2016 in Review

December 19, 2016

2016 ended up being a big year for us! We moved in January to start the year in our townhouse and proceeded with the rest of the year with tons of travel. A lot of the travel from 2016 came up spontaneously or saw us celebrating big milestones like both Nick’s and my 30th birthday. We stepped foot on our 6th continent this year with our trip to Peru and 2016 saw us visiting 4 continents all in one year! We explored 10 countries, 7 US States and fell in love with new and old spots around the world. We explored more of the USA this year and ventured near and far. 2016 was a year for the books and every place we traveled to brought along memories we’ll remember forever.

The Best Kimpton Hotels in the USA

December 16, 2016

I’ve long been a fan of Kimpton hotels in the US and even before I started working with the brand through Land of Marvels, they have always been my go-to hotel chain. I love a good boutique hotel, but when they happen to be a chain with great loyalty benefits too, that’s just icing on the cake. The Kimpton hotel chain bases itself around the “boutique hotel” idea, each hotel different but all designed impeccably and with attention to all the details I love: great design, comfort, modern conveniences like outlets everywhere, and great food. If you haven’t heard of the chain yet, you really should jump on the bandwagon – especially since they are beginning to expand internationally with properties in the Caribbean, Amsterdam and Paris in the coming years.

Honestly, I can’t wait for the company to expand and offer more destinations and I’m sure they’ll continue to be my go-to hotel brand. This post isn’t sponsored by Kimpton, I just genuinely want to share the word about this great brand of hotel properties so you get to experience them too! So today, I’m sharing the best Kimpton Hotels in the USA that I’ve had the pleasure of staying at over the years and I can’t wait to see where the brand goes in the future!

Amara Resort and Spa – Sedona, Arizona

One of my favorite hotels ever, our stay at the Amara Resort and Spa in Sedona was way too short! The hotel features a dramatic backdrop to the local red rock landscape, beautiful decorated rooms and an easy location within Sedona. And to add to all that – the hotel restaurant is beyond incredible!

My Review

The Taconic Hotel – Manchester, Vermont

After our recent trip to the Taconic Hotel in Vermont, I was sold. The hotel is not only gorgeous and basically brand new, the staff was incredible as we celebrated my birthday! The design is beautiful, the hotel restaurant divine and the property easy and convenient!

My Review

Hotel Monaco – Seattle, Washington

I’ve stayed at a lot of the hotels in downtown Seattle and I think this still might be my favorite. The location is great but the design is one of my favorites of all the hotels in downtown Seattle. It’s whimsical and quirky, with beautiful appointed rooms.

My Review

Hotel Wilshire – Los Angeles, California

For a stay in LA, this is one of my favorites. A gorgeous and Instagram-worthy rooftop pool, a sleek and modern design and easy access makes this a go-to spot for your trip to LA.

My Review

Winter at the Great Wall of China : Snow Flurries and Icy Cobblestones

December 14, 2016

We arrived at the Great Wall of China entry facility at the Mutaniyu section of the Wall around 9am, bought our tickets and headed to the shuttle bus area. After taking the shuttle bus as far as we could, we walked up the hill to where you catch the gondola. Once getting off the gondola, we wandered up some stairs on the side of the hill as the snow was falling and the steps were slippery, making the short walk up a little treacherous.

As I emerged onto the top of the Great Wall from the steps, I looked up and around me and all I could muster was “wow!” We lucked out with a snowy morning in November and for the first 15 minutes or so of our visit, we had the Great Wall almost to ourselves as the snow gently fell around us. It was eerily quiet, covered in a blanket of white and the early morning sky was surrounding the mountains in the distance. In all of my travels, this was one of my all time favorite spots ever. If you’re in Beijing, the Great Wall is do not miss.

I’ll never forget that morning, standing atop the Great Wall of China, bundled against the cold temperatures and looking out over the mountains on this ancient wall, snow flurries falling around us, alone with this amazing monument for just long enough to embrace the history all around us.

Tips for the Great Wall:

-Hire a driver through your hotel – that way you can be on your own schedule and get to the Wall before the crowds.

