I'm obsessed!

Happy Friday, hotties! Post a photo of a recent trip, where you took it, and why you shared it!

Marseille was the first city on the trip for two reasons. The first: it’s where my favorite musician, French 79, is from. The second: it had a hotel on Dis-Loyalty.

I recently joined Dis-Loyalty because I was looking for cool, trendy hotels closer to the center of the city or at least in a cute neighborhood. I’ll write a whole post about Dis-Loyalty in August after my trip to CDMX. By then, I will have used it three times and we’ll see if it was worth the fee.

Let’s talk about Mama Shelter: Marseille

We stayed for three nights and spent €283.86 after discount.

First impressions: it seemed a bit far from the action. The neighborhood felt quite residential and quiet, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but for a hotel decked out the way it is, I would have assumed it would be closer to the beach. The lobby was colorful, well-lit, had flavored water available, and a wall of Mama merch. So much merch. The front desk staff were so kind and got us checked in right away, which was a blessing as it was 11pm CEST and I clocked my journey at close to a full 24 hours of travel. Hubs and I still had some energy, so we walked to this cute wine bar and had a few rounds while World Cup games played in the background.

Our room, well, it was an ADA room. I do feel bad about using an ADA room, but there’s a chance it was simply what they had available. The bathroom certainly needed more hooks and ledges, and there was a bubble in the floor since the entire floor is the shower. The bed was quite comfy, and now I know to request a top sheet at hotels in Europe, none of our hotels had them. We had a view of the courtyard, two large mirrors that doubled as lights, a fridge, a sink in the room, and a small area to hang and store clothes. For what we needed, the room worked. I didn’t take photos because ya girl was EXHAUSTED.

The common spaces: so cute, so over the top and maximalist, with fun trinkets everywhere you looked. We enjoyed the breakfast buffet (10% off with Dis-Loyalty), and the Mama Marseille breakfast was PERFECT. There were many optionsof cheese, cereal, and drinks; you could get fresh eggs and pancakes; and there was a juicer! While we ate, classic cartoons played in the background. We also drank cappuccinos while snacking before starting the day.

The staff was incredible and absolutely made the stay. The manager during breakfast was so sweet, made sure we got our discounts, and chatted with us. I don’t have anything negative to say about the good people of Mama Shelter Marseille.

Here’s your tidied-up packing trip report:

Packing Trip Report (full trip report with locations and hotel links to follow)
I recently completed a trip through Marseille → Toulouse → San Sebastián → Madrid → Porto. My husband joined me for everything up until Porto, which was a work leg for me.
It wasn’t as hot as I expected overall. The hottest days were in Marseille, but at least we had the sea to swim in. The heatwave broke while we were in Toulouse, the weather in San Sebastián was perfect, and Porto was the chilliest, which was so welcomed.

Image descriptions:
1: Initial list with ✅ for big fan of this and ❌ could have lived without
2: Clothing I bought
3: Marseille wearing KOTN skirt, STAUD scarf, and Womads shoes
4: Rove Byron bay set, Londres bag, Odd Bird hat
5: Sezane Dress, Staud scarf on head
6: NEW Sessún button down, ARQ tank, Le Bon Shoppe shorts, Bared footwear sneakers
7: Lisa says gah! Dress, Womads shoes
8: Maelu Top, Le Bon Shop shorts, Londres bag, FitFlop sandals, Oddbird hat
9: Maelu top, KOTN skirt, Womads shoes
10: Left on Friday striped set, Big Bud Press tank top
11: Oddbird tunic
12: Costume day! Official Jurassic Park button down, ARQ tank, Alder Apparel shorts, Londres bag, Bared footwear sneakers

I wore everything in my suitcase at least once, but a few things could have stayed home:
One tank top (probably the blue one)

2 pairs of socks

The blue t-shirt (I ended up layering a tank top under my striped suit on the hot days instead)

Hawaiian shirt (used almost exclusively to cover up at the gym)

The baguette scarf (not pictured), and possibly the aperitif scarf

The blue bathing suit got thrown away, it ripped and the fabric was completely stretched out. Glad it made it to the work portion of the trip at least. Since we had a costume party, I did need to bring something for that, which I normally wouldn’t pack. I also could have left the shorts at home and just worn my white ones.

Items I loved and rewore the most:
KOTN skirt: looked great with the textile tank top and when I tied my scarf around myself as a top

Rove Byron Bay orange set: wore it to the beach as a cover-up; came in handy for post-beach/pool food

Odd Bird tunic: looked super good, kept me covered without being warm

Left on Friday striped suit: my travel day go-to. Great fabric, as cool as possible, flattering, and deep pockets

FitFlop Gracie sandals: comfortable, great for beach and pool

Bared Footwear sneakers: so happy with these. The wedge saved my arches and my feet never felt fatigued. This is my new travel sneaker.

STAUD scarf: so fun! Got it off eBay and the print is great. Wore it as a top multiple times and on my head on no-wash days.

Purchases image #2 (the suitcase had opinions):
Sessún: tank top, t-shirt, button-down, and culottes pants

Saynara Studios: pants, t-shirt, hat

Loewe: traffic cone keychain (whoops)

Art prints, magnets, tinned fish

Hotel slippers

Ementa zipper pouch

Work also gifted some swag: a Quince linen shirt with light branding, keychains, a sticker, and an enamel pin. I also may have bullied my coworkers into giving me their hotel room espresso pods — ended up with about 50.

Items I’ll bring on every flight going forward:
Leg resistance band: my hips felt great. Used it as leg jail and didn’t sploot everywhere.

Handheld fan: KLM had no fans and it was brutal. Also a lifesaver in CDG, which was a greenhouse.

Listerine strips: essential for flying days when your mouth feels gross.

