Visiting the World's Oldest Bookstore

As a book lover, I'm constantly on the hunt for beautiful bookstores wherever I go. While researching our trip to Lisbon, I stumbled across the ultimate bookstore! The Chiado Livraria Bertrand is the oldest bookstore in the world! It even holds a Guinness World Record! This location opened in 1732 and has since become the largest bookstore chain in Portugal. I must say it was magical.

Here I am with the sign out front!

Tired, sweaty but excited! I had the time of my life wandering through the stacks of books and of course, came away with a few to add to my collection. The set up of the store was really neat! It had multiple rooms that stretched back kind of like a tunnel. It ended with a pretty gorgeous little cafe. As a book enthusiast, it was a pretty awesome experience. I highly recommend stopping by if you get the chance!

Stand Up Paddle Boarding in Lagos, Portugal

In addition to trying our hand at coasteering while in Lagos, Portugal, my husband and I went Stand Up Paddle Boarding for the very first time! It took a bit of getting used to, but we eventually got the hang of it. We started out on our knees and after making our way out toward the cliffs, we were able to stand up (with just a few minor wipe outs).

The cool part of doing our Stand Up Paddle Boarding in Lagos is all the beautiful caves! 

We had to go on our knees while inside the caves so we didn't hit our head along the way.

After a while, our knees started to hurt so most of us ended up just sitting down on the board.

And towards the end, I was really getting the hang of it! It was quite an adventure! We definitely had a blast and are so glad we got the chance to go on such a fun adventure. 

MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com

City Highlights - London

London is a beautiful city and one worthy of exploring! Over the past few years, I've found a few of my favorite spots:

Starting out with the classics - first up, The London Eye. This ginormous ferris wheel is absolutely worth a ride. Each capsule is fully enclosed in glass and unless you pay through the nose for a private ride, you'll be sharing the experience with at least 20 or so other people. Like most major tourist attractions, I recommend buying your ticket ahead of time online and skipping the line. The ride lasts about 30 minutes and it provides some of the most amazing views of the city. 

The London Eye

The London Eye affords a magnificent view of Big Ben, but it's definitely worth checking out up close as well. It's absolutely beautiful, especially at night! Something to note - you won't actually be able to go up inside Big Ben, so just be ready to enjoy the splendor of the clock tower from down below.

Big Ben across the water

Finally, I recommend just exploring the city and soak in the culture. Ride in a black cab, visit Harrods, take a bus tour and find yourself a telephone booth!  I made some truly amazing memories just by wandering through the streets of London with friends and family and seeing what we stumble across. We've found amazing little pubs with huge, amazing English breakfasts , unique specialty she eps and even found hole-in-the-wall museums!

A fun shot of me by the classic telephone booth! Although inside was a little gross - I'm talking needles, beer bottles and who knows what else! Be careful.

London is an amazing city with plenty of sites to see! You can't forget to make a pit stop to places like the London Tower, The Globe Theater and Buckingham palace, but the London Eye, Big Ben and general exploration are my top three must-do's while checking out London.

Adventure Vs. Relaxing Honeymoon - Which is better?

My fiancé and I are getting married in June and we are so excited for our honeymoon! We both love to travel and adventure, but we know after the craziness of our wedding, we might want to relax on our honeymoon. That sparked the great debate: Adventure vs. Relaxing honeymoon - which is better? There are definitely pros and cons for both, so I'll walk you through our decision-making process.

Let's start with relaxing. After a crazy 6 months of wedding planning, we are already starting to feel burnt out. If we had a few days to just get away from the madness and celebrate our new marriage, we both know that it would be amazing. We both love a good beach day, but aren't sure if a resort of beach town would be the best use of our time off; we really want to make the absolute most of our special trip.

As for adventure, we just had the trip of a lifetime in South Africa this past August. We went bungee jumping, hiking, visiting with elephants and monkeys and even shark cage diving! It was insane! By the time we made it back to the US we were almost more tired than before we left. It was an absolutely amazing trip, and we definitely wouldn't trade it for the world.

