After decades of travel, jet lag has become part of my regular life. When I was younger, I would land off a long red-eye and jump right into exploring the new place I was in, grabbing a coffee, and calling it good without hardly a few hours of sleep in… Read more
Years ago when I started this little blog, it was called True Colours, and my happy place was writing, particularly sitting in an airplane window seat high above the world, watching the clouds waft through airplane wings. Waking up at dawn before everyone else on the plane, watching the pastel… Read more
I’ve been dairy free for 5 years this year and honestly it’s been a journey! You can read more about the reasons behind my decision to cut dairy out of my diet here but in general, I was having some major health issues 5 years ago and decided to try… Read more
I don’t know about you, but in Oregon in the Winter it’s cold and dreary, particularly so this week and while I don’t mind the rain so much, I am looking ahead to future warmer months and Summer travel! As a teacher, I travel the most during my Summer break… Read more
I teach design at a University in Portland and as I prepare to head back to school in January after the holiday break, I’m looking ahead to this year of travel and figuring out how to make the most of the time off I have as a teacher. For all… Read more
My parents often remark after I travel “did you get upgraded again?” Between them and a lot of other people in my life, the question usually is, how are you getting upgraded and what are you doing that I can do? It’s always more comfortable to fly in Business or… Read more
We recently spent a glorious four days in Sevilla, Spain – one our favorite cities in Europe. On our first trip to Sevilla years ago, we did most of the tourist stuff, so this time, we spent more time wandering and enjoying Spain at a more leisurely pace, which I… Read more
A lot of international flights to Spain go to Madrid so you may find yourself in this large Spanish city for an overnight stop at some point in your travels. For us, on this recent trip to Spain, we were headed to Sevilla but had to fly to Madrid from… Read more
Here we are again back to traveling after a long COVID hiatus. The world is moving again and if the last several packed full flights I’ve taken have been any indication, everyone is ready to get out and explore again after being stuck in our homes the last couple of… Read more
Honestly, it feels like a dream that we’re returning to semi-normal life here in the US right now with vaccinations for COVID helping us return to our somewhat normal lives. I just got back from my first International trip to Iceland post-COVID and I’ve got several trips booked this Summer,… Read more
This past year going through a pandemic has taught us so many lessons and caused so much heartbreak. I’m the first to say that I realize how fortunate I’ve been compared to so many with everything that life has thrown at us in this last 365 days. I’m heartbroken over… Read more
For the first time in 10 years, 2020 was the first year in a decade that I didn’t step foot outside of the USA. And like many of you reading this, the idea of international travel became what seemed like a distant memory and very out of reach for who… Read more
One dreary day in December, while Nick was sick with COVID, I found myself downstairs working at my impromptu home office at our dining room table just feeling entirely depleted emotionally. Not only did December bring our own uncertainties dealing with COVID in our own household, it also brought the… Read more
Usually, these year in review posts are full of our international explorations and places in the US and North America that we’ve explored throughout the year. This year though, like everyone else, my travel was greatly limited due to COVID. Even though our travel wasn’t the same in years’ past… Read more
Ahh 2020, the year that everyone canceled every trip they had booked for the year. Believe me, I canceled more trips than I’d care to count this year and with each trip canceled, more airline travel credits came rolling in. While you can fight with the airlines a bit and… Read more