Unique digital nomad travel adventures from around the U.S.
Last spring B, C and I were thinking about where we could go in the fall for a quick, affordable vacation. After looking through Google Flights and seeing where we could get from Boise on the cheap, we narrowed it down to two options: Aruba …
As a proud Boisean, I am pleased to share my list of top ten things to do in Boise, Idaho. One of the first things I do when researching a place I’m going to visit is to try and find some must sees for that …
Since I appreciate seeing what other fellow travelers pack when they go on their adventures, I figured I would share with you my women’s packing list for Puerto Rico. Continue reading to see what I put in my bag for our five-night stay in the Caribbean. And if you have any questions about the items I packed, or have a suggestion for next time, please let me know.
We traveled to Puerto Rico for five nights. Essentially, we had two days of travel and four days of exploration, making Puerto Rico an excellent micro trip. As part-time travelers, we are always looking for travel destinations where we can pack in the fun in a relatively short amount of time. With full-time jobs, we have to maximize our weekends, holidays and vacation hours. So a long weekend to Puerto Rico was just the ticket.
We stayed in three different locations around the island, but since we rented a car, transporting our luggage was not a problem. Still, packing light is the name of the game and we stuck to our usual carry-on sized backpacks.
The biggest consideration when it comes to packing: the weather. It was hurricane season in Puerto Rico when we visited. We did opt to buy travel insurance for this trip but luckily, there were no hurricanes to ruin our plans and cause us to use said travel insurance. (Hurricane Matthew blew through the Caribbean just before our trip began, although its path was quite a ways east of Puerto Rico.) However, the rain is another story. And let us not forget about the usual humidity. Our clothing choices needed to reflect both hot and wet (for additional resources, check out this post about packing for hot climates).
Some of our activities we planned ahead of time, like kayaking, exploring Old San Juan and sitting on the beach. But some, like caving, were more tentative. However, all activities had to be accounted for putting together my packing list for Puerto Rico.
Speaking of clothes, my travel companions and I discussed our plan of attack for packing for this trip. We determined that by wearing the same ensemble on our two travel days, we would only need to pack clothes for our four days of exploration. C pointed out that if we wanted to rewear our other outfits, then we would only have to pack two outfits in the backpack. We also discussed the need to bring rain gear and at least one swimsuit, preferably two given the likelihood of multiple days at the beach. At the last minute, I changed my mind and only packed one swimsuit. But I did pack enough underwear for the entire trip. Sometimes I just take a few pairs and wash them as I go. Given that this was just a micro trip, it seemed easier to pack for all six days.
I used an app called PackPoint to put my list together and help me keep on track. We have spoken before about the importance of a packing list when it comes to packing light. It really does not matter if you use a pre-printed list, an app or your own chicken scratch. Just make sure to use a packing list! Here is what went on my packing list for Puerto Rico:
Although this was a micro trip, I still had to be conscious of what I packed and how I packed it. Remember our post about tips and tricks to packing light? Well I implemented just about every tip on that list including packing versatile pieces of clothing, leaving room for souvenirs and rolling my clothes.
I opted to pack only one pair of shoes for this trip: my Chaco sandals. They are perfect for walking, hiking and exploring. Even with the rain, the temperatures in Puerto Rico are warm. I knew I would not have to worry about my feet getting cold. (Sometimes they can get a little cold on the plane, so I packed a pair of warm socks. That seemed like a better idea than packing another pair of shoes just in case my toes got cold.) Since the shoes I packed are blue, black and white, I tried to choose pieces of clothing that matched that color scheme. Mostly I try not to clash—which is hit or miss depending on the trip.
I only ended up needing one packing cube since all my clothes fit in just the one. I packed my Turkish towel (which triples as a towel, swimsuit cover up and scarf on the plane) and beach hat, neither of which were much use on this trip thanks to all of the rain. However, the raincoat and umbrella I packed both come in handy. I normally just pack one or the other. But since the forecast called for rain and a lot of it, it seemed safer to pack both. And I am glad I did.
