Last year, we decided to celebrate my 35th by taking a road trip in southern Portugal. Bryan flew in early for work and he planned the beginning of the trip, so when he picked me up at the Lisbon airport, I didn’t know what to expect. We drove about three hours south and, to my surprise and delight, the first stop was absolutely perfect.
Read MoreWhen our trip to Ecuador fell through, we ended up making a visit to Cartagena. I’m so glad we did (though I still hope to get to Ecuador someday)! Cartagena is a beautiful city for eating and enjoying life. The walled Old City takes you back in time, with uneven stone streets and historic squares. Colorful buildings and art give it a contemporary vibe.
Read MoreWhen our flights to Ecuador were canceled, it was time for a new plan to celebrate Bryan’s 40th birthday.
Read MoreFor the past three years, most of the vacations I’ve taken have been “work-cations” where I teach on yoga and surf retreats with Surf Sweat Serve. But this year, I decided I needed a 100% vacation, so I decided to sign up for a yoga retreat with my local New Jersey studio, Yoga Bohemia. No teaching, just taking it all in and enjoying classes taught by my lovely yogi friends.
Read MoreOn New Year’s Day, we set off to explore a new place: Borneo. This revelation has left many friends and family members scratching their heads asking, “What is Borneo?” “Where is Borneo?” and “Why Borneo?” Well, Borneo is the third-largest island in the world (not counting continents), and it’s off the east coast of Malaysia. It’s bigger than I ever knew!
Read MoreI’m still catching up on my travels! It’s March and I’ve been on a few flights already this year. Right after Christmas, my boyfriend and I flew to Singapore. He needed to go there for work, but we departed a week early to squeeze in some vacation time. The hotel was expensed, and I would only needed to pay for my flight, so I said “Alright, let’s go!”
Read MoreWell, this post has been a long time coming. But a couple months ago, my boyfriend and I loaded the Bailey dog into the car and took ourselves on a sweet southern road trip. Our main destination was St. Augustine, FL because the yoga studio where I teach here just opened up a new location down there. We aimed to do some yoga, surf, and enjoy the warmer weather, and that’s exactly what we did.
St. Augustine was very charming. I can see why Katie, our beloved Yoga Bohemia studio owner, couldn’t resist signing a lease down there. The streets were quiet during the week we stayed (they would pick up for the Night of Lights right after we left.) There were plenty of great restaurants with delicious food, and some quirky little bars, like Tini Martini, which was fully decked out for the light show.
We enjoyed a week of working from our Airbnb (with a couple days off of course), and learning more about the history of the U.S.’s oldest city. One of the highlights was touring Ft. Matanzas National Monument. Other highlights include eating a million biscuits and surfing under a sunset rainbow… the mental pictures are unbeatable!
St. Augustine favorites:
The Floridian for dinner
The Kookaburra for coffee and aussie pies
Ice Plant Bar for dinner and drinks
Beachside Diner for breakfast
Island Donuts for donuts, of course
Surf Station for all the surf stuff
On the way back, we spent a couple nights in Jacksonville Beach. It wasn’t my favorite since the main busy highway bumps right up to the beach. I didn’t find it to be a very enjoyable walking city, but it had it’s charms—like this barbecue board.
Jacksonville Beach favorites:
The Bearded Pig for barbecue
Jax Beach Brunch Haus (worth the wait for breakfast)
The biscuit fest would continue on as we kept driving north and stopped in Savannah briefly to visit my mom and stepdad. The weather was surprisingly cold for the south in November. I was hoping for summer and definitely didn’t pack the right clothing items for this trip!
We had a nice time staying at the pet-friendly Thunderbird Inn. This surely won’t be a comprehensive list of all my Savannah favorites, but these are the ones we made it to this time.
Savannah favorites:
The Olde Pink House is a classic
Zunzis has changed so much since its food truck days (and maybe not for the best), but the sandwiches still amaze
The Thunderbird Inn was a fun, pet-friendly hotel
Moodrights was casual and quirky for Bingo night
I love a good road trip and was so happy to have some company this time!
I swear I’ll get back to the present moment soon, but I did my first post-Covid international travel in August. It was a gorgeous week in Amsterdam to celebrate my best friend from elementary, middle, and high school’s wedding. It’s a beautiful thing to have friends that you’ve known and have known you for that long. Celebrate it wherever you can!
I’ll admit that I almost didn’t make the trip, because of all the uncertainty in the world. But I’m so glad I changed my mind due to a high sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) and some irresistable booking.com specials.
