Meeting my mom in Dallas at the tail end of her work conference definitely had its perks. I was able to be her guest at her last work event before getting our weekend started. We went into AT&T Stadium where the Dallas Cowboys play and were able to eat, drink, and even play on the field a bit.
When you realize you have 5 days off from school and work what should you do?
The answer is look up flights, book something cheap and go from there. Lucky for me, one of my good friends was able to join on this spontaneous trip.
The View from behind the Bellagio fountains
My friend and I
At our hotel, The Flamingo
We landed in Las Vegas around 10pm and stayed at the Flamingo, which is on the strip.
Maui, Maui, Maui. I absolutely love this island and wish I could have stayed longer. After arriving we stopped at Leoda’s for lunch, which was simple and delicious. We also grabbed a couple pies [yum!] because Thanksgiving was the next day. My favorite was the banana cream pie. After settling in at The Ka’anapali Beach Hotel we set of to see a luau at The Royal Lahaina. This was a ton of fun and made for a great first night on Maui.
Let me start by saying that flying for 10 hours isn’t the most fun, but landing in Hawaii makes it all worth it.
My first flight landed in Honolulu with enough time to grab a bite to eat before the second flight to Kona. The first full day we jumped in the jeep and took off exploring. We started going north around the top of the island stopping at beaches and lookout points.
2015 was an incredible year for me with travels to so many beautiful places. Here are some photo highlights in no particular order!
Paros, Greece
Paros was gorgeous, but one of my favorite parts was during our “booze cruise” around Anti Paros…cliff jumping. The adrenaline junkie in me couldn’t wait to jump into the salty water.
When my brother and I decided to go to Disney World during the Christmas holiday we intended to see The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Hollywood Studios because 2015 is the last year they are being shown. What we didn’t realize was that our trip coincided with the release of the new Star Wars movie [Episode VII].
Where do I start? This island is insanely beautiful and so different from Athens.
We took a ferry to the island and it was definitely the largest ferry I’ve ever been on. The ride was about four hours so we shifted from napping, eating, and talking to pass the time. Once we arrived on Paros we took our bus to the Hippocampus Hotel, which was right across from the sea and had a stunning view.
I was so relieved to finally make it to Athens after a delayed flight and literally running through the Amsterdam airport to make my connecting flight. Upon arriving at the President Hotel in Athens, I found my friends that I was meeting. After freshening up we ventured out to Taratsa, a restaurant with a fantastic rooftop view of the Acropolis and Parthenon. I totally pigged out on falafels, fresh tomatoes, pita, and hummus while everyone else also had different meats.
After staring at my bag for over a month and trying to figure out how I am going to have everything I need for 43 days in Europe…I finally took the plunge. I started by gathering everything that I wanted to take, but don’t necessarily need. Then I packed everything I thought I wanted and then removed a few items from each packing cube and tried again. I repeated this until I was satisfied that no space was wasted with useless items.
Over the past few years I have been lucky enough to travel and explore Ireland three times. The first two times I visited while nannying and the third time my mom and I went on an incredible culinary tour. One of my favorite parts about being in Ireland is being around so much greenery and so many kind people.
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Made with by Paige Marie Rollison