We ultimately decided to compromise and do a little of each! We will be going on a road trip through Portugal! There are plenty of beaches where we can rest and relax, but there is lots to see and do as well! We will be splitting our time between slow, relaxing days and adventuring days exploring local towns and immersing ourself in the culture. We may even take a day trip over to Seville in Spain! It's going to require plenty of planning, but I'm up for the challenge. 

I'd love to help you plan your special trip! Check out MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com for more.

Prepping and Packing For My First Cruise

I have been lucky enough to travel the world and see some pretty amazing sites, but never form the deck of a cruise ship! This weekend I am so excited to be headed to the Bahamas with my sisters and best friend! All that's left to do is pack!

I may or may not be stalling just a little by writing this blog post, but I'm mostly packed anyway - here's what I'm bringing!

Clothing - I'm bringing a combination of sun dresses, bikinis and comfy clothes! I'll be sporting my usual airport attire - yoga pants and a hoodie (which can double as workout clothes). Then the rest of the time I plan to be in a bikini or a fun, bright and colorful dress. I'll probably also throw in one or two nicer dress to wear if we decide to go to a fancy dinner or clubbing while on board. That's the fun part about cruises! You get to spend your time being super comfortable and relaxing by the pool. My kind of attire.

Shoes - I'm only bringing 3 pairs of shoes - sandals, flip flops and running shoes. Keeping it simple so I can fit everything in a carry-on.

Toiletries - I'll be bringing the my usual line-up. Plenty of mini products and of course, my trusty shampoo bar. I absolutely love my lush shampoo bar for travel because a) they work great b) it's one less liquid I have to bring!

Accessories - I'll be rocking some top-notch Target sunglasses and floppy hat. Total I think I spent like $15 on the pair so if I lose one or both, no big deal! Other than that, I'll be keeping things pretty simple - my usual stud earrings, my class ring and of course, my engagement ring!  I might throw in a baseball hat in case it gets windy and my sunhat isn't cutting it.

Extras - I'm bringing ALL the sunscreen! AKA my giant bottle of SPF 70. My entire goal is to just not come home burnt to a crisp. Other than that, I've made sure to bring all of my chargers, my kindle, plenty of books, my camera, my GoPro, my boarding documents and most importantly my passport!! 

I'm so excited for this trip! It's a new experience for me - I'm letting someone else plan for once! Ordinarily, I'm the one who coordinates everything, and I'd love to help you out on your next trip. Check out my travel company at MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com.

How to Save Up for the Trip of a Lifetime

Love to travel? Have no money? I feel you. Luckily, over the years I've found ways to work around that problem and I'm here to help you out.

Step 1: Set a goal amount. This amount is calculated based off of flight, cost per day in the city you want to travel to, and any major attractions you want to visit. It's also a good idea to consider how to travel cheaply - look at hostels rather than hotels, trains over planes and remember to pack your lunch!

Step 2: Set a realistic monthly savings goal (and set up a budget!) Set aside a little bit each month. I know that seems obvious, but it can be very difficult to maintain! By building travel into your monthly savings goals, you are making it a real priority. Each month you'll be able to see that number grow and get one step closer to your goal.

Step 3: Stay motivated! Pick a target date and make a count down. I personally like to write a literal count down along the bottom of my agenda. Seeing that trip inch closer each day keeps it in the forefront of my mind. I also stay motivated by planning! Picking out which attractions you'll get to see and what you'll be doing on your trip is always so exciting and sure to keep you motivated.

Step 4: Buckle down and do it! Take a look at your life and see where you can cut back. Saving for big things like retirement, a house or a car are obviously important, but it can definitely help you save faster by cutting down on things like movies, shopping and fast food. At the end of each month, see where you have spent the most money and brainstorm ways to "beat" that number the next month. Turn it into a game or challenge amongst your friends. You'll be sure to save money in the future.

You'll be on the adventure of a lifetime before you know it!

My sister and I having a BLAST in Cape Town, South Africa!

If you need some help planning it, we can help you out at Miles Into Memories Travel.

Camping Retreat in the Mountains

First and foremost, I've started a travel company! It's called Miles Into Memories Travel, and we arrange international trips and tours for everyone from families to sports teams to groups of all kind. I'm really proud of our quality trips and would love for you to check out our website: MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com.

