Travel

A year ago, when I first started thinking about moving back to southern California, LA wasn’t really high on my list. I always thought I’d end up in San Diego. Then I started spending time in LA and quickly realized just how much it has to offer. Although I still adore San Diego, for me, LA is more. A recent day trip to explore the Venice Canals and Abbot Kinney confirmed my love for my new home.

I can’t believe I’ve already been back in southern California for two months. In some ways, it feels like just yesterday that we packed up and left Boston, and in other ways, it feels like we never left the first time (in 2014). Although we lived in California before, Orange County is a lot different than LA. For the longest time, I had a lot of misconceptions about LA.

In 2018, I’ve done a lot to soul searching. Maybe it’s my age, maybe it’s that I’m mid-career, maybe it’s that my kids are entering school. I’m not sure what it is but it’s been a year of trying to figure out what I want, where I want to go next, who I want to be, and what type of role model I want to be for my kids.

This was not my first trip to the Caribbean. I went to the Bahamas (part 1 and part 2) back in 2014. But in those four years, I forgot about its beauty. I forgot just how indescribable the colors of the Caribbean are.

During the holidays, I’m sure you’ve heard people talking about taking the time to shop small, but have you ever really thought about what that means? Have you ever thought about where your dollar goes?

On my recent trip to Turks and Caicos, I packed way more things than I needed. I didn’t go crazy, but there were several things I didn’t end up wearing. Since I was there to attend the Beaches Social Media on the Sand Conference, I actually left a lot of space in my room for swag. Good thing I did! I ended up receiving quite a few items, that actually made the packing list!

I try not to regret decisions I make because I don’t make decisions lightly. I often spend days, weeks, months analyzing something before I make a decision, so I try not to question them. Since I don’t come to decisions very quickly or without great thought, I try to have faith in myself and my thought process. But every now and then, I just get it wrong.

About a year and a half ago, I learned about the Social Media on the Sand Blogger conference and I knew I wanted to attend. I actually visited a Sandals resort back in 2014 and had the best time, so I wanted to visit a Beaches resort. Every so often, I see their commercials on TV, so I wanted to check out the Beaches line of resorts for myself. Plus, now that my kids are the perfect travel age, I was hoping to get an insider look at the resorts to see if it would be a good travel choice for my family.

When I was in LA earlier this summer, I had the chance to visit the Getty. The reason I attended was because one of my friends told me about the Icons of Style Fashion exhibit. Given my love of fashion, it definitely seemed like something I should check out.