Dewi Setiawati

Somewhere between my third missed vacation and another Sunday spent dreading Monday, I booked a one-way ticket to Turkey with zero plan. Cappadocia broke something open in me — the slow mornings, the silence, the absurdity of watching 150 balloons float over fairy chimneys at dawn. This list is for anyone running on fumes who keeps saying ‘I’ll travel someday' but never does. Here's everything I packed, booked, ate, and discovered so you can skip the research spiral I fell into for six weeks.

Spent years nodding along at wine dinners pretending I could taste the difference between a $15 and $50 bottle. Then I actually went to France, stood in the vineyards, and something clicked. This is for anyone who loves wine but secretly feels like a fraud — these regions and the specific glasses I had there rewired my entire palate. Save this before your next trip so you skip the tourist traps I fell into first.

If you've ever picked up a self-help book, read two pages of vague motivational fluff, and tossed it across the room — same. I spent years convinced the entire genre was recycled fortune cookies wrapped in hardcovers. Then a friend basically forced one into my hands and something clicked. This list is for the skeptics, the eye-rollers, the people who'd rather read literally anything else — these are the books that broke through my resistance and actually stuck.

Spent two weeks in Bangkok eating from every cart and alley I could find — my stomach staged a full revolt by day three but honestly I regret nothing. If you're planning a trip and want to know which food tours, cooking classes, and experiences are actually worth the baht (and which ones will prepare your gut for the real deal), this is everything I booked before and during the chaos. Saved me from tourist traps and helped me find the stalls locals actually line up at.

Every autumn I go overboard on pumpkin everything — candles, skincare, lip balms — and somehow my dog starts sniffing my face like I'm a treat. If you're the type who wants to smell like a pumpkin patch from October through January and your pets keep nuzzling your hands because of it, this is the lineup that got me (and my very nosy golden retriever) through last fall.

Wandered into the wrong alley, missed my tour group, and ended up having the best day of my entire trip. If you're the type who ditches itineraries and follows interesting smells down side streets, this is every single thing I stumbled into — mapped out so you can get gloriously lost on purpose.

Spent two years sniffing paper strips in stores, blind-buying bottles that smelled incredible for ten minutes then vanished, and annoying every friend with ‘smell my wrist’ — if you're stuck in the fragrance rabbit hole and nothing feels like YOU yet, this is the shortcut I wish someone handed me before I wasted hundreds on bottles collecting dust.

Humidity turns my face into a slip-and-slide every June — foundation pooling in my pores, mascara migrating south, lipstick vanishing after one iced coffee. After three summers of looking melted by lunchtime, this is the full lineup that actually stayed put through 95-degree days and outdoor weddings. If you've ever blotted your face with a napkin and watched your whole look come off with it, save yourself the trial and error.

Sick of showing up to a Spanish beach only to find it packed wall-to-wall with selfie sticks and overpriced sangria? I spent three summers driving the entire coast hunting for towns that still feel like actual Spain — fishermen mending nets, grandmas hanging laundry over the sea, menus with no English translation. If you want a beach trip that doesn't feel like a theme park, save this before these places end up on everyone's algorithm.

Spent three weeks in Hong Kong and realized most tourists never leave Tsim Sha Tsui or Victoria Peak — meanwhile some of the wildest hikes, emptiest beaches, and weirdest villages are a 45-minute ferry ride away. If you're planning a Hong Kong trip and don't want to come home with the same photos as everyone else, steal this list before you book.

Every guidebook sent me to Victoria Peak and the Avenue of Stars — and I spent three days feeling like I was walking through a postcard instead of a city. Once I ditched the tourist loop and wandered into actual neighborhoods, Hong Kong finally clicked. Built this for anyone planning a trip who wants to skip the ‘what am I missing?’ feeling and land in the places that made me rebook a second flight.

After three weeks in Paris, every arrondissement started blending together and I craved something that didn't involve dodging selfie sticks near the Eiffel Tower. If you're the type who gets antsy staying in one city too long — or you've already done the Louvre twice and need a reason to wake up early — these are the day trips that genuinely knocked me sideways. Took me two separate trips to France to piece this together so you can just screenshot it and go.

Sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic twice a day was slowly draining my will to live — music got old, podcasts ran out, and silence made me spiral. Then I started burning through audiobooks and suddenly my commute became the part of the day I actually looked forward to. If you're stuck in a car, on a train, or sardined into a bus for way too long every day, this lineup took me over a year to put together so you don't have to waste time on duds.

