Travel

Earlier this month, my girlfriends and I took a road trip to Santa Barbara. Although I had been to Santa Barbara a decade earlier for a wine tasting, it was only a day trip, so I didn’t get to experience the city or the wineries in the area. It was my girlfriends’ birthday and also Cinco de Mayo weekend, so we were pretty excited to celebrate.

Last week, I traveled to New York City for work. Most of the time when I travel, I spend quite a bit of time posting to my Instagram stories, to document the entire experience. This trip, I decided to do something new. I decided to quit social media. I put my phone down, and actually live in moment, for once. Although I did take some photos and videos, I did not post to IG at all. It was so freeing. We all need to put our phones down more often.

When I was six years old, my parents took me Disneyland. It was my first time on an airplane and I can distinctly remember the excitement leading up to this trip. Given my fond memories of my first time at Disneyland, I wanted my kids to have that experience around the same age. Since my parents were going to be in town, it felt like the perfect opportunity for all of us to experience it together – just as I had 30 some years ago. So I made all the plans. Going to Disneyland with little kids takes a little extra planning, but it’s totally worth it.

A couple weeks ago, my parents were in town. They love to visit botanical gardens, so we decided to check out the South Coast Botanic Garden. There are several different Los Angeles Botanic gardens, but this one was the closest to where my parents were staying, so we decided to check it out.

On my recent trip to Toronto, I had the chance to visit Niagara Falls. One of my colleagues decided to rent a car for the day, and I learned it’s an easy hour-ish drive from Toronto to Niagara Falls. Although I wouldn’t say visiting Niagara Falls was high on my bucket list, it felt almost wrong not to see the natural wonder since I was so nearby.

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to visit Toronto for the first time. I’d heard good things about the city, but I had no expectations of my visit. Honestly, I’ve been so busy lately, I didn’t even have time to pre-plan the trip. Normally, I have a list of things I’ll do when I get to a new place, but with Toronto, I just winged it. Luckily, I did find the time to check out 5 unique things to do in Toronto.

A few weeks ago, I got to spend less than two days in New Orleans. Although I wish the trip could have been longer, I forgot just how much I adore this city. I also remembered just how much you can do with 36 hours in New Orleans.

Last week, I shared some of my favorite places to visit in LA. Since my sister was in town, we spent 4 days touring around the city and I even got to see a few places I hadn’t been before. However, I also learned there are at least 3 places not to visit in Los Angeles. See, just because people say it’s cool, doesn’t mean it actually is. Not all touristy things are good, but some actually surprise you (like I loved visiting the Hollywood Sign).

Recently, my sister and nephew came to visit us in LA. Since I haven’t been here that long, I wasn’t so sure about playing the role of tour guide. I knew a few places around the LA area that I wanted to take them, but several of the places they wanted to visit, I hadn’t been myself. It’s hard to know what’s worth the time if you haven’t been. What I did learn during our tour of LA, is that there are at least 3 things in Los Angeles that you do not need to see. (I’m working on a follow-up story). But there are also so many amazing things you must see. Here are a few of our highlights.