travel – Flipping Tourist

Blog, Family Travel, Paris, Travel, Uncategorized

72 Hours in Paris is Never Enough Time

January 27, 2022 4 Comments

BUT…With an abundance of must see and do’s when traveling to Paris I’m here to say there is never enough time. Whether you have 3 days or 3 weeks you won’t want to leave. Book the trip in the capacity that fits what you can handle at this time. You’ll have no regrets and will always leave wanting more. Isn’t that the best way to see the world?

Below is my perfect itinerary for 72 hours in Paris. Listing a few highlights that are great for families or even just adults.

When traveling with kids I recommend booking a flight that leaves later at night and will have you arriving in France mid-day. This (hopefully) ensures your kids have at least 5-6 hours of sleep. For example, our flight left at 10pm and our kids were able to fall asleep almost immediately. It was a 9 hour flight and with their internal clock, they actually slept until we landed giving them about 8 hours of sleep! When we landed they were well rested and ready to hit the ground running! Another perk to landing mid-day means that your hotel room should be ready by the time you arrive. At the least, you can always drop your bags with the bellmen.

The best start to the City of Lights is strolling sidewalks until a cafe catches your eye. I’ve never met a happy hungry kid. This stop will be rewarding for all! Bonus points: People watching, cappuccinos and Hot Chocolates!

Next stop: The Eiffel Tower. This is usually the number one request for any kid visiting France so save yourself the trouble of them constantly ~~asking~~ demanding “WHEN ARE WE GOING TO THE EIFELL TOWER”?! Seeing it for the first time will have your kids in complete awe! The best way to go up the Eiffel Tower with kids is to climb the first 2 floors! There are 2 different tickets you can purchase.

One is for the elevator from floor to top.
The other is to walk up to level two and then take the elevator. Our kids absolutely loved the chance to climb the stairs for a bit. We made lots of stops as they were just fascinated. There are little signs to read along the way for all the engineering nerds like us! On the 2nd floor (which is as high as you’re allowed to climb) we got in the high speed elevator. Kids loved having the best of both in Eiffel Tower Transportation. Regardless of which ticket you choose to purchase you’ll take elevator all the way down. Don’t forget to grab a glass of overpriced champagne to celebrate as you walk around the top two floors of the Eiffel Tower.

A stroll along La Rive Siene is an ideal way to enjoy the sunset before dinner. Also termed “L’Heure Bleue” – a French expression referring to ‘the blue hour’ at twilight each night. Take in the culture rather than trying to cram in another touristy stop before dinner.

Our kids did a “food challenge” before Paris.

Food Challenge = trying new foods we might find in France such as: Croissants, French Onion Soup, anything with garlic, escargot. *it doubled as an easy way to get them to eat a few more vegetables too! This challenge made dining at nice restaurants in Paris more fun. They were so excited to order and option to all the menu options!

DAY TWO

Take advantage of the time change and let the kids sleep in a little bit while you enjoy a cappuccino and croissant. At some point you will have to wake them up though – then head out for breakfast at another Parisian cafe. We are obsessed with both the St Germain and Montmartre area. I would introduce the kids to their first French Metro and get off at the Montmartre stop. Buy a pastry before you ride the funicular to Basilica of the Sacré-Cœur. You will enjoy your pastries while having magnificent views of the city. From there you will enjoy the vineyard and meandering through all the artists at work.

No Parisian list is complete without recommending a visit to the incredible Louvre. Quick Tip: Skip the Mona Lisa and head straight to Napoleon’s Apartment. And for a truly enjoyable family experience in the museum splurge on a family guide. If you have extra time before dinner everyone will enjoy wandering the Jardin des Tuileries.

DAY THREE

Time for family photos with the Madame Eiffel in the background. We booked an early morning appointment with LaMour De Paris and the photos we received back are true works of art (cute kids make us look cute.) This is the perfect day to have breakfast with a view of Madame Eiffel and now we are set to explore the quaint St. Germaine area.

A light lunch is recommended before you head to your Chocolate Tour. While the highlight is tasting sweets from six local spots, the tour is so much more. You will learn the history of Chocolate with some fascinating facts about famous Parisians of the past. Our guide was a real life Mary Poppins and the kids still remember much of what they learned that afternoon. They also wanted to take a bit of Paris home with them. This provided the perfect opportunity to head to one of the fabulous departments stores. We suggest either:

Printemps Haussmann – It first opened in 1865 and is now home to some of the todays most elegant stores and unique window displays. Don’t forget to enjoy the rooftop bar if you are visiting on a nice day.

Galeries Lafayette Haussmann– A little newer as it opened in 1894. Today it is still known for the incredible Art Nouveau Style and great deals. Time your visit right and you might even catch one of their weekly fashion shows!

***Hope you’re jumping at the chance to visit Paris! Even if just for 72 hours!***

Have you been to Paris? If so, let everyone know in the comments what your MUST see is? If not, let us know what you’re most excited about! Thanks for sharing!

Blog, Travel, Uncategorized

Five Unique Cappuccinos Around the World

November 9, 2021 8 Comments

Woke up realizing it’s a very important day for those of us who survive on caffeine. Today we celebrate the cappuccino. A coffee that has just the perfect amount of foam and demands to be in a classic 165 mL rounded cup that makes you feel loved. I wasn’t a coffee drinker until I started working on SeaDream. SeaDream is synonymous with Cappuccinos. Should there be any mechanical issue with one of the cappuccino makers onboard, repairing it took priority over all else. As a crew member I drank one morning, noon, afternoon and night. And my European guests and crew would not even move into evening mode until that late day cappuccino and cigarette. Beyond my coveted SeaDream “pick me up” (always sprinkled with cinnamon because that spice helps your circulation and if you don’t count the 8 glasses of wine I drank every night I was practically the picture of health while working on board) I can immediately recall my 5 favorite spots to enjoy a great cappuccino around the world. We all travel for various reasons – maybe your next trip will involve one of these coffee spots:

ROVOS RAIL

Gliding down the railways of South Africa I would sneak a moment in the lounge car and my favorite bartender would deliver the creamiest cappuccino. Rovos Rail offers 3-10 day train voyages. It is luxury train travel offering journeys throughout Africa. I highly recommend upgrading your room when you go. While there is plenty of space to roam and dine in the open areas, you might find their smallest cabins to be incredibly tight. Regardless of room size – your cappuccinos are always included!

