Today I turn 40 and it’s time to come clean…I am a cheater. I pray you New York, grant me absolution in this confession that I bring forth. For as much as I’m in love with you NYC, LA is my second love, my mistress. LA, I wander with camera and client your pacific coastline once or twice a year until your love, as with all mistresses, becomes unrequited and my longing for my first true love NYC calls me home.

Chatelaine, you govern over the high and lowlands of scenic Southern California
Your vast Hills of Beverly have my heart, Hetaera.  
In-A-Gadda-Da Inamorata, the butterfly that is iron proclaimed you the Garden of Eden. 
Sultana, your sultry sands of Santa Monica hold my soul.
Westcoast girlfriend, you gratify me with yourglowing golden hour of Venice Beach.
Lady Love, you manifest magic as the magnificent formations of El Matador.
Beloved, you bear the burden of such beauty for us to capture.

So forgive me, while Chicago maybe my home, and you New York to whom I married, LA will always be my paramour.

If you can believe it, I’ve been capturing clients and landscapes of LA for just under a decade. Like for so many, when I saw the destruction and terror start to unfold from the fires, suddenly my heart was ablaze with memories and ache for all out there.

Help me celebrate this, my 40^th year around the sun; join me supporting LA by a purchasing a print of one of these KARJAKA imaging classics. 40% of the sales proceeds will go to the American Red Cross and their efforts to help Los Angles, and keep KARJAKA around another 40+ years.

The post A New Yorker’s Love Letter to LA appeared first on Karjaka Magazine.

Have you ever wondered how some people book basic economy tickets and *actually* manage to survive off just a small backpack (for domestic) or a carry-on (for longer & international trips)? They just grab their things and waltz off the plane, past the baggage claim, off they go. How can these people fit their skin care routine, hiking shoes and also swimwear into a backpack? You are envious of them saving money and time, by not paying for luggage and not having to wait to pick it up? Then this article might just be the food for thought you needed to rethink your packing habits and make your next trip hassle free.

When we think about planning a week-long trip, we immediately assume we will need to factor in a suitcase (for some people, this also applies for just a long weekend trip but let us not be like those people). It seems that besides very travel experienced folks, anything longer than 5 days feels daunting for most to survive without a full suitcase. It makes sense – in the good ol’ days every airline had free luggage. Nowadays, almost no Economy class (except a few higher-end airlines) offers free luggage. Besides increasing prices to add a suitcase per flight (so times two, unless you are planning to lose your suitcase halfway through your vacation), the time you spend waiting at baggage claim plus the fun pang of anxiety that your luggage might be lost because it is taking forever, there is really nothing convenient about hauling around a large suitcase. And let’s be honest – do we really need 5 dresses, 9 shirts and 4 pairs of sneakers? Some might say yes, but in reality we more often than not bring unworn clothing items back home.

So the real question is – how to pack smarter and lighter. From personal experience, I know I can manage to get away with a personal item (small backpack/duffle bag) for a long weekend, and a big carry-on backpack for 5-9 day trip to Europe or South America, with varying climates.

Let’s start with the largest and often bulkiest items – shoes. There is some savvy footwear out there! You can get waterproof sneakers that can double for city walks or light hikes, as well as if it rains (works perfectly in humid rainy settings like Costa Rica). If you are planning on a day trip hike, some outdoor brands make hiking sneakers that take up a tad more space than sneakers but a lot less than hiking boots (obviously if you are going on a real Alpine hiking trip, you are better off investing in those and bringing serious hiking gear!). I bought some a few years ago before heading to Maui and they have proven a life saver – be it in the desert of Arizona, the jungle in Puerto Rico or the glacier in Patagonia. Besides stable walking shoes, and fashionable sneakers you wear on the plane, a pair of sandals for hot climate, or a pair of winter boots for cold (which you can wear on the plane instead to save space) is a good start. If you have space left, feel free to add more.

The second most asked question is about make-up and toiletries. There are several small pouches, containers and mini sizes of products you can buy which are TSA approved. I fill my expensive shampoo and conditioner in pouches. I take my day and night cream and fill a little bit of each into small round containers; and so on. Nobody needs a full size hair gel or skin product for a week of travel (a full size lasts MONTHS so think about how much you are really going to use). Everyone has different priorities on how many items they need, but traveling light does mean you will have to compromise on some ends, so be prepared to not bring your whole closet with you. If you rather have three hairbrushes and a curling iron, forgo a pair of jeans and a purse. If you’ll be in the water a lot and need extra swimwear, pack less hair styling products (don’t need those in the ocean anyways). You get the point.

