose the free lens cases that are often provided within boxes of sterilizing solution. I fill the little cups with small amounts of different ointments, such as antibacterial, anti itch, special face cream, et cetera. I then use a Sharpie to label the contents on each screw on top. They don't leak and it sure beats packing lots of tubes and jars. Well, I just went to the eye doctor and I got a disposable contact lens case and I was like, this is a great idea. I'm going to use it for that. I'm so excited.
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It yes. Space efficient.
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Yes.
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Evelyn says the Timeshifter app is great for working through jet lag. It provides advice on when to sleep, wake up, expose yourself to bright light, and drink caffeine to adjust as quickly as possible to your new time zone. Gretch, I know someone who just used this and said it was amazing.
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Oh, that's great to know about. Sarah said A few years ago, on a trip with 25 friends to Oktoberfest in Munich, my friend had the best travel advice. Speak up when whenever there is something you really want to do or really don't want to do. And the rest of the time, just be enthusiastic about whatever is going on and you'll have a great time. Even if it wasn't something on your list of ideas. Great idea.
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And related to that suggestion, Audra says, with the whole family, ask what is the most important thing they do on this vacation? Then schedule those things in the early part of the trip, if you can. Everybody did their thing, nobody dominates the schedule, and the rest of the days are gravy.
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That's a good idea. Johanna says return home with at least one day of your holidays remaining so you have time to rest before returning to work or school. I learned this from my in laws. They do this and it really does take the pressure off the return.
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Yes. Kim says an easy and light toy for babies and toddlers on planes is painter's tape. A roll of it is small and light and they love ripping off pieces and sticking it to the seats, tray tables, and even faces and no damage.
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I mean, how ingenious is this?
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Excellent.
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I mean, I can imagine hours, but it would never have occurred to me to think of painter's tape as like a toy.
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Yes.
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So brilliant. Sarah says you are never going to take as good a photo of a major landmark as are on the postcards. So a few years ago, I started buying postcards along my travels and writing memories of the trip as I went along. I have them in an album and they are a great record of my travels. I also started using the idea of the five senses to capture more specific, evocative memories after reading your book. Oh, Life in five senses. That's a great idea. And I love a postcard. Love this idea.
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Yes. And then you don't have to spend as much time trying to get a perfect photo.
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Yes, exactly.
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Belinda says fold up a duffel bag in the bottom of your suitcase for dirty clothes, you can check on the flight home. Dump the whole bag in the laundry when you arrive home. Then you have room for souvenirs in your suitcase. That is a fantastic idea.
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Very elegant. Ellen says if you take a tour, do it on your first day. The tour guide can give you lots of suggestions for the rest of your trip. That is a great idea.
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Charlotte says I set an alarm on my phone to grab any items from the hotel safe before I check out. Good idea. I think a lot of people don't want to put things in the safe because they're so worried they'll forget them in the safe.
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Okay. You know what some people do is they put a shoe in there so they can't get out because they can only put on one shoe. But of course, if you put on the wrong pair of shoes, then it. It doesn't work. But if you only have one pair of shoes or you know what shoes you're gonna wear, that can be another aid.
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I think we've talked about that. That's a Very good idea.
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So clever. Peggy says I now travel with noise canceling headphones and an eye mask. They're great in a plane and the eye mask is vital to me getting a good night's sleep whether I'm on the plane, in a hotel or at my mom's house. Great. Many people love those.
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Yes, Jane said. Building on Elizabeth's hack to take extra towels along when traveling with a dog, I recommend having those towels be micro fiber camping towels. They take up less space and dry really quickly. I always have them in the trunk of my car because my dog loves to swim. I like camping towels so much that I use them in my bathroom at home. Camping towels are soft, come in great colors from rei, and take far less drier time than regular towels.
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I have never experienced one of these towels. I've got to check this out.
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Good to know.
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Jennifer says. Plastic flip flops. I never travel without them. I use them as slippers, shower shoes and beach shoes. They are perfect after a long day of walking and hiking and my feet hurt in a warmer location. They are perfect for being out in the pouring rain and they're so easy to pack.
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Yes, they take up very little room. All right Gretchen, Coming up, we have more excellent hacks. But first this break.
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Foreign.
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You know why I love summer? All those plans we made. They finally make it out of the group chat. Seems like there's more time to fit everyone in whatever you've got in store this summer. Capturing those memories is a must. That's why I love the iPhone 17 Pro I picked up from AT&T. It's center stage, front camera auto adjusts a frame to fit everyone into group selfies. You don't even have to turn your phone.