KRAKOW, POLAND

Even in October it is already so chilly in Poland. With such a lively atmosphere in the town squares we spent quite a while meandering the streets. Finally popping in a restaurant that would eventually serve us the most delicious mushroom soup in a delectable bread bowl (move over Panera bread – Poland KNOWS what they are doing). But first I enjoyed TWO hot creamy cappuccinos and they even had cinnamon for me to sprinkle on top! NOTE: Nearby is the E. Wedel Chocolate Lounge and are we even friends if your mouth doesn’t water at the sound of chocolate?!

SAINT BARTHS

I don’t have any coffee photos to memorialize this but I adored working with the port authority in St. Barths and we would often meet in the cafe right in harbor where he would upend a shot of espresso while I would sip on my usual cappuccino. It was at one of these meetings that he informed me that Americans have completely missed the point of coffee. It is to be used to give energy and why are we wasting our time sipping fancy coffees that don’t have near the caffeine espresso does. A good critique from my Frenchman made me love my “american” sugared up cappuccino even more. It was also over another cup that he encouraged me regarding some other port authorty gals on another island that had given me trouble. In yachting there is a lot of crying and it’s always so nice when others that you only see a handful of times a year can cheer you up. NOTE: Despite what he said regarding espressos, the entire French island knows how to make all the fancy coffees. They cater to us ‘less dignified’ coffee drinkers. You can’t get a bad coffee on this island.

EVA AIRWAYS

In what world does an airplane cappuccino ever pass a taste test? In business class on EVA Airways! I had sipped on Vueve most of the flight to Thailand so I decided to try a capuchino before we landed. Bless my heart it was delicious! I don’t know how they managed to make coffee so good at 30,000 feet but the Eclat de Valrhona chocolate they served with it probably helped. Oh ya, and I was still lounging in the PJ’s they gifted me upon boarding. If you can ever turn your airline miles into Biz Class on EVA do not turn back. Still a tough decision as to whether the actual flight or the time in Thailand was the better experience! It was that good!

SEADREAM

The beginning of my coffee drinking ‘career’. The best thing about coffee onboard SeaDream is that by day 2 the crew will have your desired coffee style memorized. Caffe Latte with 2 sugars and a shot of Baileys? You won’t wait but a few moments for it once you sit down for breakfast. Yes, you are allowed to change it up mid-voyage but just know that they love to please and will attempt to have your desired coffee fresh and hot the moment they see you depart from your stateroom.

Hope you enjoyed this quick list! Where is your favorite capuchino from?

P.S. I have written the ‘C’ word about 20 times now and not one single time did it not have to get auto-corrected. ~~Cappa~~. ~~Cuppuchin~~. ~~Cappuchino.~~ Cappuccino: Easy to drink. Difficult to spell! In closing – I do realize that all 5 of my unique memories of sipping these have been void of my kids in tow. So maybe it’s more about savoring that peace and quiet vs the actual taste. Hope you travel to one of these spots and please let me know if you agree!

Blog, Family Travel, Travel

Zee Last Zurich Flight

March 27, 2020 2 Comments

As we slept soundly in our cozy Paris hotel room situated in the idyllic area of St. Germain du Pres, there was an announcement being made back in the USA alluding to a complete travel ban coming within 48 hours. Was it a game of ‘telephone’ gone horribly askew or did the announcement blatantly leave out some crucial facts to stir up a bigger mess? Either way jet lag (and pure excitement for another Parisian day) had me waking up at 3:30 am. I regretfully grabbed my phone to check the time – (why do we check the time when we wake up? How is that ever helpful to our sleep?) To my complete surprise, it was filled with over 30 text messages as well as long threads from the WhatsApp groups I have.

“GET HOME BY FRIDAY”

chocolat chaud {Hot Chocolate} — **Greenley embraced everything that makes the French, French. She would want to stay too.**

Do I wake Heath? No. Don’t panic. We will either go home or we will stay longer but nothing is happening at 3:30am.

Was it my audible sighs or the light from my phone? Not sure but something caused him to stir and I just blurted out what I knew.

His response to my proclamation stating, “We need to leave now or we might not be able to get home”: “Perfect” and rolled over and went back to sleep.

Ok, maybe it was discussed a bit more, but that is basically the result we both came to before falling back into a deep sleep only waking at 9am again.

I’ll go into more details on our discussions and what the following days in Europe looked like if you are interested, but today I want to share what it looked like as we neared the end of our time in Europe.

**Sledging in Switzerland**
(ok, fine. It was a fun alternative to skiing)

Matterhorn family photo — ***Not a single cloud in the sky. Ski goggles are just the bulkier version of sunglasses.***

***Final ascent to grab a bier and lunch before sledging all the way down.***

Sure ski lifts and mountain trains had shut down all over Zermatt (for those that don’t know our story, we arrived in Zermatt with SEVENTY pounds of ski equipment/gear to find out that we had lugged it all there in vain). But don’t feel too sorry for us – we learned about ‘skinning’ the mountain in true Swiss style and hiked daily to mountain top restaurants rewarding ourselves with delicious beers/views and sledging all the way down. But even with the ‘main’ attraction coming to a halt, the town bars and restaurants were still serving up yummy fondue and sincere hospitality.

It was hard to wrap our head around the urgency to return back to Texas versus enjoying what may be our last big vacation for a while.

Hot chocolate on a swiss mountain top — **Cute face, cute view.**

Zermatt Bier — **ZERMATT BIER after a 2 mile uphill hike = Liquid Gold.**

Not that we even had a true choice. Delta would not even consider changing our flights unless we wanted to fork over 12 GRAND to fly home early.

FRIENDS – I have never spent $12,000 dollars to GO on a trip. I was ABSOLUTELY not going to be spending even half that to COME HOME from a trip. early.

NOT HAPPENING.

I love Delta Airlines. And I had to trust that they would let me know when it was time to throw in the towel (for free).

That ‘towel’ dropped Sunday when they cancelled our Wednesday flight. After being on hold for over an hour (they had long since done away with the ‘call back’ feature. I assume they were trying to weed out the callers that didn’t have an urgent enough need to sit on an international call for an hour) the lady gave me only 2 flight options:

Depart on Monday (tomorrow)
Depart sometime next week (tempting)

We would make our way back to Zurich (while my dad and sister sourced hotels WITH A POOL for our last night before we returned to zee unknown). Zee journey from Zermatt to Zurich is one to ‘zeecus’ later.

