Title image of couple and dog camping for Minnesota North Shore Autumn camping trip article

Autumn Camping Trip on Minnesota’s North Shore

Since international travel wasn’t safe or possible during most of this year, we decided to explore an area of our home state, Minnesota, a little more in-depth this September with a one-week camping trip along the North Shore along Lake Superior. We’d explored this area before, especially around the Duluth area, but hadn’t done a camping trip before. The third week of September was a … Continue reading Autumn Camping Trip on Minnesota’s North Shore

Photo of Schonnbrunn Palace with overlay text reading "36 Hours in Vienna"

36 Hours in Vienna

I’ve been a fan of Vienna ever since I read some of Eva Ibbotson’s novels as a kid. As I learned more over the years–of Gustav Klimt and the Secession movement, its musical past (Beethoven, Mozart, and many others had connections to the city), the winter ball season, the Spanish Riding School with its prancing white Lipizzaners stallions–I fell even more in love with the … Continue reading 36 Hours in Vienna

How To Immerse Yourself in a Foreign Language at Home

How to Immerse Yourself in a Foreign Language at Home

It has often been said that the best way to learn a foreign language quickly is to go the total immersion route – to travel to a country where the language is spoken and push yourself to use it daily in a place where it surrounds you. I have to agree; I’ve been learning or speaking Spanish for about 12 years of my life now, … Continue reading How to Immerse Yourself in a Foreign Language at Home

Delhi to Kathmandu: 17 Days in India & Nepal

Delhi to Kathmandu: 17 Days in India & Nepal

We recently got back from a two-and-a-half-week trip through India and Nepal, with a brief stopover in Turkey on the way home. It was an incredible trip that took us from Delhi to Kathmandu, visiting amazing places like Jaipur, the Taj Mahal, the holy city of Varanasi, Chitwan National Park, Buddha’s birthplace, and a Himalayan base camp on the way! Most of the trip was … Continue reading Delhi to Kathmandu: 17 Days in India & Nepal

15 Aussie Animals to See On Your Trip - with picture of koala

15 Native Aussie Animals To See On Your Trip

Australia is a land known for their unique wildlife, including many that are found nowhere else in the world. As we approach the one-year anniversary of our time on that continent, I thought it would be fun to do a post about 15 native animals that you should try to see while you’re in Australia! I knew I wanted to spend time at a zoo … Continue reading 15 Native Aussie Animals To See On Your Trip

Bonneville Speed Week 2019

Bonneville Speed Week 2019

This year was Ryan’s and my third time attending Bonneville Speed Week. Since I’ve already created a Bonneville Speed Week travel guide and posted additional tips for attending Speed Week, I thought this year I’d just share some photos from our trip! Speed Week was delayed a few days this year due to a thunderstorm, so we rearranged our trip a little and began our … Continue reading Bonneville Speed Week 2019

Trail in Tongariro National Park

How to Choose North vs. South Island New Zealand

Traveling the world while maintaining a full time job and a life at home often feels like a series of very hard choices. Where to go this year, how do you fit in enough during your two week vacation without overdoing it, etc. Whether to visit the North or South Island in New Zealand became one of those difficult choices for me while planning our … Continue reading How to Choose North vs. South Island New Zealand

12 Days in Italy, Austria, and Germany

My friend Carrie was planning on visiting Europe with her husband this January, but in December some things came up on the farm and he was no longer able to go. I stepped in so that she wouldn’t have to cancel the trip, because I had some American Airlines points to spend and hey, I hadn’t been to Europe in a while. ๐Ÿ˜‰ We had … Continue reading 12 Days in Italy, Austria, and Germany

Maria Alm, Austria: A Winter Wonderland

19 Photos that Prove Maria Alm, Austria is a Winter Wonderland

On my trip to Europe with Carrie we ended up staying in Maria Alm, a lovely ski town located a two hour train ride south of Salzburg in the Austrian Alps. Her husband’s parents had time share credit they needed to use, so Carrie used it at Alpenland Sporthotel there. I had never heard of Maria Alm before – and I’m not a particularly big … Continue reading 19 Photos that Prove Maria Alm, Austria is a Winter Wonderland