8. Tips From A Type-A Traveler
In this week's episode, Merritt takes a break from the heavy and chats about her planning process for big trips! She also shares some tips for traveling solo like a pro, which she definitely plans to get back to now that the world is opening back up. In more personal updates, Merritt dishes on a few dating life stories from the last week! She also gives an update on the cat situation at her house, the Deux Moi tip that sent her over the edge this weekend, and shares a bit about her new therapist and what those initial sessions have been like.
In this week's Beck and Call Q&A segment, Merritt answers listener questions about Gucci's Princetown mules and how to decide what qualities make an item worth the investment. Call 214-620-0473 to leave a voicemail and ask Merritt anything! She answers two new listener questions every week. You can also send questions via email to beckandcallpodcast@gmail.com!
Follow along on Instagram @beckandcallpodcast for visual guides for each episode and behind-the-scenes content! For more fashion content, you can follow Merritt on Instagram @merrittbeck!
EPISODE AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION
Hey guys, welcome back to the beck and call podcast. I'm your host, Merritt Beck. I am a fashion and lifestyle blogger. And on this podcast I'm talking about all things life work and love as a single woman in my 30s. Alright, so I know you guys are probably expecting an egg freezing update, I did have my retrieval over the weekend. But to be honest, I'm a little tapped out on talking about. And I'm planning to do an entire episode on the entire egg freezing process and my experience with it next week. But like I said, I'm just a little tapped out on it and need a break. And in addition to that, I actually have a call with the doctor a follow up call on Thursday this week. And so I want to have that call before I do the full episode on egg freezing. In my experience, I want to have that call as like a bookend to my experience with it before, you know I dive into the results and all of that. So next week will be a full egg freezing episode. So definitely check back for that. But I did promise you guys an update on my date. Last week, I went on a date on Tuesday. And as I said before, I was a little worried about how to handle the egg freezing conversation and was concerned with how that would sound on the first date. And based on what my mom and sister, you know, suggested I decided not to just open with that I basically explained you know that I was having a medical procedure. And I had to do these things for it. But I just didn't give any details on what it was. And he actually guessed what it was. So then we talked about it because he said he had a friend that had just gone through the same thing. So that made it easy. It wasn't awkward at all. He was like, honestly, if you told me this three weeks ago, I might have responded differently. But now that I know the ins and outs of it, you know, it was really normal and cool about it. And with all of that said he was a very nice guy, but just not for me. So that one didn't work, but just gonna, you know, keep putting myself out there and we'll see what happens. And then I had another kind of weird dating experience. So last week a guy DM me, and I guess he'd seen me on the app. And instead of matching with me, or maybe I didn't swipe on him, but either way he didn't we didn't match on the app, but he DM me instead. And while I can appreciate the approach, his profile was private, and he was like, well, you can follow me to see all except you. And I don't want to do that. Because then it's like, if I don't like what I see, I'm just like, Nah, I'm good. Also major red flag in his communication to me, because when he said he keeps his profile private, he was like, I've got to keep out the crazies, you know, have some in my past. And it's like, dude, that makes you look bad doesn't make the ladies who you are calling crazy look bad. You're the common denominator here. Of course, I didn't engage. I didn't say any of that. I just didn't follow him back. And he kept responding to my Instagram stories. And so I eventually just blocked him. I know that's probably a shitty thing to do. But just don't really want to deal with that. If you see me on the app swipe, if I don't swipe you means we're probably not going to go out and you DMing me on Instagram is not going to change that fact, anyway, that is sort of the big downside of actually including what I do for a living in my profile in any dating app profile, because you can literally look me up and find me and learn a lot about me very quickly. And while we're on the subject of the apps, I matched with another guy who he and I were sort of talking about our jobs. And I explained to him like what I did, and I've been doing it full time for so long and all of this stuff. And his response to me explaining you know how much I love my job and that I've been doing it full time since 2014. His response was, and you can really make a living off of that. If I didn't, I wouldn't be doing it still. i It's hard to make it clear that this is like a legitimate job. It's not typical, but it is lucrative and it's hard to get people to take it seriously, especially on the apps. Anyway, that's sort of what I've been dealing with. For the last week or so. While we're on the topic of relationships, and my job and social media, I recently started seeing a new therapist a few weeks ago, I haven't had much luck over the last decade, finding a therapist that I like and I think a lot of it does have to do with my job and the fact that I feel like I need to constantly explain to people what I'm doing. And I just really wanted to find somebody who gets it that I don't have to over explain everything, every