Two Broke Chicks Ep #203: The Do’s and Don’ts of Travelling With Your BFF
Hotel horror stories, missed flights and tried and tested travel tips.
Have you ever gone on holiday with your bff, shared one tiny room… and one bed… for four straight weeks? We did.
In this week's episode we recount all the life lessons Sal & Al learnt when they jetted off to America - and yes, that included missing flights, working in a drag bar for one night and getting lost in New York in 40 degree heat.
Plus, the chicks reveal their hotel horror stories and share their tips and tricks to travelling the globe.
LISTEN TO EP #203 OF TWO BROKE CHICKS
LINKS & RECEIPTS
- Compare and book accommodation
- Check out travel money options
- See our travel packing spreadsheet template
CREDITS
Hosts: Sally McMullen and Alex Hourigan
Executive Producer: Pariya Taherzadeh
Editor: Bamby Media
This podcast is powered by Finder and part of the Nova Podcast Network.
Thanks for listening.
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Alex Hourigan
Hey chickies, I'm Al.
Sally McMullen
And I'm Sal
Alex Hourigan
And this is Two Broke Chicks, the show that dishes life lessons from the gals, for the gals and today we are talking the do's and don'ts of travelling. Have you ever spent four weeks in the same bed with your best friend? 'Cause we have and didn't we learn some life lessons along the way. Today we're going to you know, break down some tips, some travel tips, and life lessons we learned. But before we get into our travel tips, we like to break down our life lesson of the week. So Sal, what was your life lesson?
Sally McMullen
So for anybody who is perhaps watching this episode on YouTube because we are uploading full episodes on YouTube, you will see that La Nina is personally victimising my hair right now. And I've been struggling with this all summer long, because my hair is quite curly and just in the humidity, it's Hermione Granger levels of chaos. But,
Alex Hourigan
I think you're pretty.
Sally McMullen
Thanks, but I did pick up a solid life lesson, shout out to Extra Silky, it's a salon in Sydney but they also just have like a fire Instagram for, you know, hair inspo and whatnot, definitely chuck them a follow. They posted a reel the other day that was like a couple of tips on how to deal with your hair in this insane humidity. So I'm going to break down a few tips for you. Number one, use a moisturising conditioner or treatment so your hair isn't thirsting after the moisture in the air. Because that's what's happening, if your hair is dry, it's being like give it to me. That is a good one. Number two, use an old t shirt or microfiber towel to dry your hair.
Alex Hourigan
I've seen that on TikTok.
Sally McMullen
Yeah, 'cause that causes less friction for your hair, so then your hair is less likely to freeze out when it dries. Using a smoothing balm or leave-in treatment after washing. My go to right now is the jisu? Gisou? I don't know, leave in conditioner. Can chuck a review to that in the show notes, that's a really good one. And also, one that I never do, get regular trims. Apparently that helps.
Alex Hourigan
You're terrible at getting your hair cut.
Sally McMullen
Because my sister cuts my hair because I don't trust any other-
Alex Hourigan
That's fair.
Sally McMullen
-hairdresser. Because, you know, they want to cut off all the dead ends and I'm like, it's all dead ends, I'll be bald, babe.
Alex Hourigan
Everything's dead. I'm dead inside.
Sally McMullen
Literally!
Alex Hourigan
Meanwhile, I have like a minor inconvenience in my life and I'm like, cut it off!
Sally McMullen
Make it a number one!
Alex Hourigan
It's just me in the mirror, talking to myself.
Sally McMullen
Literally. Alright, what's your life lesson?
Alex Hourigan
My life lesson is honestly a game changer if you enjoy a cheeky little wine every now and again. I was at a friend's house and I was having a wine with them and he had like frozen grapes in his freezer. And I was like, "Oh my god, yum frozen grapes", and he's like, "They're not to eat", and I was like, "What are you doing with your frozen grapes?".
Sally McMullen
You've eaten half the bag and you're like,
Alex Hourigan
I'm like, "Huh?", and he's like, "they're to put in wine". And I was like, "Sorry, come again?". And you put frozen grapes in wine because they don't dilute the wine when they get warm.
Sally McMullen
Ohhh. So it doesn't water it down.
Alex Hourigan
Yeah, because if you put ice in the wine, it'll water it down. Whereas grapes will just get warm. For someone who enjoys rose as much as I do. I can't believe I hadn't thought of that.
Sally McMullen
Changed your life. I do have to say that, um, frozen grapes are a delicious snack. So, that's another life lesson for you. Freeze your grapes, they're really yum.
