18 01, 2016

Travel Missteps: Don’t Look Under the Ledge

By |January 18th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

As a young child, my favorite movie was The Little Mermaid. I loved swimming and spent my childhood on the beaches of California and the Great Lakes of Michigan pretending to be a mermaid. On my first trip to St. John USVI, it was my first time snorkeling in years and I was excited to try out my new equipment and underwater camera. I swam out to a rocky outcropping near Little Maho Bay Beach and got a little snap happy as I hadn't expected the water to be so clear or to see so many fish so close to the

1 01, 2016

Shining Light on Egyptian Hieroglyphics

By |January 1st, 2016|Categories: Attractions & Sights, Photography, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

A new year, a new weekly series: Photo Friday! Each week I'll bring you some of my favorite photos, some of travel, some of my general life. I hope you enjoy! This Photo Friday, I share my favorite photo from Egypt. I was wandering the sanctuary area within the Temple of Horus in Edfu, Egypt. This area in ancient times would have been quite dark and only available to the priests of the temple. I turned around and saw the light shining through on the hieroglyphics, and I'm pleased with how it turned out. Every Friday Lili shares her favorite photography

17 12, 2015

The Martian and Me

By |December 17th, 2015|Categories: Books, Pop Culture, Travel, Travel Memories|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |2 Comments

Source “Mars is a barren wasteland and I am completely alone here. I already knew that, of course. But there’s a difference between knowing it and really experiencing it.” -Mark Watney in The Martian by Andy Weir Egyptian Desert as seen from a Nile cruise. I remember the days before I had my Kindle. Stacks of books taking up space in my bags. I could easily go through 5-7 books per trip. And god help me if I had only brought a few in a series...and it finished on a cliffhanger! I remember many frustrating trips

7 12, 2015

Travel Missteps: Terror on the High Seas

By |December 7th, 2015|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |1 Comment

They call camels the "Ships of the Desert" as they are the most resilient and efficient form of travel. I actually hadn't planned on riding a camel. I had been warned, "They spit! They bite!" And other travel bloggers noted that the gate of a camel is awkward and will make you walk funny for days after. But I got caught up in the mystique of the pyramids, and so happily joined my friend on a camel trek in the desert around the Great Pyramids of Giza. Plus it cost so little! Just 120 EGP (plus 10 EGP tip at

3 12, 2015

Egypt: Planes, Trains, Automobiles, Ships, & Submarines

By |December 3rd, 2015|Categories: Travel, Travel Review|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |1 Comment

I thought it would be fun to count all the ways I traveled on my 2.5 week trip to Egypt! Planes: 8 Trains: 3 Taxis: 8 Vans: 17 Shuttles: 3 Private Cars: 4 Trams: 5 Boats: 4 Ships: 1 Submarines: 0 (sadly didn't get to go on this one, as I had to cancel my day trip to Sharm) Horse Carriages: 4 Camels: 1 And a whole lot of walking, one time swimming, a handful of elevators, and a few people movers.

19 11, 2015

Egypt Trip Cost & Budget Analysis

By |November 19th, 2015|Categories: Travel, Travel Budget|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

This is my budget breakdown of my trip to Egypt (with a layover in Frankfurt, Germany). I knew going into this trip that it was going to be on the expensive side. I had budgeted $6262.41 in expenses for this trip. Here is how I actually spent that budget: Airfare: $972.26 I had watched airfare obsessively for about 2 months before I saw the airfare drop significantly through Lufthansa. I was able to get a 1 stop through Frankfurt on the way to Egypt, including a 12 hour layover in Frankfurt. And then on the way home I'd have 2 quick stops in

24 09, 2015

Coatimundi

By |September 24th, 2015|Categories: Attractions & Sights, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Source When traveling the jungles of Guatemala & Belize I was on the lookout for local wildlife. But at Tikal, I literally stumbled upon so many! Parrots, Macaws, grey foxes, and then I saw something I had no idea what it was, or how to identify it. I was told it was called a Coatimundi! If you see a group of them, its likely a band of females, as males are solitary. We saw many bands of them, and they were very curious, coming right up to us. They kind of remind me of more active raccoons, who are

4 05, 2015

Travel Missteps: Yavin 4

By |May 4th, 2015|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Its not often while traveling that you can really let your Geek Self out. But at the top of Temple IV in Tikal, Guatemala I had that opportunity to Geek Out with other Star Wars fans. You see, a very short scene from the original Star Wars (A New Hope) was shot at the top of this temple in Tikal to show the Millennium Falcon landing at the rebel base on the 4th moon of Yavin. Temples I, II, and III are seen off in the distance. Yavin 4 (Tikal) in Star Wars A New Hope I had

26 03, 2015

Egypt Trip Itinerary

By |March 26th, 2015|Categories: Itinerary, Travel, Upcoming Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Within the next few months I will be embarking on my dream trip of a lifetime - EGYPT! I've been wanting to do this trip forever and actually had the money saved up to go in 2011, but the revolution put a kink in my plans. I was skittish, not wanting to go during that trouble period. But I realize now, things will never be stable...at least not for another decade or so. And so I must take a leap of faith, stop waiting, and just go! So for the last few months I've been planning this trip. Below is

22 02, 2014

Souvenir Saturday: Volcano Snow Globe

By |February 22nd, 2014|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |2 Comments

My latest snow globe souvenir is a unique find. While on my last full day in Costa Rica, my group asked our tour leader Randy where the best place to buy souvenirs was. He knew that we would be getting into San Jose really late and since most of us had an early flight the next day would not be able to get anything. So on the way back Randy had the van stop at a large and fancy store. He said it was usually frequented by the all-inclusive hotels and so would have the best selection of souvenirs, however