Monday morning we traveled by desolate train only to arrive in an equally desolate Zurich airport. It was sad, but also incredibly lovely. Air travel with zero rush, crowds or that ‘pesky general public‘ has me dreaming of my grandmothers old travel photos. Where women wore hats and sipped martinis while boarding flights.

But I can assure you she never encountered the greeting we did as we arrived to check in with Delta:

*Gate Agent holding all our passports and lifting my sons new Swiss ball cap ever so slightly turns to me: “When did you graduate High School” (Is my anti-aging cream working or is this just an interrogation?)

His questioning continues (assuring me his first inquiry was not meant to be flattery): “What do you do for a living in the US”.

Well crap – how do I quickly explain that I mostly raise the kids, help my husband with his business, have my realtors license, do home staging as needed and also dabble in swim lessons during the summers. (Do I share all of this?) *I did*.

Gate agent was done questioning me. No one likes the over-talker.

Train to Flughafen. Empty. — ***Johnny Madison likes the over-talker. Because it takes one to know one.***
***(Empty Train Station in Zurich)***

To Heath the Gate Agent asked, “How old are you” (See Heath – you too should be using a night cream).

“What degree did you get from University”? (Heath now has questions for him. BOLD!).

And suddenly the gate agent says we may proceed with checking our luggage.

Zurich Airport. Ghost Town. — **May his eyes never see an airport so desolate again.**

Later that morning we would board our international flight with over 200 empty seats. Before takeoff the pilot and flight attendants would both announce that we were departing early and this was Delta’s “Last Flight from Zurich”. Even the crew that flew the plane over were dead heading it back to the USA sleeping in First Class.

***Over 200 empty seats on Zee Zurich Flight home***

But getting off this plane would prove to be the most interesting flight experience I’ve ever had. And you know I’ve spent some time at 35,000 feet. More to come…

Blog, Travel, Weekend Getaway

Six Quick Trip: A Series. 3 of 6

March 15, 2019 2 Comments

Sláinte!

If you’re like me, you knew NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana) had great food, smooth jazz, traditions galore and was known for a wild Mardi Gras. What I didn’t realize was the best event this city puts on is the The New Orleans St. Patricks Day Parade(s). *but I’m happy to join you when you go for other festivals if you want to change my mind.

But back to St. Paddy’s Day NOLA style – There are several parades and you will head home with a suitcase full of cabbage, Irish Spring and anything green that is tossed your way.

All the parade flair — **Pro Tip: Bring a cooler for your drinks, then you’ll have a way to carry home all your loot post-parade!**

NOTE: Drinkers and non-drinkers alike can relish in my advice on spending St. Patricks Day here. PROOF: I found out I was pregnant the day before departing on a girls trip to celebrate (and wasn’t yet ready to tell anyone my surprising news). Living on water and mocktails, I spent all weekend LOVING the St. Paddy’s Day scene while telling every bartender in town that I couldn’t drink alcohol, but my friends needed think I was. Thank you to all 250 bartenders I came in contact with over those 4 days. Every single one of them quietly celebrated me and then hooked me up with a delicious mocktail! Props to New Orleans – a city of fun deception!

St Paddys day parade NOLA — **If it’s green, Irish or related to cabbage they will toss it!**

So many beads — **And also beads. But none of that crazy ‘exposure’ needed. Just wear GREEN and act a fool!**

While NOLA is city with enough options to entertain you for a year, it is the perfect little weekend getaway. And in the spirit of the upcoming holiday I’ll specifically share how to conquer St. Patricks Day NOLA style in the most fun way. Oh the luck (Pun intended my little Leprechaun!!) of me staring this quick trip series to line up with a great holiday getaway!

PARADES – In true NOLA fashion, they take a day and turn into 1.5 weeks of celebrations. There are several large parades surrounding the March 17th holiday. They typically start mid-day so you can meet with friends and go to a block party (where you will meet new friends), or grab oysters at Casamento’s on Magazine Street or just hang at your Air B & B while brunching and donning yourself in all the green you can bring. A list of full details is here. Items tossed to us while parade-watching were: cabbages, necklaces, toys, dog treats, and more. Cabbage is the theme here so I hope you don’t have some gastrointestinal issues cause you’ll be catching this fibrous veggie in all forms of plastic, plush and beyond. P.S. If doing the parade in the Irish Channel, hit up Parasol’s for a Po Boy.
MARDI GRAS INDIAN SUPER SUNDAY – we had no idea this was happening when we went and several ladies happened upon it. I think it’s common for this to occur over St. Patricks day weekend and you can’t miss it! Mardi Gras Indians from various groups perform and their costumes are beyond unique. (a few of them reminded me of the real life fluffy thingamajigs that pop up on that arcade game that you try to whack with a mallet. Maybe a bad example but the point is that the costumes are fun, lively and stir up fun emotions. If in town, please take advantage of witnessing such a unique spectacle! (It’s on Sunday. A super Sunday indeed!)
COCKTAIL SAMPLING – A Sazerac at the Roosevelt is basically as important as getting your passport stamped upon returning to the USA. And have you tried the French 75 at Carousel Bar? (I actually broke down here and drank this cocktail. Moms…my kid is now five, total chill, sorta smart and wants to go to Paris more than Disney. I’d say preggo moms should flock here stat. Must of been that French 75). Pimms Cup at Napoleon House (shoot…I think I had one of these too. The kid is mostly fine)! And don’t forget happy hour at The Columns Hotel. If you have a friend in the city, they will absolutely invite you to their architecturally fascinating home and entertain you over stories and champagne (aghhhh…there I go again. I couldn’t turn down her Veuve Champs. I really do think the my kid is {mostly} advancing.).
LARK IN THE PARK – An annual fundraising event hosted since 1982 with fabulous food, drinks, and great entertainment. The setting is in City Park. A large group of us went and everyone was having the best time hitting the small bites in a big way. The assortment of 30+ delectable food vendors is a non-drinking, preggo momma’s dream. And meandering thru the dreamy city park setting at night is a dream. Finally when the band came on and the dance party started I really tried sell my little secret by bringing the whole group shots (this trick is fabulous – everyone loves the surprise and they never think to check if the delivery girl had one or not. To be clear – I didn’t. But is this whole sneaky drink post making me sound like a lush?)
DINING – Assuming you all know to grab beignets from Cafe Du Monde, I want to be sure your restaurant list also includes: Jacques-Imo’s for unpretentious, regional cuisine. And for all of you that will only eat their Gumbo while dining with fine white tablecloths then you must make a reservation at Commanders Palace. And for those of you who just need to eat on the run, I can promise you plenty of one slice pizza stops and the hot dog vendors are 100% *recalls my 21 year old college-self. But I’m going to skip linking any of those :/.
UNITED APPAREL LIQUIDATORS – I’ve been to NOLA 10-15 times now and just about every visit I pop in this perfectly located shop on Chartres Street! It’s a small square shop crammed…CRAMMED..with designer apparel, shoes, handbags and more. Ya’ll I basically loathe shopping and could mostly care less about name brand or not but this eclectic shop is in the perfect location (just down from Jackson Square) It is so easy to take quick look while wandering the streets that help make this city famous. I’ve found incredible quality (name brand) skirts, dresses and shoes for a prices that are better than Target. I promise you there are better stores with lovelier customer service, but their sweet prices make a Shopbop mega-sale look preposterous.

