Image of the Great Smoky Mountains

12 Reasons to Visit Asheville, North Carolina

Over Memorial Day weekend this year, we visited Asheville, North Carolina. We’d heard good things about its natural areas and outdoor activities, proximity to Great Smoky Mountains National Park (not to mention the Blue Ridge Parkway!), the Biltmore Estate, and its breweries and restaurants. It also happened to be over our eighth wedding anniversary, so we had fun celebrating that on this trip as well! … Continue reading 12 Reasons to Visit Asheville, North Carolina

Florida Road Trip

Florida Road Trip: 10 Days in Tampa, Miami, the Everglades & the Keys

This month we took an excellent trip to Florida. We flew to Tampa and drove all around southern Florida, hanging out at beaches, looking for wildlife, eating great food, watching sunsets, and taking a nice warm break from the harsh Minnesota winter! I wanted to share our itinerary so you can plan your own trip to Florida, so here’s a brief look at what we … Continue reading Florida Road Trip: 10 Days in Tampa, Miami, the Everglades & the Keys

hammock, palm trees and beach near Nadi, Fiji

12 Reasons to Do a Stopover in Fiji

Originally our “Oceania trip” was just going to be a week in New Zealand and a week in Australia. But while looking to book a flight to New Zealand and thinking about how difficult it was going to be to get up and drive around NZ’s North Island after flying for nearly 24 hours and changing so many time zones, I had a stroke of … Continue reading 12 Reasons to Do a Stopover in Fiji

Vacation in Long Beach California including a stay on the Queen Mary, eating sushi, visiting the Aquarium of the Pacific, and seeing dolphins while whale watching.

24 Hours in Long Beach, California

I didn’t set out to spend time exploring Long Beach, California. In fact, we only ended up there at all because I accidentally booked the wrong flight to Los Angeles. It was a day earlier than our LA to Fiji flight, so we ended up needing to spend about 24 hours in the Los Angeles region. LA and the cities around it are a pretty … Continue reading 24 Hours in Long Beach, California

Peru: Amazon Rainforest (Tambopata Reserve)

After our time in the Andes, we needed a change of pace so we headed to one of Peru’s other famous regions–the Amazon Rainforest. We stayed at a jungle lodge for four days and took wildlife-viewing excursions on foot and by boat everyday… it was an amazing experience! Top Tips for Visiting the Amazon – Weigh your options before choosing your rainforest excursion. There are … Continue reading Peru: Amazon Rainforest (Tambopata Reserve)

10 Fun Things to Do on Santorini

10 Fun Things to Do on Santorini

We loved our visit to Santorini, but life moves a lot slower there than we were used to, so we were always looking for more things to do while we were on the island! We traveled during the off season, in November, so about half of the businesses on Santorini were actually closed – which we didn’t mind–we got to see this gorgeous place sans … Continue reading 10 Fun Things to Do on Santorini