Tag: Essays

Home, Journal, Reflections, South Carolina, Travel, Travel Tips

10 Things I Wish I’d Known Before Attending My First Travel Blogging Conference

Six North Carolina travel bloggers at a lake in Oconee County

“I don’t think my business cards are going to make it,” I told Michael flatly. “It looks like they’ll be here tomorrow, after I’ve already left.” It was the morning before I was scheduled to leave for my very first travel blogging conference, and I was feeling pretty downtrodden… and maybe a little dramatic. “What …

Home, Journal, Reflections, Travel, Travel Tips

How I’m Approaching Travel Differently in My Thirties

Alyssa looks out over Mexico City

I recently celebrated my thirty-fourth birthday by doing the thing I love the very most: traveling. This number doesn’t signify a major milestone by any means, but it does mean I’ve just entered my mid-thirties – and it made me stop to reflect on how traveling at 34 looks far different than traveling at 24. …

Home

How This Travel Blogger is Coping with Being Stuck at Home in the Midst of Coronavirus

A weaving and a watercolor painting hung together in the corner of a hallway

This feels weird – everything feels so strange. I haven’t been sleeping well, and I’ve woken up in a state of confusion each morning since Sunday ( as such, this post is a little out of the ordinary – more train-of-thought than planned content). As a whole, social-distancing and borderline self-quarantining isn’t that drastically different …

Home, Reflections

Beginning Again: Intentions for 2020

A young green plant sits in a white pot on top of a bamboo rack

It didn’t hit until recently that a new decade is beginning—I suppose because I’ve already experienced so many new beginnings recently. 2019 was a big year for Michael and me, with an interstate move, our first big family vacation together, and injuries that impacted both travel and our day-to-day quality of life. With these changes, …

Destinations, Florida, Travel, Travel Tips, USA

10 Things Everyone Should Know Before They Visit Florida for the First Time

Flamingos standing in and around water

“it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.”

Travel, Travel Tips

Journey with Intention: 5 Essential Tips for Mindful Travel

Alyssa walks through a cobblestone street in Luxembourg

Have you ever been asked to recount your trip experiences and found yourself unable to respond? You know you had a great weekend away, but your mind somehow goes blank when it’s time to share. For a moment it feels almost as if your getaway never happened. Why do we do this? Travel is simultaneously …

Reflections, Travel

7 Things That Surprised Me When I Returned Home After My First Trip Abroad

View over Nice, France, from the airplane

“Culture shock” is a term usually reserved for the way you feel when you travel to a culture vastly different than your own. But I think the biggest culture shock I’ve ever experienced occurred upon my return from Europe. Michael and I had just returned from our first major international trip*—two weeks in England and …