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 and state parks.

In response to the increased tourism to national parks, you now have to purchase a timed ticket to enter Acadia, Arches, Rocky Mountain, Glacier, Shenandoah, Zion, Yosemite, and Redwood National Parks during peak season (generally April-October). This reservation system is for all or parts of these parks. For some trails such as the popular Angel’s Landing in Zion, you need a permit to enter. The lottery system opens two months ahead of time and sells out quickly. This means you need to plan your vacation (no more winging it)!

Before you travel to any national park, check their website for updated information. The pictures below are from our hike up Angel’s Landing in September 2015. This hike should be on your bucket list!

If you are planning on booking a tropical vacation to Mexico or the Caribbean, I highly recommend Funjet Vacations. I used them for my last vacation to Riviera Maya, Mexico and the price included airfare, hotel, transportation, and travel insurance. The prices were competitive but beware that peak season for these areas is our winter season so you’re going to get better deals in the summer time. The pictures below are from our trip in January 2022 to the TRS Yucatan, an adults only resort.

For more trip ideas check out my blogs here. So what’s the take home message: BOOK YOUR TRIP NOW!

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, transportation from the airport, travel insurance, and it was all refundable!

The trip was delayed by 2 days due to a massive snow storm that hit us, but luckily I had travel insurance and my travel agent was able to reschedule everything. Anyone that knows me is aware that this is not my normal vacation but I’m starting to think that I could get use to butler service, a private pool, and fancy restaurants!

Traveling in the world today is difficult with COVID restrictions. Many countries are limiting which tourists can visit. As an example, Greece only allows European Union (EU) tourists into their country right now. Most countries are requiring a vaccine and a negative COVID test to enter. Some countries allow for non-vaccinated tourists but require a 7 day quarantine once you get into the country. Whose got time for that? What happens if you test positive right before you leave for your vacation? Where-ever you decide to visit, be aware that currently the U.S. requires a negative rapid COVID test 24 hours before your departure back to the states.

One of the few countries that has no COVID restrictions is Mexico which is one of the reasons why we chose this destination. The other was cost and weather. Mexico was the best bang for our buck with less hassles and warm weather.

I’m still working on becoming an affiliate for Funjet Vacations so I can get a commission from referrals so stay tuned. In the mean time if you’d like to support my blogs, then next time you shop on Amazon please visit the site through this affiliate link. It’d be nice to at least get paid for the cost of my website which currently is over $300 a year excluding hours and hours of my time.

To read about my recent trip to Mexico please visit my website. It’s not too late to vacation in Mexico this winter!

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 welcoming nature of the locals. If you’ve never been before, I highly recommend it. The culture is like nothing else you have experienced and the food is fantastic!

So it seems like road trips will continue into the near future. So how do you plan a road trip in the United States? There are several websites and apps you can use to help. I love RoadTrippers.com. For an annual fee of $30 you can map out your road trip and each stop along the way (up to 150). For the free version, you can add 5 stops along the way. The fee is well worth it for even 1 road trip a year. They have a promo code for $5 off using the code BTR5QTP.

Another great app is Roadside America. It tells you unique and odd places to visit near where you are driving. On our last trip, we found the Kermit the Frog Museum, Lynyard Skynyrd Plane Crash Memorial Site, and a beautiful boardwalk park through an old cypress swamp. It’s 100% free!

When choosing accommodations and restaurants, I use TripAdvisor as my bible. I have never had a bad experience at a hotel from reading TripAdvisor reviews.

This year we are going on two more road trips: Utah/Las Vegas and Nevada/Las Vegas. The first trip includes a flight to Salt Lake City driving through Utah’s park system with a final stop in Las Vegas to see Lionel Ritchie and Gwen Stefani. Our second trip starts in Reno, Nevada with stops along ghost towns and old mining towns, Death Valley, and a final stop in Las Vegas. Stay tuned for more information and good luck planning your road trip!

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 there or if there will be a new obstacle in our way. It takes teamwork to lift all the rigs up and over these large trunks. After the trip, we sit back and relax over BBQ and beers.

Life is about memories. Yes, it does take a little work to get people together and share an activity but in the end it’s so worth it! I encourage you to find time in your busy schedule to get together with family and friends and make your own memories. If you have an interest in purchasing a kayak and making your own floating memories, check them out here at REI.

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 along the way. It was historically used by Indians, traders, and civil war soldiers.

During the trip we stayed in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia. It was not always easy finding accommodations for two large dogs but for the most part we stayed in some really unique places. You really stand out traveling with two large white fluffy dogs. If it weren’t for them, we would have never met so many amazing people along our way. Check out our trip here.

We loved the south so much, we decided to visit again in February-March 2021. Stay tuned for my upcoming blog about this trip which included Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

I highly recommend a road trip especially since international travel is so up in the air right now with COVID. When planning your trip, try to explore areas outside your comfort zone and places you’ve never thought of visiting. There is something unique about each and every state in our wonderful country whether it be the natural landscape, culture, or food! Check out my Road Trip Packing List to help you plan your next road trip.

