The Wizarding World and More

Universal Studios was a last minute plan for us, but it was more than worth it to go.
We happen to be friends with an awesome lady who's boyfriend got us park hopper passes for FREE.
What? Yes free. I couldn't believe it either, but that was majorly appreciated.

The most important thing to us while we were there was walking through and seeing The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, both places. Diagon Alley was darker, with all of the interesting shops.
We had a lot of fun going through Gringots and the ride was very fun!

Of course, butter beer was a must here and it was amazingly delicious! It was rainy and cold the day we went, but I still had the frozen kind, which I would definitely recommend. Supposedly better than the regular.  We then hopped on the train to the other park!



Hogsmeade Village was lovely as well. This is where we ate lunch at The Three Broomsticks and went on couple rides they had there. The dueling dragons ride was the best and craziest, I was dizzy when I got off of it, in a good way!

The Hogwarts ride was fun as well, but I left feeling a little sick (motion sickness sneaks up sometimes) because the ride was moving a lot and was basically all projection screen scenes. So beware!

This was my favorite part of the day and I wish we had just stayed there the whole time (although the rest was fun too)

We went on the MIB alien ride, which was another highlight! I would have won too, if I hadn't been with people who go there all the time (3rd place out of 5 isn't too bad either).

We went through Jurassic Park to the activity center.
We were all very tired already by this point, but we also went through the SuperHero area to ride on the Dr. Doom ride, which was as bad as I was expecting it to be.



We waited in line for a long time to go on the Rip Ride Rockit (the music coaster) which didn't end up working for us. And trust me when I say this, not having music playing on that ride makes it entirely more scary than it should be. I wouldn't go on that again.

We were just about to go, but we really wanted to go on the Mummy ride, which was a great way to end the day. Such a fun ride!

By the end of the day, it was getting darker and rainier and we were so tired from the day before, we were just done.
All in all though, definitely go!
It would be better on a nicer day, but I'm glad we got to have that experience.

Cheers and safe travels everyone!

The Happiest Place on Earth

Dare I disagree with this ever present statement about Disney? No, of course not, although it being crowded as hell is definitely -1 point, it's still definitely an amazingly happy place to be.

My trip to Florida over New Years was well worth the travel time, the planning, and leaving home. The sun definitely made up for the constant rain and cold during the winter back in Seattle.
When first arriving to DisneyWorld, the archway welcoming you to the parking area is enough to make you excited! I remember looking over to the car next to us to see a little boy rocking out and ready for all the fun. We only decided to go to the Magic Kingdom, because of costs, even though I would have loved to venture over to Animal Kingdom as well.

Although, the morning for us was a little cold and rainy, we didn't let it completely dampen our spirits because everything looked so magical. It was still decorated with festive Christmas wreaths and garlands, lights hanging everywhere and all of the workers, at least out in the shops and the streets, were very friendly and helpful (some people at the rides seemed very less enthused).

We started off the day at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, a nice start to the day in FrontierLand and a great way to get us even more excited for the rest of the day.

*As a side note, I think we waited until after the ride to go look at our fast passes and we should have done that when we first walked through the gates...That was a major bummer to have to wait all day to use some of them (and some were all taken) even though it did work out well for us in the end.

We strode through AdventureLand next and went to meet Aladdin, which was my friends "need-to" item of the day.
Meeting the characters was a great extra I hadn't even really thought about before getting there, but it was definitely a great feeling to even be standing next to a character from your childhood.
Later in the day, we also met Ariel, Gaston, Beast, Anna and Elsa.

Mind you, we are the park from when it opened and we stayed till just before it closed, so we were there for a good 16 hours walking our butts off trying to see and do as much as we could.
More rides, circling through the whole park at least a couple times, before hitting the time of the day where the dominos were falling into place.
Being able to use one fast pass for The Haunted Mansion, running to see the fireworks and then trying to get out of the swarms of people to get to our dinner reservation.

The New Years fireworks display (although it was Jan 2nd) was amazing and for sure a highlight. The music from countless Disney movies playing, the flashes and sparks dancing and glowing along. There were two shows and we stayed for both.

We then, like I said, had to book it to our dinner reservation at Be Our Guest (Beast's castle) because we were already late. They were very nice there though and we got seated pretty quickly.
We only decided to get dessert there because the actual food was very pricey, so we got a couple lovely cupcakes and, of course, had to try some of the grey stuff! Which is delicious, by the way.
After we got to meet Beast, which was lovely.

