Hello friends! It’s official — the Portugal group trip is live and ready to book! 🇵🇹✨ We’re heading to Portugal from April 26 to May 4, 2026, and because you’re part of my email community, you’re getting first dibs before I announce it anywhere else. We’ll spend 8 days exploring Porto, the Algarve, and Lisbon (plus a couple extra spots), with a mix of immersive cultural experiences, amazing food and wine, beautiful views, and plenty of free time to explore. It’s a guided group trip — which...
5 months ago • 1 min read
Hello friends! Our Ireland trip is officially live and ready to book! 🎉 Chris and I are hosting a group trip from April 13–20, 2026, and I’d love for you to come with us! Here’s a peek at what’s in store: 🍻 Kick things off in Dublin’s iconic pub scene 🏰 Stay in a real 12th-century castle (yes, really!) ⛰️ Hike to medieval ruins and soak up the countryside 🌊 Take in the jaw-dropping views at the Cliffs of Moher 🌈 Explore the colorful, charming streets of Cork 🍽️ Enjoy thoughtful meals, epic...
5 months ago • 1 min read
Hello friends! Today’s email contains: ✅ A packing pep talk 🎥 My latest video + your packing Qs 🧳 The surprisingly hot debate around underwear & pajamas 📩 A call for your trickiest packing questions 🌍 A travel tool I’m obsessed with 🌸 Plus: early details on our 2026 group trips! How I Finally Stopped Overpacking Packing light is a skill that takes a lot of practice, patience and being real with yourself. One of the biggest things I’ve always struggled with is that lingering ‘what-if’ voice....
8 months ago • 2 min read
Hey friends, I hope you’re well - it’s been about a month, so here’s what’s new! 🧳 Introducing the Jenga Packing Method My latest video dives into the Jenga Packing Method - I had fun coming up with this one, so I hope you’re able to pick up a helpful trick or two from it. A couple of my favorite tips: When using packing cubes, line up your clothes with the width of the cube and fold to size. Use ChatGPT to build a capsule wardrobe! It helped me come up with 9 pieces that turned into 14...
8 months ago • 2 min read
Hi friends! Here’s what’s inside this email: 🔹 Winner announcement – Did you win the $250 hotel credit? 🎉 🔹 The ultimate airport hack 🔹 San Francisco adventures & video series 🔹 Carry-on Update 🔹 An Important Travel tip 🔹 Giveaway alert 🔹 Next email sneak peek 🏆 Are You the Winner? First up, huge congratulations to Durand C., the winner of a $250 Plannin hotel credit! 🎉 Didn’t win this time? No worries—more contests are coming soon! Just make sure you have a Plannin profile (it’s free) so you...
10 months ago • 2 min read
Happy weekend! SETTING THE RUMORS STRAIGHT: For the last few weeks, I’ve been getting so many comments on my luggage videos asking about the ‘new carry-on sizing changes in 2025.’ I was so confused about where these were coming from because I’ve heard nothing of the sort. Turns out, there have been a couple videos floating around that went viral (like, over a million views in a week) that stated that US airlines are now all following a new size for carry-on bags and that old luggage may not...
10 months ago • 2 min read
Hello! I hope the first 12 days of the new year have been kind to you. Here’s some fun travel content and Aly Smalls updates for you to start the week: UPCOMING VIDEOS: I’m working on a new carry-on video, a couple more about Mexico and some must-know travel tips for a couple of destinations I visited last year (some things that were very useful to know before arrival). TRIP TEASERS: so far we *only* have 3 trips booked for 2025. One in February, one in June and one in October. One trip is...
11 months ago • 1 min read
Hello from Mexico! Hope you're having a wonderful week! Here's my rapid-fire list of Black Friday travel deals! Luggage: Monos (30% off) Nomad Lane (20% off site wide + free gift) Travelpros (20% off) Mixi Carry-On (20% off) *yes - I still love my Mixi carry-on! However, it’s a little deep for some airlines if they are strict on sizing. It’s still the sturdiest carry-on of my whole collection. My Favorite Gear from Amazon: My Tripped Toiletry Kit (20% off) My Tripped Compression Packing Cubes...
about 1 year ago • 1 min read
Hi! It’s been a while 😅 - here’s what I’ve been up to: PORTUGAL RECAP: this month I spent 2 weeks in Portugal & it was incredible!! If you’re thinking about planning a trip - JUST GO!! I’m currently in the thick of editing all the video footage, but in the meantime I wrote a recap of my Portugal itinerary (including some thoughts on what I loved, what was overrated and what I’ll do next time). + lots of photos! I think it was the perfect blend of all the highlights & some hidden gems for a...
about 1 year ago • 2 min read