Recently I purchased one of those portable vacuum sealers made by Reynolds. If you buy the larger gallon sized bags specially made for vacuum sealing you can use them to transport your freshly baked croissants back home and have them perfectly fresh for the next few days rather than the usual "gooey with moisture" texture. The bags are made to open up at the top like a zip lock but can be revacuumed many times. I also used this idea to transport some liquids to the island by putting the liquids in small plastic bottles (ie, special vinegar and sauces). I taped the lids closed. I vacuum sealed the bottles and then put the vacuumed bags in zip lock bags in case the vacuum unsealed. They transported perfectly with no fear of opening in my checked luggage and stayed perfectly sealed for the entire trip. In fact one bag with sauce was never opened and 1 month later was still perfectly vacuumed sealed in the frig at home.

We own a condo on the island and so I vacuum sealed many of the smaller liquid items I left in the owners closet to avoid any damage. Also, another company that makes clothes-sized vacuum bags is great for making room in your checked luggage bags. You can remove the air from the bags by hand and they become much flatter, thus adding more room in your luggage. You just have to be careful of the weight because even though the clothes are now flatter adding more room, the weight is still the same.

To weigh your luggage before a trip, use your bathroom scale. Stand on it and take your weight. Then weigh yourself holding your luggage. Do the math and you're set for your trip.

When you are all packed to start off the trip; take half of it out and leave it at home.

That should be the first Tip and Trick and then the last one as well...lol

A tip for travel in general, not just St. Martin: ZipLock makes extra-large bags, I believe 2 and 5 gallon. Pack a small bottle of Tide or whatever. If you run low on clothes during your trip and your hotel doesn't have laundry facilities (L'Hoste for example), put a bit of detergent and warm water into a large ZipLock bag and you have a portable washing machine. Agitate for a bit, leave the clothes for a few hours, then rinse thoroughly and hang to dry. Not for your best clothes but fine for underwear, T-shirts, etc.

I know, I know, you're better off not wearing the clothes in the first place, but some of us aren't there (yet).

Those bags are handy for a lot of other things when traveling. We packed two or three bottles of liquor, wrapped in clothes, in each of several bags for the trip home.

Remember that most of the Restaurant and stores in Marigot are closed on Mondays

stores in Marigot are not closed on Mondays.

[barcann.livejournal.com]

Really?.. why? I know that hairdressers are closed on monday, but except if it is a National holiday, I never notice that the store or the Restaurants in Marigot are closed on Monday. I would say, remember tha store in Marigot close for lunch between 1pm and 3pm (2 hours lunch is the minimun French people can ask for )

Kind Regards,
Philippe



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P
I don't know about you, but it seems to me that there is very little rhyme or reason as to what day restaurants are closed.
it can be practically any day, except Friday and Saturday of course!

[barcann.livejournal.com]

I beleive that closing day for restaurant are decided in mutaul concensus between them. Like on the Marina, they are trying not to close all on the same day, of course... Same in Gd Case. Of course none of them will pick up Friday or Saturday (except I beleive Bistrot Caraibe who was closing on Saturday a few years ago... I don't know if they still do). Usually Friday and Saturday are the day when local resident go out. In general on Saturday there are also less tourist around since it is a "departure/arrival" day.

Kind Regards,
Philippe



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That is a surprise-the last two years we went into Marigot on a Monday and found most stores were closed (we had gone because we wanted to go to Layla's for lunch and since it was closed we went into the harbor and most of the stores were closed and only a couple of restaurants were open. It was in April so may it was some kind of holiday. Thanks for the info

It may have been Easter Monday then, because like Barbara and I said everything is open in monday. Or, like I said it was between 1pm and 3pm, and then, if that's the case, any day of the week you will find most of the store closed in Marigot. Restaurant have all one day of closing which vary from one to another.

Kind Regards,
Philippe



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This little portable luggage scale was a great find for us. We used to equalized our luggage before returning home with our goodies. This is a just an example. I found ours at Radio Shack.

looks like this
and worked like a charm

find one here:

Compact and portable luggage scale

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
bettenan from beautiful bucks county (pa)

Nice gizmo! Very clever and so small that it can be packed away easily.

The first day there I usually pick up a can of "Fix-a-Flat" just in case we develop a flat tire some place. Haven't needed it yet but it only costs about $5.00 in a local hardware store and gives us peace of mind. We usually give it to one of the local friends we've met through the years just before we leave.

That's an interesting tip. Thanks!