2009 Travel Plans

I was fortunate enough to travel quite a bit in 2008, and I am currently doing everything I can to continue that trend. I recently went over my previous plans for 2009, and updated them a bit... Here are my current plans for 2009.

2009 Planned And Booked Travel:

- Mayercraft 2009 to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (girls' trip)

2009 Planned, But Not Yet Booked Travel:
- Ireland, to get back to Europe and go to a place we've never been
- Portland or Minneapolis, to visit friends

BF and I would both really love to go on a trip to Ireland, so I've been spending a lot of time looking up places to go and links online with information. Here are a few of my favorite links, so far.

Tips for planning a trip to Ireland
Discover Ireland
Irish Getaways (Has some amazing looking travel deals)
Ireland B&B Network (where I would like to stay)
Ireland Hostel Listings (where BF would like to stay)

I think we are planning on going in either May or in August/September. I still have a lot of research to do on a possible trip out there, but cost wise, we're thinking 10-13 days. We want to see a good majority of the country, but of course have limited funds and vacation time.

So here's my inquiry: If you've been to Ireland, what is something we absolutely HAVE to see?

Travel Photo Tuesday: Intercourse, PA

One of the covered bridges in Amish country, PA. It was my favorite because it was the one you could actually drive across!

Awesome Resource: Free-Wi-Fi Locations in Europe

Stumbled upon this website a few weeks back and I think it is awesome. It is a list of free wi-fi locations all over Europe.

If you're traveling to Europe for a week or a year, this will come in handy!

Free Wi-Fi Directory

East Coast Road Trip: The Recap

I just realized I never got around to posting on this site about my East Coast road trip! We had a fabulous time and saw so much of the East Coast, it was fabulous.

Me at Chatham Manor in Virginia

We really packed in as much as possible!

Happy 2009!

Where are you visiting from?? I was thrilled to discover that I've had hits on this blog from all over the world. That was my original plan, so thanks everyone who has visited!

Hopefully, 2009 will bring lots more to this particular blog. I love travel and everything to do with travel... and am looking forward to lots of it this year, including new features and trips!

First up: Travel Photo Tuesdays. I am hoping to stay on track with this one and post a new photo of somewhere I've been or hope to go every Tuesday. See you around! (And as always, comments and feedback are much appreciated!

Happy 2009!

Places I Want To Go: Lapland, Finland

A friend of mine just told me about yet another amazing place I have to add to my "travel to before I die" list!

Lapland, Finland

A visit to the Hotel & Igloo Village Kakslauttanen is filled with adventure and amazement - go on a reindeer safari, stay in a glass igloo to see the Northern Lights, or witness the incredible Midnight Sun.

I would like to go to stay in a glass igloo to check out the Northern Lights, and to take a reindeer safari! But, I do think I'll skip the smoked reindeer sandwich...

East Coast 10 Day Road Trip: Photo Recap

I finally got it together and sorted through my thousand photos, and picked one from most of the places we visited! Without further ado, our East Coast adventure!

Here's a recap of our itinerary:

Day 1: Arrive in Boston, Freedom Trail tour, Sam Adams Brewery tour
Day 2: Boston, half day trip by train to Salem
Day 3: Boston, pick up rental car, drive to Providence RI, then to Waterford CT
Day 4: Waterford, CT, more wandering
Day 5: Drive to Philadelphia, by way of Amish country
Day 6: Philadelphia, drive to Fredericksburg, VA
Day 7 - 9: Fredericksburg, PA for our friend's wedding!
Day 10: Drive to DC, drop off rental car, explore DC

Boston, MA

East Coast Road Trip: Itinerary

As our East Coast road trip rapidly approaches (we leave a week from tomorrow!!!), I realized that I haven't written about it in a while. We finalized our itinerary a few weeks ago, when we used Priceline to book our hotel in Boston. Since we got such a great deal on our hotel in CT, we decided to spend two nights there instead of one. This unfortunately means that we had to change up our previously planned itinerary, and to cut one night in Boston, plus our proposed trip to P-Town, but is saving us about $150 on the hotel.

We decided to leave most of the trip open ended. We don't want to have too many concrete plans, because we want to explore and see random things. But there are several things we want to hit up for sure, so I'm listing them on here!

Thursday 10/9: Red eye flight from LA to Boston
Friday 10/10: Arrive in Boston, Freedom Trail tour, Sam Adams Brewery tour
Saturday 10/11: Boston, with a possible morning trip to Salem
Sunday 10/12: Boston, pick up rental car, drive to Providence RI, then to Waterford CT
Monday 10/13: Waterford, not sure what else!
Tuesday 10/14: Drive to Philadelphia, by way of Amish country
Wednesday 10/15: Philadelphia, drive to Fredericksburg, VA
Thursday 10/16: Fredericksburg, with a possible jaunt to DC
Friday 10/17: Fredericksburg, help Ashleigh with wedding favors, rehearsal dinner
Saturday 10/18: Fredericksburg, Ashleigh's WEDDING!
Sunday 10/19: Drive to DC, drop off rental car
Monday 10/20: Early morning flight from Dulles to LA

Whew! I'm super excited for this trip, but man. I just realized just how much we're packing in! I think I'm most excited for the wedding, and to see all of the fall foliage. I hope we're there at the right time for some awesome photo ops!

Boston - What To Do

I was going to write about food and drink as the follow up to my Boston hotel entry and the next installment for Demonic Blonde (and Alex), but DB has requested places to go. Again, no Boston expert or anything, but here are some places I've been and things I've done while there, and some more I'm wanting to go and do!

