1. 8 | The Independent Collegian | Wednesday, November 19, 2014
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COMMENTARY
The student’s guide to holiday traveling:
Five tips to make your trip as smooth as possible
Chilly weather means the holidays are quick-
ly approaching and chances are, you’re heading
home to spend some quality time with family.
Your parents’ house could be an eleven-hour
car drive, a two-hour flight or a four-hour train
trip one-way. Sounds like a nightmare, right?
It doesn’t have to be. Whatever method of
transportation you’re up against, here are five
essential tips for making your travel session as
smooth as possible.
1. Make a list
Remember that feeling of arriving some-
where only to realize you forgot your phone
charger, or worse, your toothbrush? That rush
of panic can easily ruin your trip.
Making a to-pack list of everything you’ll
need will save you both time during the packing
process and potential heartache once you’ve
arrived at your destination.
Plan out how many outfits you’ll need
along with the types of occasions you’ll be
attending and how to dress accordingly.
For example, will you need clothes for
a formal family reunion, church or just
casual attire to bum around in? Also take
into consideration whether or not you’ll
have access to a washer and dryer. If so,
you don’t need an outfit packed for each
day of your trip.
Also, don’t forget to pack often-forgotten es-
sential items like ibuprofen for sudden head-
aches that strike while traveling, headphones or
a sweatshirt to throw on in case you get chilly.
Check out mobile applications like Packing
Pro or Trip List to help you remember what you
need without having to write anything on paper.
2. Roll your clothes when
packing
Once you start rolling, you may find you
never want to go back to folding again.
Rolling individual articles of clothing allows
you to pack tighter, fitting noticeably more into
your suitcase and giving you more room for
accessories like belts, scarves, a bathroom bag
or shoes.
However, this technique turns some items
into a wrinkly mess. Avoid rolling some cotton
items, which may wrinkle easily.
Items that don’t wrinkle easily include syn-
thetic fabrics such as nylon, polyester, microfi-
ber, spandex, acrylic and acetate. The thinner
the item, the more space rolling it will save you.
To utilize every square inch of your suitcase,
be sure to stuff your socks and undies inside
your shoes.
3. Have an audio option
tailored to your interests
As every road tripper can attest, you can only
listen to music for so long before your head
starts to hurt. The solution? Your choices are
abundant.
Audio books are all the rage; The Wall Street
Journal reported last year that audio books have
ballooned into a $1.2 billion industry. Either
visit your local library and scan their audio sec-
tion or go to audible.com for a free, 30-day trial
of over 150,000 titles in any genre imaginable.
You can stream and download audio books on
your smart phone or laptop. If you like what you
hear, you can opt for a monthly membership of
$14.95 and the mobile application is free.
If radio is more your thing, try the free
app, TuneIn, which provides listeners ac-
cess to over 100,000 real radio stations and
more than four million podcasts streaming
from every continent.
Personally, I enjoy the TED Radio Hour
talks from National Public Radio (NPR),
but if technology, entertainment and
design exploration doesn’t leave you crav-
ing more, the app also has music stations,
comedy or sport channels, selected short
stories and other talks adapted for radio.
Finally, if all these options are making you
snore, you can always go old school and make
your own mix tape CD or personalize your own
station on Pandora or playlist on Spotify. After
all, who knows your quirky, well-developed
taste in music better than you?
Any of the options with mobile apps through
a smart phone can be listened to via your car
speakers with the purchase of an adaptor cord.
These cords can be found online or at stores
such as Kohl’s or Walmart. That’s right — no
more tangled headphones or straining to hear
through your phone speakers.
4. Pack your own snacks and
beverages
That iced tea and candy bar for two
bucks at every gas station doesn’t seem like
much, but with each stop, your snacking
toll will add up and leave you craving even
more sugar in the long run. Not to men-
tion, everything in an airport usually costs
double the typical price, leaving your wallet
empty, your face flabbergasted and your
stomach still grumbling.
I know it seems like a lot of work, but if you’re
driving, packing a mini cooler with a few drinks
will only take you five minutes at most (if you
are unskilled at pouring ice in a cooler, that is).
Pouring some popcorn in a baggie or grabbing
some granola bars is a considerably healthier
option than a chocolate bar or candy, especially
since you’ll probably be eating enough calories
to last you for a week over the holidays.
Don’t forget to bring along some plastic
bags for your garbage, making it easier
to throw away all your trash at once and
preventing your vehicle from turning into a
disaster zone upon arrival.
When flying, bagged snack food like
pretzels is a must-have for your carry-on
luggage. The secret to avoid having to buy
an overpriced beverage in an airport is to
pack an empty water bottle, which you can
then fill at a drinking fountain after going
through security.