Keep an eye on this space for more travel stories - I've gone on several truly epic adventures over the past few months (blog posts are coming, I promise!) but I wanted to kick back off with my most recent trip. A couple of friends and I decided we needed a little break from the city life. Sometimes, it's easy to find yourself stuck in a rut. When that happens, I like to shake things up and go on mini adventures.

In this case, that meant a quick weekend trip to the mountains. I've lived in North Carolina for years, but haven't really had a chance to "leaf peep." Yes, that's a real term, believe it or not. So here we are!

We opted for a remote camp site and it was beautiful, but definitely a hike. We knew it would be a ten minute walk, but they didn't mention that it was straight down (and thus straight back up to get to our car.) Talk about a work out!

So beautiful.

We brought two pups with us! This is Lambda. She's only 3 months old and, turns out, she's scared of bridges. We went on a 5 miles hike and both dogs did great! Lambda managed to overcome her fear of bridges and had a blast!

And this here is my guy! Miles is 10 years old and sweet as can be. I carried him over some rocks and rivers, but he definitely had a ton of fun trekking with his buddies.

Where we camped out!

Me and Sky! Why my hat is crooked, we'll never know.

Family picture! (Pictures are hard when you're a puppy)

To sum up, we had a blast, got away from the city and ate some s'mores. We had a great time hiking, lighting camp fires and just getting away from screens. We barely had any cell service and in a way, that was really nice. It forced us to talk and relax and enjoy nature. Adventures don't always have to be big and international to be fun. 

Thailand Adventures (Swimming with Elephants!)

Hello!

I'm sorry for the delay in this post - it's long overdue, I know.

So as I'm gearing up for my next adventure (more on that later) I was looking back at my Thailand pictures and realized I never made a post about it!

Our trip to Thailand was probably one of my all time favorite travel experiences. We only had a few days in Bangkok, so Sky and I made the most of it. We hired a tour company, as coordinating a car and organizing certain activities would have been nearly impossible on our own.

We flew in Friday night and made it to a rather ritzy hotel - the toilet had like 20 buttons! It was incredibly cheap for the quality, but welcome to Thailand.

The next morning, after a fun asian breakfast, we were off for a day packed with adventure! Our first stop was the River Kwai.

The bridge actually has a really cool history and we enjoyed learning about it from our guide!

Next up was the floating market which was actually incredibly cool. We literally rented a boat and floated up and down buying snacks and cool knick knacks. And it was SO beautiful to boot!

The food was delicious and we both had a blast!

Then we made our way to what was surely the highlight of the trip - swimming with elephants! Now I do want to specify here, we went to an elephant sanctuary in the middle of the jungle. These elephants are well taken care of by their trainers, called mahouts. It was beautiful and we were so lucky to have been able to visit with these beautiful animals.

Schuyler, King of the Jungle (one of the Mahouts made him a crown!)

Posing for the tasty orange!

Me and my elephant!

The best water fight in the world!

Look at that jungle!

Oh and I got to backflip off an elephant... so that was amazing beyond all belief

Swimming with elephants was SO FUN but also quite the work out! We headed back to the hotel absolutely exhausted

The next day we took some time to explore some temples. These were beautiful and so fun to explore. My only negative experience was with the rather shifty street vendors (telling you certain attractions were closed so they could give you a tour instead etc.). We had a blast and even got to ride in a tuk tuk!

Overall, Thailand was phenomenal and I 1000% would love to go back!

Lots of love,

Lena

Santa Fe Round Up

Santa Fe was nothing short of amazing. We were a little scared it was going to rain so we squeezed both hiking destinations into one day. It turned out to be a lot more than we bargained for, but we definitely had fun and aren't even too horrendously sore.

Stop one was Bandelier National Park! It was truly beautiful and we had an absolute blast. Though the signage was horrendous (we wound up trying to figure out where to park and where to pay for parking for something like 20 minutes, but we got there eventually!) Once we got started we got to witness some pretty beautiful views. We got to climb straight up the side of a canyon using these crazy ladders and super narrow trails. It was a little scary, but really, really cool. We got to see how people lived hundreds of years ago.

Then we even decided to tackle the water fall trail. Due to construction (which we had no idea was gonig to be in our way) it took us an extra mile to even reach the trail head turning a 3 mile hike into a 5 mile hike. Yeesh! It was totally worth it though. The trail was very different than the others, it felt less traveled and more like you were actually in the wild.