-It gets really icy in the snow, so be careful! People were sliding all around on the icy cobblestones.

-Be prepared to walk up hills – it’s a trek to get up there.

Traveling to China?

See all of my posts on the country!

Travel Tips : Visiting the Great Wall of China

December 13, 2016

Our visit to the Great Wall of China was undoubtedly one of the most amazing travel experiences I’ve ever had and I’ll never forget it, though there are some important items to note when planning your visit there. To make it as easy as possible, here are my best tips for visiting the Great Wall of China out of Beijing and how to see this amazing landmark yourself!

Pick which section of the wall you want to visit.

I wanted a section of the wall that wasn’t crazy busy but also close to Beijing and easy to access. There are lots of different sections of the wall you can visit outside Beijing – we chose the Mutaniyu section which from my research looked like the best option for us. Choose which section you want to see and go from there.

Go first thing in the morning.

The Great Wall is a huge attraction for lots of people, so if you want to experience it without massive crowds go first thing in the morning. We left our hotel in Beijing at 7am and arrived about 9am, though it was snowing that day so traffic was a little slower but keep in mind Beijing’s rush hour so give yourself plenty of time.

Be prepared to walk.

Even though you’ll arrive, take a shuttle bus, then a gondola up to the Wall itself, there is still quite a bit of walking uphill involved.

Dress for the weather.

Whatever season you go, be sure to dress appropriately for the weather. In Winter, when we were there in the snow, good rubber soled shoes are a must as the Wall was really slippery. Also dress warm, the wind is cold way up there in the mountains. For me, that meant a heavy coat with a hood, ear muffs and a huge scarf and gloves.

Take traffic into account for access.

As I mentioned above, it took us about 2 hours straight from our hotel in Beijing Central to the Great Wall at Mutaniyu at 7 in the morning, but on the way back it only took less than an hour due to less traffic. Keep in mind that Beijing has horrendous rush hour traffic and take that in to account for your trip to the Great Wall in and out of the city.

Hire a Driver through your Hotel.

If you don’t want to deal with a tour group (we’re not tour people), the best way to get to the Great Wall is to hire a driver to take you through your hotel. I booked ours in advance through the concierge of the hotel we stayed at and let them know what time we wanted to leave. The driver will stay with the car while you explore the Great Wall and then take you back to the hotel. This is a great way to do it if, like us, you don’t want to deal with a tour group or a tour guide and just want to explore on your own.

Traveling to China?

See all of my posts on the country!

Old Beijing on the Shores of Hou Hai Lake

December 12, 2016

After the Forbidden City, we wandered a bit further North to the Hou Hai area of Beijing, through hutongs and back alleys until we made our way to the lakes. I had seen an Instagram about this area a long time ago and saved it, thinking it’d be a great spot for us to stop in Beijing. Without knowing much about the area, other than it was an older section of the city, we didn’t have much of an expectation. But as soon as we wandered up to the first lake of the area, outlined on each side of the water with old sections of Beijing, we were blown away. This area by far ended up bing my favorite in Beijing.

Shops and restaurants line the small lakes and small bridges with hanging red lanterns guide your way around. We wandered the area for a while, taking in all the small shops and restaurants and then stopped for Hot Pot on the way back for lunch. I would for sure recommend this area to anyone headed to Beijing – it was a quiet respite away from the modern busy areas of the city!

Traveling to China?

See all of my posts on the country!

A Wander through Imperial China : Morning in the Forbidden City

December 9, 2016

Out of all the stops we were hoping to make in Beijing, the Forbidden City was high up on my list. An imperial complex of palaces, gardens and meeting halls, this ancient area of Beijing is the mark of Imperial China. The complex is huge and you could spend hours wandering the entire thing, surrounded by a moat and a high wall. We chose to make our way through the center and down one side, which turned out to be a long endeavor anyways.

It was freezing cold while we were there so we opted half way through to stop for a green tea and to warm up a bit inside one of the cafes on site, but the whole thing took us about 2.5 hours to make it through. From palace rooms to small gardens, from open meeting halls to intricate private areas, the Forbidden City is truly a site to be seen in Beijing.

Traveling to China?