Lastly, clothes and accessories are worth prioritizing by the likelihood of you needing them or the plans you have. If I am in a hotel or Airbnb, 99% of the time there will be towels. If you are not sure, always doublecheck before packing. If you are staying at a hostel, shoot them an email and ask. Usually you can rent a towel for a few dollars for the length of your stay. This will be worth it to forgo the hassle of trying to fit a towel into your carry-on, and also having to deal with a wet towel on the day you fly back home. If you have any set plans or day trips booked (experiences, excursions), always doublecheck their description. They should provide a list with items needed (bug repellent, rainjacket, water bottle,…). If you are going somewhere with multiple climates, wear your bulkier things on the plane. When I went to Argentina, I wore my warm water repelling half-zip sweater on the plane so I could use it for my glacier hike in Patagonia (40 degrees), and packed up all the warm weather clothes I needed for Buenos Aires (95 degrees).

On this note, I hope this is some food for thought you can digest while packing for your next trip and it inspires you to rethink how much easier and cheaper smart packing can make traveling. – AS

_{Alisha is a lifelong travel bug who grew up in Europe and has visited 39 countries so far. With a professional background in Tourism in Germany and NYC, she knows the ins and outs of travel hacking, budgeting and how to plan a successful trip. In her downtime, she is busy tracking flights and creating itineraries for her NYC visitors as well as her American friends traveling abroad. When she’s not on a plane, you can find her at the gym or enjoying the food scene in Astoria, New York.}

The post Lighten Your Luggage Load with Alisha Schuck appeared first on Karjaka Magazine.

There is this notion that uprooting your life in your late 20s or starting to solo travel as everyone else is starting look at wedding venues and getting married (which in an ironic twist actually is the sole reason I am on this Italy trip, go figure), means you are not content, some might even say “lost”. You don’t fit the norm of societal pressure. But maybe you just evolved and awakened an aspect of your life that you didn’t know could be so transformative.

The word “renaissance” at its core means revival or rebirth of interest in something. In my case, travel. Not that I ever lost interest, but I changed and renewed it by starting solo traveling which added a whole different spin to travel and a lot more layers to a trip than I was used to. 

Sitting here in Milan, one of the most important cities from the Italian Renaissance itself – how fitting! – enjoying a cup of the finest Italian cappuccino in a Pasticceria with a sweet cookie to accompany it, you can feel the city’s energy of old world inspiration and new world transformation coming together. Milan housed some of the worlds most renowned people like Leonardo Da Vinci, whose original painting The Last Supper is in one of the Convents in Milan. But it also boasts a fashion district that lines one high-end designer after another. From housing famous artists to becoming the Fashion Capital of the world, Milan went through some rebirthing itself and never stops. 

This city inspires transformation and transcendence, change and evolution. As with travel, it’s really all about perspective and what you make of it. Wandering around these old pretty cobblestone streets with amazing architecture and taking it all in makes you ponder how travel resets your own daily routines and has made you transform and become a different person. A better, more insightful, more adapt and interested person. 

Tying this setting in with a friend’s picturesque wedding in an old Italian Villa is the epitome of blossoming and becoming on so many different layers. I am here witnessing my friend enter a new chapter of life, becoming a wife and putting together this amazing destination wedding, while I’m also here on another solo adventure, living la dolce vita and sipping coffee in one of the oldest civilizations in Europe, thinking about my own transformation.

So no, I do not wander just because I feel lost sometimes (who doesn’t in their late 20s/early 30s?!) – I wander because it changes your perspective on yourself and widens your horizon in ways your 9-5 gig could never. And mainly because I just love to travel and see new inspiring blossoming places – especially those with better coffee than in the US! 

Ending on this thought as I take another sip of my deleeeectable Italian cappuccino – where to next? -AS

_{Alisha is a lifelong travel bug who grew up in Europe and has visited 39 countries so far. With a professional background in Tourism in Germany and NYC, she knows the ins and outs of travel hacking, budgeting and how to plan a successful trip. In her downtime, she is busy tracking flights and creating itineraries for her NYC visitors as well as her American friends traveling abroad. When she’s not on a plane, you can find her at the gym or enjoying the food scene in Astoria, New York.}

The post A Travel Renaissance – Alisha Schuck appeared first on Karjaka Magazine.

