New Year, New Travel Goals

Happy New Year! Now that it is the new year, everyone is setting their new year's resolutions, so why not set your travel resolutions? Traveling takes quite a bit of effort. You need to determine where you want to go, set the goal to travel there, start saving, book your flights/hotels/attractions etc. All of that can seem quite overwhelming, so start with the basics!

Set Your Intention
It all starts with a positive mindset! You must make a mental shift and think of yourself as a traveler. You are not too old, too young, too poor, too scared. You are a traveler! I truly believe that for the vast majority of people, travel is a possibility. It may take months or even years of preparation and careful saving, but you can do it! Travel doesn't have to be to the other side of the globe to be fulfilling. Just find an adventure that's right for you and go for it!

Pick a Destination
If you're feeling overwhelmed by the actual planning process, focus on the fun! Scroll through travel blogs, look at beautiful travel pictures and get inspired! This is the part that is easily the most enjoyable so dive in now! Looking at travel pictures on social media can help keep you motivated to stay on track with saving and the nitty-gritty planning.

Start Saving and Planning Now!
Now is the time to start getting ready for your trip! For many of us, travel is a really big financial and personal investment. Big trips take lots of planning, so you have to start early. It's better to save up and make your trip everything you dreamed of than to rush it and have a mediocre trip - or worse! End up paying off credit card bills for years.

Travel far, travel responsibly, travel often. Start now! If you'd like help getting started, check out my website MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com.

A Look Back on Our Mini-Moon in Orlando

My husband and I are huge fans of amusement parks. In fact, we have gone to parks all over the U.S. and even one in Singapore! It was only fitting that we hit up some of our favorite parks for our "mini-moon." And by mini-moon, I mean a mini vacation right after our wedding but months before our "real" honeymoon to Portugal. So yes, I'm throwing it back a bit this week!

Our first stop was, of course, Harry Potter world in Universal studios! We got our "Just Married" buttons (which took a little bit of hunting) and we were off! We had a GREAT time exploring Harry Potter world, and I had my first butterbeer. I opted for the frozen version, and it was DELICIOUS! Highly recommend. 

These buttons wound up being totally worth it when we got to skip the line at some of the rides. Definitely not every ride, but still! We were so tremendously grateful, and it made the trip feel just a little bit more special.

And of course, we had to visit Disney World. We had been to several of the parks together previously on a work trip, but we wanted to visit again, this time just for fun! (I organized a sports tournament at Disney previously, and my husband was able to tag along.) We chose to do the park hopper pass and hit the big rides and attractions at Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios before closing the day out at Animal Kingdom. Neither of us had done Animal Kingdom before so that was extra fun! We chose to end our day there because that was the park that was open the latest. It was a long, but very very exciting, day. We walked over 25k steps! 

All in all, this was the perfect way to kick off our life together. We love to travel, and we LOVE to go to amusement parks. We crammed a lot into just a few days because we were actually moving half way across the country the very next weekend. (Did I mention that 2017 was an absolutely insane year for us???)

If you want help setting up your next vacation, visit MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com. 

Hiking the La Luz Trail - Albuquerque, NM

Now that we are back from Portugal, we've already started brainstorming ideas for our next trip. We are tentatively thinking about hiking the Grand Canyon which got me reminiscing about our hiking trip to New Mexico in 2015. It was gorgeous, and I don't think I properly shared photos from that, so here we go!

Our biggest hike was La Luz, which is a trail that goes up the side of Sandia Mountain. I believe it's roughly 8 miles, but it does go up a mountain so leave yourself plenty of time!  That elevation change will get ya. We took our time and enjoyed the views, so it wound up taking us about 10 hours.

But look at the views! So beautiful!

And here's a shot of the triumphant gang at the top of the mountain. Go team! If you're in New Mexico, an outdoor enthusiast and up for adventure, I highly recommend this hike! 

Adventure Down the Ohio River

There's something to be said for domestic trips with your loved ones. My husband and I recently took a trip to a small Ohio town right on the Ohio River, and we had a blast! In general, we love spending time outdoors so of course we had to try our hand at kayaking. There was a small rental shop and we jumped at the opportunity to get in the water.

We pushed off around 10:30am and made our way down the river. We continued at a nice leisurely pace, making sure to take the time to fully admire the scenery. It was gorgeous, and we had a blast just hanging out together!

Don't worry - we made sure to put on plenty of sunscreen! Our wedding is in a week, and we did NOT want to look like lobsters!

After our kayak adventure, we decided to take a walk along the river trail. It was awesome! There were all kinds of bikers and moms with babies along the trail as well. It was so nice to get away from the stress of wedding planning and just hang out with my best friend. We got a little bit of exercise and plenty of sunshine and were feeling great.

In addition to our time on the river, we had a blast walking around the town, trying out local restaurants and exploring. It was a ton of fun, and who knows!? Maybe we'll end up 

buying ourselves some kayaks! We had so much fun and I can see us having a blast using them in the future.

If you want some help planning an adventure, I'd love to help! MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com

Nashville: A Perfect 3-Day Weekend Getaway

With Memorial Day Weekend upon us, I thought it would be fun to highlight one of my favorite getaway spots, perfect for a 3-day weekend - Nashville! Obviously, you could make a whole extended vacation out of Nashville, but I managed to squeeze quite a bit of fun into a long weekend. Here are some of my favorite spots!

The Bluebird Cafe  is a classic! Now something to note: This is not an impulse spot! If you want to catch a show you have to buy tickets in advance the second they go on sale. They literally sell out in minutes. If you can manage to get tickets, I promise you'll have a good time! And yes, I'm horribly sunburned in the picture above.

If you love American Pickers, it's worth stopping by their Antique Archaeology shop! Honestly, it's a bit of a tourist trap, but it's still cool to actually visit the building that's on the show. They do have some cool antiques to look at, but they probably make most of their money of the touristy t-shirts, shot glasses etc.  You've been warned.

I highly recommend visiting the Country Music Hall of Fame, if you have an afternoon to spare. The exhibits are amazing AND they offer tours of the FAMOUS Studio B (Seen above)! They'll let you play the piano where so many greats (including Roy Orbison!) made music. It was an amazing experience and my husband and I had an amazing time!

Finally, no trip to Nashville is complete without a pitstop at Pancake Pantry! The food is amazing and it's a Nashville tradition! Just be ready to wait... they don't take reservations, your whole party must be present to sit and the line wraps around the block. Take a morning, and make an experience of it! As long as you don't  go into it thinking it will be a quick breakfast stop, Pancake Pantry is a blast!

If you'd like help planning a 3-day adventure of your own, visit MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com!