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6 Hidden Gems in Paris

Paris is one of my favorite cities in the world. I’m not sure about your traveling habits, but when I go to a new city I have to see EVERYTHING, because who knows when I’ll be here again!? My husband, on the other hand, wants to take things more slowly and really get a feel for the city. Our traveling styles are the exact opposite from each other which has added a few extra bumps to our travels in the past. We’ve been to Paris a few times now and I’m grateful that I’ve always been given free reigns to explore how I want. Until our most recent trip in October I’ve explored the city with a plan in hand, scoping out the best routes to all the places I just had to see. On this trip I was able to be more laid back, and instead of just hitting the most popular places I got to see some of the less well known attractions the city had to offer. If you’re looking for a different view of Paris, I hope you’ll consider exploring these hidden gems.

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5 Great New England Road Trip Stops

When you road trip, do you like to have all your stops planned out, or are you more of a “let’s stumble on something fun” type person? When I don’t plan, I worry that I’ll miss out on something great. But when you have limited time to see an entire state’s worth of goodness, how do you choose what to see and what to pass up?

We recently took a drive up the New England coast, and decided to play the itinerary by ear. Instead of planning everything out, we narrowed it down to 3 main goals: “See as much of the coast as we can within our time constraints, stop when we see something that looks good, and eat a lobster roll in Maine”.

Here are the goodies we stumbled upon. Hopefully they inspire you to take a road trip sometime soon!

5-New-England-Road-Trip-Stops

 

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Belfast, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland are 2 different countries that share the same island. Northern Ireland is part of the UK. It’s not as touristy or as built up as The Republic of Ireland, and it wasn’t considered an especially safe place to visit until the early 2000’s. As with all of Ireland, Northern Ireland is beautiful. Lush, rolling green hills, lots of history, old castles… No matter where you visit, it’s worth going.

Best-to-see-in-Ireland

Although still a bit off the beaten path, Northern Ireland is a great place to vacation. We spent 3 days in the area and took one tour through the countryside, a half day trip to the Giant’s Causeway, and another tour through the Titanic Museum. Everything we did was well worth it, but when I go back, I hope to be able to do a Black Cab tour to learn more about the “Troubles”. 

The Titanic Museum

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Khasab and Muscat, Oman

Oman is a sultanate on the Arabian peninsula, bordered by The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. We were on a cruise when we visited, so we didn’t get to explore as much of the area as I’d have liked. We stayed in the northern part of the country, only stopping in the cities of Khasab and the capital city of Muscat. This northern area is very rugged and arid – which makes for some beautiful scenery when you look at the juxtaposition between the rocky hills and the sea! We heard amazing things about the lush southern area around Salalah, but we didn’t get the chance to visit.

Khasab-Muscat-Oman

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The Best Things to See in Boston

Boston is amazing. If you enjoy history, it’s the place for you. We spent a week in Boston and I loved it so much! When I travel, I have a hard time not doing EVERYTHING – I might miss something, and how do I know if I’ll ever get that chance again? With Boston, there’s almost too much to do. While most of the historical places we toured were totally worth our time, some weren’t. In the hopes of helping you know what you might want to see when visiting Boston, I’ve put together this list of the things we loved, thought were ok, and didn’t like. Because there’s so much great food to be had, you’ll also find reviews of our favorite restaurants.

10 Best things to see in Boston

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Resort Review – Grand Velas Resort (Riviera Maya)

If you’re looking for a lush, exotic, beach retreat, look no further than Riviera Maya. Located on the Yucatán Peninsula in Quintana Roo, Mexico, it’s an ideal vacation spot. This area is known for it’s all inclusive beach resorts and it’s many beautiful Mayan ruins. We stayed at the Grand Velas Riviera Maya Resort and Spa for a week in 2016, and we loved it so much we went back for then another week in 2018. The resort is large and there’s enough to do on-site that you don’t have to venture off the property if you don’t want to (although you should take advantage of the many activities in the area!).

Riviera-Maya-Review

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The Best Things to do in Abu Dhabi, UAE

Abu Dhabi is the capital of the UAE, and it’s located about 2 hours outside of Dubai. While you’ll still find the beautiful sky scrapers and gigantic malls that seem to be a UAE staple, it’s much quieter than neighboring Dubai.

We have friends who live in Abu Dhabi, so we got a week’s worth of insiders views of the city. If you do go, please don’t miss the Grand Mosque or the Emirates Palace Hotel.

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The Best Things to do in Dubai, UAE

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a beautiful country, and Dubai is it’s most well known and populous state. We traveled to the country at the end of February, which was a great time to go as it’s not too hot, but it’s also at the tail end of the high tourist season. We were told the area generally gets about 5 rainy days a year, and we happened to be there for all 10 of them.

best-to-see-in-dubai

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Why Travel?

My family didn’t travel mush as I was growing up, except for our yearly road trip to see my grandmother in Idaho. As much as I loved rural Idaho as a child, it’s not exactly a thrilling destination. I lived in the same house from infancy until I moved out after high school. Before the age of 18 I’d stayed in exactly two hotels – the first was on a Disneyland trip when I was 13, and the other was in Reno, Nevada, for a wedding. To say I was not well traveled is an understatement.

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