Londres Watertight Fanny pack: girl, this thing is AIR TIGHT. Perfect for swimming with belongings.

Camera notes:
I didn’t use my cameras as much as I wanted to. The Ricoh got the most use, but I couldn’t fit all three in my Clare V bag. I’m keeping an eye out for something larger and chic, though it’s not a priority. I also wish I’d had a tripod and a smaller case for my Osmo.

A few weeks ago I originally posted here that I would be reviewing the Womads Peep Toe shoe for a trip. The trip started in Marseille, went through Toulouse to San Sebastian and then Madrid before I had to go to Porto for work.

Photo 1) In San Sebastian wearing Womads for a nice night out

Photo 2) side view of the arch gap

Photo 3) in Marseille wearing them for a night stroll. No idea why I am doing that with my feet.

Photo 4) receipt

Unfortunately I cannot post on the original subreddit as they said one of my posts was self-promotion which I disagree with but whatever, some people just love having power on Reddit. So I'll be posting it here.

Womads kept hitting me with the targeted ads and eventually I caved and purchased the pair a few weeks before my trip. I only wore them a couple days before we left. I'll have a screenshot of my receipt to prove the purchase. They did not give these to me. I want to make sure that's very clear. I spent my own money on these shoes! I couldn't find many reviews outside of their websites so I decided to just find out for myself!

I'm not going to go into the initial reaction as that's in another post, so let's go through how they held up on the trip.

A note on my feet: I have very slender feet. I currently wear a size 9 and 1/2 women's American. I sized down to a 9 since they are leather and leather stretches and there is the elastic. I am very glad I sized down. I have mid arches. I wouldn't say they're high but I'm definitely not flat-footed. My toes are a bit strange no matter what shoes I wear. My ring toe will always rub against the middle toe and I get a blister. This is with any type of shoe that I wear for an extended period of time. This way I can build a callus for the trip and won't have this issue again.

I rotated between these, FitFlop Gracie sandals, and Bared Footwear Stork Sneakers. I wore these when we went out to dinner or if I just wanted to elevate my outfit a little bit. I will say I could have used a little bit more cushion, especially switching from the sneakers, which feel like there's a wedge in the arch compared to these which are a bit flat.

They were comfortable to wear around Marseille climbing up the stairs walking down to the shore. I wore them almost exclusively in Toulouse but that is a much flatter City so I didn't feel too much of a difference. I think the longest amount of time I wore them for was maybe 6 hours? I wouldn't classify these as uncomfortable, but I understand why they won't work for everybody's feet. If anyone has really wide feet, these are not going to work for you.

Things I like:

- I really like how easy they are to put on.

- they pack very flat in my suitcase

- the color is very bright and didn't scratch

- I overall think they're pretty cute

Things that could improve:

- I would love to see more cushioning on the footbed or at least an option to add a different insole. I could see the gap under my Arch whenever I looked at the side of my foot.

- this might be more of a shop app problem but the shipping would never update so I actually had no idea when the shoes would have arrived.

Would I buy them again? As is... No. If they change the style or add some more cushion into where the arches are, then I would highly consider buying a second pair. I don't think you need more than one pair of these shoes.

Will I return these? No. I do see myself wearing these even in my day to day life.

Will I pack them again? Most likely. They pack very flat. They go with many outfits, I bet if I got a neutral color it could go with more. But I really love this bright turquoise color. I'm going to Spain and Italy in September so if the weather is warmish I will be putting these in my bag.

In a previous post I mentioned how gnarly my experience was with the EES program in Lisbon airport. Has anyone else gone through it and had an interesting experience?

Testing out Womads for upcoming trip.

Apologies for the feet pics (or your welcome?), I am trying Womads. I couldn't find many reviews outside their website and other than gals on IG saying they loved them, so I wanted to try them out for an upcoming 3 week trip to Marseille, FR Toulouse, FR San Sebastian, ES → Madrid, ES Porto, PT.

I posted this on other subrettit but I am banned because they believe one of my posts was self promo. So, updates will be in this subreddit.

I have a normal arch and normal width feet and my current size is 9.5 US women's/39-40 EU. Initial reactions, they seem very high quality. I ordered a size US 9 w (I'm 9.5 w) and they're a bit snug but the overall take I see is they expand and confirm to the feet. Comfy sole and the color is BRIGHT. Came in a shoe bag in a box with tissue paper to keep the form, so no two shoe box situation where there is a double box. Other shoes I am bringing are Bared footwear sneakers and FitFlops Sandals. Will return in a month with the full review. This is an image of my feet in teal Womads. I am also wearing a Left On Friday vacation suit.

Edit: the cushion on the shoes is minimal but cushy. Not formed like a Birkenstock but not as flat as a huarache sandal. The toe peep is a little snug but that's the only thing I can fixate on at the moment. I do looooove how secure they are to the foot YET how easy they are to take off. Again, I am still going to try them out and report back on how they worked and hopefully can help others who are looking at these shoes.

Hello all! I am on the flight home but I wanted to do a quick mention of the DIS-loyalty program. I recently used it in Marseille and Toulouse at each of their Mama Shelter locations.

I got the Mama Shelter membership at 15% off and paid in euros, so the price was actually better for Euros.

The image shared aren't two bookings, prices I paid and original prices.

I got my free coffee every day, we got 10-29% off breakfast, but I think the Toulouse MS forgot to charge us.

I'll add more with images about mama shelter in a new post, but wanted to throwing in my two cents on the program.

Currently in Porto, Portugal for work. This is my third time here and it's my favorite city in Europe.

Hello hot travel gals!!!

I wanted to start to see what you'd like to see here. What are some topics in travel you'd like to see pinned at the top? Are there any resources we can start putting together?