Amsterdam is a quaint city full of canals, flowers, and cute houseboats. It was actually my third time visiting (as I’ve mentioned, I’m spoiled by life). I went on a soccer trip in high school where we hit all the tourist spots. And a party trip in college for the red light district and coffee shops, during which we wandered around aimlessly until every day ended up in a hangry search for snacks. This time I simply wanted to ride bikes in parks and sit to slip my coffee nice and slow.
Arrival day was jet-lagged, and I can’t say I gave the Van Gogh Museum the full attention it deserved. But I recuperated from walking outside in the Vondelpark. I’m happy to say my body clock adjusted quickly after a good night’s sleep, and I was feeling fully refreshed for the wedding weekend.
I visited the daily street markets to try plenty of Dutch delicacies. My favorites were stroopwafels (like a firm waffle/cookie sandwich with caramel in the center) and poffertjes (puffy pancake balls covered in powdered sugar). I won’t rush back to the fried herring stand, but most everything else was delicious.
I secured my bike rental from the hotel and took it on a grand adventure across the city to the Amsterdam Forest. I’d heard about a little family goat farm where you can touch and feed the animals. I also heard about their yummy apple pie, and that’s my kind of a day.
There was an art and sculpture festival happening on the way back, so I passed through one of the “hip” parts of the city.
EVERYONE rides bikes here. Did you know? And I mean everyone…
The “rehearsal night” was a dinner cruise down a canal with some tasty Indonesian food.
And the wedding was perfectly intimate in a majestic little garden. Audrey and Nelson make a very fun and photogenic couple.
The weather report had predicted rain all week, but it hardly rained at all. The wedding day was ideal and I loved my first steps out of the country in a while.
We capped off the road trip with a stop to visit my sister in Harrisburg, PA. She always has new places to show us, and the weekend was nice enough to spend a lot of time outside. Central Pennsylvania always has a lot to offer as far as hiking goes.
I had been planning to visit during the weekend of Spring Fest, a craft and shopping fair at Gray Apple Market. We kept that on the agenda. We always find a ton of cute stuff and, as a crafter, I leave inspired thinking of things I could make myself. The guys agreed to stay for the live music and free sangria.
My sister’s boyfriend beat us all (as usual) in mini golf. And on Sunday, we had brunch with the very best brussels sprouts.
I was almost ready to be home and in one place, but I always love a visit to Harrisburg!
It’s been a couple of years now since I had a National Park Pass, but boy do I miss it!
I added another park to the list when Eric and I were driving back up from North Carolina. We decided against the I-95 route through Richmond and Washington D.C. on a Friday. The Shenandoah region was much more our speed.
We drove through a good portion of the park, and stopped for a short hike to the Black Rock Summit. It took about 40 minutes and the trail was unmarked/a little confusing, but we made it to some great views.
I think my road trip rules are as follows: Always choose the scenic route and stop for as many nature breaks as time allows. Then it was back into the car and off to PA for the weekend.
I always tend to make a few stops in North Carolina. It’s always had a piece of my heart, and many of my friends and some family have moved there over the years, so I have plenty of people to visit. Each city is a little bit different. I was leaving Charlotte, with the plan of picking up my boyfriend, Eric, from the Raleigh airport. It worked out that it was cheaper for him to layover in Charlotte and fly to Raleigh than to just buy a single leg to Charlotte. Crazy airline algorithms! We decided to skip the layover and I picked him up in Charlotte instead.
It was an easy drive to our Airbnb in Durham, NC. I had booked a tiny house treehouse that seemed like a dream come true!
It exceeded all of my expectations… besides not being extremely hot on the top bunk at night, but that’s my fault for not realizing until the next morning that there were extra fans.
Forgive the photo dump, but I loved all the little touches and neat ways of decorating a small space.
It was impressive to see that we could’ve even had another person stay with us. There was a double bed on one side and a twin on the other. I was definitely a little scared of rolling off in my sleep!
The hosts were very nice, and they had the sweetest dog.
I’m not sure if I could live in a tiny house permanently, but it was fun to try out for the night. We met up with my former Austin roommate and his girlfriend and had a fun night out at the Beer Study and Motorco.
Here’s one more tiny house pic for the road:
Ok, everyone, don’t freak out, but…
I went to karaoke!
And where did I do it? In Charlotte, North Carolina!