Traipsing around the park again after the sugar, our favorite ride through the day was probably the Little Mermaid ride, sitting in a clamshell and singing the songs. We rode on this for the second time at this point.
We went to TomorrowLand to finish it out and wait for our last fast pass for Space Mountain. The Orbiter and Buzz Lightyear took up our time and then we headed over.
We decided to just wait in line because we were too early, but by the time we got through and on, we were able to scurry back and use our fast pass to get back on in 5 minutes, score!

That was the end to our magical day. Filled with much happiness and thankful hearts.
We would have stayed longer, but we did have to go to Universal in the morning, so sleep was a necessity.

Worth it? Oh yes. Recommend it? Highly.
They don't call it the happiest place on Earth for no reason.
More to come soon!

Cheers and safe travels everyone!

New Years in the Sunshine State

Ringing in 2016 could not have been better, especially since I was spending it laying out on the beach and soaking up some sun in Florida.
Making new friends from different places definitely has its perks and this would be one of them.
I had never gotten a chance to travel to Florida before, but during my Europe journey back in June, I made a friend who happened to live in Orlando.
Not being able to help myself, I jumped on the opportunity to head down there for New Years, mind you, it being all the way across the country from where I am.

New Years on the beach, DisneyWorld, Universal.. the list could go on, but that was enough to entice me.

To start things off, we spent the start of New Years Eve by journeying out down New Smyrna beach at PJ's Seashack to see if we could catch a glimpse of some manatees, since we all love animals and it would have been awesome! We decided to try paddle boarding and paddle out to a cove where there could be potential. The water, sadly, was too murky and we couldn't see any, but surprisingly a small group of dolphins decided to crash our party and swim alongside the paddle boarders and kayakers around the inlet. It was a great sight to see, especially when there was a baby in the midst!

Of course, we did enjoy some nice beach time after this, walking out in the salty Atlantic ocean water and watching crazy fish jumping next to us. Bobbing with the waves and feeling the sun shining was a major highlight to this vacation, because that definitely makes it a vacation.

We headed to downtown after that to grab some food at Clancy's, the neighborhood Mexican restaurant which had a long wait, but was worth it. They had a nice little firework show after that which we stayed to watch and then we headed to find some fireworks of our own, sparklers to be exact. This was probably the most difficult thing we had to do during the day, because no one seemed to have an fireworks of any kind, anywhere. Until we spotted an actual firework tent, we thought we were out of luck. They ended up being generous enough to give us a bag full of fireworks for the price of just about $6. We headed home with our lovely stash of good and felt happy.

Again, it's not just enough to say, "Oh, we spent New Years at the beach," because when you think of Florida, you think of beaches. Honestly though, we were literally on the beach, watching fireworks and playing with the sparklers we just bought.

The sand was cool and it wasn't really cold out at all. The moon was rising and giving us a lovely glow to view everything in and it was truly picturesque. On the beach, New Years, fireworks in the twilight and the oceans waves providing constant background noise through the event.

I couldn't have asked for a better start to a grand vacation. Good friends and great times.

More to come as I'll share more on my time there, detailing Disney and Universal and possibly a little bit extra!

To be continued!
Cheers and safe travels throughout the new year everyone! Have a fabulous 2016!

Travel Envy

It stems from the bottom of your soul, the feeling of wanting but not having, the gut wrenching turn when you see that next picture posted on Instagram...

Travel envy. It's rampant upon wanderlusters like you and me who, while we travel when we can (and love it!), we don't have the means to do it all the time.

It's not that we don't get a good stint when we're out and about on our own getaways, but when we're home, we're even wondering when and where we will go next.
Then cue the people who are continuously traveling, the dream of many, to their hearts desire. Posting picture after picture, maybe even a video, of the ultimate bucket list items you wish you could check off.

The green monster rears it's ugly head again and you can't help but bask in the raincloud you have hovering over your head. It makes you sad to not be able to be out there, in the work with so much to offer. Being stuck at a 9 to 5 that makes it possible only once a year to go where you want.

Jealously is an odd thing that when it's alive, it moves you, it pushes you further than you ever thought, it makes you think twice about what you're going to buy at the grocery store this week just so you can save some money for the next plane ticket..
It comes and goes. It's fleeting. We all have it, if we've ever desired something we can't have, only to have it dangled in front of us by someone else. Yes, that could mean so many things, but you know what I'm talking about here.

