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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.

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.
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.
Seek out Adventure! Try something that gets your heart pounding. Adventure can be found in your backyard, just start somewhere.
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.
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.
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.
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.

Orpheum Theater Phoenix | Arizona History and Architecture

My favorite, and the most luxurious theater in Phoenix is the Orpheum Theater in downtown Phoenix.

Home to performances from the Phoenix Theater League, comedians, and high quality shows. Capacity is less than 1400 seats, which means there really are no bad seats. Even mediocre views are easily avoided by skipping the last 10 rows lower level or last 5 rows on the balcony.

Originally opened in 1929 in the Spanish Baroque architecture style, the 1997 restoration gave the theater amazing acoustics and modern lighting while keeping the Roaring 20’s class. The theater itself is beautiful, with new details inside and out to be discovered during every visit.

Orpheum balcony seating from lower level — Orpheum lower level seating looking up to the balcony

The seat rows are a smidge close (not as much leg room as Phoenix Symphony Hall). Seats on the interior aisle are a great option for taller people or anyone needing a little more room.

Beverage bars serving wine, coffee, and light snacks are open before and during intermission for performances. The bathroom lines tend to be short and fast moving. Every comfort is provided in the Orpheum. The ground level lobby is small, venture downstairs to the lower level bar (not always open), large area for mingling, and restrooms.

Performances at the Orpheum are a great excuse for date night, family afternoon matinees, girls’ night out, and more. Incorporate one of the nearby restaurants for the perfect dinner and a show event.

Winter in NYC Tourist Highlights | Frugal and Fun Activities around New York City

New York City is a busy, loud bustle of activity and I love it! Coming from the hot, dry desert, NYC is especially magical in the Winter. I never stay as long as I want, nor do everything on my travel list, since NYC is so expensive.

Here are my favorite, and best value, activities for NYC in the winter.

First, the FREE stuff!

Grand Central Station – Officially known as Grand Central Terminal, this may be your first stop when arriving in NYC. A major hub for trains, this busy station is a destination for most tourists. Take a moment and look up at the elaborate astronomical ceiling in the Main Concourse, clocks, and sculptures throughout.

Rockefeller Center – Check out the world famous Christmas tree (perfect for selfies), golden sculpture of Prometheus, and Ice Skating rink. Do not let the crowds scare you away, add people watching to your activities at the center.

Macy's Herald Square — Macy’s Herald Square

Department Store Window Display – Walk down 5th Ave and check out the Window displays starting at Bloomingdale’s (closer to 3rd Ave), and moving on to Barney’s, Tiffany’s, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks, Lord & Taylor, and Macy’s Herald Square. These are no ordinary displays! Every year these stores create an impressive display of movement, animatronics, light shows, music, color, and imagination!

Empire State Building – Visible all along 5th Ave, the Empire State Building is best viewed from Herald Square, a perfect accompaniment to the Window Displays. There are restaurants, shopping, and elevator rides to the observation decks (not free, not cheap, but a bucket list item for many people).

Central Park – Walk around and take in the NYC skyline view from the park. Wear comfortable walking shoes to explore tip to tip of this impressive park. Bundle up and check out all the spots featured in TV and Movies. The best time to go is after fresh snowfall, it is simple stunning!

Times Square – No trip to NYC is complete without walking through Times Square. Known as the Crossroads of the World, so many activities will lead you to Times Square, in fact, it is difficult to visit NYC without passing through.

High Value Activities (do whatever your budget allows)

Radio City Music Hall view from the Mezzanine level

Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular – The best seats to see the entire show, and intricately choreographed Rockettes dancing, is from the First Mezzanine. There are several shows per day, and the earliest and latest shows tend to be less expensive. These tickets sell out fast, so buy your tickets as soon as possible.

Broadway Show – This is where travelling solo really has advantage, buying a single ticket is easier and you get better seating for one. Check out show availability and prices, certain nights and showtimes are cheaper than others. I scored 6th row center seats to Lion King for Thursday night, when Friday was completely sold out!

Russian Tea Room – Stop in for Breakfast, 3 course lunch, Pre & Post Theatre 3 Course Dinner, or between meal time for a drink (hot or cold, plus full bar). The decor, ambiance, and amazing artwork is well worth the visit.

NYC Observation Decks – Rockefeller Center offers views at Top of The Rock, Empire State Building, One World Observatory all require (pricey) tickets to access the observation decks. I paid to visit one observation deck years ago, now I try to book reservations at restaurants that are on high floors of skyscrapers.