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No awkward cropping or asking strangers to take it. Just the perfect group selfie every time. And ATT makes sharing those moments with everyone easy because you gotta share the pic or it didn't happen right right now at, at and t ask how you can get iPhone 17 Pro on them with eligible iPhone trade ins any condition requires trade in of iPhone 15 or higher. Excludes iPhones 16e and 17e requires eligible plan terms and restrictions apply. Subject to change. Visit att.comiphone or visit an ATT store for details. I've been trying to say yes more to little adventures. Nothing huge. Just getting out of the routine and going somewhere different for the day. And it really makes you appreciate having a car that feels solid and comfortable where you're not thinking about the drive, you're just focused on where you're going. That's what stood out to me about the Defender. It has that rugged design, but it also feels really thoughtful inside and I like that There's a full lineup from the two door 90 to the 110 and the 130 with seating for up to eight. So it really fits different kinds of
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plans and it's built with those durable, purposeful materials so you can actually use it without worrying about every little thing. It also has features that make driving feel easier, like Clearsight technology and the PIVI Pro system so you can keep track of where you're going and everything you want to listen to along the way. Plus, with up to 89 cubic feet of cargo space and available three rows, it gives you a lot of flexibility depending on what you're bringing with you. Explore the full Defender lineup@land roverusa.com hey,
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it's Julia, Louis Dreyfus from Wiser Than Me etc. Just popping in with a little reality check. Food waste shouldn't exist. There is no reason that our leftovers should end up in a landfill. But that's the final destination for about year A. A third of the food we grow. Our ancestors would be confused. They use their food scraps as compost or as animal feed, or in weird soups, all the stuff we did before garbage was invented. But composting is hard work. Living with a bucket of rotten food on your counter is gross. Most food goes in the trash because it's easy, and these days we'll take any easy we can get. But now there's something easier. Drop your scraps in a mill food recycler it looks like a kitchen bin and an iPhone had a baby. It takes nearly anything, even meat and bones. It works automatically. You can keep filling it for weeks and it never smells. When you finally empty it, you've got these nutrient rich grounds. Use them in your garden, pour them in your green bin, or have mill get them to a small farm so the food you don't eat can help grow the food you do. Just like it should be. It's why I own a mill, why I invest in mill, and why I'm still obsessed with my mill. If you want to get obsessed too, go to mill.com wiser to get $75 off. That's mill.com wiser for $75 off
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all
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right Gretchen, we are back with more hacks. This comes from Andrea and it's a little bit on the techie side. She says, I've started using the notes on my phone to keep track of travel Arrangements. You can copy and paste drag and drop, or just use the send icon to send info directly into the note. I usually make all the travel arrangements for my family, so when my husband and son were going on college visits, I was able to share the travel note directly with them. It had all the information they needed. Flight times and confirmation numbers, hotel reservations, rental car reservations. I was even able to add the QR code for the parking reservation I made for them at the airport before the trip. When they had questions on a daily basis, I would just say, look at the note. By the time they left, they were accustomed to looking at it. And I didn't get a single travel related question while they were away.
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Excellent. I'm going to experiment with this. This feels out of reach for me, but she makes it sound pretty simple.
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Yeah, and if you figure it out, it could be a game changer.
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Exactly. Cheryl says, take a photo of your rental car's license plate. On a trip several years ago, we got into the wrong rental car. It was the exact same make and model, and the license plate was only one letter different from ours. We realized our mistake after we got into the car and it was a mess. And we realized it wasn't our car. Of course, the key fob wouldn't work, but it's good to have the license plat. Sometimes the rental car keychain has the license plate written on it. Take a picture of anything you think you might need. You will never regret it.
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Yes, this next one is related. Jeanette says, take a picture of your luggage to have on your phone. Any information you have to identify your luggage will increase your chances of retrieving lost luggage in a timely fashion.
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And I want to add to this because when we were coming back from England, Elizabeth, because that conveyor belt wasn't working, my bag was delayed for, like, more than a day. And they ask you all these questions about your bag, and I realized I had only the dimmest sense of what my bag looked like. I knew which one was your bag and which was my bag, but you just never really look at it. It's like, what's on both sides of a quarter? You don't know because you don't really look at it. So I was like, well, is it kind of a dark brown or is it more kind of like an elephant gray? So part of it is just really look at your bag and have a sense of it. But I think taking a picture of it is a really good idea. And then if you have some kind of distinctive luggage tag or Ribbon or something. Pay attention. So you're not just looking for it automatically, but it's like, oh, is this the one that has the giant R on it? Or is this the one that's the weird pink? I just was very surprised by how little recollection I had of my own bag and how many questions I was being asked about how it looked. But I did get it back. But it could have been simpler.
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Good reminder. Okay, Leomy says I want to share a reduce, reuse, recycle packing cube hack. Happen to buy new bedding items, pillowcases, quilts, pillows, sheets and even curtains. They often come in durable zippered plastic packages that you can save. They have lots of storage uses around the house, but I love to use them as packing cubes.
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Can I just say, when Eleanor moved into her dorm room, we used those bags. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. They're super handy and it does feel good to reuse them because they're at least the ones we had were good quality. So it made me happy to put them to good use again instead of just tossing them.