Trinity Church

Boston - Where To Stay

Recently, my friend Demonic Blonde requested a travel post about Boston, since she and some friends will be traveling there in November. Now, I am no expert on Boston by any means. But, I have been there several times and it's my favorite East Coast city by far.

I love Boston. I love the feel of the city, the people, the transportation, pretty much everything except for the fact that my delicate California-born-and-raised self cannot survive in cold weather. In fact, I would love to live there at some point, if it weren't for said issue. Anyway. I'll be traveling there again next month for my own trip, but I figured I'd post a few blogs with some of the places I've been and will be planning to go. Here is the first, about hotels.

I've only stayed in two hotels in Boston on my trips thus far. The first time I went, my friend Miss M and I were a little late in reserving a hotel room (we were traveling at the same time as Harvard's graduation, oops), and the best we could find was the Holiday Inn Express. This hotel? Not recommended. The hotel itself is fine, exactly what you'd expect from a Holiday Inn Express. There's a Target within walking distance and a little diner next door that has good pie. But the neighborhood is hardly ideal for tourists. The T stop is a 5-10 minute walk, and not particularly appealing to two young women after dark.

Every time since then, I've stayed at the Boston Marriott Cambridge. Which rocks as a hotel as well as a location. It's on the pricier side, but if you get it at the right time of year you can get good deals. Basically, it's a dream come true - soft, heavenly beds, comfortable rooms, and the Kendall Square T stop is literally steps from the hotel. A close T stop is my biggest "pro" for a hotel in Boston - because with that, you can get anywhere around the city with ease (and a few minutes walk).

For this upcoming trip, we're staying at a new hotel that I've not been to. Again, we waited far too long to book our hotel, and my favorite was over $300/night, well out of my price range for this trip. If we were only going to Boston, I may have sprung for it (it's THAT good of a hotel), but since we'll have an additional 7 nights in hotels after Boston, we had to stick with our budget of under $200/night. So, with very little available and our departure looming, we turned to Priceline. We named the hotel we wanted (four stars), our location (Downtown, Waterfront, etc) and our price ($175/night). And then we rolled the dice. We are booked at the Seaport Hotel on the waterfront, and from the looks of the reviews on tripadvisor, I am super excited about our good fortune.

Style

Coming home from our road trip to San Francisco, I couldn't help but think about how much our trip demonstrated how different BF's and my "travel styles" are.

I like to plan. (Like that's a surprise.) Hotels, activities, places to eat, etc. I like having the details worked out, often months ahead of time, before I go somewhere. It's less stressful for me, and it makes traveling more enjoyable, plus, I love to do it.

BF likes to fly by the seat of his pants. He doesn't like having anything planned - he wants to be completely flexible with everything. And he's totally last minute.

I'll admit it. Most of the time, I "win" when it comes to travel. Because if I don't? I drive him crazy being all stressed out and wondering where I'm going to sleep.

California Road Trip: Monterey Bay & Santa Cruz

Hmmm... where did I leave off? Oh yes, it was still Saturday and we were still driving. We drove for a LONG TIME on Saturday. After Cambria, we drove all through Big Sur on Highway 1, enjoying the spectacular views and the windy roads until we got to Monterey. Our main goal? The Monterey Bay Aquarium! We love the Monterey Bay Aquarium. And Monterey is a super cute place. Too many tourists in spring and summer, but what can you do?

Outer Bay exhibit - do you see the size of that tuna???

California Road Trip: Morro Bay

Our road trip to San Francisco had lots of little stops and side trips - so I'm going to break up the blog about it a little into smaller, easier to digest blogs. Cause I love you people, and don't want your eyes to start to bleed!

We left our place super early - 6:40am early - and headed up the 101. None of this "5 freeway" deal for us - what's the point of taking a road trip if you're going to be bored out of your mind and see nothing but cows the entire drive? You can see cows on the 101, too, and horses, and sheep, and even ostriches!

We stopped in Santa Maria for breakfast around 8am and then called our buddy in Morro Bay - we hadn't seen him since Christmas, so we couldn't pass up an opportunity to hang out with him! Got to Morro Bay around 10am and he took us to Montana de Oro State Park for a very awesome nature walk.

I love eucalyptus trees.

CA 101 Road Trip to San Francisco

BF and I recently went on a trip to San Francisco, and it was awesome. We had such a nice time, and it was so great to hang out, spend time together, and be super goofy. We left on Thursday night, stayed in Pismo Beach, then leisurely finished the drive on Friday. Here are some of the highlights to our trip!

- The GIANT artichoke in Castroville, CA. It's the world's largest, and I had no idea it even existed prior to this trip, so it was awesome to stumble upon! I wanted to eat at the Giant Artichoke Restaurant, but we'd just had breakfast. Next time, maybe.
- Stopping at Pizza My Heart and the Pacific Cookie Company in Santa Cruz! The PCC had a lemon drop sugar cookie that was soooooo good.

This was the chocolate dipped chocolate chip macadamia nut cookie! Delicious!

San Francisco: Where To Stay

My all time favorite place to stay in San Francisco is the Union Square area. I've stayed there on several trips to San Fran, and have been pleased with each place I've stayed.

So when my boyfriend told me he had a conference up there, I immediately looked to Union Square for a hotel.

Union Square is within walking distance of many San Francisco attractions, and it has easy access to even more. My favorite reasons to stay there? (1) The Powell/Market Street cable car, and (2) there are two H&M stores.