minute detail about what goes into what I do and kind of the stresses of having a social media presence and all of the expectations that go along with it. And the past few people that I've seen have been older and so that makes sense. They wouldn't totally get You know, blogging, social media, how you make money. I mean, I was every time I would see a new therapist, I feel like I, I spent half the time just explaining how it all works, which isn't helpful for me. Plus, I think with the life stage that I'm in, which is single and trying to date, having somebody who's closer to my age, and who gets the dating apps and gets like the pressure and all of that stuff, I think that's important to have a therapist that understands all of that, and somebody who's my mom's age isn't going to get it. But anyway, I had a couple of friends recommend this guy that they are seeing, and he was in Dallas, but now he's in Austin. So I'm seeing him over zoom every other week, which works perfectly for me, I have a busy schedule, I have an employee that comes to my house every day, I've got a dog, it's kind of nice that I can just get on my computer and have a session and be done with it. But I am liking him so far. I think he does get it. He understands podcasting. He understands blogging, and social media. And I think he'll hopefully be able to give me some good tools for dealing with some of the stressors from this job. One of the things we did in the last section that I thought was kind of eye opening and helpful was sort of an icebreaker exercise, he used the stadium analogy and actually had a graphic to send me that I printed out. But it features the different sections in a stadium. So like the support section at the at the bottom, the box seats, the critic section and the cheap seats in the back. So the support section is the people who have your back no matter what we're always there for you who love you unconditionally. The box seats are the people you know, the higher ups who pull the strings. The critic section is self explanatory, but it's people you know, no matter what you do, if all you're doing is great stuff, they're always going to find something to critique or complain about. And then the cheap seats at the back are people that may support you, but are supporting you from a distance or people that you keep at arm's length. And it's sort of this exercise is asking you to examine all of the people in your life and how you would categorize them in these terms. And of course, the categories can change. So people who are in the cheap seats may not always be in the cheap seats, they may be in a life stage that prevents them from being totally available to you or always supporting you, they may have a lot of stuff going on now. But in six months, maybe their schedule opens up and they're back in to the support section. So anyway, like I said, I'm only two sessions in but I'm enjoying it so far. And I'll be sure to impart any wisdom I get from him in our sessions here and kind of share updates as we go along. Switching gears here I wanted to share a bit of a cat update. So if you've been listening to the past few episodes, you'll know that I'm having a bit of a cat problem in my neighborhood and mostly just my backyard. Either it's my next door neighbor or two neighbors down who I'm assuming they're feeding them, but they're either feral or domestic cats. It's just like an overpopulation problem. They're multiple cats, and they are constantly in my yard in my driveway, digging things up pooping, covering it up, and Reese's will find it and eat it. The other night, I even came back from a walk with her and there were three just like hanging out in my driveway. They're just everywhere. And I had my yard guy come this week and install sort of this mesh at the edge of my fence at the bottom because they were crawling underneath. They were like digging under the fence to quickly get in and out of my backyard. And I know they can climb. I know they can climb over the fence. But this was making it too easy. So at least having this new mesh blockage will prevent them from digging under the fence. And I don't know if that'll make a big difference but fingers crossed that it does. And the mesh is not the first thing I've tried. So if you missed the previous episodes where I talked about this, I also got these ultrasonic animal deterrents that I put in the backyard. And I don't think they've done much. But what they do is when they detect motion, they blink and make this ultrasonic sound that's annoying to animals. So hopefully since those aren't working this you know mesh that he's installed to prevent the cats from digging at least makes it a little harder for them to get in the backyard. I also ordered cat mace on Amazon, which is non toxic, it will not hurt them. But apparently the smell really bothers cats. So I'm going to sprinkle some of that in the backyard and see if that keeps them from hanging out back there. It is frustrating though, because I emailed our neighborhood association and there are no rules for how to handle this. We don't have any like HOA rules or anything like that. But you can call like Dallas County and Animal Control will come out and help you but all they can really do is like trap the cats and get them fixed. There's no way to like move them or remove them. Like that doesn't solve the problem kind of like coyotes trapping them and moving them won't do anything. They will come back as long as there's a food source. So anyway, hopefully this will get resolved. just on its own, or at the very least, they just go to somebody else's yard because as long as it's not my problem, I don't care about it. I haven't touched on Halloween at all. And I feel like I should but I mean, I didn't do that much this weekend because of