Hotels, Food and Drink are more expensive than comparable cities throughout the US. Less expensive deals can be found, do your research and assume that if a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is in NYC. Above all, take advantage of all the free and fabulous sights the city has to offer!

Want more? Wanderlustingk has are even more tips for Thanksgiving, New Year’s Eve, and holiday activity around New York!

Beach getaway in Isla Verde, Puerto Rico

Outside of San Juan, just a few minutes from the Airport, is beautiful Isla Verde district of Carolina, Puerto Rico. Close enough to Old San Juan for the tourists, convenient for business in San Juan city center, and perched on the northern coast beach. We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott, but any of the beach front hotels in Isla Verde or Condado are a good choice. The area is a popular destination for business conventions, family vacations, and weekend getaways from the Mainland South and East Coast cities.

That Time I Went to Phoenix Comicon and Stood in Line

I am a sci-fi fan, an IT geek, and I like to play dress up at Halloween. I have never been to Comicon, or any con for that matter. For the last several years many of my friends attend and cannot understand why I am not there. So, this year I bought tickets for Comicon. Actually, they do not sell tickets, you have to buy a Membership to gain entrance for one or more days. Fine, I paid for my membership and I am ready to explore everything “Con”, specifically Phoenix Comicon 2015, has to offer.

My guidelines and basic strategy:

I do not pay for autographs or for photo ops with anyone. I do not care who you are, not gonna happen.

I do not wait in long lines for very many things. Even Space Mountain has Fast Pass – totally worth it.

I really do not like crowds. I love to people watch, but I prize my personal space more.

Authors Wesley Chu (middle) and Myke Cole (black Brooklyn shirt)

I attended a few hours Thursday afternoon and all day Friday. Thursday I attended in regular clothes, then several friends told me that I would have more fun in costume. It was not possible for me to have less fun, so Friday I wore a Steampunk outfit. I attended several panels including science, costuming, and a couple SciFi/Fantasy author panels (the author panels were by far the best that I attended, and can be seen at BOOK events).

I walked around Mos Eisley (Star Wars area) and Lego displays, along with many other themed areas for photos. I waited almost an hour for the over-hyped 5 minute Zombie walk Friday evening (where there was little walking, Zombie security yelling “hold the line”, and play fighting). I walked the entire exhibition hall, which is a very large shopping area full of comics, dust collectors, costume stuff, and other over priced items that I do not need to clutter my house. I ended up buying a few items for Renaissance Festival (2 vendors that do not attend AZ Ren Faire, but 1 that I actively stalk on Etsy).

Basically, I learned the most important/popular things to do at Comicon are:

# 1 Photos – People take lots of photos. Pay to have their photo taken with celebrities, pose for photos in front of decorative backdrop, group photos with similarly dresses people, photos with SciFi themed props, and more photos.

# 2 Celebrities – Pay for photo taken with celebrity (#1 above), Pay (separate transaction, complete with separate line to stand in) for celebrity autograph, listen to celebrity in a panel lecture or discussion.

# 3 Panels – Watch celebrity panels (#2 above), attend various themed panels on a wide range of topics (most of which you can watch similar or better on YouTube/Netflix), run a panel (the criteria to run a panel is a pulse and ability to verbalize sounds).

# 4 Costumes – People dress up as everything. I saw Harry Potter characters, Steampunk, Dr. Who, Super Heroes, Game of Thrones, Furries, and a crap ton of other outfits that I have no idea what they are.

Comic books and collectibles at Phoenix Comicon — Comic books and collectibles

# 5 Shopping – Comic books, art, t-shirts, costumes, collectibles, and so much more to buy.

Long lines for an event that was overdue to start

The panels and events were poorly managed resulting in long lines, and late starts for scheduled events.

This is my first, last, and only time that I ever will attend Comicon, and most likely any time of con in the future. Some people had fun. Many of my friends look forward to this all year and have a great time. Not for me.

Tag: family activities

7 Destinations to Visit in Your Lifetime

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Orpheum Theater Phoenix | Arizona History and Architecture

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Winter in NYC Tourist Highlights | Frugal and Fun Activities around New York City

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Beach getaway in Isla Verde, Puerto Rico

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That Time I Went to Phoenix Comicon and Stood in Line

My guidelines and basic strategy:

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