Alex Hourigan
Go freeze some grapes. Anyway, jumping into the episode.
COVID is, you know, she's still around. She's still here. But we're finally kind of opening up international borders, we've been able to travel domestically and things like that. So this year, I'm sure a lot of us will be travelling. And there are some easy mistakes that you can make but there's also just some little life hacks that you can do to make the whole experience a lot easier. Number one thing when travelling is you're going to be flying somewhere, probably, maybe driving but if you're flying, you want to be able to get cheap flights. Obviously, there are sale events. Sal and I recently got return flights to Hawaii for $400. Thank you, Jetstar.
Sally McMullen
It would be rude not to.
Alex Hourigan
I know. But what people don't actually realise is that your browser drops cookies. When you're kind of searching around, your browser knows what you're doing and it kind of learns. Browsers will know how likely you are to book a flight. If you open a private or an incognito browser, you will find cheaper prices at, like, all of these airlines. And it also depends on what days you're going to buy flights. So, Tuesdays are actually cheaper to book flights and Fridays are more expensive. And the cheapest day to depart is a Wednesday and Tuesday for international. So there you go, go book some flights.
Sally McMullen
Yes, write those tips down, babies.
Alex Hourigan
Book some mems.
Sally McMullen
Seriously.
Alex Hourigan
I still don't like flying though.
Sally McMullen
Oh my god, Alex is a terrible flyer. The poor baby. You wouldn't know because she's a spicy aries on the outside but when we first flew together, she literally was gripping on to my arm and the lady next to us was actually like, "Is she okay?", I was like, "Yeah, she's just going through something".
Alex Hourigan
I'm just there hyperventilating,
Sally McMullen
Exactly!
Alex Hourigan
having a mental breakdown.
Sally McMullen
Yeah, but then I put on the Emperor's New Groove for you and you felt better.
Alex Hourigan
Aw and then we watched Mrs. Doubtfire aswell and we haven't been able to watch either of those movies since because it's like special to our trip to America.
Sally McMullen
Yeah! It's not the same if we're not like going through turbulence in the air and eating bad food. Okay, my next tip is about accommodation. Obviously, very important, important part of booking a trip. In my opinion, I actually think it's really worth forking out a little bit extra for a bougie hotel, even if it's just for a night or a couple of nights.
Alex Hourigan
One hundred percent.
Sally McMullen
For so long. I would be like, no, absolutely not, I'm gonna do the bare minimum because all I do is sleep there so who cares what it's like. But God, it makes a difference. When we went to America and we were in LA, we stayed at The Standard in West Hollywood, which has since been closed, RIP. There is one in downtown if you want to try it out. But basically, it's like this iconic hotel in West Hollywood. It was in Sex in the City when they do that trip to LA. So many rockstars and stuff have stayed there, it's like total 70s vibe. And we had the best time just chilling at the hotel pool. I feel like it really made our experience in LA. We had so much fun there anyway, but I feel like so many of our favourite stories are from that hotel. So I would absolutely say that spending the money on that was so worth it. And then because we also went to Anaheim after that, for a conference in Disneyland, and stayed in a fucking gross hotel.
Alex Hourigan
It had no hot water! Do you remember that?
Sally McMullen
Yes, and elevators kept breaking!
Alex Hourigan
And they didn't do dessert after seven o'clock and I kept trying to order ice cream!
Sally McMullen
Every day they would change the room service. Yeah, it was just rude.
Alex Hourigan
I got reall annoyed. I would get so annoyed. I'd be like, "What kind of hotel is this? If they don't do ice cream, people have children! They need ice cream."
Sally McMullen
And I was like, "Me, I have a child with me".
Alex Hourigan
I had a traumatising experience in a hotel. When I was going to America with my first boyfriend. I don't think I've told you this story. It was in San Francisco and we walked in and immediately I was like, I don't like it here. It wasn't anything to do with the way it looked or anything, I was like, the vibes are off. I was like, it's not a good time. And then the lift would always stop on this one level that wasn't our level and there was no one there that pressed the button. It was so creepy. And so then the next morning, we're walking down the hallway, it's like so early in the morning, and then right up behind my head, it's like someone came right up behind me and just went "Shhh". And I went white as a sheet, I went white as a sheet and I turned around, there was no one there. And it was like someone literally was right at my ear and they just, like, went "Shhh". And then I called my mom and I told my mom, and my mom looks it up, and it used to be an asylum.
Sally McMullen
Full body chills.
Alex Hourigan
I know. So guess where we left the very next day.
Sally McMullen
Oh my god.