Block party party swing good for pregnant mothers — **HONEST TO GOD – I went and joined this party to take a ride on the swing! No wonder my first born likes a good party! The perfect activity for a non-drinking pregnant mom!**

French 75 at Carousel Bar. — **The French 75 while taking a spin at the Carousel Bar.**

With so many fabulous spots and festivals in New Orleans – will you tell me what your personal favorites are? Scroll below to share with me please!

Blog, Travel, Weekend Getaway

Six Quick Trips: A Series. #2 of 6

March 6, 2019 6 Comments

With a small airport right in town, this quick trip begins as your plane descends. Arriving into Palm Springs is beautiful with the mountainous scenery. Grab a window seat and try spotting the famous pools littered amongst a sea of golf courses. Upon landing you walk off the plane and you’re immediately hit with crisp mountain air. #InstantVacationMode.

Tandem Biking in Palm Springs with a sky only God could create — **HI! Welcome to Palm Springs where you can walk, bike, golf cart, etc. to any place your heart desires. THIS IMAGE IS NOT PHOTO SHOPPED! It is just the real deal Palm Springs**

Just about every hotel has a pool, as do most Air B&B homes. We stayed at this homefor a girls weekend and then at a friends personal home for a couples weekend. Bonus – the hotel pools are available for public use so you can spend a day trying out the pool scene at a hotel you may not have wanted to spend the whole weekend in. (perfect solution for those of you indecisive like me).

WALK! – The remainder of my recommendations are going to be about eating and drinking, so you are going to want to plan time for exercise. I can easily suggest getting your steps in via shopping the estate sales, frolicking down the historic Palm Canyon Drive, walking the museums and trying to hunt down some of the homes that make this city eclectic. And I suppose a round of golf on one of the 124 pristine golf courses could also spur on your appetite. NOTE: Both of my visits to this city I have arrived saying I would absolutely hike one of the perfect trails. Spoiler: My tennis shoes never left my luggage either trip.
The Nest– it’s a bit outside of Palm Springs proper (Indian Wells) but the nightlife is hilarious, fun and I recommend you make a dinner reservation so that you are sure to get inside and grab a front row seat for the late night elderly love fights.
Parker Palm Springs– If you’re a baller stay here. If you just want to play like one, then eat and drink here. The lounge and bar area is just perfect. You can ‘parker’ there for a while.
Ace Hotel Swim Club– If you’re a people watcher like me, then you may enjoy the crazy pool scene at Ace.
Ritz-Carlton – and if you also love to set your eyes on beautiful scenery, then you will absolutely love grabbing a cliffside beverage at this chic hotel high in the hills. Put this on your ‘right when we land’ list. Seriously – we went straight from the airport.
Copley’s– this is my favorite dinner spot! Reserve a table outside, order wine. Let the menu take you where it will. It is ALL so good!

Wolfskill and Pine cocktail at the Ritz — **This Wolfskill and Pine cocktail had me ‘pine-ing’ for more time overlooking this great city.**

Yoga skills post cocktails. — **And after a few of those dreamy cocktails – you may show off your ‘wolf-skills’. Thank you for indulging my puns so I could share photos from the impeccable Ritz.**

You can spend quite a bit of time googling or asking around for Palm Springs suggestions. You will literally have to move to Palm Springs to see, do and eat at all the recommendations available. Even my friends with homes in this flawless city can’t see and do it all. But a long weekend in this city is perfect, because you CAN get a taste of what makes this city so wonderful. That is why I have included it as #2 on the ‘Quick Trip List’ (catch #1 here)

Air B & B lounge — **So whether you’re pulled up to a historic city bar…..**

Air B&B pool with view — **Lounging by a pool with a view….**

Parker Hotel Palm Springs — **Or just hanging at one of the famous and fabulous hotels…**

Palm Springs panorama — **Palm Springs is eye candy in every way possible. It is the type of weekend getaway that fits any type of travel group – couples, girls, families, etc!**

If you saw this Before and After post where I referenced Saved by the Bell, then you may be surprised that in two visits to Palm Springs I still haven’t made my way to the famous hotel where Jessie’s dad was getting married and where Screech reminded us that he gets sea sick on a ferry in 3 feet of water. But that is another reason to love this city – you leave with more new ideas for your return.

What is a city that you can’t wait to return to because of a missed bucket list item? I love to know! (scroll to the bottom for the comment section)

Travel, Uncategorized, Weekend Getaway

Six Quick Trips: A Series. #1 of 6

February 27, 2019 2 Comments

Heath and I were surprised (and yes, thrilled!) to find out just 6 weeks after getting married that our honeymoon had been, er, more ‘successful’ than we could have ever imagined.

If you don’t catch what I’m putting down: I GOT PREGNANT ON OUR HONEYMOON. This meant that within 10 months of being married our Mr. and Mrs. titles would transform into Mom and Dad. Our lifestyle would forever change. But we could never stop traveling!

We just celebrated our 6th anniversary so in keeping with that number theme, I’m sharing 6 of my favorite quick getaways over the next 6 weeks. It’s been fun to find easy ways to quickly escape reality. And because all of these destinations have so much to offer, I’m pairing it down to the 6 ‘must see or do’ for all 6 cities (aren’t you glad I’m not writing a numbers-themed post on our 25th anniversary?!) I’ll start this series with the little getaway that made me really appreciate my adjustable waist ski-pants:

Post-Partum ski trip. — Mom brain! Returning from our day of skiing and I realized we had zero photos to document this monumental moment in my life – That I could survive being away from my child….and that I should also resume working out. Air is thin for a new momma in Colorado!

