"Traveling- it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller."
-Ibn Battuta
It has been a joy to explore this beautiful earth and to discover new places, new friendships, and to find grace in everywhere I visit. Travel to me is not escaping or "finding myself" but instead is about enormous joy and grace in new places.
Today I am excited to share some of my best travel tips and I hope that you will find these practical, encouraging, and inspiring!
I began sharing about traveling and taking adventures on the blog when I was extremely sick and looking to find the joy and hope in everyday. In the years since that time I have been so blessed to travel and see parts of the world I only once dreamed of. I hope though that the places that are shared here on the blog will inspire you to visit and help in your own planning for your perfect cozy luxury adventure. At the end of the day I truly believe that as I shared in 2014 when I was mostly bed ridden that adventure starts right where you are and not in an actual place. In saying that I hope that these travel tips are inspiring and encouraging as you plan your next trip and adventure... whether that is in your own back yard or somewhere thousands of miles away.
“Adventure is an attitude, not a behavior.” ~ Luci Swindoll
Take this from a lady who spent several years primarily bedridden and to sick to even ride in a car 5 minutes from her home... you do not need to travel far away to have an adventure. As I referenced above, I wrote a post in 2014 that has remained one of my most read posts of all time talking about this. Even now, nine years after writing that the lessons that I spoke about are still true for today for myself. This summer doesn't hold all of the "far away travel adventures" that I see so many taking for me. While I am not struggling with health issues, finances and other commitments restrict me from this.
And I am learning the absolute grace and truth of the quote from Luci Swindoll. "Adventure is an attitude..." As I read with joy the adventures of many friends and loved ones and those in bloggy world and have friends who are traveling to the ends of the earth (literally) I rejoice with how the Lord is leading and guiding them. BUT sweet friends, maybe you are like me and you are not able to take off on "physical travel adventurers" around the world or to your dream location. Maybe it is a restriction due to health and financial factors, maybe you don't have the resources available, or maybe it is an adventure you long for but it hasn't happened yet- like being physically well, having children, getting married, or your dream job. Maybe you just don't have the vacation days or maybe you just can't "go" because of a million different reasons. That is okay. LIFE, friends, YOUR beautiful life is the ADVENTURE and no matter how near or far you can physically go, you can life a life FULL of adventure and joy right where you are at.
Want to read more thoughts on this tip? Check out the blog post below:
Interested in purchasing Lucy Swindoll's book, I married adventure, that I reference in the above post? You can find it HERE on Amazon. It is a great read for this tip!
Traveling is a gift.
Traveling somewhere new is a beautiful gift that you can give to the soul.
But... traveling and exploring your own hometown or city that you live in (or one nearby) is a gift that can change your life!
Maybe you don't have a ton of money to travel to far away places but you can explore the culture that is found in your beautiful area of the world. Maybe your health doesn't allow you to travel as much as you would like, but you can take a short car ride to see the beauty around you. Maybe you can't leave your job to travel far but you can spend a weekend traveling around your town. Whatever your reasons are for wanting to develop your wanderlust, I hope that this post will inspire you to explore right where you are! This summer look at exploring your own city and all of the things that are nearby!
Want to read more thoughts on this tip? Check out the blog post below:
If you have been around the blog over the last decade then you know a large percentage of my travel adventures have been cruises of all different kinds! One of the questions I get asked about the most on a weekly basis is; "How you do you plan your cruises?". It is a great question that I know I spent a ton of time looking up and figuring out when I went on my first cruise back in 2014! Since that time nine years ago (how is that possible?? *smiles*) I have been so blessed to go on many additional ocean cruises and even a river cruise on the Rhine River (which was incredible!).
As I prepare and plan for a cruising adventure this summer I have learned all about the importance of planning and researching the cruise adventures! I have written so many tips on this, but one helpful post for planning cruises would be:
If you are looking for an adorable journal for your cruises check out the cruise collection in the shop by clicking HERE! One of my favorites is the above junk journal (found HERE)which is adorable!
If you are looking for packing tips for cruising then you can find the following posts I have written:
One of the most important travel tips that I give every single person is to bring a journal along and record the memories at that point. This was honestly one of the inspirations behind our Key Chain Junk Journals that we create in the shop! It is so easy once you are back from your trip to forget all of the special memories that took place. Having a small Key Chain Junk Journal with you is perfect for recording all of those once in a lifetime adventures and special moments that you don't want to forget!
These cozy bit key chain junk journals are the perfect way to keep track and treasure the magic ordinary of each day. Adorned on a special clip that can attach to a key ring, purse, journal, photo album and so much more, these mini junk journals are the perfect size. Resting at 2x2 each chunky journal is perfectly curated collection of rare sweet vintage and distinctive modern materials to inspire hope and joy in every area of your life. This beautiful mini journal is the perfect gift for a loved one or for yourself to write down precious moments and save the priceless scraps of time from each day. These are the perfect travel accessory!