Post-COVID? Mid-COVID? Whatever you want to call it; it was time for some unplanned karaoke fun.
I drove from Savannah up to Charlotte to visit my friend, Nicole, in her new (and past) city of residence. We met in Austin, and she spent time living in Richmond, but since then she’s staked her claim back in her hometown. I was glad I had a local to introduce me to the Queen City. We had a blast.
We hung out in her sweet new house/apartment with her sweet doggy, and then walked through the city to grab dinner and beers at Heist Brewery. On the walk back, we stopped at another bar I don’t remember the name of, and just as we were about to catch a ride home, we stepped foot into a karaoke establishment. “Just to check it out”. Flash forward to us canceling the Uber and singing “Man, I Feel Like a Woman”, masks on, of course.
Somehow we managed to stay out past 2am on a Wednesday, at the tail end of a global pandemic, and after all these months, man did it feel good!
This might not the most properly titled blog post, since I was working and running around and still felt like I didn’t have as much time as I would have liked in Savannah, but it was a nice chance to spend three nights in one place after a few days on the road. Savannah gets its own post, obviously, because of the nature:
See that little raccoon popping out to say hello from behind the tree?
I arrived just in time for a walk around the neighborhood:
Followed by a perfect sunset view:
I tried to get my steps in every morning by walking or running on the walking paths down to the marina:
I was working remotely during the day, so there wasn’t as much time for exploring, but we made time for some downtown fun at night.
It’s a beautiful city full of lush green squares:
And Savannah always has the best food:
We loved the flavors, the design, and the service at Common Thread. That’ll be a new favorite. And I got lucky with no lines at Maple Street Biscuit Company on my way out.
My visit was over almost as soon as it had begun! Until next time, sweet Savannah.
I love a road trip. Whether it’s by myself or with others, I feel like a long drive is one of the only times we get to unplug from a life of commitments, responsibilities, and screens (though I do sometimes admittedly and dangerously still check from the road!) Planes are my favorite way to unplug, but cars are a close second. And a solo road trip, for me, is when I feel the most free.
When I told people I was planning to drive from NJ to Georgia on my own, most of their reactions were, “Alone?! That sucks!” The only person who fully understood was one of my yoga regulars. She’s a one-with-nature woman who teaches watercolor art, swims in the ocean in the winter, and wakes up at 5am to watch the sunrise on the beach. She gets it. “You’re going to have an amazing time!” she told me.
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
After waking up to see the wild ponies on Saturday, I hopped in the car to drive to Norfolk, Virginia. I’d eaten the remains of my Wawa sub and some Trader Joe’s snacks for breakfast, so it wasn’t a fully planned stop, just somewhere I expected would have a good coffee shop. I was pleasantly surprised. Even on a cloudy day, the cobblestone streets, the boats in the marina, and the spring flowers in bloom were a treat. I stretched my legs and strolled through the street with a latte before heading further on my way.
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
The next stop was my uncle’s in Greenville, North Carolina. You probably wouldn’t find this exact road trip route on any lists, because I plotted it based on where I had friends and relatives to visit, but I would actually suggest it to any travelers without strict time barriers. As most people would agree, I cannot express my relief at having avoided I-95 most of the way! It makes for a much more enjoyable, “cultural” experience and much less stress and frustration. I loved seeing the clarity of transition from the “North” to the “South” as soon as I hit Virginia.
I got to Uncle Rick’s at 3pm. Thunderstorms were threatening that night, so we headed out to early happy hour for sangria margaritas. This turned into appetizers, which of course turned into dinner. It’s hard to say no when Mexican food is offered up and you’re two margaritas in! We had a nice time catching up and almost beat the rain back home to watch some Netflix movies for the rest of the night.
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Sunday would be my longest drive of the trip so far. I had breakfast with my uncle and rolled out around 9am. He made a quiche—yum! Even though it would make the drive a bit longer, I decided to stop in Charleston, SC because I’d never been and always hear wonderful things about it. Now that I have been, it only made me want to come back again!
I stopped at the key destinations: the street of rainbow colored houses (Rainbow Row)…
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
A Southern biscuit and an iced coffee for lunch. It’s a good thing I don’t live in the south because I could honestly eat a biscuit every day!
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
I walked down by the water.
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
And to the pineapple fountain. Pandemic-wise, things felt very much back to normal. The photos don’t show it, but people were out and about and mostly mask-free in South Carolina. I’m fine with wearing mine indoors, and, beyond general hygiene, I mainly feel like whether I get sick or not is out of my hands so I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about it. I’m happy to be back to normal-ish traveling with recommended precautions.
