Missing Thanksgiving, flight deals under $200, and fairy tale Germany

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Hey friend,

We're writing this from Tennessee, where we're currently stress-eating our way through every pumpkin-flavored thing we can find before we fly back to Austria this week. Why? Because this is going to be our first Thanksgiving ever spent outside the US, and apparently our brains have decided the only way to cope is with excessive amounts of pumpkin spice.

It's wild how different this feels. Usually by mid-November we're planning which family members' houses we're hitting up for turkey and pie. This year? We're mapping out Christmas markets across Europe instead. We pick up the truck in Innsbruck and then we're off to see a ton of Christmas markets!

We're calling it our "12 Days of Christmas" series, and we're equal parts excited and terrified about filming in the cold for two straight weeks. Our goal is to hit 12 different markets but we're going to give us the out that it maybe less then that. Eithe way the Christmas market content practically writes itself, so here we are. Have any suggestions? Please email us!

Also, fair warning: this newsletter is dropping right before Black Friday, which means your inbox is about to get absolutely demolished. If you made it this far without deleting us in a rage-fueled unsubscribe spree, we appreciate you.

What are you doing for Thanksgiving this year? Staying put or traveling somewhere new?

Have a great week, y'all!

Pro Tip: Get a brightly colored travel adapter. The Matador Global Travel Adapter is perfect for it's bright orange color because black converters disappear into hotel outlets and we've left about a dozen behind over the years. This one works in 170+ countries and charges 6 devices at once, but honestly? The orange color alone has saved us more money than the adapter cost. (our link gets you 15% off this one)

👀 What Caught Our Eye

We made a thing: Our 2025 Travel & Creator Gift Guide

Look, every year around the holidays people ask us what gear we actually use, and honestly, we get tired of sending the same DMs over and over. So we sat down and put together every single thing we travel with, create with, and genuinely recommend into one giant gift guide.

It's organized by category (travel gear, creator gear, dog stuff for Kramer, overlanding essentials, clothing), If we missed anything or you have any questions please reach out. Happy to answer any questions you may have. Chris and Sara Gift Guide.pdf​

But here are a few things we're genuinely obsessed with:

• ​Wild Rye Overalls - Sara practically lives in these. They're the perfect combo of functional and not looking like you're about to fix a tractor.
• ​Matador Packing Cube Set - These changed our lives. We can actually find our stuff now instead of dumping out an entire backpack in a hotel room.
• ​Matador SEG 45 Travel Pack - This is THE pack. Carry-on approved, fits everything, doesn't make you look like you're about to summit Everest at the airport.
• ​BruTrek BaseCamp French Press - We're snobs about our coffee on the road, and this thing makes legit coffee anywhere. Worth every penny.

The full guide has like 50+ things across all categories, so if you're shopping for a traveler, creator, or someone with a dog who thinks they're people (hi Kramer), we've got you covered.

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✈️ Flights We’d Text to Friends

Here are a few that caught our eye this week:

• ​Atlanta → Montevideo, Uruguay for $608 – 36% off (normally $950+). South America's most underrated city - beaches, wine country nearby, and beef so good you'll eat steak for every meal. Price good for 5-6 days.
• ​Cincinnati → London for $590 – 41% off (normally $1015+). Direct on British Airways. We'll be there in a couple weeks if you need restaurant recs. Price good for 2-3 days.
• ​Dallas → Auckland, New Zealand for $745 – 50% off (normally $1500+). Nonstop to Middle Earth. Yes, Hobbiton is real and yes, you should go. This is half the normal price for a 15-hour flight. Price good for 2-3 days.
• ​San Diego → Taipei, Taiwan for $1417 – 44% off (normally $2535+). Premium economy on Delta. Night markets, incredible food scene, and temples everywhere you turn. Price good for 2-3 days.
• ​New York City → Hyderabad, India for $1290 – 49% off (normally $2535+). Premium economy to India is rare at this price. Ancient forts, biryani that'll ruin you for all other rice dishes, and one of the tech hubs of Asia. Price good for 1-2 days.
• ​Nashville → Taipei, Taiwan for $859 – 31% off (normally $1250+). Same Taipei magic as above but cheaper if you're flying from Nashville. Street food, bubble tea on every corner, and some of the friendliest people you'll meet. Price good for 7+ days.
• ​Boston → Colorado Springs for $187 – 57% off (normally $440+). Southwest has it cheap. Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak, and mountain air that makes you want to quit your job and move there. Price good for 4-5 days.
• ​Birmingham → Basel, Switzerland for $449 – 55% off (normally $1000+). We're driving through here next week. Right on the border of France, Germany, and Switzerland – you can have breakfast in three countries if you want.
• ​Miami → Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic for $663 – 36% off (normally $1040+). Business class for a 2-hour flight to the beach. Less crowded than Punta Cana, better beaches, and you'll be there before your friends even get through TSA back home. Price good for 6-7 days.
• ​Chicago → Chattanooga for $353 – 54% off (normally $780+). Business class on a 2-hour flight. Come visit our home base - mountains, rivers, rock climbing, and some of the best outdoor scenes in the Southeast. Price good for 7+ days.

Is there a city you wish we would feature for flights? Email us back and we'll put it in the next email.

We find all of these through Going. It is worth setting up alerts for your home airport. Most of these deals won't last long, so if one catches your eye, don't sit on it.

📍Worth Sharing

A few things we bookmarked this week

• ​Flight disruptions are still happening post-shutdown - Government shutdown's over, but the FAA is still limiting capacity at major airports. Over 2,100 delays and 1,000 cancellations as of Thursday. Check your flight before you leave for the airport.
• ​Best U.S. cities for digital nomads - St. Louis, Missouri took the top spot overall for digital nomads, with Springfield, Missouri being the most affordable at $2,299/month total expenses. The Midwest is dominating the affordability rankings.
• ​Uber expands women rider safety feature to 30+ cities - Women riders can now request women drivers in Chicago, Dallas, Nashville, and 23 other cities. About 75% of women riders requested this feature. Smart move.
• ​40% of Thanksgiving travelers changed their plans - The Points Guy poll found that 40% of people planning Thanksgiving trips either canceled, rescheduled, or scrapped them entirely because of shutdown-related flight chaos. Flight bookings dropped after starting November up 2.2% from last year.
• ​This Instagram reel - Keeps showing up on our feed and we crack up every single time. No notes.

📣 ICYMI

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🎥 We Drove Through REAL Grimm Fairy Tale Location in Germany

We just posted a video where we spent a week driving through the Germany Fairy Tale Route. Basically, we tracked down all the real places that inspired the Brothers Grimm stories – Hamelin (the Pied Piper town), Alsfeld with its half-timbered houses that look straight out of a storybook, hikes through the Black Forest, and ended at Neuschwanstein Castle.

Turns out the fairy tales weren't just random stories. These places actually exist and look exactly like you'd imagine them. The towns are almost too picturesque to be real.

This video was made possible by Musicbed, who hook us up with music that makes our videos actually sound good instead of like we slapped some royalty-free track on there. If you're a creator and want better music options, try Musicbed free for 14 days: https://fm.pxf.io/chrisandsara-freetrial​

Go watch and let us know if you've been to any of these spots or if Germany just made it onto your list.

Thanks for reading Field Notes. We’re trying to make this a space worth saving, full of things we’d actually send to a friend.

If you ever want to pass it along, here’s the link to subscribe: chrisandsara.kit.com/chrisandsara​

And if something in here made you laugh, think, or book a flight… we’d love to hear about it. Just hit reply or tag us @chrisandsara_ on Instagram.

More soon,

Chris & Sara

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