A Girls Weekend Away in Floyd, VA

I am a huge advocate for finding adventure wherever you can. This weekend, that meant meeting up with a few girlfriends in Floyd, VA. We rented out a little air bnb and decided to just hang out and explore what the town had to offer.

Let's start with where we stayed. It was a one-room cabin with three beds on a HUGE property. Our experience was a little weird, but that had to do with the host more so than anything else - although we did find an unsettling amount of spiders and bugs in the cabin. Other than that, it was great! It was the perfect place to watch trash TV, eat junk and kick back.

The house is on the left, and our little cabin where we stayed is on the right!

On Saturday, we decided to spend most of the day out on the town! The highlight was definitely the old country store! They had a little bit of everything - including a live bluegrass band! In fact, that was a recurring theme - live bluegrass everywhere.

The country store was part music hall, part cafe, part shop and...

part ice cream parlor! Next door (but connected by an archway inside) is an old school ice cream shop! It was awesome. Seriously delicious. And I love the sprinkles in a salt shaker. So clever and unique!

After a long day of shopping and fun, we headed back to the house and decided to explore. The land was gorgeous and we walked around a bit before settling in for a night of trashy TV and junk food.

All in all, this was a really fun weekend. It was a great way to get away, even just for a few days. See? Adventure doesn't always have to cost thousands of dollars and include a 10-hour plane ride.

I'd love to help you plan your next weekend away! Check out MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com.

2018 Travel Plans

2018 is finally here, and I've already started making my travel plans for the year (of course). I was talking with my husband, and I realized I really haven't seen that much of the U.S., despite spending the majority of my life here. So that's our mission: see more of the U.S. Not to mention, that's a good way to save up for our big trip to Australia/ New Zealand/ Japan in 2019.

The first trip we're in the process of planning is the Grand Canyon! We will probably fly into Vegas and road trip it out. I've actually never been to Vegas either, so we will have to have some fun while we are there too. I'm hoping to see some shows and see what Vegas has to offer!

Over at the Grand Canyon, we will probably spend quite a bit of time hiking. We might hike down to a waterfall and camp there for a few days. We shall see! We are still in the very early stage of planning, but I can't wait to start nailing down details. I've heard that camp sites book up fast though so we will hopefully get everything nailed down and booked by the end of January.

During the year, we will hopefully have some time to do some smaller trips to maybe Chicago, Pittsburg, Detroit or Toronto. Who knows!

Finally, I think our last trip will be down to Texas. We haven't worked out the details just yet, but I can't wait to try me some quality barbecue! We'll see how things play out, but there is a possibility of a trip to Albuquerque for Christmas. Our itinerary is still being determined, but I can't wait to see how the year plays out.

If you need help narrowing down your travel plans, I'd love to help. MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com.

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

My First Cruise?! - A Bahamian Bachelorette Party

I have a confession... I have never been on a cruise. I know, right!? I've been to over 20 countries and absolutely love traveling, but I have never once been on a cruise. That's about to change (and I'm excited!)

I love to travel, so naturally we thought about traveling somewhere for my bachelorette party. We were STRONGLY considering Iceland, but ended up opting not to go for a variety of reasons. It was getting a little pricey for a bachelorette party, our husbands all wanted to go too and it was just complicated. We still really liked the idea of going somewhere, but wanted to keep the price down. We toyed with New Orleans or Charleston, but then my sister had the idea of a cruise!

My sister found an amazing deal on a flight to Florida AND an awesome four day cruise to the Bahamas! I've actually never been to the Bahamas either, so I'm sure that is going to be a blast. It'll be nice to get away somewhere warm with some of my favorite people. Now we just need to decide on what excursions we want! Luckily, one of my bridesmaids is a "cruiser" so I think I'll let her take the lead on this one.

Now, to be clear, I have nothing against cruises! I've just always loved to plan my own adventures and create my own specific itinerary. Now, I get to do it professionally :) (MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com).

If you have any tips or tricks for "Cruising" let me know in a comment or message!

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!