A Hairy Concern

I've repeatedly considered the clothing and toiletry situation, and I believe I will have those pared down to a minimum, but my hair is a different matter.  I have to wash it every other day, and by day two, it's looking pretty sad.  Now I'm usually a wear-it-straight or ponytail girl, but when my bangs are hanging oily in my eyes, it just looks terrible. I'm pretty sure I can manage without my little travel curling iron, but drying my hair is a different matter.

On my last trip to Ireland, the first morning in Killarney National Park was cold and rainy.  In June. It was about 40 degrees that day, though still gorgeous even in the drizzle.  We could see our breath.  So… me going out with wet hair in similar conditions won't be a good thing at all. I'd have the chills all day long.  

I don't recall any place we stayed on the last trip having a hair dryer, and I'd brought a dual voltage tiny one that was supposed to work but didn't.  And that was when I stopped washing my hair every day.  I used the plug adapter and the voltage converter, having changed the voltage switch before I ever plugged it in, as suggested, but it just wouldn't come on.  

However…. air-drying my hair takes hours, and then it looks awful.  I'm not sure what to do in this situation -- be cold and damp all day and look horrible, or order a tiny hair dryer directly from Amazon UK that is made for European voltages? I've got enough time to wait on it, after all.

Hillshire Snacking Small Plates Rustic Harvest

I'm getting prepared for an upcoming trip to Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. I have my ever-present pocket packing list on a magazine-folded single sheet of paper, and I've started one for my husband.  

Knowing that we will spend some time on domestic flights with no meal service before the flight to Ireland, me with my hypoglycemia issues and him with his big appetite, I'm trying to work out snacks for us.  I'm concerned that our included meals won't be enough for him on the tour, so we will try to hit a shop or two on the go, and have snacks with us throughout the day.

I'm not too worried about the breakfasts -- in Ireland and Wales last time, we were provided with hearty and varied breakfast buffets.  England…. well…. they gave us a bagged breakfast of cold food. Continental-esque, I guess you could call it, but there was enough.  Barely. I'm sure that has more to do with the fact we were staying those two days in a chain hotel reminiscent of Days Inn, and meals weren't really their forte.  (Neither was air-conditioning, but they did find us 2 fans and a nice pitcher of ice water for our room.  I doubt the British need as much AC as we do at home, so that's not their fault.  We were there during an uncharacteristic heat wave. As our tour guide said, we brought the sunshine with us. Lol). 

I'm sure the Scottish understand good breakfasts as well.  The French… well, they don't.  We got a mass-produced croissant and some ham and cheese slices to go with that.  To each his own. As for me, I've found that I need to seriously fuel myself up for all that walking or there will be blood-sugar issues.  So there will be snacks in my daypack. And I will stop while walking and buy yummy snacks as we are touring on foot. :). Ohhhh…. I hope I can find some Cornish pasty stands…. or Bridies… or whatever, wherever we are.  They are delicious.  

If at all possible, I'm going to avoid eating in KFC, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, and all the other American fast food places we will encounter.  I'd really rather eat in pubs.  Much better food. Maybe it's my Irish & English blood that guide me in what I like to eat, and maybe it's just the memory of my grandmother's cooking.  

In search of tasty, portable, protein-rich snacks, I saw an ad for Hillshire Snacking Small Plates. I actually found two of the seven varieties for sale in my town (yeah, two. Big wow.) and brought them home to sample.  I tried the Rustic one already, and it's pretty satisfying. The packaging was sturdy, the crackers were delicious, and there were more yummy chicken and white cranberry cheese pieces than crackers. Plus, there were cider-spiced mixed nuts. The whole package was about 240 calories.  I really enjoyed the one I've eaten already.

Hillshire Snacking Small Plates Rustic Harvest

I may toss a couple of these each into mine and hubby’s carry-on bags for the flights.  He's not crazy about meat and cheese packs, but if he gets hungry, he says he won't mind eating them. 

There is only ONE THING you have to remember about these in-flight snacks, but it is very important:  you CAN'T bring meat or cheese into Ireland, and likely not produce such as fruit, either. The nice people at Customs will have an issue with that, because of possible non-native pest invasion. I can understand that. So, we will just have to eat them before we land, no problem.   I can see the likelihood of ours not making it over the ocean anyway.  Lol