Some of the items on my list were crucial to pack, like my identification and money. Others were very important, like insect repellent and a rain jacket. And some were just because I prefer to have them on hand, like nail clippers and an eye mask. Regardless of which category the items above fell into, they were all “weighed” to determine their worthiness. When you are packing light, each item must be carefully considered. There is not a lot of room in the old backpack for “what if?” Plus, I wanted to make sure I left room for the souvenirs I knew I would be purchasing.
Once you are out on the road, the time for consideration is over. Hopefully, your planning and your packing list for Puerto Rico is spot on. But, if you forget something, there are plenty of stores willing and ready to sell you what you need.
Packing always requires some consideration and research. Some trips are easier than others to pack for. Overall, my women’s packing list for Puerto Rico was fairly easy to prepare. Really, you just make sure to pack your sunscreen and swimsuit and you will be fine.
The Pendleton Round-Up has been on my bucket list for years and I have finally checked it off! I am going to tell you all about it, but first, let’s talk for a minute about bucket lists. Now you may not be quite as obsessed …
As has been mentioned a time or two, I’m a bit of a fan of National Parks. Likewise, B and I are big fans of getting away for short weekend trips. These two likes came together last weekend when we ventured northwest to the North …
I was lucky enough to experience a New Mexico weekend getaway and I highly recommend you plan one yourself. I feel New Mexico is a gem and one of our most underrated states. So I suggest you visit before the secret gets out. You do not need a lot of time to visit, although you will probably wish you had more. New Mexico makes an excellent girls’ weekend getaway.
Too often, I have little or no time to do the things I want. Now I am not talking about the day-to-day things that fall by the wayside (ahem, making my bed). I am talking about all of those places, near and far, I so badly want to visit. I am talking about all of the adventures I want to go on. But vacation hours are few and my bucket list is long. So sometimes I have to settle for a small taste instead of the full course meal. But that’s okay. That small taste is often very sweet and it is certainly better than nothing.
In my quest to see all 50 states, I often had to settle for just a small taste. New Mexico was one of those times. But although my time there may have been short, it was no less sweet and I came home with some wonderful memories.
I arrived in Albuquerque on a gorgeous fall morning and immediately proceeded to explore. I walked a lot. Like a whole lot. I also used public transportation but since I had plenty of time to spare, I spent most of it on my feet. Historic Old Town is cute, albeit a little touristy. And although I figured it would be cheesy, I opted to check out the Rattlesnake Museum. As expected, it was a little on the cheesy side of things, but I still liked it. It is small so it won’t take up much of your time and I learned some interesting stuff.
From Albuquerque, I caught the train (Rail Runner) to Santa Fe. When it comes to train travel, I know I am a little biased. But this really is a great way to travel between the two cities and to see a little more of New Mexico. Plus, since I caught the train later in the day, I was able to see the desert at dusk. It was beautiful.
Now to be honest, Albuquerque was a little less than impressive. However, Santa Fe is a whole different ballgame. I think I could live in Santa Fe with all of its culture and history. I even appreciated that it is located at 7,000 feet above sea level—although it was a little hard to breathe—because the air was so crisp and clear. Again, I did a lot of walking and exploring. I visited the Historic Fort Marcy Park, took in the views from the Cross of the Martyrs, perused countless art galleries and ate New Mexican food (most of which was too spicy for my pansy tongue). I was very sad to leave Santa Fe and I hope to return again someday.
I caught the train back to Albuquerque to give the city a chance to make a better impression on me—which it did thanks to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Normally I try to avoid events and places that are overrun by tourists. But the Balloon Fiesta is just such a unique experience that I figured it was worth fighting the crowds.
The 4 a.m. wake-up call was a killer, but seeing the dawn patrol was definitely worth getting up early for. Plus, the excitement in the air that early in the morning is very contagious. You’ll want to dress warm since it can be a bit chilly. However, they do have hot cocoa and tasty breakfast items for sale that help cut the cold.