the egg retrieval. I was kind of down for the count on Saturday and Sunday while I was feeling better, still wasn't 100%. So I don't have a lot to report on with that. But I did want to tell you guys my mom sort of shamed me last week because I forgot to mention a crucial Halloween costume that I have in high school. And she said that she gifted it to me it was a gift for quitting smoking. She said she would pay for this fancy costume if I would quit smoking cigarettes. And I did. And at the time, I was so obsessed with Lord of the Rings. Honestly, I still loved the movies. I never read the books. I just loved the movies. But I was so obsessed with the movies. I loved the elf characters. And so I had this velvet gown created with this very elvish embroidery trim. And it was so glamorous, and I had kind of a silver cape to wear on top of it. I'll post a picture of it on my instagram at beck and call podcast, so bear with me, but I mean it is elaborate. Like I don't know how much this cost my mom could have made but it was a nice costume. It also shows how much of a nerd I was in high school. So there you go, folks that I did have some trick or treaters at my house last night. I did not dress up. I did dress up my dog for a small portion of the weekend. But she hated the hat that I gave her. We ended up with a pig costume and she looked so cute. I got some pictures of her but she really did not like the hat. She's cool with wearing clothes like she actually likes sweaters in the winter and vests. But she didn't like anything around her ears. She's her ears are very sensitive. So next year's costume, I have to find something that does not have a hat component with it. In other personal news. My mom is actually coming into town next week, and she's going to stay with me for a full week, which I'm very excited about. And I'm going to try and convince her to come on the podcast while she's here. But I can't make any promises. She's a little reluctant to do it. But I'm going to try and convince her that it's a good idea. Oh my god. I don't know how I forgot to mention this at the start of the episode. But the biggest news I have to share is my assistant lies I got engaged over the weekend. I'm so happy for her and her fiance hunter. I can't wait to hear how it all went down and hear about their wedding plans I gave her yesterday off of work Monday. So I'll hopefully get all of the details today. But this may be the start of some extra bridal content on TSS edited, which is the account that I have that she pretty much runs and creates content for so you may keep your eye out and see some good bridal funds coming up shortly. But anyway, just wanted to wish a heartfelt congratulations to Liza and Hunter I'm so happy for you guys. Okay, now I'm really switching gears. So for those of you who don't follow Doom wha I recommend it if you're at all into celebrity gossip. I feel like I've mentioned this on a previous episode but Doom was shared a tip that shook me to my core over the weekend. They shared a tip that Grey's Anatomy is considering creating a romantic relationship between Ellen Pompeo, his character Meredith Grey, and Kate Walsh's character, Addison Montgomery. Now, according to the tip grazes has apparently been testing the storyline on focus groups. If you've watched Grey's at all in the last decade, you'll know that they've done a great job of weaving in modern progressive storylines, as well as current events topics, and they've covered LGBTQ matters and relationships for years now. So while this plotline isn't really noteworthy or groundbreaking in any way, it's the characters that they're putting together that is totally throwing me off. And I'm probably way overthinking this, because I'm still obsessed with the show. I've watched this show forever. It's like a lifelong favorite. It's one I rotate in after I've watched a different show and like Anita cleanser before starting something new, it's just like a go to of mine. So let me tell you why this combo of people is not ideal. Addison used to be married to Derek who he cheated on with Meredith after Addison cheated on him with his friend, Mark. So naturally, Addison and Meredith had a contentious relationship because of Derek. So the idea that they would get together in a romantic relationship makes zero sense to me. Make it make sense. Sorry, Reese's is snoring. So if you pick that up, that's what's going on in the background. It's my dog. But anyway, I would personally love to have Addison return to the show permanently. She's sort of doing a guest spot right now, but I just love her character. I don't love this rumor of a storyline, though. But just to reiterate, it's not about it being a same sex romance. It's just that these particular characters getting together doesn't make a lick of sense to me. Anyway, it's a rumor. It was just a tip that was submitted to do ma I'm hoping that it's wrong. I definitely think it was worth reading on here. If you are at all interested in Grey's Anatomy like I am, I also have sort of am loving Meredith's current budding romance with the guest star Scott Speedman. I kind of want to see where that goes before anything else happens. I haven't watched anything new this week. But I did finish an audiobook that I loved called Little Secrets. I listen to all of my audiobooks on Audible. It's through Amazon, which makes it easy. But I really enjoyed this one. It's a thriller, but not scary at all more like a whodunit. Like who's behind what happens, I'm not gonna spoil any of it, but it's definitely a page turner. That'll keep you hooked till the end, and I liked the narrator. And honestly, if there's a bad narrator, I cannot get through even a chapter. So That's high praise coming from me if I enjoy the narrator, because otherwise it ain't happening.
