As a former concert pianist, I sometimes traveled to more towns than a presidential candidate; zigzagging over 8000 miles in a month. Through trial and error, I learned how to pack minimally, travel with purpose, and make each visit count.

Here are my tried-and-true getaway planning tips to inspire your next adventure:

Since I get very dry in-flight, I brought a leave-on moisture mask kit for on-the-glow and fuss-free beauty (all TSA-friendly!) 

• Lavender Toning Mist
• Chamomile Moisture Mask
• Pumpkin Renew Serum

Just spritz your face with the toning mist, warm equal parts of the Chamomile Moisture Mask and Pumpkin Serum in your palms, massage onto face, sit back for your beauty sleep, and voilà, wake up to your glistening glow!

Maybe you saw a movie set in a captivating city (Hello, Roman Holiday!) or heard about a phenomenal place to visit through a friend—when picking a travel destination, always let inspiration be your guide!

If you can’t decide, create a mood board with different options; sometimes your budget will be the deciding factor (here’s how I save up!), and sometimes your heart will dictate.

For last year’s trip to Paris, it was a bit of both. I wanted to take my partner to Paris for his birthday; it would be his first time there, and it’s also the most romantic getaway I could think of.

When booking your flight, be sure to check for “Stopover Flight” options. If you plan it just right, you can get to experience two different countries for the price of one. 

When I was booking our flights, I noticed that Iceland Air had a “Stopover in Iceland” promotion that cut the standard ticket to Paris, in half! Certain countries offer these promotions to encourage tourism.

I just knew that sitting in a steaming lagoon would be the perfect cherry on top for radiant well-being.

When I was touring as a solo pianist (you can watch a documentary of one of my tours here), I would often wake up in the middle of the night not knowing where I was. 

Each town I stayed in became a blur, so I began finding unusual and interesting accommodations to help make each visit more memorable.

Select Registry: Not all B&Bs are created equally, and Select Registry curates a list of the crème de la crème. I came to love B&B’s, because a home-prepared breakfast made me feel less lonely while on a concert tour. I have yet to stay at a Select Registry bed and breakfast that wasn’t delightful.

Airbnb: One of my guilty pleasures is to spend hours scrolling through Airbnb homes to find the most magnificent and interesting digs. Sometimes, if I find a “wow” place (like this sweet luxury treehouse), I plan our getaway around that specific home.

Local Bloggers: If you google “where to stay” in your desired destination, local blogs will often pop up with recommendations. From those recs, you can check out the reviews on Yelp, Trip Advisor, and Google. That’s how I chose where we would be staying in Paris; Montmartre—a quaint village in the heart of Paris (where Amelie was filmed), with oh-so romantic cobbled-stone streets.

Are you already getting excited? Now it’s time to plan your getaway itinerary! I have a friend who likes to plan down to the minute—from where she and her husband will eat each meal, to each monuments that they will see.

I prefer a less structured approach; my travel philosophy is ça coule, which means “it flows.” I like to get lost in a city and find random adventures, make new friends, and discover magic in unexpected places.

I like to decide where to eat through friends’ recommendations or Google maps. What I love about Google maps is that you can be anywhere and if you are craving Greek, you can google “Greek restaurant near me” and decide based on reviews.

Make sure you ask friends, too, because they are a wealth of information with good taste (after all, YOU are their friend!)

I passing along a text from one of my most well-traveled friends, Paige; all of her suggestions were amazing!

Here’s to your travels, radiant retreats, self-care sabbaticals, gorgeous getaways, self-love getaways, and frequency equilibriums. You deserve it, radiant beauty. xx