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. 😉 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

Reefs & Rainforest: 10 Fun Things To Do Near Cairns, Australia

Originally when we were thinking about traveling to Australia, we were going to focus our time around the Sydney area. We knew we only had about a week to give, so we couldn’t do a full road trip around the continent (as I’d love to do someday!) so we figured we could spend our time in Sydney and its surrounds. But then we made some … Continue reading Reefs & Rainforest: 10 Fun Things To Do Near Cairns, Australia

Glowworms & More: 5 Things to Do in Waitomo, New Zealand

After checking out the sights around Rotorua and Tongariro National Park, our next stop on New Zealand’s North Island was Waitomo, where you can see the famous glowworm caves! Those are a fantastic experience, but we found plenty of other things to do in the beautiful Waitomo area as well. (1) Glowworm Tour Options There are many options to see glowworms around Rotorua, including the … Continue reading Glowworms & More: 5 Things to Do in Waitomo, New Zealand

8 Must-Do Activities in Rotorua and Taupo, New Zealand

8 Rotorua, New Zealand Must-Dos

The city of Rotorua and its surrounding area (which I’ll say includes Taupo for the sake of this post) is a small town along the lake of the same name on New Zealand’s North Island. It really is a must-visit if you’re touring NZ, and you’ll find a wide variety of things to do there. Read on for a few must-dos, as well as suggestions … Continue reading 8 Rotorua, New Zealand Must-Dos

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