Portland, OR {aka Cousinfest}

It had been far too long since we had a cousin reunion, so we decided to meet up in Portland to visit 2 cousins who live there! One cousin flew in from St. Louis and I flew in from Dallas - meeting up on a layover in Phoenix. After a few beers and some catching up, we boarded a flight to Portland. We arrived WAY past our bedtime, but took time to take the classic #pdxcarpet shot. Once at the Courtyard Marriott City Center, we jumped straight into bed and caught some zzz's.

The next morning, we met up with Rachel and walked to Blue Star Donuts for some sugary goodness and some Stumptown coffee. We divided up all of our purchases so we could try all three: Raspberry Rosemary, Lemon Poppy-seed and, my favorite - Blueberry Bourbon Basil. Wanting to burn off a few of those calories, we hiked around Forest Park to the Witch's Castle and onto the Portland Audubon Society. It was an easy 1.5 - 2 mile hike, where we got to chat and catch up!

We made our way to the nearby Alphabet District to wander around some cute shops, like Will Leather Goods, pictured below. After, we had some yummy food at Sante Fe Taqueria. We ate outside - soaking up the AMAZING weather!

After lunch, we stopped by the Pendleton Woolen Mill store where they sell all of their lovely merchandise, as well as yards and yards of fabric! I grabbed a 1/2 yard so that I can (with my mom's help) make some beautiful pillow shams! (It's the fabric with the bright pink on the left middle in the picture below.)

Shopping really got us in the mood for some drinks, so we hit up Migration Brewing and Cascade Brewing! We had some yummy pizza at American Dream to cap off a lovely evening.

The next morning, we headed out to the Columbia River Gorge. We ended up skipping Multnomah Falls due to the crazy parking situation and took a trail up to Horsetail Falls instead. This ended up being a great option to get away from the crowds and we still got to see all of the beauty of the area. It was fun to walk right behind the waterfall as well.

After we left, we stopped at Rachel's place for a bit and wandered across the street from her house to Peninsula Park. I love all of the beautiful parks EVERYWHERE in this city! We stopped in to a photobooth to take some photos to send to our grandpa, eating a delicious lunch at Thai Food Cafe afterwards.

We saved a bit of room for desert at Salt and Straw. They let you sample as many as you like, but I ended up going with the Snickerdoodle. Holy cow, I see why the lines are always insane here. It was DELICIOUS!

That evening, we got to see my cousin's wedding venue and had a picnic in Laurelhurst Park. We stayed, drank wine, listened to Jewel (HA), and chatted until we couldn't see our hands in front of our face. Not quite ready to end the night, we stopped by Rev Nat's Cider for a glass!

The next morning, Jenna had to leave really early. Having friends in Portland, it was a perfect chance to meet up for some breakfast with them and met their son at The Original. I did wake up a little early though, so I was able to walk around downtown. There was already a line at Voodoo Donut at 7:30am! 

It was so nice to catch up with family AND friends on this trip! Portland is quickly becoming one of my favorite places (see my first trip recap here) and I can't wait until next year when we get to come back for my cousin's wedding! I already have a wishlist a mile long of things I want to do - mainly a trip to the coast and a few stops at wineries. 

What a great first annual Cousinfest! Thanks Portland, you were grand!

Travel Tips: How We Plan

I love travel planning. This is no secret. Anyone who follows me on Pinterest will know that I am constantly pinning pictures of exotic destinations, packing lists or sample trip itineraries. Jason suggested that I type out a "how-to" guide of sorts as my trip-planning abilities have definitely improved by leaps and bounds over the years.

Research

I definitely enjoy this part more than normal. Jason will tell you that I spend basically all my free time trip-planning and it is sort of true. I really enjoy reading about other people's travel experiences! My favorite places to research are travel and ex-pat blogs. It's good to find people who like to do and eat similar things, as well as travel at the same speed you like to. Here are some of my favorites:

The Overseas Escape

Hither and Thither

Hope Engaged
a pair and a spare

Well-Traveled Wife

Land of Marvels

We Took the Road Less Traveled

I also use the normal places like Tripadvisor, Frommers and an assortment of travel books. Even searching on google for "place + # day trip itinerary" works! My favorite tip is using pinterest to find blog posts about people's trips as well as the most picturesque places in each locale. This helps me find more "off the beaten path" places to explore.