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 away bags and bags of stuff.

As the pandemic lingers on, my motivation started to come to a halt. No longer was I cooking healthy foods and going to Pilates. Who wants to wear a mask when you work out? I gained the “COVID 10” or maybe it was 15 but whose counting? I mean the world was in chaos and who knows what tomorrow might bring so why not eat chicken wings and binge on beer?

In October, I decided to foster a dog, Garth, through the National Great Pyrenees Rescue. We increased our herd from two dogs to three dogs and our house now has 300 lbs of dog running around in it. I suffer from moderate anxiety and Garth has been a great support dog. Garth has a higher energy level than we’re used to so my husband and myself now walk all 3 dogs everyday. Getting outside is a great stress reliever! At least once on our walk one of our neighbors driving by stops to chat. Being able to talk to others and that human interaction is what we are all craving right now.

So I guess my message is try to stay motivated. Turn the news off and get outside. And if you must work have some companions to help! By the way Garth is up for adoption!

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 to Panama in late February 2020. I am looking through all the photos I took and tweaking them in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. Some of them are simply getting deleted. Looking at all my attempts at that perfect shot and realizing most of them bombed makes me have more appreciation for photographers ‘back in the day’ that had to shoot with film.

One way you can get into a happy place is by creating a photo book from a past trip. I’ve done several in Shutterfly and they’ve turned out well. It is very easy to navigate and for a small fee they will even create one for you! I share them with my family, friends and coworkers.

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I hear about people cancelling upcoming vacations and hesitating to plan new ones. The worst thing we can do is to not look ahead. While the immediate future is not rainbows and butterflies, in a couple of months, the future will look much more positive. My advice is: don’t cancel vacations, postpone them. This provides you something to look forward to and also helps out the tourism industry which is greatly suffering right now. Not only are the airlines, hotels, and excursion companies losing money, but many countries such as Costa Rica rely on a large majority of their income from tourism.

And if you don’t have any trips planned, start planning one! I wouldn’t suggest you book it right now, but you can start all the legwork, from researching where you want to go, what to see, looking at hotels, flight prices and options, etc. If you’ve never been out of the United States before, I highly recommend Costa Rica as a first international experience. It’s very tourist friendly and easy to navigate. I have found that Costa Ricans are one of the friendliest people in the world.

I currently have a family trip to Namibia and Botswana planned for this summer. Needless to say, we are getting a little nervous. We have a wait-and-see attitude right now. I am hopeful that things will be better by summer, but if we have to, we will postpone it to later in the year. Regardless, I am looking forward to our trip in the future and staying positive.

One tool that always gets my excitement up and helps me learn more about the destination in advance is wildlife guides and books. I always buy wildlife guides and books before a trip. My latest book Mama Namibia is about a young girl trying to escape German soldiers. Namibia just recently gained independence from Germany in 1990. Some Namibian women still dress in Victorian era clothing influenced from the original German colonists.

I also highly recommend watching videos from YouTube bloggers. This is a great way to see if you really want to visit the area and get ideas on what to do. So, while we are riding out this negative chapter in human history, start living for the future and look at happy moments from the past. And if that doesn’t work, grab a drink and watch Netflix’s Tiger King.

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 comment got my thinking. What is a vacation?

A vacation is getting away from life, work, and stress. Sure, some vacations are traveling to far away lands. Places that require a passport and maybe even some vaccines.

But, some vacations are just driving an hour or two away, renting a VRBO, and chilling out for the weekend. A vacation is what you make of it. Can you go back to work and brag about what amazing things and places you visited? Maybe not. But you can go back to work with a better attitude and a sense of renewal. Don’t underestimate the power of relaxation.

For some reason as I am writiting this blog, I remember that old saying “Every destination is like a vacation when you’re traveling in your RV.”

So…… pack your bags, get in your car (or RV) and get out of town!

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 past two years my presents to my dad have been fairly easy. They usually consist of books about where we are going the next year and guides for the wildlife we will be seeing. Plus I always get a couple ideas from the last trip – like the importance of packing cubes. Here are a few gift ideas and “must haves” when traveling.

Luggage Tags

I just discovered these cute luggage tags and had to order one (for myself).  They are a bit pricey but who doesn’t want Lionel Ritchie’s face attached to your luggage? They also have other travel related themed gifts.

Packing Cubes

These things are great! I got some for myself a couple years ago and it really helps you pack and think about minimizing your suitcase. With the packing cubes, I spent more time thinking about outfits for each day and how I could make them go farther (read wear twice). Basically if it didn’t fit into my cubes, I couldn’t bring it! I separated the cubes into pants/shorts, dresses/skirts, shirts, undergarments, and toiletries/medications.