I wanted to do something a little more light and fun for this week's main topic, because I feel like the last few episodes have been complaining about stuff. So today, I thought I'd talk about a topic that I've gotten a few requests for to dive into a bit more, which is traveling and how I plan my trips and tips for traveling solo, especially since the world is opening back up again. And that is something we're all hopefully going to be doing very soon. So first things first, I don't play in all trips the same way, it definitely depends on the destination. So for example, if I'm visiting somewhere like Japan, where there are a ton of cities and sights to see in each city, I create an incredibly detailed itinerary, so I can make sure to fit in everything I want to see. But when I went to the south of France, however, it was more of a relaxed plan. Like while there were a couple of specific sites we wanted to see on our trip, a lot of the trip was just exploring different villages and markets just more leisurely strolling and exploring, as opposed to visiting multiple sites and checking things off a list. I'm gonna use Japan as an example for most of this episode, while I'm talking about travel, because it is one of the trips that I've been more detailed and thorough in my research, but I do a ton of research. And I usually start by googling the destination and the must visit cities in that country. So for example, I probably googled the best cities to visit in Japan. And I'll make a list of the cities that look most interesting to me based on that research. So based on photos that I find the things to do in that city and all the various sites to see, I sort of make a list of how much there is to do there. And also proximity to the other cities that are high on my list to see how much we can actually get done in the time that we have. Once I figured that out, I then had to kind of go a step further and look for the best day trips from Tokyo because after some initial research, I realized it would be easier to stay in the big city and then do day trips instead of trying to find a new place to stay for every night and a new spot. And in addition to Google, I also look at like online magazines like Travel and Leisure departures. I look at travel blogs, I look at these to get a more detailed look at what is in isn't worth it. Because I mean, these trips are expensive, you only have so much time and you really want to narrow it down to the best of the best. I don't have specific travel blogs I refer to but we'll usually just find them as I'm researching in particular location. Thanks to SEO, you know, Google makes that easier. And then as a blogger, something else I'm often searching for is the best place to take photos. So for Japan, I would search the best places to capture autumn leaves or cherry blossoms in Japan. And you'd be surprised at how many people have content on these topics for like every destination out there. Anyway, I compile all of this information and research into a Google Doc. And a lot of times it's just like copying and pasting things from blogs. And then I'll read through and cut things out and narrow and organize. You know, it's probably not the most efficient method. But it's an easy way for me to collect and organize all the information I need to narrow things down and make decisions. So what I do is, like I said before, I'll make a list of the cities that look most interesting to me. And I'll include photos, I'll include a list of like all of the landmarks or temples and trends I want to see, I'll make a list of the restaurants that are great. They're all include kind of how far it is from either the big city or the city we're staying in, or to other destinations we want to see because you know that all comes into play when scheduling if you're doing a day trip and it takes three hours to get somewhere, you're probably not gonna have time to do anything else that day. And at least in Japan, you're sort of at the mercy of train scheduling. So having that information on how long it takes to get somewhere via the trains when they depart that kind of thing that's really helpful when planning out every day of your trip. So having all of this information in a Google doc is super helpful in narrowing down the list so that we can figure out what we can make work based on how much time we have. And then once the cities have been narrowed down and we figure out what's going to be a day trip versus what cities we're actually going to stay in, we can figure out where we're staying for longer trips. Like when I spent two weeks in Japan, we stayed in Airbnb the whole time, they're generally way more cost effective than a hotel. And there's also something really nice about staying in our neighborhood versus a touristy hotel area, you really get a feel for what it's like to live there. And nine times out of 10, I have felt totally safe in Airbnbs, there have only been two times where I was like, oh, and they were not in Japan. One was in Switzerland, and one was in France. So when I went to in Geneva was close to the train station, which I thought was a good thing, because, you know, I was mostly doing day trips. I wasn't planning to spend much time in Geneva. But it was a very big mistake, because it was kind of a sketchy area near the train station. And the Airbnb itself was lovely. The building was really nice. But the street it was on was so sketchy. And I just did not feel comfortable