This part takes the longest, but is also continuous. I have a permanent excel document with links to all of my favorite travel inspiration. I have Pinterest boards with ideas of where to go and what to do in each place. I look at hotel pricing to see how a ball-park of how much each place will cost us and compile this as well. Obviously this would be the point where airfare pricing is considered as well.

I use Rome2Rio.com to plan out all of the logistical info to determine how long each trip really needs. I even think through potential itineraries at this stage. This helps later since I already know what is reasonable to plan during an certain time period. For example, Morocco is super high on my list, but with the way flights work out, it doesn't make sense for us to go with only 10 days since we'd lose 3 of them in transit. 

Basically, time is precious when you are traveling. It's not worth it to us to waste 3 hours flying into a cheaper airport or taking public transit to save $15 (or even $50). If you are backpacking or are traveling long-term, I totally get it. But if you have 10 days? Make the most of them!

Choose

With all of the information I've compiled, Jason and I will walk through what we think is the best trip. Looking at the time of year we can travel also factors in of course. Usually the phrase "this is a good place to travel before kids" comes up at least once as well. I flip flop a lot about our destination, so this part is often the hardest for me!

Organize

I start planning our itinerary early, compiling all of the fun places I've found in my research, along with the logistics of flight times, opening dates of attractions, etc. I break it down by day and time so that I can make sure I have enough planned, but not too much! I also like to employ the "we'll be back" mentality. It's not worth rushing from site to site just to "tick off a box" if you're not enjoying yourself!

The balance is definitely a learned-skill. I've learned the hard way not to overbook, but we've also found ourselves in the position of not really knowing how to occupy ourselves. I like to optimistically make plans for the best-case scenario and then play it by ear when we arrive. In the back of my mind I know those top things that we need to do (ie: what we've paid or made reservations for), but also know what we're okay leaving out in favor of wandering, sleeping in or enjoying a long meal.

I also obsessively create google maps for each place we travel. This helps with the logistical planning of each day's activities by location, but also helps me to remember favorite places we've been (blue) and places we'd like to go (red). Layers are great for different areas (Russian River v. Sonoma v. Napa) and you can put notes for each location which is synced to your Google Maps app on your phone which can provide directions.

You don't have to spend as much time as I do for this part, but I would say that putting as much time as possible here will benefit you GREATLY during the actual trip!

Book

This means something a little different to us, as things tend to be last-minute for us, but once all of the logistics are set, it's time to book airfare and hotel! Don't forget to sign up for that cooking class, bike ride or food tour as well. It's also a good idea to book the "must-see" winery and distillery tours in advance so you get a time that works easily with your schedule. 

I usually color-code my excel document above with things that I have booked (green) or things that still need to be booked (yellow). I update the spreadsheet with reservation times/confirmation numbers as well as handy tips we may need to remember on our trip.

Last Minute Prep

Print out all confirmation letters and your excel spreadsheet. (I'm Type-A, so I have a folder with dividers for each location...) WiFi isn't always available and it's just handy to keep a printed copy. Use your itinerary to pack accordingly a week+ in advance. Doing all of this will help you relax and enjoy yourself once you actually leave for your trip and not stress that you forgot anything.

Obviously the last step is to Relax and Enjoy!

If there is anywhere we have been that you are planning on going, please let me know and I'd be happy to pass along our itineraries and tell you what worked and what didn't. And of course, our trip reports tend to hit the high points, but not always the logistical "hows", so I'd be happy to give an opinion on what is possible during a certain time frame. I also love to help plan itineraries for places we haven't been as well, so please just reach out to me.

Hope this has helped someone. Basically the moral of our story is that my spending a little extra time on the "organize" & "research" phases has always paid off for us. When things go wrong or plans change, you have some great back-up options handy.

Boston, MA

The beginning and end of our Ireland trip put us in Boston. We arrived around noon and had plans to take a quick water taxi to the City. It was pretty simple to catch a bus to the ferry terminal. We chose Rowe's Wharf because they store your luggage for you until your return trip. Well - it was definitely different than we were expecting! There were 4 of us on this tiny little boat, getting sprayed by the waves of passing ferries. 