I loved how close spectators can get to the balloons. And there is no way to describe the feeling once the balloons start going up in mass. It was spectacular and worth every effort it took to get there. I don’t know if this is an event I will ever see again, but I’m very glad I attended at least once in my lifetime.
This short but wonderful New Mexico weekend getaway would never have happened if I hadn’t been willing to “settle” on a short trip. Furthermore, it took some creative planning to execute.
I had my eye on New Mexico for a long time. Not only was it on the short list of states I had yet to visit, it looked to me to be the kind of place I would enjoy. But I faced a couple of challenges in getting there; the first being a lack of vacation time, but the biggest being flight prices. I diligently tracked the cost of flights from Boise to New Mexico. But a decent price was hard to come by and on the rare occasion one surfaced, the dates were all wrong. And I just wasn’t willing to fork over the big bucks for what I knew would be a shorter trip.
Then one day I realized that a certain conference I attend for work every year was being held in Las Vegas. Although I had not been able to find a decent flight to New Mexico from Idaho, there were plenty of decent options from Vegas. My company pays for me to get to and from the conference. So after I booked that trip, I worked with Southwest to change the date of my return flight as well as the departure airport (from Las Vegas to Albuquerque). They were nice enough to do so for free.
I then bought a one-way ticket to Albuquerque from Las Vegas—which ended up costing around $50. Talk about a deal! Plus, because the conference ate up my weekend at the beginning of the trip, I knew I would have a couple of days off at the end of the week in addition to my weekend. So I got to spend that extra time in New Mexico instead of settling for the quick weekend trip I had originally figured on. (Read my post about six ways to make business travel more fun.)
Travel Tip: never hesitate to piggyback off a work trip. Sometimes all you need to do is get creative with your booking and you will be well on your way to another adventure. However, never take advantage of your company by charging vacation time and/or expenses to your work trip. That seems like a good way to get fired.
I knew my time would be limited (even with the extra days), so I had to pick and choose what I really wanted to do. I researched blogs religiously. There were the obvious tourist sights to see, but I wanted to find a local’s opinion from a blog since I do not know anyone from New Mexico personally.
The internet is a wonderful thing and I came up with a pretty good list of New Mexico musts. For example, one thing I read was that you have to try the ranch dressing at Dion’s. Since I am a bit of a connoisseur of ranch dressing, of course it made the list. I also stood in line at what appeared to be a greasy shack just to try one of Blake’s Lotaburger burgers. And then there was the burrito from Allsup’s. (It would appear that a lot of my must-dos revolved around food. Which I guess makes sense. New Mexico definitely has its own style of food that is different from anywhere I have ever been. They are also very proud of it.)
You’ll also want to check out the local calendar to make sure you are aware of any big events. For one, you need to make sure a particular event won’t mess with your plans in a negative way (closed roads, shorter hours, etc.). But you’ll also want to be informed in case there is an event you want to attend.
When I was looking for a hotel in Albuquerque, I noticed the price of a room was a little on the high side. I decided to do some more research and that is when I discovered that my trip fell on the opening weekend of the Balloon Fiesta! How exciting. I booked my hotel right away because I figured prices would only increase from there and maybe even sell out altogether. Then I started planning around the big event because it seemed like an opportunity too good to pass up.
I know that I only scratched the surface with my New Mexico weekend getaway. My time there was short, but my experience was wonderful and I cannot wait to go back some day. Even a short trip can be memorable and fun. Don’t hesitate just because your time is limited. Make a plan and go!
