exploring the big easy!

The big easy truly is the perfect way to describe New Orleans. Husband and I are always so stressed out and on the go, so it was amazing to meet up in NOLA and really take a few days to enjoy the laid-back easy-going lifestyle here. 

We flew into NOLA late Thursday night and had a nice long weekend there, which was plenty of time to explore this unique city. We slept-in every morning, strolled & biked the city streets, and ate more than our fill of all the great creole cuisine. 

Here's just a peak of our time in New Orleans! 

christmas in iceland…by the numbers

I have lots to share from our trip to Iceland that we took over Thanksgiving. But per usual, December is proving to be the busiest month of year for me. Realistically, I won't have a chance to sit down and edit photos plus write blogs posts until this hectic semester of dental school is over once and for all. 

But I'm bursting with excitement over this experience and have to share even if it's just a little for now. So here's a glimpse of our Christmas trip to Iceland…by the numbers. 

november lately: thanksgiving in iceland

November was definitely my catch-up month with having spent most of it trying to finish up projects for dental school and get my life together before the end of the year. It's been a stressful one but with lots to be thankful for this month. 

Alaskan Anniversary Adventure

I always tell Tom that anniversaries are extra special when you're practicing a long distance marriage the way we do. Simple things that other couples don't have to think about take work for us with being over 700 miles apart on a daily basis. So we were happy to celebrate four years of marriage together in this extra special way with an Alaskan Adventure. 

Since, I've been sharing a lot from our Alaskan Cruise this past week, I thought I would put things into context by detailing our exact itinerary here. Though if I'm honest, I'm mostly cataloguing this for myself so I can always look back and reminisce. Either way, here's our itinerary for a 7 day cruise through Alaska...with a few travel days tossed in. 

cruise control: life at sea

I've never thought of us as "cruise people". It's such a commercial way to travel and Tom and I normally go out of our way to avoid crowds and plan unique adventures. But we were pleasantly surprised by how easily we settled to life and sea and loved living and traveling by cruise ship. 

boating boston: kayaking the charles river

Don't you just love long weekends? Especially with being in a long distance relationship, having a little extra time to visit over the weekend makes a big difference. We had a relaxing labor day weekend and spent our time catching up on work, napping, shopping, brunching, and museum hopping. But my favorite thing we did was kayak the Charles River in Boston.

day trip diaries : Seattle

We’re just back from an Alaskan Cruise celebrating our four-year anniversary. Our cruise left out of Seattle, which gave us a great opportunity to visit the Pacific Northwest again and reminisce about our time Wandering Washington last Fall.

We landed in Seattle late Saturday night, then had a few hours to spare Sunday morning before our cruise took off. We wanted to make the most of our time on the West Coast, especially in the PNW, so we ditched our luggage and headed downtown. Last time we were here, we had the chance to visit Pike Place Market, go rock climbing at the REI flagship store, see the Space Needle, explore the arts area of Fremont, and our favorite with exploring the Japanese Garden in the rain. Since we only had a few hours to spare this time around, we had to pick just one thing to do. Too many great options, but we ultimately chose to visit Seattle’s Chihuly Garden & Glass House. 

french canada :: quebec city

Oh Quebec! 

This city with it's cobblestone streets, dramatic châteaus, and gourmet cafés that is right in the heart of French Canada feels even more french than France does. I know that sounds crazy, but it's true.  

Everywhere you turn there is a piece of history and culture. And while so many modern cities are losing that, Quebec revels in it. It's a slice of Europe right here in North America. 

the cost of visiting Florida's national parks

If you're a regular reader around here, then you may have noticed how much we love the national park system. And it's our goal to visit all 59 of America's national parks. This will probably take us a decade, but is a fun adventurous goal to have.

Lately, we've started visiting all the parks within a state at once, like hiking through Utah's Mighty Five in Seven Days or Wandering Washington. So it should come as no surprise that we visited all 3 of Florida's parks within as many days. One thing I noticed compared to other national park visits is that we had to do a ton of research with trying to sort out our options for each park. Florida's national parks are unique and don't have as much hiking emphasis as others, so it can get costly with paying for activities in each park. I thought I'd share our budget friendly cost breakdown for visiting each national park. 

alligators in the everglades

Everglades National Park is well known for hosting a unique range of animals: alligators, crocodiles, even jaguars. So my hopes were high with expecting to see lots of wildlife. We only had the morning to spend in the Everglades as we had afternoon plans in Biscayne National Park, so I was the most impatient thing ever with searching for wildlife.

mountain zip-lining

Every trip needs an incredible adventure to go along with it, one stand out experience that sticks with you forever. While everything we did during our camping trip was amazing, zip-lining through the Blue Ridge Mountains was easily the highlight. 

a Year of Free Flights

With the husband and I being in a long distance marriage, every time we see each other, it requires a flight. Add in the fact that we love to travel together and the flights really add up. In fact, I did the math and Tom and I took $5000 worth of flights in 2016. But that's not what we spent.

meet me in new york

There are pretty much no perks to being in a long distance relationship. Aside from having complete ownership over the remote control, but that get's lonely after a while. But I can think of one good thing. Instead of me always visiting Tom or him visiting me, sometimes we meet in a special place. This way, we're not visiting each others day to day lives and being reminded of the distance. Instead we're just two people meeting up in a neutral place. 

