Packing Heat: Luggage Secrets from Globetrotting Experts

Pack your bags and join us on a globetrotting adventure as we share our insider tips and expert recommendations for making the most of your travel experiences! From London's vibrant food scene to the sandy beaches of Jamaica, we're taking you on a whirlwind tour of some of the world's most exciting destinations. Plus, don't miss your chance to win the trip of a lifetime in our thrilling mystery destination giveaway - tune in now for all the details!

Discussed in this Episode:

• Our upcoming travel plans to London, Barcelona, National Harbor, Sorrento, and Pebble Beach

• Insider recommendations for the best restaurants and must-try dishes in each destination

• Expert tips for choosing the perfect luggage for frequent travel

• Childhood memories of family road trips and the evolution of air travel over the years

• An exciting opportunity for listeners to win a luxurious getaway to a mystery destination

The Jamaica Giveaway Reveal

Mike Putman: Welcome back, travel lovers. It's Mike Putman and James Ferrara, ready to bring you another thrilling episode of our podcast. Last week we announced our incredible travel destination raffle giveaway, and the response has been simply amazing. Thank you to everyone who joined our newsletter and took a shot at guessing the mystery location.

James Ferrara: That was fun. Today we're excited to reveal that the lucky winner will be jetting off to the stunning island of Jamaica. You got the clue right. Mike hinted at a connection with 007, James Bond, and so the destination is Jamaica.

Mike Putman: That's right. Jamaica is a Caribbean paradise known for its pristine beaches, vibrant culture, and laid back atmosphere. But here's the catch. We're not telling you exactly where in Jamaica you'll be staying just yet. That's where you come in. We're giving you another chance to earn more points towards the giveaway. If you can guess the specific location within Jamaica where the winner will be enjoying their luxurious three-night, four-day, all-inclusive getaway, you'll earn five additional raffle points. Whether you think it's Montego Bay, Kingston, Negril, or Ocho Rios, or somewhere else entirely, just send us your best guess.

James Ferrara: Remember, even if you're not spot on, you'll still be earning points just for participating. And if you haven't already signed up for our newsletter, now's the time to do it. You'll get five raffle entries just for joining, plus the opportunity to rack up more points with your guesses.

Mike Putman: Just head over to notouristsallowed.com, press raffle, and you can see all the raffle entry options there. So get those guesses coming in, and who knows, you might hear a hint or two about that specific location in Jamaica. Good luck, and let's dive into today's topic. Good day, everyone.

The Mission of No Tourist Allowed

James Ferrara: And welcome to the podcast where we talk about all the places Mike and James have eaten and all the places Mike has played golf. That could take up a whole season right there. Actually, what we talk about is our deep experience in the travel industry. The two of us together are getting close to a hundred years in the travel business, I hate to say. We try to arm you with some tips and strategies for how to travel better, how to travel in a more memorable way, how to avoid the tourist traps, and how to get more authentic with your travel. That's what we're about at No Tourist Allowed. There are other podcasts about getting the best seat on the plane, but our podcast is about more than that. Right, Mike?

Travel Gear and Luggage Tips

Mike Putman: That's right, exactly. It just came to me as I was looking online the other day. One of the quotes I used to say when people asked if I travel a lot was, "Well, I've traveled enough where I've worn the wheels off my suitcase," which I literally did one time. Lo and behold, some entrepreneur has come up with a way to re-tire or re-wheel your wheels on your rollerboard suitcase. It's really ingenious. They look like little multicolored tires that you just slip onto your rollerboard so that you don't burn through the rubber on your suitcase. I thought that was very ingenious.

James Ferrara: It is. I bet you could run into people who'd say they've had the same suitcase their whole life, whereas we tend to change suitcases fairly often. I just burn through them. Or maybe it's more fair to say that the airlines burn through them. They break them, rip them, and beat them up. We're on the road so often that they just don't last. Even the expensive ones get beat up.

Mike Putman: I did have a Tumi Alpha rollerboard that lasted me six years. I had to get it repaired twice, but it did last six years and now I have a new one.

James Ferrara: I bought a Brookstone hard-sided bag, a roller bag, maybe fifteen years ago. At the time, it was one of the best bags on the market and won some awards. I think they still sell this bag, and I have literally had it for fifteen years. I don't use it on every trip because it's a carry-on bag, and you know how I feel about those, Mike. I'm not a big carry-on person. But it really has been through the wars with me. It’s still good except for one problem: it has begun squeaking. Not a little squeak, but a loud shrieking squeak. When I take it through the airport, people turn around and look at me. I’ve got to get a little WD-40 in there.

Mike Putman: There you go, that should take care of it. For you golfers out there, there's a product called Club Glove, which makes a nylon ballistic, very heavy-duty golf club bag. Most of the guys on the PGA Tour use this particular bag and it is virtually indestructible. I had one that I took around the world four or five times and took on ninety other golf trips. I finally retired it and replaced it with another one. If you really want a good bag, they're expensive—probably four or five hundred dollars—but they work very well and do a great job protecting your clubs.

