Our Mini Spain Road Trip: Madrid to Barcelona the Long Way

Cuenca: Madrid to BarcelonaSpain is an enchanting country with so much to offer visitors. Most tourists tend to stick to the well beaten paths of Madrid, Barcelona, Seville and Granada. These are amazing destinations, but we wanted a little something different to add to our experience of Spain. Instead of taking the train or driving the long boring stretch of highway between Madrid and Barcelona, we went the long way. Our route off the beaten path took us to a Spanish village set perched on a cliff, an old medieval hilltop town, a long forgotten ghost town from Spain’s civil war and through many more rural villages nestled in between fields of olive and grape plantations, before reaching the bustling and enchanting Barcelona several days later.

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Family Camping Packing List

Family Camping Packing ChecklistI am the yearly organizer of my son’s class camping trip. I have been organizing our class trips since preschool and have gotten better and better at planning it and packing for it each year! The more you camp with kids, the more you learn. My tips for camping with kids post continues to grow each year!

I love the planning and organizational aspects of my role as camping mom, but I hate when I forget items. For posterity’s sake, I have written out our family camping packing list as a reference for myself for each year, as well as to help anyone else who is planning a camping trip with their little ones.

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Being a Woman in India | Thoughts on Safety

Being a Woman in IndiaI lived in India for close to a decade. I’m white, blonde haired and blue eyed. The first night I arrived to India, minutes from the airport, I was assaulted in a taxi. During the floods of 2005 in Maharashtra where 1000 people died, I was assaulted while walking home in waist high water.  The times of breast and crotch groping are too numerous to list.

Did I feel safe in India, you ask? Yes.

Are all female travelers safe there? No, not at all.

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Family Fun at Xcaret in the Riviera Maya

Xcaret, Riviera MayaOne of our most memorable days during our visit to the Riviera Maya region of Mexico was our last minute trip to Xcaret (ish-car-et). Skeptical, but lured in by the advertisements, we weren’t sure how we felt about spending our last day at a cheesy Disneyeque theme park, but we were game to check it out.

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Eaton Canyon Falls Hike

Eaton canyon FallsEveryone woke up early, ready to “go go go” as my little one likes to say. It was a cool foggy morning, so we decided to head out to Eaton Canyon Falls for a hike. It had been on my to-do list for ages and it looked like a perfect morning to check it out. And right we were. Seeing only 3 other cars there, we knew we would have the trails to ourselves.

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