Redondo Beach is a beautiful little city located about 15 minutes south of the LAX airport. So it’s a quick jaunt, within 40 minutes of landing you can be laying by the beach, enjoying funnel cake or taking a relaxing bike ride around the pier. It’s a perfect place to take your family to enjoy a family vacation or take that special someone for a romantic getaway.

Accommodations are an important part of any vacation. While sometimes they can be a headache, I promise you that if you choose to stay right in Redondo Beach the headache is non-existent. There are many places to choose from and something for everyone’s budget or needs.

Crowne Plaza Redondo Beach Hotel: This is a great choice if you are planning a vacation for your family or if you are planning a meeting. The hotel has a great location very close to the pier and beach. Guests can pamper themselves with a weekend stay in one of the hotel’s stunning guestrooms and a treatment at the European Day Spa. Energize with a workout at Gold’s Gym, free 24 hours a day. Book a sailboat or a whale-watching cruise. Discover South Bay surf and sand. Stroll or bike along miles of beachside trails; walk to over 15 ocean view dining spots; take a free shuttle to area shopping malls.

Enjoy great steaks, seafood, pizza, salads, and more in the casual, affordable Splash Bistro and Lounge featuring daily Sunset Dinner, the South Bay’s best Chef’s Table, weekend live piano, private parties and corporate events.

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Picture this- I step out of my sleek black town car feeling all posh and cool at LAX airport. I sign the papers for the driver and go to reach for my luggage handle which is retracted and pull it out and step onto the curb take about three quick steps to catch up to Reid and feel the handle fly out of my cute purple carry-on and fly about two feet backwards. I turn around and notice a long line of people standing on the curb and my driver staring at me and I just have to laugh. So much for feeling posh and cool.

I call out to Reid who comes over and examines the situation, chucks the handle in the trash and proceeds to carry my massive over stuffed carry-on through the world’s most obnoxious airport. So- needless to say I am on the search for the perfect piece of carry-on luggage.

This is my most important piece of luggage. It gets the most use. In about two years of heavy traveling (we are talking on average two roundtrip plane rides a month) I have checked luggage MAYBE one time and that was probably the flight attendant forcing me to check my carry-on because there was no more room in the overhead compartments (biggest pet peeve ever people!).  I have only used my big suitcases three times and two of those times were to move. Even if I go on long vacations I still only bring a carry-on because I have (somewhat) learned how to pack.

Anyways- this essential piece of luggage must have pockets galore, have the ability to be expandable, have wheels and a handle that won’t break, be a bright recognizable color, and duh be cute. I have about two weeks before I fly cross country (which happens twice next month- Myrtle Beach and Kentucky) so the search is on!!!! Any good recommendations?

Fairness is very important to me- I want you to understand that. I cannot express the countless numbers of blogs I have entered giveaways on only to lose and not understand how the winner was chosen. In the spirit of full disclosure I am going to be completely open and honest to assure you that my giveaways are 100% completely fair. As I love all my readers equally.

Anyways, I started by writing down everybody’s name who left a comment on my giveaway post.

Afterwards I cut up the slips of paper and folded them not once but twice and put them in the bowl.

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To mark the conclusion of road trip week, I’d like to talk a little bit about my experiences road tripping. To be honest road trips are how I’ve traveled most of my life. I’m one of 5 kids and when I was younger our family couldn’t afford to buy 7 plane tickets to travel. When it came to vacations we either drove or we didn’t go. I didn’t even take my first commercial plane flight until i was almost 15 and we finally sprung for our dream trip to Hawaii (if there was a road there, we would have driven there too).

Every summer we’d load up our Ford van complete with two, yes two, luggage carriers and head across the country. It was certainly unconventional way to travel, and we probably looked a little like a traveling circus than a family at times, but it was great. I wouldn’t trade these trips for anything. I can truly say that the greatest trips of my life were spent stuffed in a van with my siblings roaming the country.

Take a road trip!

One of the best parts about road trips are all the snacks and treats you are totally validated in eating because you are on the road. Plus all the fast food stops you are bound to make along the way. In one of my previous posts, I mentioned a great way to save money on a trip is packing a picnic or stocking up on all your favorite snacks before you hit the road. This can save you quite a bundle as convenience store prices can sometimes double the price you pay at a grocery store. Plus you have the ability to pack along some healthy snacks as well.

Another awesome part of road trips are the games you play. The license plate game is a favorite, but also twenty questions, mad libs, and who could forget slug bug? It’s just enough fun to drive you crazy! I also like the notion of letting every passenger choose a random stop along your journey. You are bound to wind up at some random locations and see some cheesy touristy things along the way.

To celebrate Unofficial Road Trip Week I wanted to do my first ever giveaway on this blog. Memorial Weekend is coming up rapidly and I’m sure some of your plans include a road trip. I wanted to give away some of my favorite road trip treats to one lucky reader to enjoy. The giveaway includes: a bottle of Coke and Dr. Pepper, licorice, honey roasted peanuts, chocolate covered pretzels, two cans of Pringles, ranch sunflower seeds, and shocktarts and sweetarts (to help you stay awake). If you are interested in entering for a chance to win this fabulous giveaway leave a comment either with your future road trip plans, why you deserve this giveaway, or why you love this blog and your favorite post. I promise winners will be chosen fairly! I plan on picking a winner this Thursday morning (my birthday) so stay tuned!