The Gentleman's Traveling Wardrobe

Hopefully by now your tickets are booked for your trip, because it's time! ................ To pack (DUN DUN DUN!!!).
Super fun stuff I know, I can tell you guys are excited. To be real though, I kinda like this part. You get the chance to wear some cool pieces that you might not wear all that often and show them off. I tend to go all out and usually overpack, but oh well.

I usually put clothes out for the travel day which usually consists of a pair of sweatpants, basic black or white V neck tee, maybe a sweater, and a cool jacket. Preferably a leather jacket because it's so classic and adds to any outfit. Also don't be afraid to wear sweatpants out because it's easy to dress them up now a days.

Now for your bag. When I'm going on a trip I like to have options of what to wear during my stay.
These are my usual travel essentials for like a 4-5 day trip:

2 pairs of jeans (1 black/1 denim)
2 pairs of sweatpants
3-4 button up shirts
2-3 sweaters that you can dress up or down
1 more cool jacket
1 blazer for going out
5 basic of graphic tees
1-2 shorts/swim trunks (Depending on weather)
5 pairs of underwear
6 pairs of socks
1-2 pairs of sneakers
1 pair of your favorite boots

Onto toiletries, every guy needs to have a cool bag or pouch for toiletries.

Shampoo
Conditioner
Body wash
Face scrub
Shaving kit
Toothbrush/toothpaste
Favorite cologne(s) but no more than two
Comb
Gel


Still with me? Good... almost done.

Do NOT forget your: 
Wallet: Money, Debit/Credit cards, ID, passport, etc..
Phone/Laptop/Tablet
Chargers
Notebook & pen(s)
Camera/SD card


Are you struggling trying to make it fit? MAKE IT FIT!! Refold it, do whatever you have to do because in my mind it is all necessary. You guys may not be as ridiculous as I am when it comes to packing so go about it with your best judgement. I really like to dress up on vacation when I go out and explore, but then I also like to be able to lounge around and relax. Don't we all though?
Safe travels!

A.S.F

The Perfect Travel Bag

Now that you've got an idea of where you want to go and what you want to see, you need a cool bag to carry your things. I have a few backpacks and pouches from the Herschel Supply brand, and I love the quality of their bags. So my go to travel bag would have to be the Novel Duffle, this one is in the Black Portal color.

The bag is quite roomy and fits enough clothes for about 4-6 days, and has a separate compartment for shoes. 

Another option for me would be the Zara Dotted Bowling Bag in black leather. 

This one is a little smaller than the Hershel Novel Bag, but this is a really nice bag as well. The leather is a step up from the Herschel bag.

Both bags are great for a simple weekend trip, or even a week long trip with the help of a second smaller bag like a backpack if you overpack like me. Also these fit in the overhead cabin of an airplane, so there is no need to worry about those ridiculous check in fees. Safe travels!

A.S.F

Always keep an open mind

This week I am going to write about how it is best to be spontaneous and open minded while planning trips and traveling. I am all about planning a basic travel itinerary for a trip, but from past experience things don’t always go as planned. For those of you that live by a set schedule and need to plan out every last detail of your trip, hear me out. Having a set schedule for a trip is so exhausting and often times more work than anything. Last summer a few friends and I were planning a trip to San Diego, LA, Santa Monica, Huntington Beach and a few other places near there. We started planning the trip a few months in advance, and when it started getting closer one of my friends was trying to plan out what we’d do day by day. I didn’t think he was too serious about that so I left it alone. When we were driving down, he was telling us about the schedule and how he wanted to stick to it as best we could. I thought it was a little crazy because we planned to be down for a week so I didn’t think he would have everything planned out already. To my surprise, he did. The first two days of his schedule weren’t so bad because we were driving and got there late, and the second day we spent it at Disneyland. The third day though we had quite a few things on the schedule, and he had set times for them. Which after a while got frustrating, so one of my other friends and I talked to him and convinced him to ease up on the schedule. We just told him to go with the flow of things and let the trip happen. From then on we had a blast, we went to so many different places in SoCal; and met a lot of new people along the way.

This was definitely one of my favorite trips of 2014. 

I agree 100% that you need to have some sort of plan when going on a trip. But keep an open mind!! Unexpected things do happen, like the museum you want to go to is closed that day; the subway is overrun with loads of people because of a flash mob, or you have an unexpected layover in Denver. Make the most out of that trip even if things might not go the way you planned, don't let it ruin the experience. Especially if you’re with good company, like your friends or loved ones things can always be turned around. 

A.S.F

Introduction

Hello my name is Andre Silvino Figueroa.The feature that interests me the most is the lifestyles section.  My blog is The Gentleman's Guide to Traveling. The title speaks for itself, and will give tips and pointers for a great traveling experience. I would like to become a photojournalist and I plan on traveling quite a bit later in the years to come. I feel like it would be great to have a guide from a someone like me who enjoys traveling, and adventure. I have some experience traveling and have picked up some tips and pointers during my travels and would like to share them.  

The link below talks about a few trends from 2014 and I'd like to expand a little more on them. 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/laraparker/22-travel-trends-to-look-forward-to-in-2014#.pba3lqWJx

Number two on the list talks about improved airline cabins. A good example of this would be Virgin America airlines; the airline cabins are roomy, have comfortable seats and the staff is very friendly. I tend to fly with them because of the great experience, and also because the flights aren't so expensive (#14). Number eight which says that "taxis will no longer be a form for transportation for travelers". There are private taxi companies like Uber, which are private drivers. Uber is like the taxi 5.0, you don't have to deal with a gross smelly cab or the rude driver. With Uber you ride in style in a black town car, or black SUV. When I first heard about Uber, I was immediately interested because a taxi service that only uses black cars sounds cool on its own. In November while I was in Seattle with my girlfriend, I requested an Uber from the airport and she was really surprised when we were picked up by a black town car. Uber is now international and can be found in most major cities around the world, which is really convenient to any traveler.

A.S.F