Hi Reader,
This is a HUGE month for us, because we will be hosting our next all women group trip to Egypt in just 2 weeks!
We are beyond excited to reunite and have been busy finalizing the surprises in our welcome gift bags for the ladies joining us and panicking over what clothes we should pack.
βMake sure you're following us on Instagram if you aren't already, because we will be sharing our adventures and shenanigans from Egypt to the stories in a couple of weeks!
HIGHLIGHTS YOU CAN READ MORE ABOUT BELOW
π Trip recommendations for the Fall
π»π³ Labor Day sale on our Vietnam girls' group trip
βοΈ How to get the group trip out of the group chat
πΈ Best Eiffel Tower Photo Spots in Paris
π Kayla tried an Egyptian coffee shop in Athens + reviewed Samsonite's newest backpack
π Amanda went to a Broadway show OUTDOORS
π FALL TRIP RECOMMENDATIONS
September is already here which means it's basically spooky season time to start thinking about your fall travel plans!
We recently did a roundup of our favorite places to travel by month, and these are our recs for end of year trips:
Banff - The fall is a fab time to visit Banff. You can experience all the outdoor activities that the area has to offer with fewer crowds and beautiful crisp weather. And you might even catch some brown bears before they start their winter hibernations!
Check out Amanda's 5 Day Guide to Banff for inspiration and tips on how to plan your perfect Canadian getaway.
Portugal: Portugal is super affordable compared to its other western European counterparts, and the fall is a beautiful time to visit! The Azores, Lisbon, and Porto get a lot of attention. But we recommend going to lesser known places like Monsanto, PiΓ³dΓ£o, Coimbra, and Tomar to experience the local culture and history that a lot of people miss out on.
If you want to see some highlights of why Portugal is a place Kayla wants to return to, check out our post on 10 Reasons to Visit Portugal ASAP.
Glamping: You can glamp just about anywhere in the world these days, but we especially loved our glamping experience at Georgia's tallest waterfall last fall. You get the boujee modern amenities like air conditioning and heating, comfy beds, and a coffee maker. But you still get the outdoorsy elements like cooking over an open fire and hiking nearby trails and waterfalls.
You can see our video recap of the vibes HERE and our more in depth video review HERE.
Cancun: If you want to spend a week being pampered, you can't go wrong with staying at an all inclusive resort in Cancun. Amanda went over Thanksgiving a couple of years back and experienced perfect weather and low crowds. Read her full review of the resort, its food, and excursions to see why she loved it so much!
πΈ DISCOUNT FOR VIETNAM GROUP TRIP
We are hosting an all women group trip to Vietnam from February 28 - March 6, 2027!
Ten ladies have signed up so far, and we're looking for a few more to join us. If you've been on the fence about joining, maybe this will help persuade you:
π From September 2-8, you can get $50 off your booking at checkout with code LABORDAY50
π You only have to put down a 25% deposit to reserve your spot ($587.50), and the rest isn't due until the end of November
π Come solo or bring a friend! Can't convince anyone to join you? No problem. You've got 10 new travel buddies to be your friend on this trip + the two of us! You won't be lonely!
βFull itinerary details + Pricingβ
βοΈ HOW TO GET THE GROUP TRIP OUT OF THE GROUP CHAT
Let's be real. Getting the group trip out of the group chat can be hard. Not because you have bad friends. But because everyone is navigating a different season in life.
As long distance best friends living in different time zones with very different lifestyles, we know firsthand how hard it can be to make schedules, budgets, childcare/dog care line up to make a trip happen.
But we do have some advice to make your group trip dreams a reality:
- You're going to have to be intentional. Make a shared google calendar and block off the dates or months that you know you absolutely cannot make a trip happen. Your availability is going to determine what destination you're going to get to visit. If your group is only available in June, chances are you won't be visiting a desert location.
- Conversations about budget expectations *have* to happen early on. Even knowing a budget range will help you avoid awkward conversations or people backing out after you've put a lot of time into trip planning. Use Google Forms to poll people on their availability, interests, and budget ranges.
- Define the travel vibe. Is this going to be a weekend trip or a week long trip? Is this a relax by the pool type of vacation or are you going to be putting in 20k steps a day in a major city? This is something you can gauge with the Google Form to make it easy!
- Once you've picked a destination, use Google Sheets and Google Maps to start planning out your trip details and keeping track of the activities, restaurants, and accommodations your group is interested in.
- Set deadlines and hold people accountable. Don't give people time to be wishy washy. Set the first payment deadline to be sooner rather than later. Because once that first payment is made, your friend trip just left the group chat.
π«π· NEW BLOG POST: BEST EIFFEL TOWER PHOTO SPOTS
Did you even go to Paris if you didnβt get at least one photo of the Eiffel Tower? But where can you go to get some of those iconic photos you see all over social media? The ones without the crowds and full Eiffel Tower views that are worthy enough to hang in your home (or post to your own social media channels).
In our latest blog post, weβre sharing 8 of the best Eiffel Tower photo spots in Paris to capture iconic photos to remember your trip by.
π― WHAT WE'VE BEEN UP TO
We're in the super early baby stages of deciding where we want to go on our group trip for the 2nd half of 2027. We've been poring over some pretty exciting itineraries in incredible places like China, Peru, Turkey, and Bali.
We will be sending out a survey before the year is over for you to help us decide! π
Kayla
August was all about getting my daughter into the kindergarten groove. She starts girl scouts, volleyball, and ballet and tap in September, so it's about to get busy!
I got to meet one of the ladies joining us on our group trip to Egypt, and it was so nice meeting her in person after chatting back and forth for months! We tried out Baladi Coffee - a newly opened Egyptian coffee shop in Athens, GA. It was delicious!
Samsonite also gifted us their newest backpack, and I did a little review of how I think it will hold up as my personal item on my upcoming flights. I'm excited to try it out in 2 weeks when we head to Egypt!
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Amanda
As y'all know my time in St. Louis is quickly coming to an end. Two weeks after returning from Egypt I'm moving again, location still TBD (fingers crossed its secured by our next newsletter π
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I'm working my way through the St Louis staples before I leave, and was able to check off what has been recommended the most - an evening at The Muny! I saw the Broadway show Something Rotten! and it was so much fun seeing a show I haven't before & seeing my first broadway show outdoors!
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β€οΈ HELPFUL RESOURCES & RECOMMENDATIONS
π΄σ §σ ’σ ³σ £σ ΄σ Ώ We have a 58 page Edinburgh Guidebook and map companion that has everything you need to plan your dream trip to Edinburgh!
βοΈ Want to be in the know on the best flight deals from your home airport? Going.com has free and paid membership options. We love that you still book directly through the airline. Going just tells you the deals and when to book (plus you can set flight alerts!).
π‘οΈ Faye is our fav travel insurance. Full transparency, it's not the cheapest option on the market. But they offer protection for trip interruption, damages, and injury / illness. And they have quick turnaround times on claims + excellent communication. You get what you pay for, and this is one service we recommend all travelers pay for.
ποΈ Wanna see what items we're using in our own travels? Check out our Amazon Storefront and ShopMy collections. We only recommend the products we actually use and love - because that's what besties do.
π«Ά Don't forget we have a whole travel blog dedicated to helping YOU plan your trips! If you've got an upcoming trip planned, check to see if we've written a blog post about it.
From our suitcase to yours,
Kayla & Amanda
βThe Stickered Suitcaseβ
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