A Quick Boston Weekend

Hi everyone, for those of you who don't know me, my name is Karis and I'm an intern at Viscera! This past weekend I had the joy of getting to go to Boston and see my boyfriend who goes to school there. I absolutely love the Bay Area, but a change of pace can be nice sometimes. Plus, you really don't notice how little brick plays a part in your local landscape until you're in a city where almost every building is made of brick. I mean, even half the streets were paved with brick. 

Naturally the best part of the trip was getting to spend some quality time with my boyfriend. After being long distance for a little over a month, it was really nice getting to see each other. Only he could make me want to endure two 6 hour cross-country flights for a weekend. That being said, this was the first time I had ever taken such a long flight for such a short trip! If I'm going to be on a plane for more than 2 hours, I automatically assume I'm going to be packing a huge suitcase. Thus I learned a thing or two about packing efficiently and surviving a cross-country red eye flight:

1. When packing, plan your outfits for the trip around the shoes you plan on wearing to the airport. I don't like to pack extra shoes since they're bulky and heavy. Especially if I'm going to be carrying my bag around the airport, weight and bulk matter. For this trip, I wore my Adidas Superstars the whole time, so I planned my outfits around those.

2. Pack basics and layering items that can be mixed and matched. I only brought one pair of jeans, 2 shirts, a dress, and a light jacket on my trip (besides the lazy leggings and tee shirt I wore on the plane). Of course, you'll also need to bring the right amount of socks and undergarments as well as something to sleep in, but keeping everyday outfit materials to a minimum is key.

3. Make sure you can entertain yourself on the plane. Since I took a red eye, I was planning on sleeping for 6 hours. What I didn't know was that I absolutely cannot sleep on planes if I actually need to. After 5 hours of moving between various "sleep" positions, I gave up and played Dots on my phone for the entire final hour on the plane. I don't really ever play games on my phone, but something about Dots is perfect for flights. 

4. Know what you need in your under-seat carry-on. My lips get crazy dry on planes, so I always make sure that my chap stick is accessible in my under-seat bag. Something I didn't think of on my flight was medication. If you have a certain time you take a medication and you know you'll be flying at that time, don't forget to pack it in your under-seat bag! 

5. Layers are so important on the plane. My plane was very cold, and on my way to Boston, this meant that I had to choose between using my hoodie as a pillow (what I had intended to do) or as, you know, an actual hoodie. So always bring a jacket (or 2!) with you on the plane - regardless of how warm it is outside. 

Despite not sleeping, nearly freezing, and slowly losing my sanity on my first flight, it was totally worth it. I miss the city already, and not just because my boyfriend lives there. Boston has a certain charm, but I'm definitely waiting until spring for my next visit because I know I couldn't survive the New England winter. Still, I need to experience this quiche I had at the Gardner museum again, so I'll be going back soon enough.