Alex Hourigan
So do, also do your research into the history of buildings so that you don't literally live American Horror Story.
Sally McMullen
Literally, read the forums and stuff, that's where all the juicy reviews go down. So yes, go all out and book a bougie hotel if you can. But there are heaps of tools that you can use to get the best deals. So, comparison sites like booking.com, Trivago and finder.com.au, obviously. And you can browse and book hotels all in one tab so you don't have to switch between hotels and compare prices. So much easier to get the best deal. But just make sure that you check the cancellation policy before you book so you don't end up with a massive cancellation fee and a spot on Celeb Spellcheck, which is something we've seen recently. Especially with COVID, because you never know, you might have to. So read the T's and C's before you book, very important.
Alex Hourigan
Another fabulous story. So when Sal and I were in America, we were there for, like, a work conference and then we were in Seattle and were flying to New York. It was the last night in Seattle with everyone from work so we kind of had like a last hurrah party because then everyone was like parting their ways. The next morning, we'd been fresher. Let's say that. We didn't have the same kind of spring in our step that we normally will. And we're going to the airport and looking around, and also I need glasses like all the time and we recently learned now you do as well. I feel like this should have been the first kind of sign.
Sally McMullen
I think so too, it was the first sign.
Alex Hourigan
Even though we got to the airport on time, we were there so early because we had to check out and had a late flight. Pay attention to the gate that you're supposed to be at because, you know, even if you think you're aware of what's going on around you, if you're at the wrong gate, you're gonna miss your flight and be stuck in an airport for 10 hours. I don't think I spoke for about two of those hours because I've never been so frustrated in my entire life. Because I was like, "Is this the right gate?", and Sal was like, "I don't see any other gate numbers that it could be". We're idiots for not asking.
Sally McMullen
We did ask the person at the desk though and they were like, "Yep, you're here".
Alex Hourigan
Did we?
Sally McMullen
Yes! And that's why I was so pressed. But the issue is, is that they then didn't read out, they weren't like, "Final call for Sally McMullen and Alex Hourigan".
Alex Hourigan
Obviously, as they should be, we're two celebrities.
Sally McMullen
They should be. But that's usually what they do. So, that's what had happened, we, I was like, "Oh, we're getting this fight, is this", and she was like, "Yep, wait here", but she probably just meant like, 'yes, you can wait here', not, 'this is where you gate is'. So, the whole time we were like, yeah, we were just chillin, listening to music, whatever. And then we looked at our phones, and we were like, surely we should have boarded by now?
Alex Hourigan
It was like 20 minutes before our flight!
Sally McMullen
And then we ran to the desk because it wasn't that far, or the gate, sorry, it wasn't that far from where we were and they were like, "Nah, girls, you're not getting on". And this guy who was at the desk, he was a piece of work, and he could not give a f*ck that we needed to get to New York. And the real stabber is that Alex and I had signed up for one of those like lottery ticket things for a Good Morning America spot where Blink 182 were playing, and I am a massive fan. They almost never come to Australia because before Kourtney Kardashian, Travis Barker would never fly. So they never come here. And I was like, oh my god, this is such a good offer, like, let's go we go for free, it's gonna be so fun. And because we missed our flight, we then missed that show. And we were just devastated. So pay attention. Even if you think you know what's going on, don't have your headphones in. Don't be taking snapchats being drunken fools. Just pay attention, please.
Alex Hourigan
Wow, okay. But do you know what else? Do you remember, so we then, the plane hadn't taken off yet, and we were at the gate, we're like, "Please, can you just let us on the plane", and they're like, "No, you're gonna have to get the next one". Sal had, like, tears in her eyes. This guy was, like, laughing at us. So obviously, my temper is going, like, up because I'm like, "Do not laugh at my child!". And it was just honestly, the biggest mess. So then we had to move to the next gate, that our plane would be at, which was 10 hours later. And we looked up the flights to see if there was anything early that we could get and our plane had been delayed by two hours. But we were sitting at this other gate for half an hour, so we had to run back all the way to the other end of the airport. It's still an hour and a half before this plan is gonna take off and they wouldn't let us on. And then they were like, here's a $100 gift voucher.
Sally McMullen
Shove it up your ass.
Alex Hourigan
Legit.
Sally McMullen
Okay, this next tip is have multiple ways to access your cash. So, have one of those reloadable travel cards, a debit card that you can use, maybe with like, zero foreign transaction fees or something, cash, obviously. That way, if you lose your card, it gets stolen or it gets locked, you don't have all of your eggs in one basket. And make sure that you call your bank before you head overseas and tell them that you're travelling, how long you're going for, where you'll be going, and check what your daily spend or withdrawal limits are. Because when you're travelling, you're usually splashing cash like it's nobody's business, and you'll be spending more than usual so they might put a lock on your card.