walking down the street. Even in the daytime, it was uncomfortable for me as a single woman by myself. And the same can be said for the one in France. In Paris, I was with my friend Haven and we stayed in an Airbnb and it wasn't by the train station, but it was next to a park and there was a lot of drug activity in the park, which made it feel unsafe there. But we were only there for a couple nights. And she was with me. So it wasn't as bad. But definitely keep in mind the location do a lot of research about that when you're doing your Airbnb search. Obviously, look at all of the reviews, I only stay places that have a bunch of reviews, I've never stayed somewhere that hasn't had more than like 50 reviews. So that would be my word of advice for Airbnbs. Once that's confirmed, once we've narrowed down the list of where we for sure want to go, that's when I start getting into the nitty gritty of planning each day. So I get super detailed down to the hour. And like I said, this isn't for every trip, but definitely for Japan where you know, you're planning your day around train schedules, and when they're leaving and coming back, you kind of have to do that. So in a Google Doc, I will list out every day of our trip with a time to schedule for each day. So that'll include the time we had out to go to that destination addresses the list of things we want to do at that destination so that we don't forget anything, I'm going to share my two past Japan itinerary. So you can take a look at what I'm talking about. So head over to the beck and call podcast Instagram at beck and call podcast if you're interested to see how they're laid out and how I set them up. And even though I create these very detailed itineraries for us to follow, I always leave room for flexibility and usually allow for some extra time in each spot just in case we discover something new we want to do when we get there, you never know what you might discover. And if we finish somewhere faster than we expected, that will allow us some time to walk around either there or head back to the city we're staying in to do some extra stuff. This might surprise you. But restaurants are actually the last thing I figure out mostly because I'm so focused on the schedule and fitting in as much as possible. And I choose where I eat based on what we've done that day. So if we've had a really long day of travel, like on a train for three hours or whatever, I usually select a more casual option for those days. So we you don't have time to relax, and we don't have to hurry to get ready or whatever, and then save our fancier dinners for the days we spend in that city. So we have plenty of time to refresh and change for dinner and feel our best. One thing I didn't mention earlier. But I think that's actually kind of crucial. And key to how I plan my trips is how I actually lay out each day. And as I mentioned earlier, it all has to do with the proximity to other things. So when I am planning out each day, I look at every single site on the map that I'm wanting to visit and organize it all based on location. And again, this might seem intuitive, but y'all not everybody does this, it's just the most efficient way to see everything you want to see in the fastest amount of time. Like I've said it before, I love to see everything I want to pack my schedule, I want to see as much as I can with the time that I have. So mapping out every single thing I want to do is really the key to making sure I see everything I want to see within the allotted time and make the most efficient use of my time in Japan is actually the perfect example for discussing this because there are shrines and temples and things to see everywhere. And so you really need to group them by location or you're never going to see them all and you're just going to be wasting all your time just trying to find things throughout the city. So I would definitely recommend just Googling the location of everything and writing it down at least the neighborhood of the vicinity. It's in so that you have kind of a reference point when you're actually putting your schedule together each day. All right, that's sort of how I plan my trips, but I thought I'd share some solo traveled Because I do get a lot of questions about this. And I do travel a lot alone as a single person and with the flexibility of my job while I do travel with Blogger, friends, occasionally, it's not always that you can get people on board. And my friends in Dallas all work normal nine to five jobs and can't just like travel on a whim like I can, but I never let that hold me back. I always still travel regardless, so I thought I'd share some tips on how I travel solo safely. And you know how you can do the same ever since I quit my full time job at the end of 2014. I've traveled a lot. And I'd say about half of my trips have been with fellow blogger friends of mine, which is so nice because in addition to obviously, having a travel companion, and then being more fun than just being by myself, it's really great to travel with somebody who gets the photography aspect of blogging. So I always try to shoot an outfit every day when I'm traveling somewhere new, in addition to shooting the destination for travel content for my blog, and Instagram. So traveling with another blogger is having a built in photographer on your trip and we shoot photos for each other no questions asked. It's just it's really nice. But on the occasions that I am