I love traveling. Sadly, my savings and checking account do not. It constantly pushes me to the boundaries of comfortable security, even if I know I am very lacking in that area of my life.
But, it's always worth it when that day comes where you get to hop on a plane to that next destination, even just for a short trip, nothing else feels better than to get away.

I am always envious of the people who seem to have it easy with the hand they've been dealt, but for what it's worth, the life I have is good too. Figuring out where I'll go next is half the fun, even though the ever impending stress and money make it hard.

Pictures, stories, and updates from the travelers going on in their worldly adventures are inspiring. While I am still very envious, it motivates me to plan and get going and I heartily appreciate that.
While my next major trip won't be for a little less than a year, I can only dream about the future, the inevitable.

Travel envy, travel motivation. They go hand in hand and I have both.
Do you?

Cheers and safe travels!

Weekend Trip to MSP

First thoughts when getting out of the airport were, "Wow, it is hot and incredibly humind."
Words I would be sure to say throughout the trip to numerous people and then thereafter to coworkers, family and friends.

From all of the things I've always heard about Minnesota is that it's cold. I never really expected the hot, sticky weather that I got when I arrived in September. By all means, it was nice to have a last hot weekend of summer before heading back to rainy Seattle for the fall, it just caught me by surprise.

This being my first trip out there, to visit a friend I had met when traveling to Europe in June, it was a needed trip. Getting a long weekend, away from work, full of fun and getting to know a friend a little better.

My experience there was short and only set in a couple places, but I still had a great time.
From the multiple sushi stops, to the fair, to the shopping till we dropped (almost literally).

First day was spent by myself, taking the precious Lady dog out for walks and trying not to die in the humidity, at least for the morning.

Once my friend got home however, we got ready to set out for the Minnesota State Fair!
Now, we do have our own state fair in Washington, but I know that we do not have multiple booths of food with something on a stick offered at it.
We ate so much incredibly terrible but delicious food while we were there. From pronto pups, to fries, cookies, and cheese curds, it was more and more difficult to walk with each bite.

We also went to the "Miracle of Birth" center to see the baby animals that were born. Lots of piglets, lambs and cows were there to see. Also checking out the Agriculture center to see the Seed Art that people had done, while stopping to get a frozen apple cider pop (YUM).

We ended our time trying to find the puppies, but we were too late. Which lead us to finding the best part of all, the Butterfly House! It was too cool to see all the butterflies flying around, landing on the walls and people. Being able to have them chill on your shirt and hold them on your fingers. Now, they are kind of creepy and it took me a few minutes to be ok with this winged crawly bugs on my hands and legs, but it was a blast!

The fair ended up being a really fun day. We were exhausted by the end, but it was for sure worth it.

The following day, we decided it would be a good idea to go to the Mall of America, which in all reality, turned into a major shopping spree that left us just as exhausted as the day before.
I didn't take many pictures here, but we had a fun time strolling around and shopping for a bit, stopping for a sushi lunch of course.

We ended the day by checking out the SeaLife Aquarium at the bottom of the MOA. We had a good time with that as well, petting stingrays, the tunnel of sharks and tons of jellyfish. Lots of fun was had at the mall.

On our way back (which we were there till it closed) we stopped to see a movie at the $3 theater and saw Spy with Melissa McCarthy. That movie is hilarious if you haven't seen it yet, you should.

All in all, the trip was great because I had a good friend to spend it with and while I didn't expect much from Minnesota in the beginning, it definitely surprised me with the awesome time.

To many more long weekends and travel days.
Cheers and safe travels!

Traveling 'Solo'

You know that feeling you get when the thing you want most in the world is to just get away and travel the world? To see new places, to meet new people and to breathe different air?
That's me.

My friends on the other hand, couldn't be further away from my feelings. Traveling with friends can be an amazing time, but what happens when your friends are the kind of people who make excuses, who "wish they could come" but there's no time, or money, or blah blah blah.

Yeah, that's where I've been for the progression of my life. I set my goals and dreams aside for awhile, waiting for someone to be available to travel with me, but it was always the same excuses.
I almost roped one of my friends into a trip for next year, but she backed out when she realized her anniversary was during the trip... What?

I changed my mind finally and decided I wasn't going to wait anymore. After my first trip to Europe after high school, it took me 5 years to go back. No way was I going to do that again.
Who says you can't make friends along the way?