If you fly solo, the bottle of red wine at dinner is all yours. So is the dessert, the hotel bed, and your time. Nobody snoring or turning down your AC in the middle of a humid 90 degree night in Mexico (I’ve been there). And as a bonus, you grow so much more than you would drinking in Vegas during your annual girls group trip, or by showing off your matching couples swimwear on social media while on some romantic getaway. Let’s face it – there is no growth while drinking Piña Coladas on the beach getting sunburnt. Growth and personal glow up happens when you push past your comfort zone and the same goes for travel. 

Solo travel may seem daunting, and I get it. It took me up until my late 20s to take the plunge even though I’ve been travelling since I was a toddler. My advice: Start small with domestic long weekends, push yourself every time to travel a bit longer, a bit farther, eventually to a destination that seems challenging. I was a nervous wreck last year boarding a plane to Panama, not speaking Spanish fluently and being anxious as hell. I had a moment of regret for booking it in the first place. Of course it turned out to be nothing short of amaaazing. The real bonus: the endorphin high and confidence boost after getting back home from a trip like that is unlike anything else. You get addicted and suddenly nowhere seems too far or off limits to explore solo. That’s when the real magic begins. You are starting to grow as a person by putting yourself through these partially uncomfortable learning experiences. Confidence, self esteem and how to actually connect with strangers without using internet or apps are just a few aspects you are forced to expand and deepen. Because the truth is – you realize how much better you are at problem solving, at going with the flow and at being your charming self than you thought. And ultimately you can feel how important solo travel is for personal growth that transcends beyond your sunny vacation.

As I am writing this I just finished my longest solo trip yet: Argentina. Which also happened to be my first taste of South America. And let me tell you, those Argentinian steaks are tasty! But besides learning a thing or two about steak cuts and tango which surely will help me impress my next online date, the growth I realized in myself while successfully tackling challenges in a developing country was the best reward a trip can offer. The growth that happens subconsciously through all these experiences will show up on your next solo trip, and your next, and your next…
because I can guarantee it will never stay at the one solo trip you booked just to “see how it is”. You will recognize extremely fast how amazing the internal glow up afterwards feels.

Every trip is unique but there definitely are trips that have a stronger growth impact than others: your first solo trip which made you question if you are crazy and why you booked this in the first place; the solo trip that made you re-connect with yourself; the solo trip where everything goes wrong; the solo trip where you dance the nights away in oxygen depleted clubs; and the solo trip that showed you how beautiful Mother Earth can be.

There is an another aspect to solo travel that adds to your growth: you fully have to immerse yourself in a foreign environment and thereby learn about and observe different ways of life. No matter if this leads to you being grateful for your life, or recognizing changes in your life that have to be made – it is precisely because you are not constantly with somebody by your side that you really pay attention to the world around you and soak up all the images and cultural experiences through your own pretty eyes. You partake in a foreign culture, language, or city by observing and reacting to what is happening without anybody tainting or distracting you from your experience. It is a lot more growth enhancing and eye opening to travel solo than to have a travel buddy (albeit that has some fun perks as well).

The overall growth will make you feel inherently more confident and day-to-day problems in life seem small compared to what you just accomplished ALONE in a foreign setting. It’s a slow process, and good things take time. So hop on Google Flights to get yourself that annoying but unbeatably cheap Basic Economy seat, and suddenly you will find yourself alone, enjoying a good book on a mesmerizing beach in the Caribbean with not a care in the world. And yes – the beach Piña Colada in this case is warranted and yours, and only yours, to enjoy!

Book ahead so you can’t talk yourself out of it. And most importantly, don’t listen to the naysayers and take the plunge – adventure and more importantly growth awaits! You will thank me later. – AS

_{Alisha is a lifelong travel bug who grew up in Europe and has visited 39 countries so far. With a professional background in Tourism in Germany and NYC, she knows the ins and outs of travel hacking, budgeting and how to plan a successful trip. In her downtime, she is busy tracking flights and creating itineraries for her NYC visitors as well as her American friends traveling abroad. When she’s not on a plane, you can find her at the gym or enjoying the food scene in Astoria, New York.}

The post Glow and Grow by Traveling Solo appeared first on Karjaka Magazine.