1. WINTER PARK

Kicking off the list with our 1st anniversary 36-hour escape. Our son was just 2 months old so it was the very first time we travelled without him. I was still living in nursing tops and stretchy pants but felt compelled to slightly come out of that newborn haze for my first time away without le bebe. After creating 3 pages of baby guidelines/timings/tips I’m sure my mom and mother-in-law ~~laughed~~ cringed as we headed to catch a flight for a one day ski adventure in Winter Park.

Depending on where you’re traveling from flights to/from Denver are very inexpensive! We used our Southwest Airlines points redeeming only 5k points round trip. If you put your standard household bills on this card for a month or two (and pay in full, on time), you’ve automatically found your ‘free’ ticket to Denver. Then it’s an easy 1.5 hour drive to this mountain. Just long enough that you fully appreciate the pretty drive before getting too antsy for your arrival.

Top Six:

Ski! The best part about leaving our little baby for this getaway was that having the activity of skiing forced me to take a break from checking in on him so often. We spent the whole day either burning it out down the mountain or freezing our way up the lift. Pulling out my phone to check-in just wasn’t a priority. Guess what! Baby survived and is thriving! It’s ok to not check in for a few hours at a time!
Apres Ski! You won’t find a better view than Sunspot. At 10,700 altitude, this is where you should reward your hard work on the mountain.
Dinner at Volarios – they boast of ‘elevated Italian cuisine in a down-to-earth setting’. And whether you skied hard or just spent energy bundling up for the cold, noshing on plates of delectable pasta should never be missed.
Waffle Cabin. Do I even need to sell you on this? Chocolate covered waffles at the bottom of the slopes. (and one in the village as well). I say go to both. Just to compare and be certain you love this tradition as much as everyone else.
Tubing – because this is 2019 and we like instant gratification. Can we all agree that sledding down a hill is way more fun when you can eliminate the hike up hill? Spend the $30/hour to get to use the conveyor belt taking you to the top and then enjoy the ride as you cruise one of 4 lanes complete with twists and turns.
Lodge on Vasquez Creek – Walking distance to shops and a block from the slopes. This home available for rent (and equipped with the mountain must (a hot tub) is a great spot for large groups! You can reserve it here.

Heath and I love to refer to Southwest Airlines as our ‘Private plane’ (a term stolen from another frequent flier). But truly – you can book and cancel as you please. Most routes offer a dozen options a day. And the crew is always so friendly. Thanks to this airline we’ve had so many fun weekend getaways that are no more expensive and the same travel time as most drivable options. Come back next week to hear my 6 suggestions for a city that will have you ready to SPRING forward!

Where is your FAVORITE weekend escape?

Blog, Travel

Thai-Style

January 9, 2019 6 Comments

Catamaran anchored off our own private island. Chicken Head Island.

Flip. Trip. Repeat. This has become a little family mantra for us.

We love to travel. Home renovations feed our travels. Hence the reason we closed on our current home days after returning from a two week vacation sailing Thailand. (A vacation we rewarded ourselves with after our last home remodel). Talk about a quick cure for Post Vacation Depression (PVD). Maybe ‘cure’ isn’t the right word. More like full on shock and preoccupation.

One Monday we were leisurely waking up filling our coffees with Bailey’s until we moved on to our Rum-filled Painkiller beverages as we sailed crystal clear water. And the very next Monday we had keys to a home that hadn’t been lived in for months, nor updated since the 80’s. We would quickly need stronger coffee and actual painkillers. In the form of Advil and a deep-tissue massage. Maybe a therapist too.

Today I’m going to hit a few of the highlights from spending two weeks on the other side of the world. I know many of you have made resolutions to travel more this year. Whether it’s to the other side of the world or just crossing state lines I think every trip you take is one of the most important things you can do for yourself (but may I argue that your quick night away across town doesn’t get to count towards your ‘explore more’ resolution?!)

If exotic vacations pique your interest, you may love a few of my highlights from Summer 2018 in Thailand.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Flying Business Class Round Trip Houston to Phuket. We booked this entire trip with miles getting VERRRRRY creative via transferring our AMEX points to Asiana Airlines and flying EVA Airways. Best experience of my life. Additionally, using actual money would have cost us a fortune. But thanks to creatively using credit cards for work and other monthly budgeted items(and paying those cards off!!!!) we experienced the flight of my life. Thank you Points Guy for teaching us how to better utilize the miles we had. (*just remember…if you’re carrying a balance and paying interest on credit cards, your ‘free’ flight isn’t really free. My father would appreciate me reminding you all of this financial fact!)

Business Class on EVA Airways. Dream — **When you board your flight and are all of a sudden sad that it’s only a 13 hour flight!**

Champagne and Steak at 40,000 feet! — **Veurve Champagne, steak and a movie at 40,000 feet. Heath is going to have to up his dating game after this experience!**

Even Heath fits comfortably! — **Heath is 6’4″. Nothing more to say here!**

3 Night Stay at Banyan Tree Phuket. We found a great deal on a buy 2 nights get one free! And before you start referring to me as that coupon lady, one peek inside my disorganized wallet and you’ll realize I could never keep up with a coupon habit. But I do pride myself on conquering amazing online deals. Banyan Tree is amazing and it does come at a price. But please think about this for a minute: A $350/night hotel within most cities in the USA and Europe could get you a delightful room. Sure you’d feel a bit spoiled. BUT you go to Thailand and spend $350/night you will live in a mansion, be treated like Meghan Markle and not be able to decide which shower you want to use. I’m not kidding. So sure, you could get an amazing room in Thailand for $60 bucks. But you could also use this trip to see how royalty lives. A dollar goes a long way!

Banyan Tree pool — **Welcome gifts and our very own pool. I’m still speechless.**

Private pool means the luggage must wait. — **Private pool means the unpacking must wait. We seriously hopped right in.**

Breakfast bike ride — **With a strong case of jet lag we used the resort bikes to cruise around for an hour before heading to breakfast**

Banyan Tree breakfast with a view — **Breakfast, a view, delicious champagne. But more than anything, I want you to know they had an enormous honeycomb that was dripping gooey honey into bowls. Need I say more?**

A boozy bike ride always satisfies — **Boozin’ and cruisin’ back to our ~~bungalow~~ Mansion.**

Chartering our own Catamaran! Boarding the Dream Yacht Charters Lagoon 450 catamaran and watching my husband at the helm. Ladies it’s pretty sexy to sit with champagne while watching the man you married steer a boat out of harbor. After 2 years as a Cruise Director on SeaDream, I was destined to marry someone with sailing skills. #nailedit. There is nothing like waking up in the morning, on the water, as you are anchored just off of a deserted beach. There is a lot to be said about getting to do what you want, when you want, where you want.