Trip Budget: the cost to visit Chicago?

Wanderlust Wednesday-Week 29
Ah budgeting! The most important part of travel happens to be the one part that no one wants to talk about. But budgeting plays such a big role in traveling that it can really hold people back from visiting the places they want to see. Because Chicago happens to be one of the most expensive cities in the country for travelers, I thought I'd share our tips for how to save and show exactly what we spent during a long weekend in the city. 

Use Rewards Points
As you will see from our budget below, I am a big fan of these. More details here, but I'm not sure how we would be able to afford travel right now without them.

Arrive Early and Leave Late 
It's a common practice of mine to take the earliest flight possible when leaving home. That way I arrive at my destination early and still get to enjoy a full day there. And when we head home, we normally take a red eye. Financially, it doesn't make sense to pay for a hotel room, only to wake up the next day and fly home. Just go home the night before and save on flights (red-eyes are the cheapest flight time) and accommodation costs.

Spend where it Matters
Decide what's most important to you and pick one or two places to splurge, while budgeting everywhere else. 

Skip the Tourist Traps
Tourist traps are everywhere and they will cost you. A prime example in Chicago would be the Architecture Tour. This is such a popular activity with tourists who happily shell out 30 to 40 bucks a pop to cruise down the Chicago River. Meanwhile, you can do the exact same thing with a self-guided tour on a water taxi for only $4. Basically, do your research and ignore those spots (ahem Navy Pier) that will unnecessarily nickel and dime your budget into the ground. 

And just to show that I practice what I preach, here's our exact budget for 3 days and 2 nights in Chicago.

the {white} mountains are calling!

Wanderlust Wednesday-Week 27

every new englander knows the lure of the white mountains and they have been calling to us for far too long

golden sun peaking over the clouds in a sky filled with hues of pink, purple, and blue

the hard granite of the mountainside covered in soft green earth

walking right through waterfalls with the freshest spring water misting your face

we couldn't resist a trip to the white mountains of new hampshire 

Camping in Acadia National Park

Wanderlust Wednesday-Week 26

Is the Chicago CityPass worth the Cost?

Wanderlust Wednesday-Week 24
While planning our trip to Chicago, we realized we wanted to visit a few museums. But the more research we did, the more trouble we had narrowing down our decision. We wanted to see it all, but were worried about the cost. Those entrance fees add up quickly. Thankfully, the Chicago CityPass offers major discounts, making everything more affordable.

What's Included? 

Skydeck Chicago at Willis Tower
Formerly known as the Sears Tower, the skydeck offers up some amazing views of the city. Our recommendation: go first thing in the morning or right at sunset to see the city in the best light. Recreate this famous scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off and take a photo on the glass bottom floor. 

what's in a name? dead horse point state park

Wanderlust Wednesday-Week 23

On top of hiking through all five of Utah's national parks in a week {itinerary here}, we squeezed in a few extra stops along the way. That's just what we do! One of our favorites was…Dead Horse Point State Park. Nice name right? Legend has it that a herd of wild mustangs was corralled here and then left without water, at which point they died of thirst with the Colorado River right in view. Then someone decided, hey let's take the worst thing that's ever happened here and the name the place after that. But regardless of it's name, it's a beautiful place to be.

why you shouldn't skip capitol reef national park

Wanderlust Wednesday-Week 22 

When comparing Utah's five national parks, people have a "don't bother" attitude when it comes to Capitol Reef National Park. And for this reason, we almost skipped it. But Capitol Reef is a national park in its own right, which means you're guaranteed an experience of a lifetime!

So in case your planning on skipping Capitol Reef…DON'T. And here's why.

You shouldn't skip Capitol Reef National Park because…everyone else does

We took our mighty five road trip, visiting all of Utah's national parks right around Memorial Day. As you might imagine, the parks were pretty crowded around this time. But, Capitol Reef was virtually empty. Because so many people skip this spot, we had the place to ourselves. If you appreciate the solitude of red majestic mountains and cascading rivers, then Capitol Reef is where you want to be. 

day trip diaries: cape cod

Wanderlust Wednesday-Week 20 

After my birthday tea last month, sweet husband planned for us to have a day in Cape Cod. But Cape Cod isn't a single place, it's a cluster of several towns. We headed to Provincetown, which is right at the northern tip of the Cape. Not only is Provincetown the very first landing spot of the pilgrims, it represents classic Cape Cod.