James Ferrara: Is that a soft-sided bag, Mike? My son is always concerned about getting the clubs bent on the plane.

Mike Putman: It is. It doesn't really happen. There's also a thing now, because most of the drivers are your tallest clubs and stick up the highest, where there is a metal aluminum pole with a mushroom on the top. It creates space from the bottom of the bag to the top so it doesn't allow a bend, which keeps your driver from snapping. I've never had that happen and I've never used one of those, but it's interesting.

James Ferrara: So this has turned into the baggage episode. To me, Tumi really is the gold standard. Now there are some new brands out there, like Rimowa. There are hundreds of new brands. I've never seen such high-end, technology-empowered luggage. I don't know if you've ever seen this, but on YouTube, there was a video circulating a few years ago of a roller bag where the guy sits on it, pushes a handlebar out of the front, and wheels around. He turns it on and it's a scooter that he rides through the airport.

Mike Putman: It was on Kickstarter years ago. I actually saw an older couple sitting on their bags going down the airport with those not too long ago. I could use that.

Upcoming European Adventures

James Ferrara: Spring is always a big time in the travel industry on the business side. There are a lot of events going on and we have to be all over the place. I was down in Florida most recently, but you and I are both heading to the UK on separate trips, just a week or two away from each other. There is nothing like London in the springtime. It's a beautiful time of year to be there. While I'm there, I am going to hit my usual haunts, which are some great Indian restaurants. I also like the area of London near Marble Arch on Edgware Road. In London, they call it Asian food, but that doesn't mean the same thing it means in the States. Asian there means Middle Eastern, Turkish, Iranian, Persian, and Indian. That area, Edgware Road, has dozens of restaurants from those cultures and cuisines. They're open really late at night and they've got hookahs outside on the sidewalk. It's a very vibrant part of the city, but it's the food that I love.

Mike Putman: It's a great part of London. I'm going over for a loyalty conference in early June and then I've got a few days. I keep saying I'm going to do this and I think this time I'm actually going to do it. I've got two days between conferences and I think I'm going to take a train down to Cornwall and eat at one of Rick Stein's restaurants. In the UK, he's a famous chef, but they call them cookery shows instead of cooking shows. He's hosted a longtime travel cookery show that is one of my favorite things to watch on the BBC. He lives down in Cornwall and has a few restaurants, so I think I'm going to venture down there. I haven't seen that part of England, which they say is breathtaking. I plan on staying a night or two and then coming back and flying out of London. From London, I'm going to Barcelona for the Phocuswright Conference for Europe. I'll spend three or four days at that conference and then come back. I love Spain and I love London. Even though it's work for all but about two days, it's going to be a lot of fun.

James Ferrara: In Barcelona, if you can get out to the beach area—which used to be a separate village before Barcelona gobbled it up—they have all the seafood restaurants along the water. You walk in and there are these big ice displays with fresh fish. You pick what you want to eat; they're simple but amazing. Cornwall and the Cornish Coast are actually the number one domestic destinations for people in the UK. During the pandemic, you couldn't get near the place. It was completely sold out for the season because the coastline is so beautiful and the character of the architecture is stunning. I'm really jealous. I'm going over for a couple of business days and have to turn right back around.

Navigating Flights, Hotels, and Urban Transport

Mike Putman: Now, I know you're a good planner and you probably booked this a while ago. I've had to make more last-minute arrangements to time it with business, and the airfare is outrageous at the moment. It wasn't too bad for me because I just booked mine last week. But I'm not as picky as you, James. If I have to make an extra stop and save two or three thousand dollars, I'll do it.

James Ferrara: I won't fly overnight when I'm going for business because I'm a wreck the next day. It’s like a wasted day. So, it has to be a daytime flight. That really limits me. I get there around 9:00 PM. Of course, I would prefer to fly business or first class, but availability right now is really tough and the prices were frightening. Where are you going to eat over there, though? This is the key question.

Mike Putman: The Anchor & Hope, without a doubt, is my favorite restaurant. And there's a new place—well, new to me—called a larder. I think it's a Scottish word that refers to a cupboard. I’ve been following them on Instagram and they have these amazing roasts and very traditional British food. I think I'm going to try that one night. It depends on where I stay. I haven't booked my hotel yet. I'm still trying to find a value. St. James' Court, which I think you've stayed at, has some reasonable rates.

James Ferrara: You can often get a one-bedroom suite there for what a regular room costs because the hotel is so big. It's lovely and in a great location on Buckingham Gate, right near Buckingham Palace. It's a big old Victorian building, so they have a zillion rooms. They also have a separate building in the back that is private apartments where I've seen famous people and Rolls Royces pull up. It's a great place to stay. One of the secrets about London, much like New York, is that if you can minimize how much you have to deal with traffic, you're better off. You want to get familiar with public transportation. That really is the key to getting around.