Alex Hourigan
Which, let me just say, is rude.
Sally McMullen
Alex, you have a little story to tell us, about this?
Alex Hourigan
I spent too much money in America and my card got locked, and Sal had to be my sugar mama for about a week.
Sally McMullen
That's another tip, make sure you have lots of emergency savings in case you do have to provide for your sugar baby. When their card gets locked.
Alex Hourigan
It was only, like, a couple days, but also, like, America is not super cheap and Sal was like, "I'm gonna kill you". Like literally, tapping her card everywhere, and I was like, "Can I have this please?".
Sally McMullen
Yeah, I was being like, "Whatever you want, baby!".
Alex Hourigan
"You want a tattoo? Let's go!". Like it was good, you were so good about it. You didn't make me feel bad at all. But it was also just anxiety inducing as well because I was like, I don't have access to my money.
Sally McMullen
Yeah, stressful.
Alex Hourigan
And then, you're in another country, time differences, and then even to transfer money, like, don't forget that on Saturdays and Sundays, money doesn't transfer.
Sally McMullen
That's when it happened too.
Alex Hourigan
Yeah, it was like, "Please, sir". Like, what's a girl gotta do to get a little bit of money around here. So yeah, that was traumatising. I'm so sorry for the accent, I don't know where that came from. Actually, one of my least favourite things about travelling is packing. Horrible.
Sally McMullen
The worst.
Alex Hourigan
But I think the good thing with us, and the good thing is if you're travelling with a friend and you know you're in similar sizing, is you can share clothes. So we would kind of be like, "Are you going to bring your blue denim skirt? I'll bring my black slip skirt". And then you can interchange and you end up being able to pack so much lighter. So we were kind of coordinating our packing to borrow each other's stuff.
Sally McMullen
Yeah, exactly. And the same with like hair tools and stuff, too. I'd be like, "Alright, you've got the hairdryer. I've got the straightener". And we kind of did it like that as well. So that is definitely a handy hint. Another one is I hate when you go travelling, and you sort of just packed whatever and then you get there. And you're like, why did I pack a tutu and a poncho? Like, I can't wear either of these things together? I'll wear them once, what the hell was I thinking? So something that I've learned is, organise your outfits beforehand. Alex and I are a total nerds and we always create a spreadsheet with everything that we need to pack and, say if we have events or something during the trip, like when we're going to Disneyland, very important, lots of photo ops, we would list out the actual outfits that we were wearing on those specific days. And then look at the pieces that we were wearing and like when we could wear them again. We're actually going to pop a link to a packing spreadsheet and a template that we've made, and we'll share it in our Broke Chicks Facebook group.
Alex Hourigan
Yep, it's called Broke Chicks Club. It's a private club.
Sally McMullen
VIP.
Alex Hourigan
Only cool chicks who want to use a packing spreadsheet. Okay, last but definitely not least, and this might seem like an obvious tip, literally explore. Like, just go wherever your feet take you like, obviously plan a little bit, but take as many opportunities as you can to get new experiences as you want. Go to a drag bar, go on every ride at Disneyland, drink every vodka lime soda there is under the sun, you know? If COVID has taught us anything, it's that, you know, things can change really quickly and you might not be able to have these experiences. And I am so glad you were a psycho on that trip because, oh my god, Sal was like, "Okay, so at 9am, we're going here, at 10pm we've got this, and then in between then, we're going to spend two hours in this place". And I was like, oh my god! there was one night in New York after just being going a million miles an hour for three and a half weeks, and I was like, "We're not going anywhere tonight". I was like, "We're staying at a hotel".
Sally McMullen
I was like, "We have Times Square tonight!".
Alex Hourigan
And I was like, "No!". I was like, "You can go". I was like, "I'm done". I was like, my feet, we're doing like 30,000 steps a day. It's 40 degrees outside and I full on had a temper tantrum. And I was like, "I can't do this. I'm too hot, and I'm tired. I want to go to bed". Like, I fully had a temper tantrum. But I'm so glad that you kind of made me do that because I'm lazy by default, like it just is who I am. So, I'm so glad that you did pick me up and drag me to all of those things because now I do have those experiences under my belt. And we got to work in a drag bar for a night!