traveling alone, I often look for a photographer in that city to schedule a shoot with because why not take advantage of the lovely new backdrop. So generally I look for a portrait or wedding photographer when I'm googling because they have the look that I'm going for. And I know that there's flytographer, but I don't really want to have to pay a fee. I'd rather just reach out to people independently. And that has always worked for me, it's pretty easy. And actually it's a great way to make a connection in a new city. So when I was in Zurich, I actually reached out to a wedding photographer there Caroline Dyer Smith, she and I've stayed connected. But in addition to helping me shoot photos, we hit it off. And she ended up offering to even grab dinner with me while I was there, which I was happy to do because I was there for like 10 days by myself. So it was really nice to have somebody to grab dinner with. And she's so much fun and so cool. And oddly enough, I actually ran into her when I was in London a year later. How wild is that? But anyway, that's my long way of explaining my work around while traveling alone and still managing to get Kant traveling, I would definitely say I'm a little more meticulous about my plans, how I pack and how I travel when I'm traveling solo. So for example, I always check in, I share my itinerary and Google Doc with my mom so she knows the details on where I'm staying the places I'm planning to visit each day, etc. And while I'm not great about calling every day, I do shoot off text when I get back for the night so she knows I've made it home safely. And another thing you can do is check in with the front desk if you're staying at a hotel when you leave and come back, make friends with the people there so they can kind of be aware of your comings and goings just in case anything bad happens. I also packed the basics, I generally don't pack flashy clothing, jewelry or accessories when I'm traveling alone, there's just no point in drawing attention to myself when I don't plan on being in any of the photos I take. So I usually leave my designer bags at home and stick to solid neutrals, things that don't make me stick out like a sore thumb. Another thing I do is I map out my route before I leave my home base, I think it's important to look like you know where you're going. Even if you don't, competence makes all of the difference and looking like you belong and are not like an obvious tourist. If you know where you're going, you're not going to be constantly looking at your phone, which I think is a very easy way to spot somebody who doesn't know where they're going. But I often screenshot maps, some like obviously large scale and then I zoom in on some in screenshots. So I have the street names easily accessible. That way if I do have to look at my phone, it's ready to go. I don't have to worry about an internet connection or getting things to load. Another tip I have that goes in line with this is to take the road most traveled so I make a point to avoid side streets in smaller alleyways when walking by myself. Sure, when you're in a busy street, you're probably more likely to get pickpocketed but I generally feel safer when there are more people around it's better to lose your wallet that get assaulted right. Another thing I would definitely recommend is to always have cash in the local currency and I always do this before a trip so I order the currency through my bank a few weeks before I'm leaving that way I have it on me when I arrive you don't have to worry about stopping at an ATM which I think is a big trap. Plus I think it's better to be prepared and have too much than too little I try and always get enough for what I think I'm going to need for the trip and I may end up getting more but most of the time I feel like I have enough and obviously I'll arrive in the destination with all of the money on my person but once I get to a place whether I'm sitting at a hotel or an Airbnb, I usually separate it out and I'll have some of it on me and if the place I'm staying has a safe I'll put some of it in there. I may also store some of it in a an inconspicuous spot somewhere in another bag or another part of my clothing or something just So it's kind of spread out and easily accessible because on the chance you do get pickpocketed you don't want to be totally out of funds. So definitely make sure if you are bringing a lot of cash, don't put it all in one spot. And then finally, as someone who wants to see and do everything when I travel and make great use out of the available daylight and I do not stay out super late so I can wake up early the next day, which also helps me safety wise because I just as somebody single alone, a female I do not want to stay out way past a dark by myself in a foreign place. So I usually try to schedule my dinners around 7pm so that I can get back to my hotel or Airbnb by like nine at the latest. Even if it's dark out, especially in the fall winter, it gets dark really early. It's still early enough where the streets are full and busy with families and regular dinnertime happenings and I just never go out after dinner and I feel totally safe. I mean, a lot of this is just common sense stuff. But I think it is important to kind of cover all of those things because traveling solo is so rewarding. I love it. And I just can't imagine going back to not doing that. So if you have the opportunity to travel somewhere, just be smart about it.