We were meant to grab lunch in between hiking destinations, but Arby's betrayed us! Again, terrible signage got the better of us. We failed to locate said Arby's and mistakenly assumed another fast food establishment would pop up along the freeway before we reached the Tent Rocks. WRONG. We wound up eating trail mix for lunch (not ideal) and arrived a little tired, but excited. Tent rocks are these interesting  rock formations where a harder rock is sitting on top of softer rocks that have worn away so it looks like a boulder sitting on top of a small pillar. That hike was intense! It started off not too bad, the whole thing was only 3.2 miles, but man! A chunk of it was straight up. We had to climb over boulders and make our way through narrow passages, but the view from the top was spectacular. You could see for miles and miles. It was exhilarating! The drop off was literally right next to the trail. Talk about a rush! No worries, we made it back down safely.

We finished out the trail with only the occasional snake sighting (NO THANK YOU) and made our way back to town. We definitely stopped and ate a HUGE meaal at... Arby's. No shame. We had earned it!


The next day was our museum day! We essentially spent the day looking at Folk Art, History and an old beautiful church called San Miguel. The museums were very interesting and we had a great time! It was nice to sit down and admire the galleries (we were definitely tired from yesterday's hike!). I even bought a beautiful turquoise ring made by a Native American. I actually got to meet the artist and it was just a great experience. We finished out the day at a restaurant recommended to us by Schuyler's sister. It was called Santa Fe Bite and the burgers were delicious! We called it a night and were asleep by 9pm. Bliss.

Today we departed Santa Fe and took the quick route back to Albuquerque. We bopped around Old Town, had lunch at a local favorite (and had us a lunch time adult beverage because vacation), and did a little bit of light shopping. I found a New Mexican book store and bought a little souveneir. Surprise, surprise I bought a book.

We then headed over to the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History and took a look around. It was intense, sad, scary and fascinating all at the same time. It was pretty incredible to get a look at what we, as a race, are capable of.

Then we headed to meet up with Schuyler's family and get the guys fitted for their tuxes so we are all ready for the wedding! We went out to a Thai restaurant and are now relaxing at the house we are staying at.

Tomorrow we are taking on our big hike! La Luz Trail is around 8 miles, uphill. Let's do this!!

Malena

Ireland, Wales and England - Oh my!

I flew into Manchester after a few hectic weeks for quite the European adventure. I landed in Manchester and immediately went into the office to do some work. In the afternoon I got a quick nap and headed off to dinner with the staff. The next day me and a few staff took off for Ireland! I had never been so I was naturally pretty excited.

Once we arrived we found our hotel (eventually) and settled in for the night. We met the team the next day and explored downtown Dublin. It was really neat! I even tried a beer for the sake of my irish ancestry, haha.

The next few days were quite busy as I was getting into the routine of touring again. I went for a lovely run around the outskirts of the city of Loaghaire and found a rainbow! It was pretty awesome.

On our way back to England we made an impromptu stop (the later ferry was cancelled so we left Ireland early) in Wales and explored the seaside for a bit.

Then finally we stopped for an afternoon in Liverpool! I got to see where the Beatles got their start.

We also spent the next day exploring Chester, England. It was a quaint little historical town and I loved exploring the winding streets.

Now I'm in Spain! More to come soon.

Malena

Florence Fun

I had a blast in Florence. I think if I did it again I would leave more time. I was already cramming four cities into a little over a week so I only stayed in Florence for two days. One of those days I actually spent the afternoon out in Pisa!

I stayed at the most adorable little hostel called The David Inn. It's run by this lovely woman called Nadia. She really takes care of everyone who comes through. She was there to greet me by name with a plate of cookies. She is so sweet and personable. I highly recommend the hostel for anyone staying Florence! 

The first night I just tried to get a feel for the city and ended up buying myself a lovely leather jacket. I'm very  happy with my "big souvenir" of the trip! It is so soft and fits me perfectly. I went back to the hostels and met some very nice people. One was from Canada and two were from South Korea. We had a great time getting to know eachother.