Two catamarans under the Thailand sky — **Still in Awe. Two catamarans set sail under the Thai Sky.**

Shrimp delivery! — **Well I’ll be darned if a boat didn’t pull up to sell us the shrimp they just caught an hour prior. (FYI…pricing was the same as Central Market)**

Captain and his crew on board the catamaran. — **The Captain and his {motley} crew.**

Jumping for joy at sea — **You can act a fool all day when you ‘own’ the boat for a week!**

quintessential long tail boat in Thailand — **The quintessential Long Tail boat. Its the equivalent to seeing Icebergs in Antarctica. They are everywhere. Each one is a little bit different. And you still get excited with each one you see!**

Fourth of July on a private island — **We had an island to ourselves and played good ‘ole fashioned ~~yard~~ sand games, dressed a fool and rung in ‘Merica’s birthday!**

Thumbs up for Thailand — **If Siskel and Ebert were here, they would agree that Thailand gets TWO thumbs up!**

Please share in the comments what trips are on your bucket list! I’d love to know. And I also want to hear if you’re interested in details on how to plan your own sailing adventure….or even just hoping to get tips on future trips to take!

XO, Meredith

Home, Renovation, Travel, Uncategorized

I’m on a Boat and….

October 23, 2018 4 Comments

Lake season in Texas is officially over. Sure, there is more than enough water, but I’m way too cold and full of pumpkin-spiced lattes to trapse around in a bikini. And quiet down now if you are already thinking to yourself that I should never trapse around in a bikini. This is not the place for body-shaming!

To keep my spirits up on chilly days, I like to blare songs from our ever evolving summer boat playlist. They are fun and sunny, but many tend to be so inappropriate. Why is that? Nevertheless, it reminds me of when I first learned the gravity of playing a foul language song to the wrong group.

When I began working for SeaDream (as a Yacht Director on the luxury line) the song ‘I’m On A Boat‘ by The Lonely Island, was released. (Grandma, do not click that link!) What you also need to know about me is that I’m the type of girl that ‘acts first, worries later’. Meaning, I don’t really think of my actions before they occur. This often results in fun. Yet, usually gets me into trouble. While working on SeaDream, I was basically removed from the real world. Week to week I had one goal and one goal only…receive perfect scores on our Voyage surveys. Ok, ok, I wanted to do a good job and be helpful to the rest of our crew. And I genuinely did want the guests to like me. But let me get real with you quickly. I didn’t check Facebook, I didn’t watch TV and I barely emailed with friends and family. I was consumed with creating daily itineraries that catered to the elite traveller. And of course I was constantly responding to Patty’s complaints about the pesky locals not taking the US Dollar (she brought 500 $1 bills to France and she wants to use them). Or maybe I was busy solving Mr. Wienfeld’s issue of needing crab legs for the 4th day in a row (because he didn’t realize we had fresh crab the last 3 days and today we don’t. This is now my problem). All that to say, I heard there was a ‘fun’ new song about being on a boat and didn’t realize the mass amounts of profanity throughout this Boat song. I was the naive world traveller….a ‘flipping tourist’ you might say. (NOTE: It isn’t actually until THIS VERY MOMENT that I am realizing this song was actually a SNL-skit thing. Cleary I’m still out of touch).

I just remember being incredibly ecstatic that an entire song had been written about my current life! Although, if I think about the language that gets thrown around at sea I suppose it shouldn’t have been shocking that the lyrics of a boat song were littered with f-bombs towards your mutha.

Before listening to even one chorus of ‘I’m on a Boat’, I just took it upon myself to download this ballad and blast these tunes through the entire yacht sound system. After about six lines of ‘Mother F*&@?$ boat’ I realized I had made a mistake. An ugly mistake. Our dear Captain wasn’t amused. I mean this is really bad if even lifetime seafarers are officially offended.

Music never really has been my thing.

So what is ‘my thing’? I’m not really sure, but it’s clear I’m always up for taking risks! To me it’s just a way of life. Whether it is risking my career on playing a song to the masses that I didn’t bother to preview yet or just taking a risk in designing and doing things differently. Why live life safe, when you can just LIVE?! (My personal motto is, “it will all just work itself out“. And this honestly bugs my spreadsheet-addict husband. He plans and organizes and over-prepares. For everything. You can imagine how upsetting it is to him to see me throw things at a wall and they actually stick. And look pretty decent too).

You may hear my life motto being mentioned a lot. Oh, also, Jesus has my back. Always.

But returning to the subject at hand. Boats. Growing up allllll I wanted was to have a boat. My parents had a canoe for a short bit. I don’t feel like that fully met my desire. Like not at all. They finally sold it (or donated it. Or sunk it. I need to ask them how one gets rid of an old rusty canoe).

As the years went on my parents would go on cruises and I didn’t get to go on a SINGLE ONE! Not a single one!!! The travesty! I let them know many times over how deprived I felt.

I should have saved myself the whining. If only my younger self knew that I would someday spend 2 years living and working on one of the best boats in the world – SeaDream. (I promise you LOTS more stories coming your way from my years on the water).

Then I found a man who wanted to marry me (sucker) AND he owned a boat. So it should be no surprise to you that our kids also love the water and have a boat obsession.

When it came time to move our oldest son from a crib to a bed we felt like we had one solid option to ensure this little guy would l~~ove~~ stay put all night in his new sleeping arrangement:

A BOAT.

We had just moved into a new home (the 3rd home for our 2-year-old boy). His new room was so spacious. We couldn’t just do a bed that looked like a boat. We knew we wanted to take an actual boat and make it look like a bed.

Down we trekked to Eagle Mountain Lake and let the Harbor Master know that our young son loved to sail. This kind man found us an old sailboat that he was thrilled to give to a young sailor. And construction began.

A new paint job (royal blue for that authentic nautical look) and a platform to fit a twin-sized mattress. Heath and Johnny Madison spent a few weekends getting the boat prepped to set sail up our staircase. Meanwhile, I hunted for a PG version of ‘I’m on a boat’. Doesn’t exist.