The boat dropped us off close to the North End. We asked our boat driver's advice on where to grab some lunch and he directed us to the Black Rose, near Quincy Market. It was a great suggestion - our lobster roll and clam chowder were delicious!

After lunch, we found our way along the freedom trail to see Paul Revere's house and - most importantly - stop at Mike's Pastry! Our friends had brought back some canollis for us a while back, so we wanted to grab a few for our trip. The line was long, but moved quickly. I got the espresso cannoli and Jason had the chocolate chip. Both were AMAZING, but mine had a slight edge. I don't think you can go wrong through. Just remember, CASH ONLY! 

We wandered back through Columbus square and took the water taxi back to the terminal to catch our flight to Shannon.

On our flight back back from Dublin, we had one more night in Boston. When we arrived a little after noon, we caught a quick taxi ride into the City. We immediately dropped of our stuff at the nearby Courtyard Marriott Downtown and set off to wander around Boston Commons, the Public Gardens and the cute shops and alleys of Beacon Hill. We missed looking around in Trinity Church due to a wedding taking place - next time!

That evening, we took it easy, grabbing a quick dinner and settling in to watch Game of Thrones. Our flight out was at 8am the next morning, so it was an early night for us.

Boston was adorable. We had fun wandering around and exploring in the short time we had. In the initial planning stages, we were supposed to have one more day in Boston to explore Harvard and more of the North End, but due to the fact that we were flying on positive space tickets, Aer Lingus asked us to move our Ireland flight back by a day - shucks! (We added Cork & a few more activities in Dublin to our itinerary because of this.) Boston is a bit easier for us to get to than Ireland, so I feel confident that we'll be back to explore in more depth next time.

Up Next: I'll be heading to Portland for a cousin reunion here in a few weeks! Can't wait for a little dose of the Pacific Northwest.

5th Year: In Review

YEAR FIVE!!! It seems like another lifetime when Jason was still working at Ernst & Young. We had another amazing year of travel and, of course, all of our travels are possible thanks to Southwest.

There was a ton of international travel this year (a trend I would like to continue), and all of our trips were thanks to amazing airline perks - Southwest Rapid Rewards Points to get us to Tulum and Russian River Valley, Positive Space tickets to both Puerto Rico and Ireland and the good 'ole standby flights to Italy and for other random domestic trips! Here's a recap - month by month.

August: Orlando, FL - fun spontaneous day at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

September: Tuscany, Amalfi Coast & Rome, Italy - 

Italy is one of my favorite places ever and this trip didn't disappoint. I found a new love of Rome here and we're even planning on making a return trip to Italy within a year!

October: We took a fun day-trip to visit Galveston State Park with Indy. He LOVED the beach!

November: Culebrita & Old San Juan, Puerto Rico -  Jason won some "gold passes", so this trip was free AND confirmed. We love Puerto Rico - it's such a great little escape.

January: Tahoe, CA - Disaster of a trip. We've love to go back when it's warm though!

February: Ubud & Legian, Bali - Amazing 30th birthday trip!

March: Tulum, Mexico - Jason's 31st birthday trip! We are both obsessed with Tulum. Hoping for a return trip ASAP!

April: Russian River Valley, CA - Amazing Trip with the Linebergers. Hoping to make this an annual thing!!

May: Dingle, Kinsale, Cork & Dublin, Ireland - Just an amazing trip - easy, yet so beautiful. And yes, everything really was THAT green!

Boston, MA - A few days to sample some of the most famous sites in Boston and eat some delicious food!

In the next year, we have plans to:

Have a cousin reunion in Portland, OR (just me)

Take a long weekend with the pup to New Orleans, LA

Enjoy fall in my hometown of St. Louis, MO

Celebrate our anniversary in Broken Bow, OK
Spend Thanksgiving in London

Attend multiple wedding events, with the grand finale in Comfort, TX
Head to NYC to visit friends

Explore the great outdoors in San Juan Islands, WA

Soak up paradise in Kauai

Attend a family reunion/wedding in Portland, OR

I am also planning a glorious road-trip around Southern England for late summer - to include London, the Cotswolds, Bath, Cornwall, Dartmoor, Stonehenge and a trip to the Harry Potter Experience! Very excited about this!