You need to plan your vacation early and April is a good time to start! People are booking their accommodations much earlier, even as much as a year in advance. With COVID on the decline, everyone wants to travel and that means more of a demand on hotels, private rentals such as VRBO‘s, and national …
Author Archives: Mel
Vacation in Mexico
Hello and happy National Vacation Day (6 days late)! Apparently I’m still on vacation in Mexico as I couldn’t get this written in time. I just got back from a week long stay at TRS Yucatan all-inclusive resort in Riviera Maya, Mexico booked through Funjet Vacations. Through Funjet, I was able to book hotel, flight, …
Road Trips are Back!
I have been wishfully thinking that international travel would be back and running in 2021. I was wrong. Since the pandemic we have been on two road trips (both to the deep south). Our last trip in February 2021 included Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama. We chose the South because of less restrictions and the …
Getting Outside
Every year I get together with friends and do a canoe trip down the Patuxent River in Maryland. It’s always a lot of fun and while we encounter downed trees along the way that require some maneuvering, it’s these obstacles that create the memories. Every year we wonder if that huge tree will still be …
The Road Less Traveled: Natchez Trace
In October 2020, my husband, myself and our two dogs drove the Natchez Trace Parkway from Nashville, TN to Natchez, MS. It took us 14 days, 60 hours and nearly 2,800 miles from Maryland. The original Natchez Trace Trail dates back to the 1700’s and winds in and out of the parkway with historic markers …
Staying Motivated and Sane
So its been a while since my last post. I’ve been working from home and essentially had more time but have been finding myself less motivated. At the start of the pandemic I was cleaning out the house per Marie Kondo’s advise on Tidying Up. I had all my shirts folded just right and threw …
Staying Positive During COVID-19
Sometimes it’s hard to focus on the future and stay positive when the present is so scary. I am choosing to focus on the past and the future. It helps me get through the day as the present is not looking so good. Today I am reflecting on a trip I took with my husband …
Vacation: Defined
I’m here in Pittsburgh for a long weekend visiting a very good friend of mine. I was telling her about my upcoming vacation plans. Her response was “We haven’t gone on a vacation since our honeymoon five years ago”. I knew that was incorrect as her and her husband went to the keys recently. That …
Holiday Gifts for Travelers
Tis the season to write a blog about buying gifts for the travelers in your life. Every year I struggle to find the perfect presents for my family. Sometimes my gifts are hits, sometimes duds. For the last two years my husband and I have taken one trip every year with my dad. So the …
Photographing your Memories
As I finish up another page (Costa Rica 2017) I come to the realization that most of my pictures just aren’t very good. I had a point and shoot camera that I paid $250 for and at the time I thought “Wow! I really have a good camera.” This was before my purchase of my …