It's hard when you and your friends don't have the same priorities in mind, but in the end, people drift apart and they do what they want.
My friends, if they are my friends, will still be here whenever I get back from an excursion and I can meet new friends to hopefully travel with in the future.

I think I've made it my mission to take a trip every year, which for me, isn't quite enough but I'll take what my budget can get me.
This year, I went back to Europe with a travel group, which was a great way to see new laces and meet new people like me. Next year will be Thailand, with the same company, but different group. A few other scattered trips here and there within the States between then but all in all, I don't mind that kind of life right now.

I'm waiting till I can really get out of here for awhile, make a plan and go with it.
I've been looking into volunteering or working abroad for a bit, so we'll see where that gets me.
Going alone, without friends though, doesn't scare me at all. This is my life and I'm going to do what I want, just like they are.
If they don't want to come, I'm going to pack my bags and go without them. I love the world and I'm going to see as much of it as I can in my lifetime.

If you're looking into a travel group, either traveling solo or with friends, make sure to check out EF College Break. If you have any questions, don't be shy, just ask!

Cheers and safe travels!

Switzerland and Mt. Pilatus

Switzerland has to be one of my favorite places I've been so far. It's so gorgeous, green and full of fresh mountain air.
Sometimes I can't believe I've even been there!
On my most recent trip to Europe with EF College Break, I had the opportunity to travel to Lucerne (which was one of our major stops). We actually stayed in Engelberg (here), which is about a 40 minute drive from the city of Lucerne.

Engelberg itself was a sight! Beautifully stationed in a mountain valley, we were able to hike around to view points to see the whole town, which was lovely! It being the spring season, it was a bit rainy and not very many people were in town during this time, which actually made it more pleasant in my book.

We got to meet Swiss cows and we eventually got to have dinner, which we chose a nice place where we could apparently only order pizza (since we arrived so late). Of course, I still got wine and my pizza was very good.

The next day, we started off by driving to Kreins where we hopped on gondolas to hoist us up the mountain side, to where the end would be the top of Mt. Pilatus.
The gondolas, a bit different from what you may be thinking of from Venice, are a bit sketchy, especially trekking up the side of a foggy mountain.

At the halfway point up the mountain, we were able to hop off and enjoy a ropes course they had there, fit with obstacles and multiple zip lines! This was probably my favorite thing we did on the trip, because it was so awesome to be able to say I've gone zip lining on a mountain in Switzerland!
We took about an hour or so to do this and while it did cost almost 30 extra euros to do, it was so worth it!

Onwards and upwards! We finally made it to the top and after much anxiety over timing, we got to eat a lovely cafeteria style lunch and take pictures from a great viewpoint there. It did not fall short of amazing and being on top of a Swiss mountain is probably one of the best feelings I've come across.

From the top, we took a cog wheel train to the bottom.

A bit steep, but we made it down in one piece, getting a glimpse of a little mountain goat on our way down as well!
At the bottom, we made our way to the boat we would take next (yes quite a journey on this day) which would take us around the lake and to Lucerne.

Once we made it to the city, everyone was ready to go and explore. There were places to get swiss army knives, clocks and watches, we fancied venturing to a nearby Swiss chocolate shop, which was delicious!
We also got a short tour and wandered to see the sights on our own for a bit.

If you didn't know this about Lucerne or maybe Switzerland in general (not entirely sure), they seem to have a lot of swans there! Swimming and lazing around by the edges where people are.
(Pictured above) The kettle bridge was a nice place to go across and we got to see old architecture mixed in with the new.

More walking led us to our bus that took our tired group back to our hostel. We had wanted to try some famous traditional fondue, but apparently that is only a thing they do in the winter sadly, so we missed out. We did however eat at a really amazing restaurant (I got their special lamb and orzo pasta, yum! Here.) We also tried to head out to a bar that night where we thought they were having a festival celebration for summer solstice, but it wasn't entirely busy and we ended up leaving, although it was a good time while it lasted!

I wouldn't have traded this trip for the world. It was entirely different than what I expected, in so many ways, but it was also exactly what I needed.
I made new friends, made a lot of memories, and got to travel to some pretty cool places.
I'm always ready for my next adventure and I already have a few in mind!

More posts to come, just have to venture out to make more!
Cheer and safe travels everyone!