5. Do your research before you
leave
If your location is somewhere you aren’t fa-
miliar with, do you have a GPS or printed Map
Quest directions to a specific address? Even the
most experienced drivers can get flustered if
traffic is overwhelming, and chances are, there’s
a shorter route than the one you’ve always
taken. Having an alternate route planned is
never a bad idea in case chaos decides to wreak
havoc on your trip. If flying, familiarize yourself
with airport restrictions, such as the dimensions
of the accepted carry-on bag.
Stocking up on the latest travel apps
will give you a technological hand in more
ways than you thought possible. Taking
to the skies? Flight Status and Trip It give
you real-time updates on delays, baggage
numbers, gate confirmations and more,
while GateGuru gives you estimates of
the time you’ll spend in security. Hitting
the road? GasBuddy and SitOrSquat help
you find the cheapest gas and the cleanest
bathrooms, respectively.
Other helpful apps include WeatherPro, a
highly accurate weather predictor which gives
reports on over two million geographical loca-
tions, or Waze, a navigation app that merges
GPS functioning with social networking to
provide you with the quickest route based off
user-submitted traffic reports.
Following these tips should give you the
simple, anxiety-free travel experience so you
can arrive at your destination in good spirits.
Happy traveling and happy holidays!
Samantha Rhodes is a third-year commu-
nication major and she is the managing editor
at The Independent Collegian.
SAMANTHA RHODES / IC
Even though packing can be a frustrating part of any trip, don’t let the anxiety of it jumble your brain. Shoving your clothes in a suitcase, as demonstrated on the left, will
create pockets of unfilled space. Instead, roll your clothes like in the bag on the right. Also, stuff your socks and undies inside your shoes for maximum space-saving.
NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH
UT celebrates Native Americans throughout November
By Josie Schreiber
Staff Reporter
The Office of Excellence and Multicultural
Student Success (OEMSS) will celebrate the
Native Americans by hosting
a series of events throughout
the month of November in
honor of Native American
Heritage Month (NAHM).
“The goal of hosting Native
American Heritage Month is
to involve as many students
as possible in events that are
not only educational and
informative, but enjoyable
and entertaining,” said Daniel
McGuire, associate director of
Toledo EXCEL.
McGuire is helping with
the planning process of the
NAHM events along with OEMSS.
The events planned for NAHM are a soup
sampling, a cultural presentation of dance,
customs and attire by the Black Swamp In-
terTribal Foundation and a keynote poetry
reading and talk by Sherwin Bitsui.
The Three Sister’s soup sampling happened
on Tuesday, Nov. 18 in the lobby of
the Student Union.
McGuire said during the soup
sampling, students received historical
information about an innovative Na-
tive American cultivation method of
combining corn, beans and squash to
complement each other both agricul-
turally and nutritionally.
“The soup is simply one example
of many things that can be done with
the “three sisters,” but was primarily
chosen because it’s hot and delicious,
which is perfect for November,” Mc-
Guire said.
McGuire said students should at-
tend these events because one of the benefits
of attending the university is access to the cul-
tural events outside the classroom, and many
opportunities to learn about and celebrate
diversity around campus.
“Our office encourages students to avail
themselves of these unique opportunities
as much as possible,” McGuire said. “Native
American Heritage Month is an opportunity
to learn about a culture that played, and is still
playing a vital part of this country’s history.”
Jeffery Witt, program manager at the Cath-
arine S. Eberly Center for Women, planned
the Black Swamp InterTribal Foundations Liv-
ing History Presentation of Dance, Customs
and Attire by Native American Women.
Witt said the performance will be a re-en-
actment of traditional tribal dance and drum
playing, and the performers will also speak
about the experiences of Native Americans in
Northwest Ohio.
“They will also talk about the Black Swamp
InterTribal Foundation and explain its mis-
sion and activities,” Witt said.
The Black Swamp InterTribal Foundation’s
presentation will be on Thursday, Nov. 20 in
the SU Auditorium on the third floor. The
presentation will run from 5:30-7 p.m.
The presentation will be free and open
to the public and light refreshments will be
available at the event.
Bitsui’s poetry reading and keynote speech
will be Monday, Dec. 1 in SU Ingman Room
on the second floor next to Ask Rocky. Bitsui’s
talk will run from 7-8 p.m. and is free and
open to the public.
Bitsui will be reading some of his
poems from his 2009 poetry collection
SHERWIN BITSUI
Keynote speaker
If you go
What: A cultural presentation of dance,
customs and attire by the Black Swamp
InterTribal Foundation.
Where: SU Auditorium.
When: Thursday, Nov. 20.
Time: 5:30-7 p.m..
See NAHM / 9 »
SAMANTHA RHODES / IC