People from the Road

Meet Erica Hobbs

I first met Erica when I traveled to the Detroit Couch Crash in 2015. A couch crash is a Couchsurfing (www.couchsurfing.com) event where local hosts set up a weekend to travelers to showcase a city.  Erica was one of the main organizers for the event. I attended a really excellent architectural trip that she had organized. Erica got a local real estate agent to be our guide. He specialized in the grand homes in Detroit. He had a huge base of knowledge about the history and architecture regarding many of the lovely homes and neighborhoods in Detroit. (Contrary to popular belief, they do exist.) Erica also set up a private walk-through of one of the most enchanting properties in Detroit. The property caretakers, set up a little wine and dine welcome event for us. We also received an excellent historic tour of the beautiful house and grounds.

As it turned out, Erica has a love of all things related to the TV program, The Gilmore Girls. When she found out I was from Connecticut that sparked an interest. Personally, I had no idea that the program was filmed in or about Washington Depot Connecticut as I do not watch TV. I remember her asking me if I had ever been there. I recalled going through it to go hiking in the area from time to time. She asked me what was there. My response? “It’s pretty small – a post office and that’s about it”. Unfortunately, I wasn’t much help in getting her the skinny on The Gilmore Girls. All the same though, we have kept in touch via Facebook and other correspondences. When she came to Connecticut for a visit we hung out. I got to show her around central Connecticut. 

Travel Tip:

As it is with most Couchsurfers, Erica is a very well traveled person. She has created several YouTube videos on travel. For Travel Tip Tuesday, I wanted to highlight one of her videos. I feel this video has a lot of value. I love to recycle and repurpose and her idea just makes sense.

Why this is such a valuable tip? It is because airlines are becoming very strict on luggage allowances, including the weight of the individual pieces of luggage. In the past, you could get away with it if all your luggage was under a certain weight, but no more. Also if you like to move around when traveling, you want to keep your luggage small and light-weight so it is easier to schlep around. This tip not only will reduce your over-all weight but size as well. Especially if you have a need of the types of toiletry product she refers to when you travel. They also can be used for other things as well, like holding, vitamins, pain relievers and small amounts of medications.

By the way, after reviewing the video, do you agree with me that Erica is so awesome in front of the camera, she should have her own travel channel show?  If you like her video, do a girl a solid and subscribe to her YouTube channel.

If you have some excellent tips and tricks for reducing the size and weight of your luggage when traveling, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

Enjoy!!