See all of my posts on the country!

Visiting Tiananmen Square : History and Marching Soldiers

December 8, 2016

Our first morning in Beijing we were up super early due to jet lag so we waited around our hotel until the sun started coming out around 7am, grabbed our stuff and headed out, anxious to explore Beijing. We wandered through Beijing and walked the 30 minutes or so that it took to get from our hotel to Tiananmen Square, opting to walk and see the city instead of jumping on the subway. Being a Sunday and because we were up and out so early, it was a quiet morning walk through Beijing, letting us see a side of the metropolis that is this famous Chinese city. We wandered through little back alleys and down side roads, taking it all in – shops selling paint brushes, red lanterns hanging from the rooftops and colorful writing and designs everywhere.

I admittedly don’t know much about China or its politics, other than the general stuff we know about indirectly so as we headed first toward Tiananmen Square, I was interested to see this famous spot. I still know very little about the magnitude of this place in Beijing, though what I do know is that it was the site of protests for democracy in the 80’s and subsequently a site of mass casualties as the military took hold and tried to squash the demonstrators.

In truth, the morning we visited, the square still held a very eerie feeling. Troops were out marching, lots of them, in uniform – young Chinese boys being marched around by their commanders. I remarked to Nick several times that it felt strange, where as if I were in a public square in the US and saw hundreds of troops out marching, I would feel strange, like something wasn’t quite right.

The square was huge and desolate and seemed to carry a huge weight, as if everyone that comes there acknowledges that so many died there, so many fought there. Tiananmen Square isn’t truly much to look at aesthetically, other than the purpose of seeing it to remember what happened there. For me, it felt somewhat iconic, especially after our elections in the US when so many are exercising their rights to free speech and peaceful protest, rights we often take for granted and should always fight hard to uphold as many nations around the world have had many struggles around those ideals. Tiananmen Square is one of those places that definitely should be seen, if only just to remember what freedom really means.

How to See Beijing in 48 Hours (A Video Guide)

December 6, 2016

After spending 48 hours in Beijing and the surrounding areas, we had some pretty incredible travel moments, including a snowy morning at the Great Wall of China. This part of China is well worth seeing and if you find yourself with just 48 hours in the city and the surrounding areas, here’s how I’d recommend how to see Beijing in 48 hours in video format!

And to the be the first to see content like this, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel!

Traveling to China?

See all of my posts on the country!

Favorite Moments in China and Japan

December 5, 2016

It’s safe to say we had some pretty incredible moments on our recent trip through China and Japan. From magical snow on the Great Wall of China to falling head over heels in love with Japan, we knew after this trip that both countries will for sure be making repeats on our travel list and we’ll be back to explore more. And while our week in Asia was pretty incredible, some moments stood out more than others as we reminisced about our time there and here are some of my favorites!

Hou Hai Lake Area of Beijing

On our first day out exploring Beijing, we wandered through the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square in the freezing cold weather. After the Forbidden City, we wandered up to the Hou Hai area of the city somewhat on a whim and I’m so glad we did as it ended up being one of my favorite spots in Beijing! In a crazy busy city, Hou Hai, an old section of Beijing situated on lakes was absolutely lovely. Filled with shops and restaurants, this area was a breath of fresh air in an otherwise somewhat crowded busy city.

Great Wall of China in the Snow

As we watched the weather forecast approaching the day we were scheduled to go to the Great Wall, I was giddy with excitement when I saw snow. And while I knew it might not end up happening, the morning we woke up for our driver to pick us up and take us to the Great Wall, I anxiously looked outside and was so thrilled to see snow on the ground in Beijing itself and flurries still falling. We headed out of Beijing early to make it to the great wall by 9am and it snowed our entire drive. By the time we arrived at the Great Wall, we had about 20 minutes up on the wall where we were just a tiny handful of first arrivals as the snow was falling around us and the magnitude of this place was just truly awe-inspiring. It was quiet up there as the snow fell, before so many other tourists arrived just moments later, and I’ll always remember that snowy quiet morning up there on a wall centuries old, with so much history behind it. It was a moment I’ll never forget.

