Where to Stay in Mumbai: An Insider’s Guide to the Best Hotels in Mumbai

Heading to India and wondering where to stay in Mumbai? We have you covered with our insiders guide to the best places to stay in Mumbai from hotels near the Mumbai airport to hotels in Bandra and beyond. Some of the best hotels in the city are not located in the main tourist areas, but … Read more

Family Gap Year: Traveling the World with My 8 Year Old

I am travel obsessed. The more I travel, the more I want to travel. In 2004, I set off on a round the world (RTW) trip, but got ‘stuck’ in India with my now husband. Ever since my first attempt at traveling the world, I have ached to try again. This desire to have a family gap year has only gotten stronger as my son has grown each year.

We travel a ton as it is, but it never feels like enough. Each summer we take 4-6 weeks to travel, just the two of us, and I am never ready for it to end. We have spent time in London, Denmark, Sweden, Brazil, Borneo and all over the western US visiting national parks.

This past year was a little rough for my son at school, so we began entertaining the idea of taking the next school year off to travel. The seed was planted.

Soon I realized that 3 back to back trips scheduled in the first weeks of school would take my son away for a month. It felt like the perfect opportunity to extend it further and just take the whole year off.

Reading that back, I realize my extreme logic! You broke your toe, so we cut the whole leg off! I know, I’m crazy! This is what happens when you become obsessed with travel.

The positives for doing it now – my son is in 2nd grade which is a great age to travel with, an age I can still assist with homeschooling and he still wants to hang out with me! I’m sold.

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Tips for Flying with a Baby: Carry-on Essentials

Flying with a baby is daunting for most parents. Preparing and packing carry-on essentials is one of the most important aspects for your baby’s first flight. In my son’s first 2 years of life we traveled from India to Ireland to the US and back racking up platinum status with Delta! After so many flights … Read more

Central and Southern Oregon Road Trip Itinerary

For our third annual multi-family summer vacation, we created an amazing Oregon road trip itinerary. We had initially hoped to start in Portland and work our way around the state, but quickly realized how much there is to do in the US’s 9th largest state. Instead, we opted for a loop, focusing on the central and southern parts of the state, starting and ending in Eugene, Oregon. Taking in 3 national park/monuments, numerous rivers, forests and the coast, it proved to be an ideal itinerary for our outdoor focused families.

However, if you have time or your flight takes you through Portland, there are a ton of great things to do there to begin or end your visit. 

Oregon really is a nature lovers dream come true. Snowy mountains, looming volcanoes surrounded by fields of lava rocks, fir forests, icy cold streams, lakes and let’s not forget the beautifully rugged coastline. Central and Southern Oregon’s diverse landscape is sure to please everyone.

We had an amazing time on our 10 day Oregon road trip that I thought I would share it here for anyone looking to do the same. Our itinerary was somewhat dictated by availability of accommodation, but overall I would do the same itinerary with only minor changes.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

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5 Reasons Why You Should Visit Fiji

5 reasons why you should visit FijiWe have just returned from a “once in a lifetime” trip to Fiji. I put it in quotes because I really hope that it is not actually just once in my lifetime! I wasn’t sure what to expect other than it looked similar to Hawaii, is known as a honeymoon destination and a getaway for the rich and famous.

Without fail, everyone we talked to about Fiji said it was their dream to go someday. Rightly so, who wouldn’t want to go to an idyllic paradise with beautiful white sand beaches in the middle of crystalline waters? Even with the weather not cooperating for most of our trip, I have to admit that it was still magical, but not for the reasons I had initially thought. Read on for the 5 reasons why you should visit Fiji too.

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The Most Beautiful Hotel in Udaipur – Devi Garh Palace

Devi Garh Palace (Udaipur, India) The difficult part of living abroad is that eventually you have to leave. When our time was almost up in India, I knew I had to fit in a few more places from my never ending (India) bucket list. One of these was the beautiful (and expensive!) RASS Devi Garh Palace … Read more

Insider’s Guide: How to Ride Mumbai Local Train

The Insider’s Guide to Mumbai series is loaded with information to help you visit and explore this expansive and vibrant city like a local. After living as an expat for so many years, I found that to really get to know a city quickly you need to stay outside of the tourist zones and hang out and eat where the … Read more

Dream Travel Destinations for 2015

I live and breathe travel. If it was up to me I would be traveling full time, but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards right now. So instead, I dream up all the trips I hope we can take. I plan them out in my head and often on paper, holding on to … Read more