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
That night, after about 7 hours (an extra tacked on for stopping in Charleston and driving through SC on a Sunday church day), I would arrive at my mom and stepdad’s house in Savannah.
Last week, I made the drive down to Georgia to visit my mom in Savannah. I was back and forth on whether to take this trip, because my Spring has been hectic with traveling just about every other week, but I finally did it and I’m so glad I did!
I was lured in by the chance to see live ponies on Assateague Island. I almost canceled the trip when I found that the campgrounds in the park were all booked for the weekend. But I waited a day and found openings at the Cincoteague KOA nearby. I stopped in Delaware to do some work and visit with my friend Jesse from school, and then finished up the 4 hour drive.
It was perfect for me. It’s a little more built out—you probably wouldn’t like it if you’re looking for a solitary camping experience)—but as a solo gal camping on my own for the second time ever, it was exactly what I needed.
I was surprised to see it was mostly extended-stay RV campers (they also had the houses above to rent) and only a few of us in the primitive tent camping. There was even bingo and live music on a Friday night. I skipped that in favor of setting up my tent and building my fire on the windy plain.
It was so windy that I seriously thought I was going to end up sleeping in my car for the night. But once I staked down my tent, it held, and my little fire powered me through. Note: the camp store delivers extra wood right to your campsite if you run out. Amazing!
The wind died down by bedtime, and I surprised myself by sleeping (only a little restlessly a full 8 hours through the night). I stayed just long enough to watch the morning sunrise before packing up my tent.
Chincoteague is the southern island, but it’s only a short drive up to Assateague National Seashore. Two tribes of wild horses roam through the marsh and on the beach. Many visitors are lucky enough to see them, but it was possible that I wouldn’t see any that day.
I tried the beach without success, so I decided to drive back to the trails and take a little hike. I knew there was a horse overlook point on the trail, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up and end up disappointing. I decided I would be happy with the nature views, deer, birds, squirrels, and numerous bunnies that I saw close up.
But when I got to the overlook point, there they were! Not many other people were around, so I got to have a quiet solo moment with the horses (and 3 baby ponies!!!) It made for a majestic morning.
I’ve heard that at sundown they run on the beach. Seeing them grazing in the marsh was enough for me! I spent a few moments hanging out on the overlook, then did one more hike to see the lighthouse.
It was a highly recommended check off my bucket list. Then I was off to North Carolina for the next stop…
We didn’t ski on our last day in Colorado, sadly, but with the two-hour shuttle ride to the airport I would have only been able to ski from 8-10am. You might say that would be worth it, and I might agree with you, but we opted for a morning stroll across town instead.
Keystone Village is a cute little ski town with restaurants and shops for buying t-shirts and all the souvenirs you need. I found a quirky-looking “curiosities” shop about 2 miles away, so we walked there, only to find that it was closed for the season. Not a huge surprise, since most of the shops close for the off-season, and this particular village was a little out of the way from the mountain.
The walk was nice, though.
We stayed along the river and warded off the geese. After a few photo opportunities, we turned around and headed back. I had leftover pizza for the road, and we stopped by to check out my step brothers’ house and meet their dog.
It was a short trip overall (especially with my own silly mess-up of missing my flight), but I’m glad I took the chance on my first time skiing in Colorado. I have a feeling I’ll be back soon!
The say it’s about the journey, not about the destination. Which is true, except when you’ve made it through hours of airport and shuttle travel, and it’s really all about the destination. But a full day on the slopes made it well-worth the transport. We started around 8:30am and stayed out until 3. The sun was shining the whole time.
It was nice that our condo was slope-side, because I was more than ready to pass out for a long nap afterwards. I was only able to wake myself up for a soak in the hot tub. We didn’t make it into town for dinner on night number two. Instead we had pizza delivered to the Airbnb and went to bed early.
It’s definitely good living in Colorado during April. I hope to make it back someday for more!
I was back in LBI for a brief moment (and a sunset or two), and then it was back on another plane to California. What has it been like to travel during/post-Covid? I’ll say it has been crowded! All of my planes have been completely full. No social distancing in sight.
In some ways it’s nice to return to the feeling of normal travel. In other ways it leaves me wondering if we’ve opened the floodgates too soon. It’s like there were all of these immediate limitations that didn’t fully make sense, and now the lifting of restrictions makes even less.
