PHEWWWW! That’s the sound of me blowing the dust off this ole travel blog, as well as the sound of relief at FINALLY. TRAVELING. AGAIN!!! Despite being a very planny-plan kinda gal, a week ago, I decided not to wait any longer to visit my favorite place on earth. Italy. Here in the U.S., they’ve been quite aggressive with the vaccines (my international friends are stunned that we are able to travel already) and Europe is clamoring for tourist dollars. I took a quarantine-free flight (American) from Dallas to Rome. When we arrived in Rome, we had to wait for…
Quiet Mind Retreat Center: A Self-Retreat in Julian, California
As a travel writer, it’s making me CRAZY to not be traveling this year. I missed out on planned trips to Sedona, San Miguel de Allende, and Hawaii. Itching to go somewhere, I decided to journey up to Julian, a mountain town an hour northeast of San Diego. But unlike previous trips there, which centered around shopping and eating, I planned something totally different: a stay at Quiet Mind Retreat Center, a sanctuary overlooking Lake Cuyamaca. The retreat center opened just before COVID-19 changed everything, and while its objective is to host mindfulness retreats, right now it’s more of an Asian-inspired…
Even in Quarantine, We’ll Always Have Italy, Thanks to Frances Mayes
If you’re a reader like I am, you probably have a few rock star authors who you nerd out on. For me, at the top of that list, is Frances Mayes, she of Under the Tuscan Sun. Lest you think her repertoire starts and ends with that book made famous by the movie of the same name, let me educate you: she’s written a dozen books, most of which deal with my favorite place on earth: Italy. I was fortunate enough to have met Mayes last year when she glided through San Diego on her book tour for See You…
A Weekend in Park City, Utah
I recently took a job working for a company in Salt Lake City, and while I work from home, I do occasionally visit the office in SLC. I’m so excited to explore this gorgeous area…once it warms up! I can’t stop goggling out the window at the beautiful mountains, and can’t wait until spring when I can go hiking. Lucky for me, my cousin, Genevieve, lives nearby in Park City. I spent the weekend with her, and am already ready to return.