As always, if you have any specific questions on travel or any other topic I cover here, definitely call into the beck and call hotline. I answer two new questions at the end of every episode. And you can now submit questions via email so you can call 214-620-0473 and leave me a voicemail or you can email your question to beck and call podcast@gmail.com Let's get into the first voicemail.
Hi there. This is Amanda calling from Atlanta. I have been thinking about b2b b2c princetown rules or loafers for a long time now but wanted to get your thoughts on those are they still good you have any other recommendations?
So I don't know if this is because I just have big feet or what but Gucci princetown meals do not look good on my feet which is why I've never purchased any but everyone I know who wears them loves them and says they're so comfortable and they look cute on them but for some reason, it just doesn't for some reason that shoe does not look good on my feet. But my sister wears them a lot. I have a bunch of friends that own them and wear them a lot. So I think if if you think they look great on you, I'd say go for it. I don't think they're going anywhere. I do think they've been around a while so there might be considered a classic piece. I personally really love the look of a pointed toe mule more than the round toe and I think that maybe just because I think they're more flattering on me personally because I've been feet but I think you could definitely still get them a good option if you do like the pointed toe look would be to copy Megan Markel. She if you recall was spotted a few months ago with Archie taking him to school and she's wearing these Valentino off white mules that have a single Roman stud on them. Just a really chic clean look. They have those in a couple of different colors so that's a good option and then for a more trendy look. JW Anderson's chunky chain mule is so cool and fun. Definitely not timeless though it's definitely more of a trendy look but they look super comfortable and fun with a giant chain detail over the toe box and they have several different colors and fabrics now so they have regular leather they have suede and new for fall they now have shearling lined ones which are super chic and cozy. They just looks super comfortable and they're fun and sort of a statement staple if you will for the fall winter season. Alright, and now we're going to answer a listener question from the email inbox. This email comes from summer she writes Hi, Merritt, I find your podcast so refreshing and enjoyable. And I'm looking forward to it every week. How do you balance your wardrobe between more expensive pieces and more affordable ones? What makes a more expensive item like a handbag dresser shoes worth an expensive price tag to you? Is it the brand, the fabric the constructions like such as lining as a medical student slash resident for most of my 20s my budget was limited and my staples were locked in and tailor. But now that I can afford designer pieces, I'm not sure how to identify which pieces are worth the investment. This is such a great question and I'm excited to answer it. But I do want to start by saying we all have wildly different lifestyles, what you might be comfortable spending money on may be so different than what I am comfortable spending money on and what you might think is a great investment, I might not think is a great investment. So just keep that in mind. We all have different responsibilities. We all have different comfort levels on like the amount we're willing to spend on items. So I just wanted to say that up top that you know we're all in different situations and what I recommend might not make sense for you. I'll also start off by saying that when I'm spending a lot of money on something whether it's a handbag or a really nice pair of boots or a luxurious coat or something like that I am considering cost per wear. So I'm typically only buying things I can really see myself wearing year after year on repeat. Now there are certainly exceptions to that rule, I have a few kind of statement cocktail dresses that are just fabulous. And those I spent quite a bit of money on, I did find them on sale, but they're still pieces that I know all were in love to weddings and things like that over the next several years, it may not be something I wear every day, like a pair of boots or a coat. But it's something that you know, I think is a knockout, it's a piece that either looks really great on me or just a piece that I really, really love that I think is worth spending more on because it's gonna really make a splash when I do wear it. The things I'm not willing to spend a lot of money on are really trendy items, things that are like a bag, but in a wild color, I want something that I'm going to be able to wear a lot and you know, be able to justify that this was a wise purchase. And after buying colorful bags over the years, I