Friday afternoon was boat move-in day. And it started raining as soon as the 5 man crew arrived to hoist the ~~sails~~ boat over the banister. I wanted to panic but remembered a boat is built for water. Still to this day, I couldn’t believe we made a 14-foot sailboat fit up our stairs and into our sons room.

Moving in the boat — ***It took 6 strong men and an equipment loader to bring in our 2 year olds bed. And they say kids are spoiled these days…***

How many guys does it take to slide a boat into a bedroom. — **This was the point of no return. It had been hoisted up the stairs. Now we all prayed it would fit thru the doorway.**

The boat bed fits! — ***Can you believe this beast fit?!?! Our movers certainly have ‘choice’ words for us after this move.***

That night we told our son ‘bon voyage’. He climbed in his new bed and slept all night. We think….Heath and I celebrated with several margaritas so it is possible that we just snoozed right through it.

Ready for America's Cup — **Our version of the ‘America’s Cup‘ is: Whoever sleeps past 7am wins Gold!**

Narrow Draft on the boat bed — **Thankfully this boat has a shallow draft (I’m sure that means something to real sailors, but to me it just meant it could fit through a doorway!)**

Will you please tell me a song you have accidentally played to the wrong crowd?! Or share your favorite boat songs so I can add them to my playlist for next summer!

Blog, Travel

SeaDream Yard Sale

August 28, 2018 6 Comments

The summer travel season is winding down. And vacation memories (or possibly some nightmares), are all that remains. Of course some of us may have possible scarring from 3rd degree sunburns (not mentioning names) or something more pleasant like a new pair of slippers you snuck from your hotel room. We can debate later whether or not hotels intend for you to take them or not. I say “YES”, because ewwww….those slippers better not get reused! Have you seen the lack of hygiene of other tourists? Anyone who wants to argue differently, I will kindly ask you to think about some of the tourists you have seen wandering the streets of any city. Not everyone has the same hygiene standards as you. So, again. Ewwww. If those hotel slippers are meant to be reused, I don’t want any part of that hotel life.

Or maybe you brought home something more substantial from your hotel room? Willing to admit it? Here is a look back at an email I sent home to my friends and family during my time working as the Yacht Director on board SeaDream. Before we dive into the email unveiling the behind the scenes of yachting life, let me set the scene for you.

SeaDream is a luxury high-end yacht (think Four Seasons on water). Our typical clientele would leave behind better amenities and clothing than I have actually purchased in my lifetime.
When I sent this email, there had been a bit of an economic downturn and that lead a few of our clients to cancel their charter voyages meaning the yacht could sit empty for a few weeks. (These were either individuals who needed to reign in their frivolous 200K yachting adventures. Lame. Or the cancelations came from companies who didn’t want to be publicly blasted for letting go of employees all while executives dined on Caviar and Moet. Won’t name any names, but feel free to DM me.
Those vacant charter weeks needed to be filled quickly with guests and that lead to a few very, very, very inexpensive voyages that anyone from the masses could purchase. Although we shouldn’t pretend that what is described in the below email only occurs when discount voyages are offered. Trust me. Seriously, trust me…this could (and would) happen with guests of any financial bracket. I learned quickly that money didn’t buy class (but more typically sass or ass). Although, those living in more normal financial realms did tend to bring bigger bags to haul home free swag.

The scene has been set. Here is my email update from 2009:

Hello from the Sunny Carib!

So it’s back to work for me and while SeaDream keeps sailing full, this ‘economic crisis’ is making our guests a bit crazy. Actually, I don’t know if crazy is the word – maybe just straight up THIEFS is more fitting! When I arrived on board in San Juan, it was turn-over day to prepare for the new guests. We also make note of all things missing. I would like to just quickly inventory a few of the items guests decided were ‘included’ in the price of the voyage (or possibly part of a stimulus package?), because they just loaded up their suitcases with the following:

◦ Duvet, Duvet cover, top and bottom sheet and 4 pillow cases (I suppose they tried getting the mattress and box spring too, but their luggage didn’t allow enough room). NOTE: What kind of bad juju dreams do you think one has sleeping under contraband bedding?

◦ The Sunscreen/Self Tanner/Body Mists that we sell were removed from their luxury packaging very delicately. And then the empty boxes placed back on shelf. (I hope they are stupid enough to hide it in their Carry-On, so some mean man at airport security gets to confiscate those stolen liquids) NOTE: We kept full size items in staterooms with purchase information so guests could easily decide they wanted our $100 Clarins Self-Tanner. Sadly for this stateroom guest we could see they tried to hide their theft, and in return we are happily charging the credit card we have on file. (insert spooky ‘buahhhhaaaahhaa’ laugh).

◦ Crystal jewelry boxes that are in the staterooms. And they say SeaDream on them!!! How tacky/obvious is that going to be in someones house??! Or was this a gift for someone back home. (NOTE: I hope the recipient stumbles across this blog one day and realizes that their mother in law actually stole the item gifted to them so many years ago).

◦ All but TWO of the golf balls from our Golf Simulator – oh, thank you so much. Oh, wait. There was a reason they left those two balls – Because those two were both cracked. The fun part is we actually know who took the golf balls! How? Because that particular couple asked for the Stewardess to help them with something in their room, but didn’t close their suitcase before she arrived (isn’t there a blog about stupid criminals? It’s not exactly criminal what they did, but sure fits the description). Unfortunately we didn’t approach them about this before departure because their stewardess was too nice to tell on them until after they left. The Filipino culture is incredibly kind! All the time!

Golf Simulator. But you're gonna need some balls. — **Play 65 courses around the world. Unless someone stole all the Titleist.**

This voyage we might as well just offer a ‘Yard Sale’ in our Daily Program – SeaDream might make some extra money this way and I could count it as an ‘Activity’ – everybody wins!

Hummer bikes on SeaDream — **We kept 10 Hummer Bikes on board and I now I know why we lock them up at night. (Photo from Santorini, Greece)**

It’s actually great to be back…well other than the fact that I’m already sunburned, tired, and having a daily internal fight with myself to NOT walk past the pastry shop (it turns out that even when I tell myself I’ll just ‘walk by, have a sniff, and say Hello’, I somehow consume 2 brownies, banana bread, and soufflé – and that’s on a self-controlled day).

And honestly, if you would like to come on board for SeaDream’s next yard sale just let me know – they are giving me super cheap rates for my family and friends for the Caribbean, the crossing and the Mediterranean – and bring an extra piece of luggage, in case there is a TV or Bicycle on board that you may want to sneak home!

