Road tripping is the quintessential American summer vacation. We joined the masses this year with a 10 day road trip through Arizona and Utah. Our epic journey took us to 4 national parks as well as some classic American gems –Route 66, the wonders of the Grand Canyon, rafting down the Colorado River and hiking through a … Read more
Exploring the ruins of San Pedro’s Sunken City has been on my to do list for a while. I was a bit nervous about doing it on my own with my son, so I had to find a time when the whole family could go. Today was the day!
In 1929, this area of San Pedro began sliding into the ocean below. All that’s left now are ruins of roads and broken pipes covered in beautiful graffiti art. Artists (and visitors of all shapes and sizes) have been illegally entering this no man’s land for years.
Spain 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.
I 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.
I 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.
One 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.
Everyone 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.
From high-rise-filled cities to small mountain villages, with thousands of temples and gardens in between, visitors often find it difficult to decide where to go in Japan. After a magnificent 3 weeks traveling this island nation by Japan rail, following geishas in the streets of Kyoto, visiting snow monkeys in the wild, sleeping in a Buddhist Monastery to exploring the bustling streets of Tokyo, we just barely scratched the surface of all that Japan has to offer. Here is our itinerary, in photos, of one of our all time favorite holiday destinations.
There are few constants in life, but one of them seems to be the Groupon deal for the Wildlife Learning Center in Sylmar. I guess what they say is true – the more you see something, the more likely you are to check it out! Today we had nothing on the agenda so decided to take the bait and visit. … Read more
I have survived my first Spirit flight! And you know what, it wasn’t so bad. Flying Spirit is not for everyone, but for the budget conscious it is fantastic option. Without the low fares available on Spirit Airlines, it would not have been possible for our family to go away for a quick Mother’s Day weekend. I … Read more
We have tried the Switzer Falls hike a few times with friends, but have never made it very far (due to those pesky kids playing in the creek!). We were jonesing for a hike and decided to give it another go. I had forgotten to check online to see how long the hike was before we set … Read more
One of the main reasons we chose the Big Island over the other Hawaiian Islands was to visit Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. My son had seen a brochure about the park at a friend’s house last summer and has wanted to go ever since. Turns out, this was the highlight for all of us. There is so much to … Read more
Okonomiyaki: The Best Food in Japan Japan continues to top our favorite trips list, with Hiroshima being one of our favorite places in Japan. So rightly so, that okonomiyaki, a dish from Hiroshima, remains as one of our favorite travel meals. It’s not often I post about food in my travels. There are a handful of … Read more
Do you have a construction loving little one? If so, this is the post for you! My son gets confused with all of the large warehouse type stores, so when he sees Home Depot he says “This is my favorite Target!” very excitedly. It must run in the genes. His grandfather is a contractor and … Read more
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
Welcome to the A to Z Challenge, an initiative that invites bloggers to post an alphabet-themed post every day (excluding Sundays) during the month of April. As part of this challenge, I’ll be sharing some of my travel memories to known and unknown places in the hope to inspire your travel dreams. J is for Jaisalmer (India) It’s … Read more
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
Hiking is the thing to do in LA. Before moving here I didn’t think that hiking with kids was even possible, especially once they were too big to carry and no longer interested in the stroller. As a baby you can carry them and older kids can walk, but what do you do during those few years where your … Read more
Celebrating Holi is one of our favorite Indian holidays. The yearly festival was the highlight of the spring for our family and so many in India. In our 8+ years in Mumbai, we never missed one Holi. This was one Indian tradition I felt we had to continue even after moving to the US. Holi, also known as the festival … Read more
On a day to day basis it was the longest most frustrating 14 days of our lives, looking back it was the most amazing and adventurous 14 days. I should be scared, but I am not. I am full of excitement and anticipation sitting in the long line of rickshaws waiting to launch from Pondicherry. … Read more