Category: Travel

Benefits of Slow Travel

As I mature (which is a nice way to say, get older), my approach to travelling is changing.  In my early 20’s, I had a checklist of places to visit.  Before the term bucket list was coined and the creation of Pinterest, I literally had a world map on my wall that I would stick a push-pin into after visiting each city.

Weekend in Stirling, Scotland Spring 2001
Weekend in Stirling, Scotland Spring 2001

I had a magnificent job that sent me to work in the United Kingdom for almost a year, twice!  Travel was forever changed for me.  Sure, I used London as my home base to travel Europe on the weekends, but the push-pin strategy never satisfied my wanderlust.  I collected many pins, but it was not enough.

Even a few days in a city is only long enough for me to decide what I need to do and see on my next visit, and discover the hidden gems from locals. My first visit to Paris was a mere 3 days, barely enough time to see the top 5 tourist attractions (Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, the Louve, Notre Dame, and Champs Elysees) and very little else (and there is so much more to see).  I felt rushed.  I felt like a tacky American tourist – maybe, because I was.

Mardi Gras week long celebrations with my Sister 1999
Mardi Gras week with my Sister 1999

After a few more hurried trips, I realized that break-neck speed of travel is exhausting.  I do not want to spend more time in transit than exploring.  In the last decade, I started to slow down, put down the guide book, and talk to the locals.   Simple curiosity and a good attitude have resulted in invitations to private country estates, weekends in sleepy little villages, multiple wedding receptions around the world, cheering with the fans for local amateur sports teams, and so much more off the beaten path activities.  I am simply not satisfied by sheer number of cities visited, I want to connect and savor the destination.

Horse ride in Banff, Canada
Horse ride in Banff, Canada

Granted, slow travel is a luxury.  Not everyone can spend weeks at a vacation destination.  10 days in Cancun enabled me to complete my Scuba certification start to finish, with a couple extra dives at the end.  Weekend trips are focused on a few activities at a destination, and almost always followed up with a longer visit to see more. Continue reading “Benefits of Slow Travel”

Over view of Fajardo, Puerto Rico | Beaches, Bio Bay, and More

Overview of Fajardo, Puerto Rico for Seven Seas beach, Bio Bay kayaking tours, scuba, dining, and the El Conquistador hotel.

Our first experience with Puerto Rico was Old San Juan, and I was hooked!  When planning our next visit, we knew we needed more time, and we wanted to explore several areas of the island.  We started in beautiful Isla Verde, just outside of San Juan, then rented a car and headed out to Fajardo for a few days.  Six months later, I find myself back in Fajardo.

2016_Fajardo Sign

Fajardo is an hour East of San Juan, at the meeting point for the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea on the Northeast tip of the island.  Fajardo boasts one of the world’s rare bioluminescent bays, a must-see at night during the new moon, when it is darkest.

Continue reading “Over view of Fajardo, Puerto Rico | Beaches, Bio Bay, and More”

Blame the Airline | Who is at Fault and What You Can Do About It

Our first response is to blame the airline when air travel goes wrong. Let’s look at five common air travel woes and determine who is at fault, and what you can do about it!

Late flight?  Stuck on the tarmac?  Lost luggage?  Something missing from your luggage? Cancelled flight?

These are ALL an annoying part of air travel.

As a frequent flyer, and former airline employee (focused on baggage handling technology), I am amazed at everything travelers blame on the airline.  Some things are absolutely the airlines fault, such as giving your seat away, bad service, and rude employees! But airlines give blamed for everything, even the other problems that aren’t in their control and definitely not their fault.

Our first response is to blame the airline when air travel goes wrong. Let’s review five common air travel woes and determine who is at fault, and what you can do about it!

Continue reading “Blame the Airline | Who is at Fault and What You Can Do About It”

Explore Your Own Backyard | Travel Tips to Discover Your Local Treasures

Travel tips to discover the local treasures hidden in your backyard!

For as long as I can remember I have had the Travel Bug, my Dad calls this my “itchy feet” since I could never stand still.  I loved going on road trips and vacation getaways with my family as a child, then exploring on my own as I got older.  I was excited to get my Passport so I could travel to distant lands and experience the World!

Explore Your Own Backyard

After two trips outside the United States I realized that my hometown of Phoenix, Arizona was an exotic location for many people.  The locals that I was visiting were just as fascinated by USD currency, desert climate, and the “wild, wild, west” as I was with their home.  Some of my new British friends even made the trek out to Phoenix to see for themselves.  Treating my home as base camp, we explored my neighborhood through tourist eyes.  And I discovered treasure in my own backyard!

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7 Destinations to Visit in Your Lifetime

Here is my ultimate travel list of 7 destinations that everyone should visit in their lifetime.Hawaii_silhouette

  1. Connect with family – Visit where your parents were born and raised. Learn how they grew up, listen to childhood stories, and get to know the experiences that shaped your parents lives. Look at the photos from their childhood and visit those locations to see how they have changed.  Ask questions about achievements, struggles, silly stories, and the mundane daily tasks.  Find the storyteller in your family, and just listen.
  2. Research your ancestors and stroll through your homeland, as far back as you can discover. Learn your history and culture.  Try the food.  What is the national activity or sport?  What traditions have carried over into your family?  Watch for all of the faces that look like you.  Find gravestones and landmarks with your family names (maternal and past generations).  Walk through the living history of your ancestors past.
  3. Seek out Adventure! Try something that gets your heart pounding.  Adventure can be found in your backyard, just start somewhere.
  4. Push beyond your comfort zone – Travel alone, visit a big city, stretch your physical limits, go beyond your usual activities. Now is the time to try something new, that scares you, just a little.
  5. Visit Poverty and a place of hardship – Volunteer and contribute to improve an impoverished area or situation. Provide assistance after a natural disaster.  Helping others and seeing how little some people live with will remind you how much you really have, and leave a better appreciation of how good your life is.  Make the world a better place, by starting in your hometown and make this part of your life style.
  6. Take a mini Luxury Vacation – Save up for an opulent getaway and indulge in a wildly extravagant trip. This will teach you the value of saving, waiting, and anticipation.  Reward your discipline and discover the abundance available in exchange for hard work.  Find the activity and location that will motivate you to set higher goals for achievement.  Learn what your definition of “Success” looks like.
  7. Find your Peace – Where is your Happy Place? Different for everybody, and never marked with an X on the map, your place of peace is the journey of discovering who you are.  And for that precious moment, you will know, it is exactly where you are meant to be at the exact moment.  Once you find it, finding your peace is easier each time.