Spent years following every viral skincare tip — stripping my moisture barrier, layering ten actives, scrubbing my face raw — and my skin just kept getting worse. Turns out the answer was doing less, but doing it smarter. Built for anyone who's frustrated, broken out, and tired of advice that clearly isn't working. Took me two years of trial and error so you can skip straight to what actually helped.

Every November 1st my dog passes out on the cold kitchen floor after a night of doorbell chaos and costume stress — and my cat hides under the bed for two days straight. If your pets are wrecked after Halloween and you want to make their recovery naps actually comfortable, this is everything I grabbed to build them the coziest post-spooky-season setup. Took me three Halloweens of sad pet naps to figure this out so you don't have to.

After three rounds of bleach in six months, my hair literally snapped when I brushed it. Chunks in the shower drain, straw-like texture, zero shine — I was one bad day from shaving it all off. If you've over-processed your hair and nothing feels like it's working, this is the exact lineup that brought mine back from the dead. Took me a year of trial and error so you don't have to waste the money I did.

Moving into a new place that smelled like paint and cardboard made me realize how much scent shapes whether a space feels like home. If you've ever walked into your own apartment and thought ‘this could be a dentist’s office,' these are the candles that fixed it — specifically the ones that nail that crisp, layered, October-woods-and-warm-spice feeling without smelling like a Bath & Body Works exploded. Took me two autumns of duds to land on these.

Spent way too long wondering why my blending sponge left streaks and my eyelash curler did absolutely nothing — turns out technique was only half the problem. The tools themselves needed an upgrade. If you've ever watched a tutorial, followed every step perfectly, and still looked nothing like the result, this list is the reality check I needed and probably you do too.

Twenty-two hours in economy, a missed connection in Tokyo, and a taxi driver who took the scenic route — by the time I reached my hotel lobby I was either going to collapse or sob. I did both. This list is for anyone planning a long-haul trip to Singapore who refuses to repeat my mistakes. Every hotel, tour, and experience here is something I either booked on that trip or desperately wish I had. Save yourself the meltdown and steal my homework.

Sitting alone in a foreign city with zero Japanese language skills, terrified of ordering wrong, pointing at menus like a lost tourist — that was me three months ago. If you're planning your first solo trip to Tokyo and the food scene feels overwhelming, this is the exact lineup of experiences that turned my anxiety into the best meals of my life. Bookmark this before you land.

Landed in Hong Kong with a vague plan and zero self-control — came home with a suitcase full of weird snacks, knockoff everything, and the best food memories of my life. If you're planning a trip and don't want to waste three nights wandering the wrong streets like I did, here's everything worth your time and stomach space.

Sick of following the same tourist loop from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre and feeling like you saw Paris but never actually experienced it? I spent three weeks wandering arrondissements most guidebooks skip, eating where nobody spoke English, and sitting in parks where I was the only person with a suitcase. If you're planning a trip and want to ditch the checklist tourism — this is the neighborhood-by-neighborhood breakdown that took me years of visits to figure out.

Spent my twenties buying whatever had pretty packaging, then wondering why my face was either an oil slick by noon or flaking off like a croissant. If you've taken five online quizzes, gotten five different answers, and your medicine cabinet looks like a skincare graveyard — this is the lineup that actually made sense of my skin after way too much trial and error.

Started reading at 10 PM thinking I'd do one chapter — next thing I knew my alarm was going off and I'd finished the whole book. If you're someone who lies to yourself about having self-control with a good thriller, this list is the damage I've done to my sleep schedule so you can pick your next all-nighter wisely.

Packing for a month in a single backpack meant every ounce counted — and I threw out more beauty products than I kept after learning the hard way what melts, leaks, or just stops working after two weeks in a hostel. If you're planning a long trip and refuse to show up looking like a raccoon who hasn't slept since 2019, this is the lineup that actually held up across four countries and questionable shower situations.

Planning a France trip and drowning in the same recycled TripAdvisor lists? Same — I spent weeks bookmarking influencer recs that turned out to be overpriced tourist traps. My actual favorite meals happened when I took wrong turns, missed trains, or wandered down random alleys because my phone died. This is the unfiltered list I wish someone had handed me before my first trip, so you can skip the research spiral.

Came back from two weeks in Turkey and stared at my sad grocery store hummus like it personally betrayed me. Everything I ate there — the bread, the kebabs, the breakfast spreads — hit different in a way I can't replicate with whatever's on my supermarket shelf. If you're chasing that same flavor and refuse to settle, I spent months tracking down the closest things to what I had over there so you don't have to eat disappointing pita in silence.