Mike Putman: I think the traffic in London might be worse than New York. But if you take the tube, there's not really traffic down there. You're not really delayed; you might have to wait for a couple of minutes for the next train at the worst. It's the greatest way to move around. When I stay, I try to find something within a quarter of a mile of a tube station so I can walk and don't have to depend on Ubers or cabs.

National Harbor and the American Road Trip

James Ferrara: The London tube is really a model system. It is clean, safe, and efficient. Because of the time of year, I wouldn't be surprised if I wound up over in Kensington because it's so pretty there. There's a very great hotel called the Kensington Garden Hotel overlooking Kensington Palace and the gardens. Then I am going to National Harbor, which is on the Potomac River right across from Alexandria, Virginia. It sits in a three-corners area with Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Maryland. It’s a convention and entertainment district with a big Tanger outlet if you're a shopper like me. I'll be there for a big travel industry conference and you get to eat great seafood there.

Mike Putman: Are you taking the train or flying down?

James Ferrara: I think I'm going to drive because it's only a three-hour drive from my house. If I can drive, I like being master of my own universe, not beholden to the airlines or the train schedule. I enjoy having my own schedule and stopping where I want to stop. Maybe it comes from when I was young. My dad took us on a lot of those 1960s road trips. We went to Gettysburg and various other places by car. He would rent a recreational vehicle. Did you ever travel that way, Mike?

Mike Putman: My family had a very small pull-behind trailer. When I was five years old—and I can't believe they did this—they put my sister and me in the back of this thing and drove all the way to Mexico City. This was pre-air conditioning days. It wasn't my greatest memory, but we did quite a few road trips. When we were children, this was before deregulation. Airline tickets were expensive and there were only about three fare types. A lot of people didn't fly back then. It certainly wasn't like today where you see people jump on airplanes with trash bags as their luggage. People dressed up in a coat and tie.

James Ferrara: I'm sure you guys have seen those old pictures of people on Eastern Airlines or Pan Am flights. People were smoking on the plane; it was very different. I had to wear a sport jacket as a kid. My father always wore a tie and suit on a plane. Nowadays, people come on the plane in their pajamas. We've gained some comfort, but we have lost some of the glamour of travel. I'm going to drive down to National Harbor. It'll be good for me because I've never been to that specific area. In the time it takes to get to the airport and fly, it would be longer than just driving directly in three hours.

Mike Putman: And if you're at the airport two hours in advance, you blow half a day.

James Ferrara: I also do that calculus with car service. At JFK, it's sixty dollars a day to park, but the car service costs me over two hundred dollars. I have to figure out the number of days it makes sense to park versus the cost of the car service.

Mike Putman: I do the same. I live in Greenville and I generally drive to Asheville or Greenville for domestic flights. But if I'm flying internationally, I almost exclusively fly out of Charlotte. I'll take an Uber up and back for about a hundred and ten dollars each way. It's less than I would pay in parking and allows me to work on the way.

Sorrento, Italy and Pebble Beach Golf

James Ferrara: I'm looking forward to finding good spots in National Harbor. Then we've got a big trip coming up in the fall to Sorrento, Italy. My family is from a small island in the Bay of Naples called Ischia. Sorrento is just nearby in the south of Italy on the coast. I am really looking forward to the food, the architecture, and the landscape. The lemons are the size of your head in that part of Italy.

Mike Putman: I thought they were grapefruits! I haven't been to that part of Italy, so I'm looking forward to that as well. I've got one more to throw out there that will make you jealous: in June, I'm going to Pebble Beach.

James Ferrara: This is the biggest waste of Pebble Beach ever in the history of golf. I get invited to this event, but I am a golfer of limited experience. I went to Topgolf a week ago and did manage to hit the ball, but I do not belong on one of the great golf courses in the United States. It is incredible overlooking the ocean with big stag deer running across the landscape. It's like something out of a movie.

Mike Putman: It's beautiful. 17-Mile Drive is one of the most famous drives in the U.S. There are actually quite a few golf courses there. You hear about Pebble Beach, but you don't hear as much about Cypress Point Club, which is just around the corner. It is probably the most exclusive golf course in the U.S., maybe with the exception of Augusta National. It's an Alister MacKenzie design and happens to be my second favorite golf course in the world.

James Ferrara: Those big, beautiful homes that surround that area are spectacular.

Mike Putman: Will you golf while you're there?

James Ferrara: I'm going to because I proved to myself at Topgolf that I could do it. This is after twenty-five years. I am a miniature golf putting champion, but this is my return to legitimate golf. At Topgolf, nobody really cares if you can hit the ball. I was able to drive the ball straight with nice lift—only 150 yards or so—but after not golfing for a long time, I didn't think that was terrible. So, I'll go out on the course at Pebble Beach and see what I can do.

