A Mother/Teen Daughter Travel Blog
If you are like us and love to travel, then you probably enjoy bringing home souvenirs from your trips. For us, it may be something special we’ve purchased, while other times it is something free we have collected along the way. Bringing treasures home keeps your travels alive visually and if you creatively display the items, they are happy reminders of the memories you’ve created.
Packing light is essential for a relaxed and stress-free vacation. There are always mishaps that occur when traveling and the last thing you want is to deal with is lugging multiple cumbersome suitcases along with you as you travel.
When I think back to dark days of packing ignorance when almost every article of clothing from my closet was stuffed into numerous suitcases, paying $50 fees for an overweight luggage and carrying heavy bags through cities, up flights of stairs, on and off buses, I have to laugh at myself. Furthermore, more than half of the items I packed were never used or worn. I truly believe I have finally mastered the art of packing light for our travels.
There is no place on earth like The City of Canals. It is a magical dream. From the moment we got off the train, we were mesmerized.
Because we had limited time in Venice, we decided to take a tour on the first day and then explore on our own the second day. Here is a summary of our first day with Skip The Line tour by Viator.
Growing up, I had the privilege of going on many cruises because my parents absolutely loved to cruise. As an adult, and a mom, I had never planned a cruise vacation until a few years ago, wanting my kids to experience the difference between a resort vacation and an adventure at sea. We took a Caribbean cruise from Miami to the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Grand Turk, St.Thomas and St. John. It was amazing family bonding time; however, after the trip, I couldn’t help but reflect on the pros and cons of cruising. For me personally, the pros as cons weigh pretty evenly, and I believe it really comes down to personal preferences.
Brooke and I are often searching for inspirational travel quotes. We love them. We find great ones online and send them to each other. We discuss their meanings. While there are hundreds of beautiful and profound travel quotes that have been written by great philosophers and travel gurus, we’ve narrowed down our favorite to the list below of our “Top 15” (We originally wanted our list to be a “Top Ten” but just couldn’t agree which ones to eliminate) Hope you enjoy them and reflect on their meanings in your own life. And although this didn’t make our list–Keep Calm and Travel!
There are so many search engines out there today, it is overwhelming to search for the cheapest flights. And as we all know, the more flexible you are with your travel dates, the more fare options you have, so for someone with a flexible schedule, spending endless hours searching for great flights may be appealing. However, being an elementary school teacher, I am locked into fixed dates, so I’ve got to utilize other resources to find reasonable fares–especially if my family of five is traveling. Furthermore, I truly abhor spending hours searching online for the cheapest flights, so here are the three most efficient, time saving, money saving ways I fly:
Starting right now, for one month, track every dollar you spend on discretionary items. Leave nothing out–every single triple venti iced, sugar-free, vanilla latte with soy milk, every spontaneous shopping spree, every midday snack from the vending machine or drive-thru, all of your other indulgences such as drinking, smoking, movies–jot it down to the penny. After the month is up, come back to this blog and continue reading.
Last spring I ended up in Emergency Room three times in a week with the worst stomach ache I’ve ever had in my entire life. My parents thought it had to be my appendix or gall bladder. After numerous tests, the doctors could find nothing wrong and sent me home with painkillers. A week later, the pain was so unbearable and I began vomiting blood (sorry if tmi) and this time I was admitted into the hospital for four nights. After extensive testing, and thousands of dollars in medical bills (sorry Mom and Dad), it turned out that I have a gluten allergy. Read more
When Brooke and I travel, we often have long layovers. Whether using mileage or paying for airfare, it is much more cost effective to book non-direct flights. Rather than view this down time as torturous monotony, we have created a list of things to do during this expanse of free time. Layovers honestly don’t have to mean endless hours of sitting on uncomfortable benches or staring at the clock waiting for your adventure to begin. Brooke and I have in fact, actually changed our mindsets and view a layover as a fun and memorable part of each journey. So what do we do during our long layovers? Read more
We visited Cinque Terre in July, and although it was sweltering hot, it was one of the most amazing experiences of our lives. We’ve never been to a place more beautiful. There are truly no words to explain the feeling in your heart when you are here, but we will give it our best try. Read more
Pedis-n-Passports 