All You Need to Travel is YOU
Citywalk
Ask almost any regular Orlando visitor which has the best nightlife options–Universal Orlando’s CityWalk or Disney World’s Downtown Disney–and the majority will say: CityWalk. I would have also said this, even before I visited CityWalk for the first time (mainly because I’m still bitter about Disney shutting down the Adventurer’s Club). And yet if you look at it purely from the numbers, CityWalk offers almost nothing that Downtown Disney doesn’t: Continue reading →
Are you sick of reading about other people’s New Year’s resolutions yet? Well, don’t worry, I don’t believe in resolutions. But I do believe in planning out my travel for the year in January, because otherwise, it wouldn’t happen. After all, I’ve got to get the time off from work, coordinate my vacation schedule with those of my coworkers, save the money for my trips, research destinations, etc.
This year, I reviewed my travel bucket list and decided to go to the places at or near the top–the places I most want to visit. Unfortunately, that means I’ve got two very expensive destinations planned this year. Gulp. How do I plan to pay for these very expensive trips? That’s a subject best left for a future blog post. The question of today is: Where am I going? Continue reading →
P is for Paris
I’m a sucker for travel memes, so when I was recently tagged by my friend JoAnna Haugen for a journey through my travels using letters of the alphabet as prompts, I jumped on it. Some of the questions are a bit challenging, and overall, I think I would have preferred choosing my own word or phrase prompt for each letter. But despite its shortcomings, it was a fun exercise and I hope that you’ll find a few nuggets of information in here that will allow you to get to know me a little better. (If you don’t want to get to know me a little better, skip to the end of the post anyway. I’ve got a little homework assignment for you. 
) Continue reading →
Balboa Park, San Diego
If you’re looking for culture in San Diego, California, chances are good you’ll find yourself at Balboa Park eventually. This 1200-acre park is home to several performing arts organizations, museums, the world-famous San Diego Zoo, and an artists’ community. I only had an afternoon there–just enough time to skim the surface, but not enough to take advantage of most of what it offers. I was sorry not to see the zoo or any of their terrific museums (Air and Space, Natural History, Model Railroad), but I wasn’t there long enough to really get my money’s worth out of the admission fee. So instead, I wandered around, soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying what the park offers for free.
Even so, I have to say, I was impressed with Balboa Park. And more than a little envious. I wish we had something like that where I live. Even as just a spot to hang out on a weekend afternoon, it was really appealing. There were so many things to do, and not all of them cost money. There are gardens and fountains and restaurants. Having spent so little time there, I can’t say much about it that you wouldn’t find more information about on the Balboa Park website, but I thought I’d share some of my photos from my day there. Continue reading →
View of Seaport Village from my hotel room
Depending on the type of traveler you are, your stay in San Diego may or may not include Seaport Village. If you are the type of traveler who runs from tourist traps where you’re likely to spend money, Seaport Village is probably not the place for you. It was definitely the place for me, though. I found myself going back there over and over again during my 48 hours in San Diego–and not just because it was conveniently located outside the back door of the Manchester Grand Hyatt. Here are 6 reasons why you might consider visiting Seaport Village yourself: Continue reading →
Crystal Palace, Madrid
The trouble with setting travel goals at the beginning of the year is that you have to then review your progress at the end of the year to see how you did. Thankfully, I didn’t do so bad this year. Of the six destination goals I set for myself in 2011, I achieved five of them. Hawaii during the holidays was just too expensive to be attainable, especially after a hefty car repair bill and some unavoidable home renovation expenses came up. I’ll still make it to Hawaii; just not in 2011.
Since my only international travel was to Spain it was a fairly easy travel year. I think I must have been psychic when plotting out my 2011 travels, because “easy” was exactly what I needed this year. Thanks to a frantically busy and emotionally turbulent year at work, my real life was plenty challenging enough. Having to navigate new cultures and languages and landscapes too might have sent me over the edge. There’s something to be said for going on vacation to just, you know, “relax.”
Here are the highlights of of my 2011 travels, in words, photos and videos: Continue reading →
The USS Midway and San Diego waterfront
As of the end of 2011, all remaining US troops in Iraq will have been brought home. (If only the same were true of our troops in Afghanistan.) Remember the old slogan for Navy recruiters that went “Join the Navy, see the world?” Yeah, well, the men and women of our military branches get to see the world, all right, but not really in the way most of us travelers would want to.
We go lay on beaches, take photos of ourselves in front of famous monuments, get our thrills from things like ziplining or bungee jumping, and stroll through museums learning about history from photos and objects and art. They go into war-torn countries in full combat gear, get shot at by snipers and dodge land mines, and create history—all while being kept away from their families for long stretches of time. While I sometimes have mixed feelings about the US government’s involvement in conflicts, I never have mixed feelings about the men and women who serve: I admire them, and I am grateful to them. So when I was in San Diego, one of my priorities was to visit the USS Midway, a former aircraft carrier-turned-museum at the Navy Pier on the waterfront. Continue reading →
Would you give up a traditional Christmas to travel?
Just when I started to love the opportunity to travel during the week between Christmas and New Year’s, it’s going buh-bye. For several years now, the university where I work has given us the week off between Christmas and New Year’s as a holiday. It started because we got no raises that year. No raise = grumpy employees. Free week off = happy employees. Well played, UVM; well played. It went over so well, it became an annual thing. (Getting the week off, that is; getting no raises is just a semi-annual thing.)
The first year, I stayed home. For ten long days. I was bored out of my freaking mind. Unless you like being outside in below freezing temperatures (in which case you’re probably part polar bear), there is not a hell of a lot to do for singles in Vermont between Christmas and New Year’s. All my married friends are busy doing family stuff. My family who lives locally gets together for a meal, and then we go our separate ways. I kill about four hours on that, max.