Mike Putman: You should. But play from the forward tees so you can have some fun. Where are you going after London and Barcelona?

European Concerts and Dining in the Hamptons

James Ferrara: I'm coming home and then I've got a trip to Germany to take my two daughters to see Taylor Swift. We're going to a surprise location before Germany, which I can't share in case my daughters listen to this. Then we're going to Dortmund for the concert. I haven't decided if I want to go to the concert yet, but I will be there with them.

Mike Putman: Maybe you could sell that ticket and pay for the whole trip for everybody.

James Ferrara: That's exactly what I'm thinking about. I'm really not that interested in Taylor Swift—no hate mail from the Swifties, please. I'm doing this for my girls, so my ticket could definitely be for sale. I am also trying to spend this season out in the Hamptons. I live near several great golf courses, including National Golf Links and the Maidstone Golf Club in East Hampton, which claims to be the oldest continuously operating golf club in the United States. East Hampton was founded in the 1600s out on the tip of Long Island. Many people know Montauk, but East Hampton Village comes just before it, and that's where Maidstone Golf Club is. It's a famous playground of celebrities, and I'd like to spend my summer there, but sometimes I can't because of work. The restaurants are really terrific. I recently went to Nick & Toni's in East Hampton, which is the place to be seen. We also have The Palm, a big steak and lobster place in a beautiful old inn. We have creative new places like Fresno or—Mike, you would love this one—a gastropub in an old barn. One of my favorite things there is the pork crackling. They look like big onion rings and they are deep-fried. When they bring them to the table, they have that Rice Krispies "snap, crackle, and pop" sound.

Mike Putman: And you're going to talk about all these restaurants but not mention Joe's restaurant?

James Ferrara: Oh my goodness, that's right! I was there Sunday night. A business partner of ours has a restaurant in Sag Harbor, which is an old whaling village with the largest collection of historic residences in the United States. It's a charming village filled with great restaurants and galleries. Joe has a restaurant called Page at 63 Main on Main Street in Sag Harbor, and it just reopened after a big renovation. It looks glamorous, and the food was really terrific. I had Shad roe, which is the egg sack of the fish and a seasonal delicacy. In New York, you know it's Shad season when the shad trees bloom. They fry it lightly. I also had Orange roughy, which you don't see so often in restaurants. It was a wonderful dinner.

Mike Putman: It's worth making the trip up even if you're in another part of the Hamptons. Make a reservation because it’s a popular place. Just tell him Mike sent you.

Southern Highlights: Asheville and Charleston

James Ferrara: Near you, Mike, you have a very special resort area within driving distance.

Mike Putman: Yes, Asheville and all of western North Carolina. Most people are familiar with Asheville because of Biltmore. A lot of people from the Northeast and Florida are moving there or getting second homes because it's significantly cooler in the mountains. Biltmore was the Vanderbilt family estate. It’s the largest home in North America; it is massive. You can do garden tours, there's a winery, two hotels, and several restaurants on the property. Then Asheville itself has so many cool stores and restaurants. While we're talking about the South, I want to mention that according to Travel + Leisure, three of the top ten restaurants in America are in Charleston, South Carolina. By the way, New York City only had one in the top ten. Things are changing and people are opening their eyes to Southern cuisine.

James Ferrara: If we go to Asheville, where are we staying? At that cool hotel you took me to?

Mike Putman: The Grand Bohemian, right off the Biltmore. That’s one of my favorite hotels on the planet.

Raffle Entry Instructions and Farewell

Before we go, we have our giveaway. If you haven't entered, go to notouristsallowed.com and click on the link for the raffle. If you enter your email address, you'll be included in the raffle for the trip we're giving away. This week, we're giving you a chance to win five additional entries. Last week, we gave you clues that hinted at Jamaica being the mystery destination, like it being the home of Ian Fleming, the writer of the James Bond novels. Now, if you can narrow down the specific destination within Jamaica, you get five more entries.

James Ferrara: I have a geographic clue. It is the capital of St. James Parish in Jamaica.

Mike Putman: And the clue I’m going to give you is that this place is the home of one of my favorite restaurants in the world: Scotchies. It’s a world-famous jerk restaurant. Go to No Tourist Allowed, put your entries in for the name of the destination within Jamaica, and see if you can't win an additional five entries.

James Ferrara: Well, Mike, we did our tour of travel plans, restaurants, and luggage. It was nice to share a little bit with everyone. Please write in if there's something you'd like us to talk about or a recommendation you’d like to make at notouristsallowed.com.

Mike Putman: Thanks so much for listening. Please tell your friends and family to subscribe to the podcast. We really appreciate your support.