10 Favorite Places to Travel To

I love to travel. I think I loved it more before we had the girls because now I miss them when we are gone. But travel is what got me into my current job. I get to travel for work and it has some amazing perks to it. But we also travel for fun too.

I complied a list of my 10 Favorite Places to Travel to. In no particular order.

1. Costa Rica
In 2012, Rory and I took a trip to Costa Rica. This was before marriage and kids. We had the best time. We went to the Guanacaste Province (Tamarindo area). We flew into Liberia and rented a car and drove about an hour west to the coast line. We were told this area is more for relaxation, hiking, exploring and way more calm than the San Jose area.

We stayed in the JW Marriott using Marriott points, so we only had to pay taxes, tips, food and drinks. It was heavenly. We did many tours including horseback riding through the jungle and beach, hiking the volcanoes, hiking to waterfalls, a caterman snorkeling tour, an adventure tour and a food tour. Costa Rica was beautiful and definitely a favorite of mine.

 We got soooo many mosquito bites. Wear pants and get industrial bug spray.

The sunsets are unreal.

2. New York City 

If you have followed my blog for some time, then you know how much I LOVE NYC. Ever since Sex and the City, I had to go there. And in 2010, my job took me to NYC. I have been several times since and I still LOVE it there. Random fact: my SIL and BIL lived there for 10 years.

These photos are from my first visit there which happened to be at Christmas time which was one of my favorite times to be there.

3. Australia

I went to Australia for work in February 2012. We went to Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. It was an amazing two weeks. I had always wanted to go there and was soooo excited when I was giving the opportunity.

Again, if you have read my blog for any time, then you know I am afraid of sharks. I also have a weird fascination with them. And Australia is pretty much king of the 7 most deadliest things on Earth, including the Great White Shark. I knew I had to go to Bondi Beach to check it out and I even went into the water for hours. I was told there were nets to help keep the sharks out, but sometimes they get in. I didn't even care. There were so many people around me that I figured they would get bitten first. Ha.

 Sydney

 Bondi Beach

Melbourne

4. Alaska

In 2009, I took a family vacation to Alaska. Well it was technically a cruise from Seattle to Skagway, Ketichikan, Juneau and Prince Rupert, Canada.

We went to a Lumberjack cutting competition, had a salmon bake, shopping, Alaskan brewery tour, glacier tour, zip lining, horseback riding and a huge King crab feed. It was soooo much fun and so beautiful.

Skagway, AK (where we did the King crab feed)

5. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

We got to PV, Mexico pretty much yearly. We skipped the year right after the girls were born (2015), but have been pretty much every year from 2012 to 2018. And this year, we traveled there without the girls. The girls have been twice and loved it both times.

If you have read my blog for some time, then you have seen my recaps each year. I am going to share with you a couple photos from our first year there as I am pretty sure you haven't seen any of those.

 Yelapa, Mexico

6. Scotland

Again for work, I traveled to Scotland in 2016. I have always wanted to go there and it did not disappoint. If you love scotch, beautiful green views and history, then Scotland is for you. We worked, but we were able to go to the castle, have drinks in the iconic Big Lebowski's bar, go on a train ride up north to the smallest distillery in Scotland and enjoy the Scottish food.

 Edinburgh Scotland Castle

 The view from the castle

Edradour Distillery

7. Kauai, Hawaii
We went to Kauai for our honeymoon. We stayed in the Poipu area because it gets less rain there. Kauai is a very wet island, but it makes it so beautiful. Kauai offers so much beauty. We did a hike on the Maha'ulepu Heritage Trail, golfed on the Puakea Golf Course which is in Lihue (it has the backdrop of the area where Jurassic Park was filmed), went to Waimea Canyon, ate so much food and even got in another round of golf at another golf course.

Maha'ulepu Heritage Trail

One of my favorite parts of our trip was the Kalalau Trail in the Haena State Park. This hike is hard. You hike over slippery rocks, small paths and change elevations a lot. But it is completely worth it. You end up at a waterfall and can go swimming in it.

 After a short hike down to the water

Kalalau Trail in the Haena State Par (waterfall)

Towards the end of our trip, we took an ATV tour through Kipu Ranch Adventures. You go through the area where Jurassic Park was filmed along with so many other movies. You also go to the area where they filmed Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark. It is the part where Harrison Ford runs down the hill, grabs a rope swing into the water and then a plane comes and gets him. We were able to do the same thing as Harrison Ford in the same location and it was sooo cool. Not many people did it, but we did. We even got a video.

I could go on and on about Kauai. It is beautiful and amazing. Go!

8. Dublin, Ireland
I recently went to Dublin for work and it was a lot of fun. It is so green and beautiful there. We went on the Guinness Tour, to Trinity College, to the Kilmainham Gaol Jail and Museum, the Teeling Distillery and the Temple Bar area. I didn't get to spend enough time in Ireland as I wanted to travel outside of Dublin, but that just means that I need to go back there.

9. Tel Aviv, Israel
I went to Tel Aviv for work (work travel is pretty amazing) and I loved it. Tel Aviv was a place I was really excited to go to. We were only there for a week, but it was so interesting. The food was AMAZING. Seriously, so much seafood. And I have never walked so much in my life. I clocked in about 35,000 to 40,000 steps per day.

We walked the old city area, went to the open air markets, went to the beach, swam in the Mediterranean and explored. It was truly a great experience.

I don't know where all my photos are, so I managed to only find a few of them.

 Dizengoff Square

10. London, England
I have been to England several times for work. I love the culture, the food (seriously the best Indian food ever), the history and how beautiful it is. I have been in May, September and February now. So I have covered a lot of the seasons there and each time was equally beautiful. But the September one was really HOT! Ha.

I have taken the Jack the Ripper drinking tour, gone to the Buckingham Palace, had a private tour of the Tower of London, been to the oldest pub in London, went on the London Eye, visited Big Ben, toured the Princess Diana Memorial, went to Parliament and so much more.

 Princess Diana Memorial

 US Embassy in London

What are your favorite places to travel to?