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If you’re like me, then the last thing you want to think about on a beach vacation is exercise and diet. After all, we go on vacation to escape our daily routines and to break the rules. Why do we need tips for staying healthy on a beach vacation? However, nothing is more frustrating that when we come home and the scale tells us we gained ten pounds from a week of…
Read moreThe midnight feedings were over and Deacon was mostly sleeping through the night. Thus, we decided to embark on our first family mini-vacation. Over Easter weekend, we took our first road trip with a baby to visit grandma and grandpa in The Villages, Florida. While the prospect of an eight-hour road trip with a baby might sound like a recipe for disaster, it really wasn’t. We did a lot of research on…
Read moreGreat Travel Gifts – Updated for the 2016 Holiday Season!!! So you have a vagabond in your life who spends more money on travel in a year than they do on their rent and car payments combined. Buying them a Christmas present always presents a challenge since you can’t possibly send them on a two-week backpack excursion to West Africa, and giving them money for such an excursion feels so impersonal. You’re…
Read moreIt’s strange being a tourist in your own town. As locals, we tend to take things for granted. Landmarks that bear so much significance to our city’s history become blurs on our daily commute. Monuments and statues lose their meaning and become directional beacons. Art museums are forgotten and reserved for school field trips. Downtown has become a place where we used to hang out in our younger days. And yet, we…
Read moreCulinary tourism has become a growing trend in the travel industry, exploding to the $150 billion dollars annually. Travel companies are happy to accommodate this new hunger with options ranging from weeklong culinary excursions to daylong cooking classes to city food tours. As a seasoned traveler and foodie, I’ve attended tours of all three varieties across four continents. While most experiences have been positive, I’ve also witnessed the bad side of culinary…
Read moreThere are two moments during a pregnancy when the realization hits you that a baby is on the way. The first is the second ultrasound when you learn the sex. All tests up to that point are just blobs on a screen. This is the cheerful realization. Finally, there’s proof that you made a human. It’s a tearful moment filled with hope and anticipation for the arrival of that little buddle of…
Read moreWhat Would You Do If Disaster Struck on Your Vacation? I don’t pose that question to scare readers, but as something to seriously ponder. Would you be prepared or ready if disaster struck on your vacation? Let’s take a look at a situation. You’re having lunch and receive an email that your lodging for the next night has burned down. If you’re traveling alone and in a big city, you might spend…
Read moreItaly is blessed with a rich art and religious history that tourists of all faiths and nationalities flock to see. While Rome is the center of the religious story, Florence is the center for art as the birthplace of the Renaissance. It’s most likely a stop on your city hopping tour of Italy. Below are some of the must-see attractions to enjoy the best of your 48 hours in Florence. The Cathedral of…
Read moreIf you remember from last week’s post 9 Ideas for Food Travel Souvenirs, our haul from Italy was quite large – 12 bottles of wine, 3 half wheels of cheese, 3 bottles of grappa, and 1 bottle of lemoncello. Bringing all of those items home plus an acquired t-shirt and sweatshirt was not easy. Heck, with airline luggage checking fees, overweight baggage penalties, high shipping costs, customs restrictions, and theft risks, bringing…
Read moreOur souvenir haul from Italy was huge and it was all food! It included a case of wine, three bottles of grappa, a bottle of lemoncello, and three half wheels of cheese. That may sound strange to you, but we’re foodies so our souvenirs tend to fall into the food and drink category. Our trip to Bavaria yielded four ceramic beer mugs and a bottle of Sporer schnapps. Thailand, a dinner table…
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