Surprised they didn’t take my keyboard too,

Meredith

I’m so thankful I saved all these emails! I hope you are too!

Oh! I also have an update regarding the Pastry shop struggle I mentioned. I gained my usual cruise weight and loved every minute of it. There are no better Pastry Chefs than those on board SeaDream. Thankfully their kitchen equipment is kept safe from our delinquent passengers in the bows of the ship!

What is the wildest thing you have come home with from your travels? Come on….admit it….there has to be something you’ve taken?!

Thanks for reading! Eat well and Travel often! Love, Meredith

Blog, Travel, Uncategorized

Thaim for Meat

July 31, 2018 4 Comments

“I help you.”

The story of a Brisket, Spicy Spaghetti Sauce and Thailand Immigration control.

Banyan Tree pool with our meat luggage — ***Swimming up to the prettiest luggage carrying the juiciest meat. Featuring the BEST LUGGAGE***

To start things from the very beginning, let’s go back to the week before we departed for our two-week vacation to Thailand. I was headed to meet a friend and her kiddos for an impromptu play date (one of many outings to stave off the mom-guilt pre-departure). En route to meet our friends, Heath called and said I needed to meet him. He had just picked up the frozen, vacuumed-sealed Brisket we would take to serve as our lunch on Day 4 of the sailing portion of the Thailand trip.

So I had to call my Vegan friend and let her know that I was canceling our date….because of a ‘Meat Situation’. How’s that for furthering her beliefs in avoiding animal meat.

I rushed that 6 lb. baby brisket home and stored her in the freezer. Along with our Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage, the spicy spaghetti sauce, and Central Market jalapeño sausages. These would all make the trek to Thailand and need to be as frozen as possible before we travelled for 32 straight hours.

Tasting the Spicy Sausage Spaghetti sauce — **If you promise not to tell the other sailors, I might have double-dipped on sampling this mouth-watering spicy sausage sauce we froze for flight to Thailand.**

Fast forward to the afternoon of departure and we filled a soft-sided YETI cooler with freezer packs and our frozen goods. Said a quick prayer over the bag (there is nothing too silly to say prayers over. God loves to provide!) (we use a vacuum sealer like this: Vacuum seal for better frozen transport!)

Dallas to Houston Hobby. Bags made it!

Press play to see how smooth rolling AWAY LUGGAGE is. Even filled with household supplies and scrumptious meat!

We loaded an Uber with all 5 bags. Checked in at Houston international and checked all bags onto Phuket. Houston to Taipei and the air temperature was -65* so we knew our cooler would be just fine! Taipei to Bangkok. Bangkok to Phuket.

**-67* Outside Air Temperature. Perfect frozen food flying weather!**

Standing at the baggage belt it is always thrilling to see your bags come thru the little window. 1, then 2 and finally all 4 checked bags appeared. Considering how many millions of people a day travel, I find it miraculous when bags arrive after an itinerary like that. I know sometimes we can get heated and frustrated when our bags don’t make it to our final destination, but isn’t it actually amazing that they can? But that is a conversation for another day.

Not wanting to celebrate too early, we walked confidently towards baggage immigration. Four bags went thru the scanner…and only three came out.

We came face to face with an Immigration officer looking at us incredibly confused. AHHHH! I looked at Heath and asked him what was in that one. Under his breath with ventriloquist lips he said, “the meat”. (Did I mention we brought knives, a waffle skillet, HORRIBLY tacky khaki pleated pants for a costume party. All things that could have been offensive to Thai Immigration).

Somehow I was the one requested to open the offending suitcase. And then to open the YETI cooler tucked inside. As we stood next to the two large banners explaining the ZERO tolerance for bringing in fruit, the immigration officer pulled out the spaghetti sauce.

Friends, insert the age-old debate determining if tomatoes are a fruit OR a vegetable. Which side did my immigration friend fall on? Does he know what spaghetti sauce is based upon?

The language barrier stopped us a bit…but Heath intervened announcing, “it’s a sauce. Made with lots of tomatoes. TOMATOES.”. I looked at him wide-eyed and whispered, “STOP. SAYING. THAT WORD.

Heath:, “huh?”.

Me: with gritted teeth, “Stop saying ‘tomatoes’.”

Then our immigration friend spotted the Brisket.

“What is this?”, he asked. We quickly pulled out an ice pack and said, ‘Oh this is just an ice pack”.

With a giggle he very obviously pointed to the brisket.

Ohhhhh that! Heath responded, “It’s cooked meat. Smoked. Brisket. You know it? It is cooked.”. (because only monsters would bring raw meat?)

The immigration officer asked us how many we had. We proclaimed, “only one sir!”. I mean, again, we aren’t monsters.

So there we stood with 6 lbs of USA meat and a bag of tomatoes.

He turned to Heath and said, “I help you.”. (WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!)

We remained confused as he walked to a desk, opened the top drawer, lifted a yellow legal notepad and grabbed a crinkled well-worn pamphlet from underneath. You know, the kind of pamphlet that looks like it’s been in your back pocket for about a week.

I knew this is where the Immigration Officer would show us line by line how we’d have to leave this all behind. All I could think of was how I wished I had eaten more of the spicy sausage spaghetti sauce now. What a waste…I started hoping that he would at least take it home to let his family try it (and you know me…I was going to beg him to let them try…tell the full story of how we made it, annoying him with my long-winded story hoping it would bless his family).

But in flash, he just placed the pamphlet in my hand and began gesturing for us to go ahead and enter Phuket. Contraband and all! What? Was this were we should have snuck him a $20? We didn’t know and didn’t want to cause more trouble so we just packed it up, bowed profusely, and thanked him a million times. Then sped to our transfer car waiting outside.

As we drove away from the airport, Heath and I high-fived each other in disbelief that we got away with it all. I pulled the ratty old pamphlet from my purse to have a look. Wait! What? He had given us a pamphlet about Quarantining your pets.

Please quarantine your pets! — **The well-worn pamphlet that somehow allowed us to bring in USA meats and fruits.**

Immigration rules not applying to food. — **None of this applied to Brisket or spaghetti sauce. But I suppose that was the point? Thank you Thailand!**

Oh my gosh!!! This Thailand trip is going to be amazing! No rules….just real good fun!

What have you ‘snuck’ into a country before? Any wild things you’ve travelled with that made you nervous? You know I love a good story…let me know!