Tales

We can easily be blinded by our own expectations, and miss out on some wonderful experiences. Often, people get specific ideas of…

As we dove deep into planning our six week European adventure, we talked about all the places we were interested in visiting — for me, Paris is always at the top of the list but not so much for Justin. At the top of his list was London. London is a beautiful city, with a rich (and bloody!) history, full of people who speak English and a theatre scene that can’t be missed. Yet, every time I hear the name of the city, my heart starts to race in a panicky way and my mouth goes a little dry. I haven’t been to London in over a decade, but the last time I went was also one of the worst travel experiences of my life.

In case you missed any of our blog posts during our awesome six week Eurotrip adventure, you can catch up with this…

2015 was a fun travel year for us. Though we didn’t hit any international destinations,we still made our way from end of the country to the other…

Where We Stayed: In a small, no-frills AirBNB in a killer location. Ocean Park is far enough of the tourist track to…

There’s something I want to get off my chest. This has been weighing on me for a long time, making me feel guilty…

Today, as the world celebrates International Women’s Day (#IWC), I want to celebrate some of the awesome women I’ve traveled with, met…

The alarm goes off three hours earlier than usual. I slam my hand down on the phone to shut it off. Waking…

I’m a big fan of Uber. It’s convenient, keeps me from having to talk on the phone to anyone, makes payment simple.…

I’ve always wanted to be a writer. My dreams of being a published fiction author recently went through a reboot, allowing me…

This post comes from my grandmother Mary Bell’s memoirs Squatter’s Rites: 101 Travel Stories for the Vicarious Traveler. She wrote them during the…

In just a couple months, we’ll be embarking on our greatest travel adventure together: six weeks in Europe! The first two weeks…

I’ve always been a less-than-adventurous eater; I ate PB&J sandwiches or peanut butter & crackers every day for lunch from Kindergarten through…

August 20, 2005. I was 20 years old, had 6 years of French under my belt, and got to fly international first…

“English, Irish, French, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, German.” That was the mix of ethnicities that I could rattle off at a mile-a-minute whenever…

A recent discussion with some friends made me think about the souvenirs we buy from our trips, the trinkets from vacation, the gifts for other people. Why buy anything at all from these places? The cheap tourist stuff is probably made in China, and what good does a magnet from Puerto Rico do anyone? What’s the point of a souvenir?

  File this one under “Stupid Shit Kids Do.”

In 2005, my family spent six weeks living in Whistler, British Columbia. My dad and brother flew, but my mother and I drove an SUV full of everything we’d need including four suitcases, three computers (remote work, ftw!), three pets, and one litter box.

This is the story of Sherra and Ashley’s Cross Country Adventure.

Spoiler alert: things get REAL WEIRD in Colorado.

Two nights ago, we went with friends to see the 20th anniversary tour of one of my favorite musicals of all time:…

I’m sure there’s some writing advice out there that says not to give away the punchline in the title but alas. Rules…