I’m in the car running errands with my teen…the fun stuff: groceries, post office, bank. Really thrilling stuff. We’ve just returned from our Mediterranean cruise, and I am still feeling the effects of jet lag, but I haven’t had any time to really just relax…cause, you know, the thrilling stuff awaits.read more[...]
One of the highlights of our 2013 summer road trip for my kids was where we were ending it: at Disneyland Resort. It was here that we chose to celebrate our middle son's 8th birthday. He waited two and a half weeks on the road for this moment and what resulted was a solid smile from the moment we arrived that lasted pretty much all day. One of the things we knew going into Disneyland w[...]
New York City changes so quickly that what you once knew can be something entirely different a short time later. This ever-evolving shift is the story of New York and as communities come in and out they shape both the landscaping and the culture of the city, sometimes a difficult pill to swallow for those being pushed out or left with the realization that there is no longer a place for the[...]
During my visit to Seattle, I came upon a traveler's paradise: the Metsker Maps of Seattle store. My husband, children, and I all looked at each other with excitement in our eyes. As I admired the many maps from all over the world, a question kept floating around in my head: Where would you go?read more[...]
I have never been to Rome, yet have heard so much about it and I was excited to check it out. Our hosts at Carnival Cruise paid for our (my teen and I) excursion fee, which consisted of a tour called "Rome on Your Own". Basically, it was the hour ride from the port of Civitavecchia into the city of Rome. We did get some tips from our guide along the way, but what you pay for is really the[...]
I was at a press event with a little over 35 other travel writers, bloggers, and brand representatives. I was talking to a travel writer about Japan, extremely curious about it because it is one of the places my family and I want to travel to soon. I asked her what her experience was like. In my question, I was thinking about the food, the pace, the language challenges, and even the cost.[...]
Getting lost in Venice, Italy is somewhat of an expected thing and part of the adventure. When I planned an afternoon for discovering of most of the 118 islands that make up Venice, I came armed with two maps, a GPS, and a mission to get to specific "must-see" sites. What I quickly became aware of was that maps in Venice are useless, the GPS is distracting, and in the middle of summer t[...]
Of course during our 2013 road trip, we had to stop in San Francisco, but by the time we got there we wanted nothing more than to take it slow, keep the activities to a bare minimum, and try simply to enjoy the sites without forcing ourselves into traffic - which as far as West Coast traffic goes, started in San Francisco for us. We felt it immediately as we tried to maneuver our Yukon Den[...]
I am still processing all the details of my experiences during our recent road trip, still going through the words that I want to share here with you. I felt quite different coming back from that journey, before I set off on another. The Carnival Cruise along the Mediterranean with my son was incredible. I mean, it was pretty amazing. There were so many moments of pause, where I couldn'[...]
Sponsorships. It is the factor in many conversations on blogging that often divide the blogger from the journalist, the self-proclaimed ethical writer from the so-called non-ethical one, the true professional from the opportunist. It is the thing that allow elitists to define themselves as being better, not only in character, but in skill and creativity. The number of sponsorships, or paid[...]
