The All American Road Trip

Do you love new adventures and exploring new areas? I have loved "family drives" since I was a kid.   When I was young, my parents would put us all in the car and head out to a mountain lake, a fair, an historical site, a beach ... you never knew where you'd end up!  

As an adult, I love to continue to explore.  I like to map out a path and then stop and explore as the mood strikes or places I've highlighted on my list. How else would I know that there is a life sized recreation of Stonehenge in Virginia, known as "Foamhenge"?
 

And I definitely would not have otherwise spent 2 hours exploring the most amazing boot barn somewhere in Missouri (yes, I do have boots from that stop!), wandered the coast of North Carolina envisioning the Wright Brothers' first flight, or exploring funky metal work shops and collections in Arizona. 

When I'm mapping out a road trip (for me or for a client), after I have all the important things settled -- the

hotels, the main route, then the fun begins.  What are the quirky things to see on the way? Famous restaurant that you saw on a TV show?  Area where some of your favorite old westerns were filmed? Scope them out, make a list, and keep it in your itinerary. 

As a travel agent, I find out what my clients enjoy - history? food? science? fossils? and then I research these things on their travel path.  Roadtrip vacations can be so much fun if you are flexible and willing to veer off the beaten path every once in a while.

You might not stop at everything on your list, but you can have options available based on the mood in the car. 

Sometimes the unexpected stops add to the best family memories and stories!

What are some of the fun stops you've made on your travels? Share in the comments!

What is there to do on a cruise?

 Yes, I have absolutely said those words. Or something along those lines.  I wasn't sure I would like being on a ship for a week -- I'm not a take it easy kind of girl after all! 

I'll just leave a few things here to show you that taking a cruise is as much or as little as you want it to be. I was by no means going all day like crazy, and there were lots of activities that I missed because I was doing something out.  FOMO is real baby!

Here are photos of some of the fun things to do on a cruise ship (yes, its messy and random on purpose!)

Swim, relax, enjoy

 

Lounges, pubs, and dining. Lounges are not just for drinks - think trivia, karaoke, dance lessons along with tastings of different categories, such as champagne, wine, bourbon, martinis, etc. 

Music Music Music so much music - live music, djs, relaxing music, fabulous party times, on the ship, on the islands, everywhere.

Shows & entertainment

Strolling the ship, enjoying the views and people watching

 

Kid and Family time

These are the photos of things I did, but of course there were lot of things I didn't do because I was busy  doing my own thing and having fun!

What are some things I didn't do?  dance classes, work out (bahahahaha), play basketball, fooseball, bowling; yoga on deck; crafting (ok, I did do a paper craft one day, but I forgot to take a photo and I gave my gorgeous paper flowers to a crew member who admired them); liquor tastings (champagnes, whiskeys, wines, different offerings at different spots!);trivia of all sorts- kids, tv, music, general; bingo; pickleball; language lessons; ping pong; comdey shows..so much.  

Most of those things are free (some of the liquor tastings had a cost) but there are add ons also - spa time! shopping, and many of the shops have special programs where they talk about the different times of luxury items so even if you are planning to buy diamonds, its fun to learn about them. 

Yeah, FOMO is a real thing on a cruise, even when your days are as full as you want them to be.  If you're bored, its because you want to be!