The next day I got up early and went and saw the Statue of David! It was really pretty incredile. I learned about it in depth in middle school and I always wanted to go see it for myself. 

Right afterwards I found the grocery store (finally!) and bought myself some food for the next few days. I sort of followed this sweet old italian lady around and picked the brands of pasta and sauce she did... slightly creepy but it totally worked! They are delicious! And both the Florence and Rome hostels have kitchens so I'm set :)

I then hoofed it to the Ponte Vecchio bridge and the Michelangelo square for a pretty view and some shopping. The bridge was a little pricey for me and it turned out there was a crane in the way and a BILLION steps so I ended up just going halfway to the Michelangelo square, but it was still beautiful.

I then booked it across town to catch my train to the leaning tower of Pisa. It was pretty wonderful. I took some funny pictures ( I mean you have to right?) and then I went to a cafe that had a lovely view and ordered a hot chocolate. The hot chocolate was so so good. Basically they just melted a chocolate bar in a cup and served it. Hey man, no problem here.

I caught my train back to Florence and wandered back to my hostel. We ended up going out as a group for the world's biggest pizza! It was so delicious We ordered some pasta for the table as well. It was a good authentic Italian meal and I got to share it with some new friends I met in the hostel. It's been great so far with hostels!

This morning I got up early and me and a girl from the hostel went to the Iffuzi museum. It was beautiful and I enjoyed just soaking up the atmosphere. We made a quick stop back at the Ponte Vecchio bridge for some perusing then I went back to my hostel to grab my bags and hug Nadia goodbye.

I made it to the train station and had an easy ride to Roma! The walk to the hostel wasn't my favorite. I got turned around a bit and was too stubborn to catch a cab. I got here eventually, but boy am I tired.

Tomorrow I'm off to the Vatican!

Lots of love,

Malena

A Day Out In Bonn 4/26

Today we spent all day in Bonn and had a grand old time. We started out by stopping by the local soccer shop for a bit then hopped on the bus and drove to Bonn. Jonas is a local German coach and he came with us, thank goodness. He was a huge help in showing us around.
We went down to the river and did a 4 hour boat tour.
For the first two hours we ate lunch and watched the scenery. Then we went up top. The weather was beautiful! Nice and warm :) I even dozed off for a few minutes on the way home. It was very pretty and I got some nice pictures while relaxing a little bit.
Then we split up and did some shopping. I didn't buy much but I really enjoyed just exploring! I love eating local food and just observing the culture.
Dinner went about as planned but with fewer people. We had a nice German dinner and enjoyed the atmosphere!

This weekend is the tournament for the kids and then we fly out on Monday and I'm off to London!

Malena

Iowa Recap

I got back from my Iowa trip and hit the ground running so this post is a bit delayed.

Iowa was fantastic. I really miss just hanging out with my sister. I know we've been separated by college for several years now (8 years! Holy cow...) but I still miss having her down the hall from me. Growing up my family moved a lot so I've always been really close with my family members. Malora and I did fight quite a bit growing up, but (for the most part) we've grown out of that.

She picked me up on Saturday and we pretty much headed right out on the town! I had to work Saturday morning so I took an evening flight and didn't land in Iowa until around 9pm. We had a great time just hanging out and Lora showed me all her favorite spots down town.

The next day we just took it easy. Lora and I and some friends had a terrific brunch at a place just called The Cafe. It was pretty fancy, but still a decent price! The place was packed and I totally see why. I shamelessly ate a GIANT bowl of mac and cheese. SO GOOD. We then had a lovely afternoon shopping for some things for Malora's wedding! It was nice to just catch up. Oh and I may or may not have bought some new books... no shame.

Monday was fairly mundane. I am lucky enough to work from home - or anywhere. I spent Monday working from Malora's couch while she was at school.  We made a pit stop for some delicious cupcakes and then went out to eat at Jethro's which was so good! Except I had a bit of an allergic reaction (possibly to cat fur left on my jacket) and had to get some allergy meds from a pharmacy on the way home. Oh well, I survived ;)

Tuesday we got up SUPER early to catch my flight - it turns out Malora's roommate was actually on the same flight! How funny. I had to deal with some airline fun, but I got home eventually! I always seem to have rotten luck with flight delays.

All in all, a very successful trip!