Airport Tips and Tricks

Airports are inevitable if you're an adventure seeker like myself. Airports are synonymous with lines and long waits, but I've found what works for me, and I thought I'd share my tips.


Step One: Leave Yourself Time!
This is honestly the biggest tip I can offer. If you leave yourself just twenty minutes to check your bag, go through security and catch your flight, you are going to be so stressed and have an unpleasant experience. I always find that the more time I leave, the easier the check in process is. Inevitably, when you are running late, the baggage check and security lines are insane.


Step Two: Bring Entertainment
I am a huge fan of stocking up on activities! I like things that fit easily in my backpack that don't require power. Some examples include: an adult coloring book, paperback books, notebook, sketchbook, knitting (with airport-friendly needles). Bring a variety of activities!


Step Three: Roll With It
Finally, just be ready for delays, cancellation and a little bit of chaos. Anyone who has travelled a great deal has had a terrible airport day. You just need to accept that as part of traveling. For example, on our honeymoon, we missed our connecting flight to Portugal and wound up stranded in Madrid for 12 hours. We made the most of it and explored Spain! Just because we could! No matter where you get stuck, try to make the most of it. If you're stuck in airport, take a nap, Skype a friend, make up a silly game. You will eventually get to where you need to be, and a bad attitude never helped anyone!

A Weekend Away in the Countryside

 Sometimes life can be a little overwhelming and the desire to just get away starts to creep in. Often, it's too expensive to take a big, spontaneous trip; however, a weekend away is much more doable. My husband and I were living in different states, planning a wedding, getting married, moving halfway across the country and going on our honeymoon. That's a lot of work (and fun)! We were ready for a break. We decided that a weekend away in the countryside was just what we needed! 

After a little bit of time spent browsing Air BnB, we stumbled across this adorable cabin!

And what was even better, is that this gorgeous getaway was just 35 minutes away from our house. PERFECT! 

The views were gorgeous, and we had the best time. It was still quite cold, so we didn't end up walking around the grounds - but maybe next time! Instead we curled up on the couch inside and just relaxed and enjoyed the views from the comfort of the cozy cabin.

The furniture was very cozy, and we had a blast. We read books, played games and enjoyed each other's company.

Sometimes taking a break is just what you need to recharge. It was the perfect weekend for us, and it was not very expensive at all! I highly recommend taking a look and seeing what little adventures are near you. It was exactly what we needed.

If you'd like some help finding the perfect getaway (big or small), I'd be happy 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!

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. 

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!