I was surprised to hear that we’d be going to an in-person conference for work, but happy since I’ve definitely got the bug after a full year off from traveling. I thought about staying in LA between trips, but I also like going home and unpacking my bags for a few days.
California was much warmer this time. The desert already gets up to 80 and 90 during the day. Luckily, the conference was mornings-only and we had the afternoons off to roam free.
I definitely didn’t spend much time in the room (or get much work done on the computer). The JW Marriott had a ton of options for activities: fitness classes, walking and hiking trails, bikes to rent, swimming pools, and a gym.
We took a bike ride through a nice park, past the flamingos and all different sized turtles.
It was tough to adjust to the Pacific Time Zone, which also made it hard to stay up past 9pm. But I was always up early (like way too early, at 4:30am) to get a sunrise walk or a workout in.
I was sad to leave the desert! I wouldn’t want to be there come summer, but I’m dreaming of a painting class or a yoga retreat there someday. Now I’m fighting jet lag on the other side and struggling to fall asleep before midnight and wake up at 7! It’s funny how quickly our bodies adapt.
No more trips to California in the very near future, but I’ll be going to Colorado next week. See you again soon, travel life!
I just decided this needs to be a two-part post. After not traveling by air for a whole year, I went to California twice in one month!
Here’s how that happened… do you remember how I was supposed to be going to El Salvador in March to teach on a yoga retreat? That is now postponed to October 2nd. You can come.
Since I was already planning to take the week off and be away, I decided to make a trip out to LA. My friend, Pixie, decided to travel at the same time. So I stayed at her place to watch the dogs. Do you recognize these guys?
I also started a new job this month. Technically, I’ve been working with them since October, but we decided to make things full-time and more official. I’m excited!
While I was boarding the plane to fly out to LA, my boss called me about an opportunity. He would be leading a workshop in Southern California at the end of the month and wanted me to come along. Ok! I said.
I work from home, so I logged on for the early morning hours and had most of afternoon/evening free to explore. My friend came up from San Diego, and I got to see a few old friends in the LA area. Things were still pretty locked down and outdoor only— it was surprisingly chilly! But we did our best to meet up.
Pixie lives in such a beautiful area, and the boys were very well-behaved. I always feel lucky to stay there!
I threw any summer diet plans out the window for the week.
But we had some time for hikes and gorgeous views.
My friend Ashley had never been to LA, so of course we had to do the touristy things.
And we had a socially-distanced party in the park for a bulldog birthday.
The week went by too fast, with a lot of jet-lagged 4:30am wake-ups! It was so nice to see everyone again. I can’t believe it’s been a whole year. Sometimes it feels like six years and sometimes like six minutes. What a strange time, but I’m glad we’re getting back out there. Stay tuned for part two!
I’m writing this a few weeks later now that I’m down in Long Beach Island, NJ “permanently” (not sure if I’m ever anywhere permanently at this point!) But in early May I came down to the beach for a little getaway. Being here before summer kicks off is very peaceful and relaxing. It’s not exactly bikini weather, but there was enough sun to go for walks on the beach. I forget how much nature is all around this normally busy island. The scenery is filled with gulls, crabs, dolphins, turtles, and all sorts of sea creatures. I ran into a family of geese down at the end of our dock that were guiding their new goslings by the water.
My sister joined me for the weekend and we did all of our favorite things, in quarantine style. It was different than your usual visit to LBI, sure, but we were able to check off some of the traditional activities. We had coffee and split a strawberry poptart by the fire at The Local. They’re open for full service with masks, distancing, and a limited number of guests.
We walked on the boulevard and onto the beach. There weren’t many people around before Memorial Day, but Mother’s Day brought a few families out.
The restaurant takeout scene was already busy before the summer rush. We called our favorite breakfast spot, The Sandbox, and were told there would be an hour wait. That seemed manageable since my sister doesn’t get to come down here very often. For dinner, we ordered sandwiches from Black Whale on the south end of the island. They had almost a two hour wait, but the server shortened it to an hour when she found out we were only getting crab cakes. Both meals were worth the wait since they provide reassurance that our beloved island eateries are surviving these wild times. I hope they stay busy and can do good business this summer in spite of it all.
On Sunday, my sister had to hit the road to go back to work as an essential employee, so I made us oatmeal bowls at home. The whole weekend was a fun girls’ trip and gave me some nice company for island hermit life.