Check out the entire shop HERE!
Typically when you think of traveling you think of traveling the world with another person, yet sometimes this doesn't happen or you want to set off an amazing adventure by yourself. As a single gal I have had lots of experiences of traveling alone. Sometimes it has been fun, other times awkward, sometimes full of joy, and other times there have been some tears. But above all else I definitely have learned a lot about myself and grown as a person as I discovered the world in new ways.
If you are traveling alone, check out the following post to help you on your next adventure:
As some of y'all know, when I was growing up we would spend the school year in the south and then spend the summer months in upstate NY. Due to growing up like this and spending 2-3 times a year traveling 40 hours (round trip) I started to acquire some tips and tricks for these types of long road trips.
I also feel like blogging put those adventures into practice in new ways with the Alaskan Road Trip that I took in 2018 and 2019 (you can read about it HERE) and the New England/New Brunswick/Prince Edward Island/Nova Scotia Road Trip I took in 2017 (you can read about it HERE). As I am in the midst of preparing and planning for another Major Road Trip for this Fall and Early Winter (I can't wait to share more with y'all soon about this!) I have been thinking through these tips and I hope that y'all will find them helpful!
I also feel like blogging put those adventures into practice in new ways with the Alaskan Road Trip that I took in 2018 and 2019 (you can read about it HERE) and the New England/New Brunswick/Prince Edward Island/Nova Scotia Road Trip I took in 2017 (you can read about it HERE). As I am in the midst of preparing and planning for another Major Road Trip for this Fall and Early Winter (I can't wait to share more with y'all soon about this!) I have been thinking through these tips and I hope that y'all will find them helpful!
Want to read more thoughts on this tip? Check out the blog post below:
If you are looking for additional road trip tips then you can find the following posts I have written:
.jpg "my best travel tips")
One of the most frequently asked questions that I receive is how I traveled with a Chronic Illness and how I traveled in the past while I was very sick with Lyme and Cancer (and other health issues). 99% of the travels that I have done while blogging have been for work, and yet I still receive this question quite frequently. I have always hoped and prayed that by sharing my adventures I would give hope to those who are struggling with a chronic illness or chronic pain and long to travel. If you are interested in reading TONS of travel tips while traveling with a chronic illness check out the following posts:
Ever since I was a little girl I have struggled with motion sickness. Despite my love of traveling in all different forms, I was always the one who would ask for the air to be higher, the windows to be rolled down, the temperature to be cooler, and would practically camp out to stake out the seats that would allow me to easily see how. Motion sickness was definitely not a friend and over the years as I have continued to travel more and more I have found a few ways to help handle this to make it better. Click HERE to read four of my favorite tips on ways to handle motion sickness as you travel!
Over the last 10 years of writing on this blog I have talked about tons of travel adventures, stories, and beautiful places to visit. I have been so blessed with tons of amazing trips with family members and friends and have treasured each trip for different reasons.
One subject though I have never discussed here on the blog is how to travel with difficult people. I receive at least a hundred emails a week about this question and for the most part I have just responded simply and avoided the question because it feels very personal. But a few years ago I received an email from someone who was approaching a long road trip in the summer and they were desperate for any tips due to a variety of circumstances. This reader also stated that "she knew that I never had been part of a difficult road trip" but was hoping for any tips I could offer.
I hesitated and delayed answering for over a week. I knew that here on the blog I have always made it seem that things have been "perfect" with regards to traveling companions and yet there was a very difficult and painful (and wounding) experience that I had in 2018 that I had never discussed outside my family and closest friends. I wrote back carefully and selectively to this lovely reader and offered some practical tips that I hoped would help.
It was the first time that I specifically admitted to a blog reader that I had been part of an incredibly difficult trip . I had long ago forgiven this person but realized that my experience wasn't as "unique" as I had once thought. The blog reader encouraged me to write a post about it and so after much thought and prayer I have decided to in hopes that this will help others who may experience what I did.
Also- The road trip that these situations took place while I was on a writing/work trip in Alaska (my first Alaska trip in 2018). Because of the remoteness of where we were there was not the opportunity to just "drop" my friend off at the airport so we were together in a car for 6 days on lots of remote roads and thousands of miles. I couldn't cancel where we were and change things because of the contracts and commitments I had made to my clients. This added a level of complexity as it was a job for me, and wished that my travel companion had respected and honored that and been professional and mature.
All of that to say, several years later here is what I wish someone had suggested to me and tips that I hope will be helpful and encouraging to you to help you survive a long road trip if you are stuck with a very difficult person:
I have experienced so many amazing road trips with friends and family members that I hope that this post inspires you to have the best road trip possible. This post is going to center around the relationship aspect of traveling together on long road trips. If you are looking for general practical tips for road trips (packing, saving money, rewards, fun surprises on trips, etc. check out this post HERE!), but if you want 10 beautiful tips for enjoying a long road trip with friends check the following post out:
Post a Comment