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That's a great idea. Yeah.
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Caitlyn says many of my friends collect place specific souvenirs from their trips like fridge magnets and mugs, but these would be a nightmare for me when moving house. Plus, I'm not really into knickknacks, so I developed my own method of buying souvenirs. Whenever I'm planning a trip, I start thinking ahead about what small practical object I currently need or want to replace and deliberately look for it during my next travels. For example, recently I got my umbrella from London. Where else? Stationery from the Hague, keychain from a Croatian small town market, and earphones from Milan. These items, though not at all play specific but reflect my style, don't become clutter when I get home and serve as functional reminders of my travels. Well, Elizabeth, when we were in England, remember I said to you, oh, I'd love to get some coasters.
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Yeah.
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Because I need coasters. And then we actually got some as a gift. I was even better. But it was fun to have something that I knew I actually needed. I wasn't just buying some gizmo.
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Yeah. Yes. Love that idea. Richard said, I have maintained a packing list for years that is modified after every trip as to what worked or didn't, what new things I need to add, etc. Example, for overseas travel, plug adapters. Hate getting to London only to realize I forgot my plug adapters and need to go out and buy yet more. Ugh.
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Yeah, we've all done it.
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He also says, I pack a small over the shoulder messenger bag for maps, pen, etc. For use when I'm at my destination and so I don't have to carry that as a separate item onto the plane.
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Great idea. And then finally, from Anne, this is kind of next level, but I thought it was a great suggestion. She writes, I booked a photographer to take pictures of all of us in Italy since it was such a big and meaningful trip with my dad. It turned out to be one of my favorite vacations. I used a website, flytographer.com, which a friend told me about, and it came out great. So that's great because it was a big, like, we're going back to Italy, where our family is from. It was full of memories and that made it even more special.
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Yeah, a great family photograph would be an amazing souvenir for a big milestone trip.
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Absolutely.
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Okay, Gretch, what is our spotlight on a tool this week?
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Yeah, well, summer will be here before we know it, so now is a great time to start designing your summer. Is there travel you want to plan? Maybe this got you inspired to travel. Are there books you want to read? Are there things you want to learn this year? And I am so excited about this. You can design your summer right in the Happier App. I worked with a terrific team to build a new tool that helps you map out everything you want to do so you don't have that feeling of getting to the end of summer and wishing you had done more. You can start designing your summer on the Tools page of the Happier App or download the app@thehappierapp.com there'll be links in the show notes.
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I cannot wait to try it out.
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Me neither. So Elizabeth, are you feeling happier?
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Yes, I'm feeling happier. Thank you to Chuck. Bye, Gretch.
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Bye Elizabeth. The best time to start a happiness project is 20 years ago. The second best time is now. This Father's Day when you ship UPS Air at the UPS Store. Your items arrive on time with your money back guaranteed at no extra cost. It's like the father of all shipping services. It shows up to the airport way too early just to play it safe. It's overprotective about all the things that truly matter. And it's always prompt, especially to be with family. Make it your first choice to celebrate your dad. Ship UPS Air with our money back guarantee exclusively at the UPS Store US retail locations. Visit the upsstore.com airshipping for full details. Terms and conditions apply.
Episode: Travel Hacks for a Happier Summer
Hosts: Gretchen Rubin & Elizabeth Craft
Original Air Date: June 6, 2026
In this practical and lively episode, Gretchen Rubin and her sister/co-host Elizabeth Craft dive deeply into travel hacks—all the small strategies and clever ideas that make summer trips more joyful, convenient, and less stressful. With both their personal tips and a robust collection of listener-submitted hacks, the episode serves as a travel toolkit for anyone hoping to make their next vacation smoother and more memorable. The conversation is light, actionable, and peppered with relatable anecdotes.
Books on Vacation
Bring Your Own Travel Mug
Always Use a Roller Bag
“Even airports these days are so gigantic, you might end up walking 5,000 steps just going to your gate.” (05:19)
Double/Triple Check Your Airport
In-Country Translation with Google App
iPhone White Noise for Sleep
Grocery Store "Grab Bag" Picnics
Elizabeth’s Travel Apps and Solutions
“It will absolutely streamline everybody paying each other back for dinners and tickets…” (08:20)
Calpak Puffy Bag as a Travel Pillow
Traveling with Dogs (on Road Trips)
“It turned out to be one of my favorite vacations.” (Anne, 29:45)
This jam-packed episode is bursting with actionable, crowd-sourced travel hacks geared to help every traveler make the most of summer adventures. With Gretchen and Elizabeth's signature warmth and wit, plus a treasure trove of listener wisdom, the episode delivers a rich roadmap for happier, less stressful travel—whether you’re flying solo, with friends, or wrangling a vacationing family.
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