St. Marteen and St. Martin offers a lot of things for travelers and the beaches won’t disappoint you. Like most Caribbean islands, it’s a destination to relax, enjoy the sand, sun, and crystal clear blue waters. These are some of the beaches that we visited during our stay.
Puerto Rico, Your All-Star Island
It took 11 years since we moved to the US for my husband and me to visit this island. It used to be on the top of our US places to visit list but since there are so many islands in the Caribbean to visit we thought… Puerto Rico can wait. Oh boy… little did we know that we were missing so much and if we had known better then we have flown there the moment we had the chance.
I am from the Philippines, a beautiful tropical island while my husband originates from Cape Town, one of the most charming cities on earth so you should figure out that yes, we would know what a perfect travel destination looks like. In that regard, we have to say that yes… Puerto Rico definitely counts as one…
F1 Monaco Grand Prix Voyage with Azamara
Being at the Monaco Grand Prix has been on my bucket list since I started watching Formula 1, way back 2003. Aside from the sport, I’ve been wanting to see the beauty of Monte Carlo. My husband and I have been in and out Europe but hadn’t got the chance to visit Monaco and the French Riviera until last year. We just passed our 10th Wedding anniversary so we decided to do a couple’s trip – we haven’t done one since we had our first kid. We were lucky in that my in-laws were kind enough to fly in from South Africa to hang out and spend time with the kids. I know… they are the best!!! We went away for 2 weeks, kinda too long but we were so at peace knowing that the kids are in good hands and thanks to advance technology, we got to Skype with them everytime we got WIFI signal. We are beyond thankful.
You know the famous saying of Mark Twain, “Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Fortunately, I made my passion for travel into something that I can do for a living. I started my home-based travel agency last year and one of “the perks of the job” was to go onboard an Azamara Cruise for free… a choice of any destination I wanted. Pretty neat huh?!? So many options but one stuck out of the catalog was the 5 day F1 Monaco Grand Prix Voyage.
Photo credit by Azamara Cruises
The Beautiful Gaylord Opryland
For this year’s Thanksgiving, my family decided to take our longest road trip yet. Our itinerary was from Dallas to Memphis and Nashville in Tennessee and onward to Bentonville in Arkansas before heading back home to Dallas. It was definitely an amazing trip – educational, fun and an unforgettable one. Lots to talk about from this trip but allow me to first share with you our stay at the famous Gaylord Opryland Resort.
I have learned that it is one of the largest hotels in the world and the largest non-casino hotel in the United States. However, it wasn’t just HUGE but also a really beautiful resort. We stayed for 4 nights to give time for my kids and my mom (their first time in Nashville) to explore this huge resort and surrounding areas; we thought it would need a few days of exploring and how right we were.
This hotel is not just a place to stay, it is itself a destination and an experience unto itself.
There were many things that WOWed us which made our stay so special and unforgettable; here are a few of them: Read More
Autumn Aloft – Park City, Utah
Park City, Utah…. I had heard about the place but was never really interested in planning a vacation to there since I thought of it as more of a winter destination; and as an island girl I am a little adversed to the cold. However, some years back we bought a Hilton Grand Vacations timeshare and of course they have a resort in Park City. First, I thought…. well… maybe it’s about time to hit the slopes (talking about getting out of your comfort zone, right?) but when I started researching I found out that Fall is a great time to visit Utah too, especially Park City.
I got very excited when I learned about their Balloon Festival. I knew from a previous Plano Balloon Festival (our city Balloon Festival) that my kids are crazy for hot air balloons and as my mom was also in town, I knew I had just found the perfect fall getaway for my family. Lock and load… room booked and plane tickets reserved and off we go!
So, we got a warm welcome as we arrived Sunrise Lodge by Hilton Grand Vacations. If you are an owner, you get to have a free valet parking as a bonus. Beautiful property in a charming mountainside village of the Canyons Resort. You know, if you are a family of 4 or 5 then the space offered by a 2 bedroom suite will just be far way better than to squeeze into a hotel room. This is one reason for buying into a timeshare.
The Beautiful Texas Frontier – Big Bend National Park
There’s an old saying, “everything is bigger in Texas” and the Big Bend National Park definitely meets the criteria. I have been wanting to visit this park ever since I moved to Texas. However, I was adverse to the idea of the road trip to the park since it is far and I thought there would be nothing much to do on the way. When my cousin told me that they were moving to the US and would be based in Odessa; I immediately looked at a map and learned that Odessa was not too far from the Park. So now I had the motive to get on the road and go.
So, Labor Day weekend came round and we got the chance to visit my cousin (which I hadn’t met in a decade) and visit the park.
Our drive to the park from Odessa was surprisingly interesting. We couldn’t resist stopping the car a number of times for a photo op.