Sally McMullen
Literally! There was that one night, it was the middle of a heatwave in New York, we had only a few days left of our trip. We were exhausted. We'd worked all day. We went to Little Italy, which is already like, you know, a bit of a trek from Manhattan, but so much fun. And we were like, "We're supposed to go to a drag bar tonight but, like, we're so tired". And I was like, "Let's go. We're literally in New York". And thank God we did because we had the best time we went to, it's called Lips, right?
Alex Hourigan
Yeah. Do you remember? I was like, "We were supposed to go that drag bar". You were like, "What do you mean we were supposed to? We're going. We never said we weren't going". And I was like
Sally McMullen
I think she was looking for an easy out and I was like "Nah, man", like we're going. And we had the best time, we made friends with all of the drag queens there. We ended up working behind the bar for a little bit. It was so much fun. And yes, we were tired. But God, it was good.
Alex Hourigan
Do you remember that shot? There was a shot of something and honestly, we weren't right for about three days after that because that was pure petrol.
Sally McMullen
Yeah, I vomited the next day. And I still stand by it. So, you know it was a good night.
Alex Hourigan
It was a good time. So just, you know, let your freak flag fly.
We do like to end the episode with our newest obsession of all the products that we've been trying for the week from our fabulous shopping hauls. If you'd like to have a look at them, you can head to our TikTok, Two Broke Chicks. And most importantly, this isn't sponsored. These are genuinely just our favourite products in the whole world. My one this week is my Kindle. It's my favourite thing in the entire world. I love, love, love, love, love to read. But I read really quickly because when I get into a book I obsess over it. And it's expensive, books are, like, 25, 30 dollars, you know? Sometimes they're a bit cheaper but, you know, if you go to Dymocks. I'm rambling, whatever. But it's so much cheaper to just buy the books on Kindle and I can not feel bad about, like, burning through them and then I don't have to fork out the next week for another book. Also at night. It's fine like I don't have to have a lamp on I can just, like, read it in bed. It's really good.
Sally McMullen
Also great for travelling. Segue!
Alex Hourigan
Aye! There we go. Boosting my own like, being like, here you go, queen.
Sally McMullen
But it is, it's so good. Al actually bought me one for Christmas, like the generous angel she is, and I can't wait to use it on our trip to Hawaii because usually I end up packing like three books and they weigh like 10 kilos each.
Alex Hourigan
It's like the whole Harry Potter series.
Sally McMullen
My recommendation for the week is also kind of relevant to travelling, maybe just because we are going to Hawaii so we need new bikinis.
Alex Hourigan
Hawaii rollercoaster ride.
Sally McMullen
Ugh, I'm so excited, Blue Crush! We are coming for you. So I don't know if y'all saw but RAQ and Abbie Chatfield dropped a sexy swimwear collection recently. We covered it, you know, all over Two Broke Chicks so we'll make sure to chuck some links in our show notes so you can check it out. But Al and I both got some hot new bikinis from the collection. And the reason that they're so good is that they're made for busty gals, by busty gals. You know, Al and I are well endowed.
We got dem tig ol' biddies!
Yes, exactly. And they offer 40 different bikini top sizes which you almost never see. They range from 8 to 18 in band sizes and then D to H cups. So definitely check them out if you're a busty babe and need a new bikini and they're not like the frumpy designs either. They're so cute. This particular collab that they did with Abby Chatfield was like 80s inspired and it's so cute. We both got the Flower Bomb range, so it's really cute like black and floral, like, nostalgic prints. It's gonna be perfect in Hawaii. So, I definitely recommend. And the tops are $99 and the bottoms are 49. So, maybe a little bit more expensive than some bikinis but so much cheaper than some of the others that I bought.
Alex Hourigan
Good bikini? Priceless.
Well, that is, what is it?
Sally McMullen
A wrap
Alex Hourigan
For today's episode of Two Broke Chicks. We hope you had some really good tips from that, life lessons and enjoyed a couple of our crazy stories. And you can check out finder.com.au/twobrokechicks for everything podcast related. We'll also chuck some BTS pics from our trip on Instagram and on our Facebook group as well so you can see the evidence.
Sally McMullen
Evidence from the garage.
Alex Hourigan
And don't forget to enter our giveaway on the Instagram. 'On the Instagram', who am I?
Sally McMullen
Ok, Mum.
Alex Hourigan
'On the Instagram' you can win one of three $1,000 vouchers so you can be a rich bitch instead of a broke chick.
Sally McMullen
Please I wish I could win.
Alex Hourigan
As always thank you so much for having us in your ear holes, we love to be here.
Sally McMullen
Bon voyage!
Alex Hourigan
Mahalo!
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