Discovering Tea Latte’s in Japan

I know this might seem like a stupid thing to include, but seriously, the Starbucks in Japan are amazing. Their selections are way better than ours in the USA and we stopped multiple times for a snack while out and about in Japan. One of my favorite things I came across was their tea latte in Japan, which is so delicious, I couldn’t get enough of them!

Watching the Shibuya Crossing

One of the things we kept noting while in Tokyo was that, while it’s home to so many people, we never really felt overwhelmed with crowds. I think that’s due to an incredible organization and layout of the city, though the one place we knew we’d see huge crowds was at the famous Shibuya Crossing. We ventured to this famous spot our second day in Tokyo and grabbed a tea latte from Starbucks (they have an amazing location overlooking Shibuya Crossing) and a spot by the window to watch the thousands of people cross the street. It truly was a pretty amazing site to see!

Snow in Rikugi-en Garden

Our second day in Tokyo it was forecasted to snow. And it was actually kind of a big deal as Tokyo hasn’t had snow this early in the Winter for something like 50 years, so everyone was talking about it. The snow started about 6am and stayed falling consistently for the whole day. Wanting to see something of a Japanese Garden with the Fall colors and the snow, we headed to the Rikugi-en Garden and I can’t recommend it highly enough. This place was magical! Between the amazing foliage and the snow falling overhead, it made for some breathtaking moments!

Traveling to China?

See all of my posts on the country!

Traveling to Japan?

See all my posts on the country!

#BloggingDesk : How to Find Blogging Inspiration

November 30, 2016

People often ask me how I find the inspiration for enough content to post 5 times a week here in Land of Marvels. In truth, there are plenty of times when I run out of inspiration but I’ve found a way to work around that by keeping a running list of ideas and digging into that list when I’m feeling low on ideas. Blogging is hard, and especially if you post consistently, it’s hard to keep ideas flowing long term. So today in our #BloggingDesk series, I’m sharing my best tips for how to find blogging inspiration and keep your ideas flowing for the long haul!

To start, my biggest life-saver for keeping my blog running even when I’m short on inspiration or really busy in my personal life is to schedule posts ahead. I try to keep posts scheduled for at least a week or two out, sometimes more. This way, I’m always ahead of the game and not searching for inspiration the day of a post which makes it harder. I also keep a running list of ideas as I mentioned above. I actually keep many – one on my phone, one on my computer and sometimes just jotted down wherever I am if I think of something. This way, I have a constant on-going list of ideas to draw from when writing blog posts.

But, sometimes my list of ideas is running low or I might just not feel like writing any of those ideas in the moment – when that happens and I’m running low on inspiration, here’s what I suggest!

Flip through Magazines

One of the first places I head when I’m low on inspiration is a magazine. Just flipping through graphics or articles always helps me get new ideas. I’m not saying copy their ideas at all, but certain photos or certain phrases might jog something in you. Actually, I think advertisements are amazing inspiration as often they have quotes or phrases that might get an idea going.

Scroll Pinterest

Pinterest is another place I find a lot of ideas. Photos or quotes often bring to mind certain things that I might want to post about. Having images easily available to scroll through fairly quickly and the ability to save them right then and there is great for bloggers. Again – don’t copy other peoples’ ideas, but take an idea and make it your own!

Look back through your Archives.

I also find often that looking back through my own archives on Land of Marvels will jog my mind for ideas. Sometimes you might want to update a certain post idea or perhaps you have a new spin on something you’ve written. You can also go back and see which types of posts are popular or that people like the most and then build on that for ideas.

Set it aside and come back.

If you really are low on inspiration and nothing seems to be working, my best advice is to just set it aside and come back later. There are some days I’m really inspired to write for Land of Marvels and other days that I’m just not, no matter how hard I try. So write when you feel that inspiration, and write a bunch of posts and schedule them ahead, and then if you’re not feeling inspired, set it all aside and come back later.

Travel!

The one thing that always inspires me to write is travel! So when in doubt, do what you love and you’ll be sure to find inspiration to write about!

Looking for more posts on Blogging?

See our archives here for Blogging posts.

2016 in Review