Books

I like to get books about the places I’m traveling to. Reading about where I’m going gets me excited about traveling there.  If you happen to be traveling to Africa this book of short stories about a guide in Botswana is an easy read. It’s a fun read even if you’re not!

I’m also famous for my laminated wildlife guides. These can easily fit in a daypack or a travel vest for a quick guide. My friend in Panama was making fun of me for them until she spotted a bird and asked to borrow it. They also fit into the inside pocket of my travel vest (see next idea)!

Travel Vest

I invested in a travel vest for our African safari. First of all who goes on a safari without a khaki colored vest with tons of pockets? I wore it on the plane in lieu of bringing a purse and had it on when we were out on our 3-4 hour safari treks. I put camera lenses, chapstick, sunglasses, tissues, sunscreen, cell phone etc. in all the pockets. And of course I stashed my laminated guides in the inside pocket! Make sure the color matches your destination (i.e. don’t want bright colors for a safari). You can find cheaper versions here on Amazon.

Passport Holder

Sure, they’re kinda cheesy but they fit around your neck and allow you to put credit cards, passports, money, yellow card (for Yellow Fever vaccination proof) and other items. This is perfect for going through an airport or crossing the borders where you have to show passport and other documents frequently and don’t want to be fumbling through your bags to find all the paperwork.

Wrist wallet

This cute little wrist wallet is great for holding spending money and a credit card while shopping. I’ve gotten lots of compliments on this. I’ve also used it at concerts or going out with friends so I don’t have to bring a purse (which I tend to lose).

Fun Shirts

Every vacation needs a fun shirt (or dress). My dad had a fun shirt while we were in Galapagos and it brought us good luck seeing whales! Fun shirts should be some sort of bright colored floral or tropical theme (think Tommy Bahama).  I love the Exofficio brand. One of my husband’s fun shirts is below (in blue not tan). It doesn’t wrinkle much and is lightweight/moisture wicking. Another cheap resource for mens’ fun shirts is Sierra Trading Post. I got a fun shirt for my husband there for $20. They are kinda hit or miss with sizes and selection but they have some great deals!

My fun shirt when we went to Africa last year was a take on Las Vegas and read “What Happens on Safari Stays on Safari”. I didn’t get as many comments on it as I hoped for but not sure that saying is popular anywhere outside the U.S.

I also have fun dresses. I love Prana dresses. Most of them have a built in bra which is super comfortable when you’re out all day and provides surprisingly good support. Plus they come in fun colors and patterns.

Compression Socks

Not sexy but great for long flights due to the increase risk of developing blot clots. They do come in fun colors now so they’re not so much like your grandma’s brown and black compression socks. I wore them on our 18 hour flight to Africa and after talking with a coworker who went on an equally long flight to Nepal and had some leg issues, I’m glad I did!

Hats

I need to get a new hat for traveling. Hats are a necessity on any vacation to keep the sun out. The Real Deal Brazil Hat is great for men. It’s kinda like a Crocodile Dundee meets Indiana Jones – kinda sexy.

I like hats that are foldable and I can pack in my bag.  Now that I think about it. I should have added this one to my Christmas list!

Underwear!

After having to pack only 30 lbs for a 2 ½ week trip I learned to pack lightly. This includes washing your underwear. I love Exofficio underwear. They are super comfy and quick dry. You can wash them in your hotel sink and they will be dry in a couple hours. They also make them for men (who doesn’t want underwear for Christmas?). They are on sale right now (as of December 5, 2019) for 40% off which is a deal! My favorite are these.

Travel Scarf

I love my travel scarf. It has a hidden pocket in it which fits a surprisingly large amount of items while still going undetected. I bought mine from Waypoint Goods. They have a huge amount of patterns and are well made (not thin).

So there are so many more products that I use when I travel but these are my must-haves.

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 Canon EOS Rebel T7i in 2019 (much more than $250). How could I have spent all that money on travel expenses to see my favorite animal, the anteater, and not have gotten one good shot? How can I tell a story of my adventures with only mediocre and blurry pictures? The pictures are a big part of the story.

I am planning a big trip next July to Namibia and Botswana and you can bet I will have the pictures this time to match the magnificence of these countries. I recently purchased a new lens for my camera (Tamron 18-400). I never thought I’d be a “shutterbug” as my husband calls me. I find myself trying to increase my knowledge and capabilities. I even took a photography class at my local community college and signed up for a monthly subscription of Lightroom and Photoshop so I can make my photos look amazing.  

As I have become mildly obsessed with getting that perfect shot I have also realized that I need to take a step backwards. This means putting down the camera and enjoying the moment whether it be the sounds and sights of the macaws in Costa Rica or just observing rhinos drinking from a watering hole in Tanzania.

Whatever your next adventure leads you, don’t forget to take those unforgettable photos but remember to step back and enjoy the moment as well.