have just realized that I just don't wear them enough to make it worth it. So I've just made a deal with myself not to buy expensive bags there that are in like non neutral colors. So I think a big part of knowing what's worth it to you is looking at your own wardrobe, even at your and tailor and loft stuff and seeing what you wear the most of what you're going to get most cost per wear out of so say it's the neutral dresses, maybe don't spend a bunch of money on just a few printed bright things, you might instead invest in a couple of really high quality solid pieces that are timeless and that you know you'll wear a lot or maybe you've noticed that over the years you don't take very good care of your shoes, but you're really good at taking care of your bags. Keep that in mind, maybe save your money in the shoe department and spend your money in the bag department. Now when it comes down to actually buying stuff I do look at all of those things you mentioned. So construction quality materials, all of that stuff plays a part so I'm going to use Chanel bags for an example because I have had several and I know what to buy and what not to buy now when you're spending a fortune on something like a Chanel handbag you certainly want to take into account what's gonna last the longest and look the best the longest. So for me, the caviar leather which is their textured leather is worth spending extra money on versus settling for the lambskin because the lambskin gets destroyed by scratches, you can tell after the first week that it's been worn. Now, I do have a couple of lambskin bags that are some of my favorites. But I will tell you, it is very rare that I want to buy those because I know that they're not going to hold up against any kind of rough wear and tear. And I'm not even that rough with my bag. So I'm actually very good with my bags. So I always try if I am wanting to shop for something in the Chanel handbag department, I try to find out if there is a caviar leather option for that style. And that's not always the case. But if there is I would go for that every time simply because I know it'll be more resistant to scratches and look better for a longer amount of time. I have also noticed that the textured leather bags hold their shape better if for some reason the lambskin is just thinner. It's not as structurally sound and doesn't hold its shape as well. So I guess when considering that bags and shoes, I generally look to the fabric first. Obviously, like I said, I recommend textured leather, but I mean there are a lot of suede bags and shoes and I do have suede boots, but I don't think I have a single suede bag, they do dirty so easily. And so that's another thing to think about. Now in terms of clothes, I feel like for the most part, I'm looking for fit, comfort and quality. So again, you're sort of looking at the fabric does it lay across my body? Well, is it tailored in the right spots. And of course I want the fabric to feel nice. I mean, you don't want to be sweating in it. You don't want whatever the fabric is to not be breathable, you want it to be soft, like I will never buy a scratchy sweater. I don't care how cheap or expensive it is. It's got to be soft. But like after considering you know the fabric and the quality, I really think it comes down to how much I'm going to wear it. So I generally try to avoid spending a lot on items that are like a one time use kind of thing. Something super trendy that you know, I'm going to want to dispose of the next season something that's really wild that you know doesn't work with some of the stuff I already have in my wardrobe. So my suggestion would be to look through your own wardrobe and kind of take a survey of everything you've got in there. What are the pieces that you wear a lot of what are the pieces that you always think you're going to reach for but then you don't like you want to wear it But that's just something either you don't feel confident in or you can't ever seem to make it work. Take note of all of those things so that when you are ready to buy and invest in something new, if you find something you love, you can kind of refer back to that and be like, Okay, this actually isn't something I see myself wearing a lot based on what's already in my wardrobe, so maybe I'll pass on this and invest in something else. Alright guys, that's it for this week's episode. Be sure to follow along on Instagram at beck and call podcast for visual guides to each episode and just more behind the scenes stuff. And as always, please be sure to rate review and subscribe. I love it. When I see you guys share where you're listening and what your favorite episodes are on Instagram stories. You can also tag me at beck and call podcast and then for more fashion content. You can also follow me on Instagram at Merritt Beck but with that I will talk to you guys next week. Bye
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