How often do you go out exploring your own backyard? This past weekend, we headed to the mountains. Our goal: huckleberries. I am happy to report that we were successful and came home with a nice little haul. R had family visiting from another state. …
Ahhhhh summer. While not my favorite season, summer weather does mean some pretty great things like rodeos, drive-ins and camping, to name a few. This post will discuss that last one, camping, since C and I recently camped out in just about my favorite place …
2016 is the National Park Service’s (NPS) one hundred year anniversary. And anyone who knows me knows I love me some National Parks. As Yellowstone was the first of America’s National Parks, it seemed apropos that we added it to the ol’ list of things to do this year. We did some research, talked to some quasi-locals (my brother in Montana) and made a plan. The following describes what we learned beforehand and along the way.
Yellowstone is located in parts of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. It is high in the Rocky Mountains (think 6,000+ feet above sea level), which means it very, very cold for a lot of the year. Most of the roads are closed in the winter because they are covered with snow. And since they only open when the snow has melted, that date changes every year depending on spring temperatures.
This year the roads opened around the beginning of May, so we decided to go mid-May. Also influencing this decision is the fact that Yellowstone is the one of the most visited parks in the nation. In 2015, over four million people went there, mainly in the summer months. B and I struggle with crowds of tourists, so we wanted to beat the rush. There were still plenty of people when we were there, so I can only imagine what high season looks like (shudder).
Grand Teton National Park is just south of Yellowstone in Wyoming. Being as this park has stunning views of the Teton Mountain Range, it just makes sense to drive up from the south. You might as well take US-89 North and take in the beauty. Connecting the two parks is land that was donated by Mr. John D. Rockefeller who thought this area was so beautiful he bought it up after visiting. Lucky for us, he gave it back to the NPS. The road will take you right into Yellowstone where you will have to pay the entrance fee.
A seven-day pass to Yellowstone will set you back $30 for a single car. If you want to explore Teton, it will cost you another $30. They do offer a combo pass for $50, but if you really want to save some money and love national parks as much as I do, I suggest you just buy an annual pass. An annual pass will get you into any National Park, Monument, Historic Site and Landmark for a whole year–all for the bargain price of $80. I got mine last December at Olympic National Park and I’ve already paid it off.
Neither B nor I had visited Yellowstone for several years so we wanted to check out the main attraction: Old Faithful. We arrived at Old Faithful and walked around the different geysers, amusing ourselves by guessing their names before looking at the placards. B picked the best name when she came up with Double Trouble.
There is a hike right above Old Faithful called the Observation Point Trail that offers a really nice view of the area. When we got to the top of the trail we noticed a few people waiting around with their tripods and wondered when Old Faithful was going to do its thing. There are a few websites that track eruptions and we miraculously had cell phone service up at that observation point. We learned that the average time between eruptions was 92 minutes and luckily for us, we got to the top 80 minutes after the last eruption. So we only had to wait five minutes before she blew. It was a really nice viewpoint to see the eruption and we didn’t have to share it with all of the other tourists. We learned in a ‘Hidden Secrets of National Parks’ book that the Observation Point Trail is a secret gem that not many know about. This would be especially satisfying in the middle of summer when it is packed next to the geyser.
Yellowstone has had a rough anniversary year thus far. Right before we left, a well-meaning-but-not-very-smart-man decided a baby bison looked cold. So he put the thing inside his car and drove it to a ranger’s station. They had to euthanize the poor thing and the man was fined. Also fined were a group of not-well-meaning-and-not-very-smart men who thought their Instagram photo would be even more impressive if they left the designated boardwalk and romped all over the sensitive geological features. They got a warrant for their arrests. Sadly, a man just lost his life after going into one of the hottest geysers in the park. If trends hold, by the end of summer, several people will have also been injured because they got too close to the wild animals. Yellowstone is 3,500 square miles of WILDerness and should to be respected as such.
Yellowstone is gorgeous and full of interesting animals and geological features that make it one of a kind. You should definitely go (especially during the non-peak season) and explore the park that inspired national parks to be created around the nation and world. But for the love, don’t touch the baby bison!
Janes often get asked, “How can you afford to go on so many trips?” Well, the answer is simple: you don’t spend a boatload of money on every trip. If you can’t afford to go big every time (man, wouldn’t be great?), go little a …