#14: Travel Tips for the Wanderlusters

Wanderlust: A very strong and irresistible impulse or desire to travel the world.

I wrote these travel tips as a speech in a speech class my sophomore year of college. However, I have updated the speech a little bit since then, but not significantly, as some things have changed (websites deleted, airlines no longer in existence, new modes of lodging abroad in existence now, etc.) This is not an exhaustive list of travel tricks and tips, but this is a good place to start. Here is the speech:

Raise your hand if you have a passport. Keep them raised if you have ever used that passport to visit another country. Keep your hands raised if you have studied, worked, or lived in another country. This is only a sample from one class of college students out of one school in the United States.

If we talk about how many people in the United States own a passport, what percentage would you guess? According to CNN, 30% of the people in our country own a passport (Avon). According to Gigi Zenk, a spokesperson for the Washington Department of Licensing, by 2006, only 10% of Americans had actually used their passports to visit another country (Ammons). These low statistics may be because many people believe travel is too expensive and maybe not worth their while. Or maybe they simply don’t know how to go about it. I always said that if you sit me down in a classroom and teach me about the Taj Mahal, I’ll never learn a thing about it. But if you take me to India and show me the Taj Mahal, I’ll learn EVERYTHING about it. That’s because history and art become way more exciting and fun when you actually see it with your own eyes. Traveling is just like learning in a classroom, except you’re doing it first-hand. Not only can you learn about history and art when you travel, but you can also learn new languages; bring new trades and customs back to your home country; and become more open-minded about other countries’ religions, beliefs, customs, etc. For example, I just moved back here from South America. Even though I was living in two extremely poor third-world countries, I had the time of my life. I learned to speak Spanish, I brought back home with me a new trade called Macrame, and I even came to view a lot of aspects of their lifestyles as better than my own. I have a completely new perspective on life now. As Henry Miller said, “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things” (Akerstrom).

There are several different ways to travel. You can simply take a vacation somewhere, you can volunteer or work somewhere for awhile, or you can backpack. Fortunately, you college students, have one extra way to travel: studying abroad.

One great thing about vacationing is that you can go somewhere for 4 days or 3 weeks. It’s whatever you want and however much you can afford. Volunteering and working are great options too, because there are countless places to go in other countries where you can volunteer or work as long as you want, and many of these places do not require work visas. For example, I worked at a wildlife refuge in Ecuador for 2 months, I didn’t need a work visa, and I left when I needed to leave. It was the same type deal for me in Peru as well. Backpacking is probably my favorite form of travel, because you can jump from one place to another whenever you’re ready, and it gives you a chance to see a lot of places at one time. Studying abroad, however, may be the best way to start off traveling, especially if you’re not comfortable with traveling by yourself. It has also become very popular, as the percentage of American students who study abroad has quadrupled from the 1987-88 school year to the 2007-08 school year, according to the Institute for Education Sciences (The Condition of Education).

Many people, especially in this economy, are on low budgets, but a lot of people still want to give traveling a shot. Even if you have very little money, you can still travel very easily. In some situations, you may have to keep an open mind, but travel can easily be affordable.

First, if you decide to study abroad, you can do it in one of two ways. If you study abroad for an entire semester or even an entire academic year, you can choose a “sister school” in another country, which means you only have to pay that school’s tuition and fees, which may even cost less than attending the school in which you are currently enrolled. If you study abroad for 2-3 weeks, you can apply for scholarships to cut the price in half (or more.) Study abroad scholarships are very easy to obtain, which is why studying abroad is possibly the best and cheapest way for students to travel. If you would rather volunteer or work abroad, there are all kinds of sites you can find about places that need help. A lot of these places house you for free, some of them pay for your food, and some of them even give you some extra spending money. If you're interested in the Peace Corps, they house and feed you for free and give you a pension. They also have all kinds of other benefits, monetary and more, for while you're in the service AND after you leave. If you would rather take a vacation somewhere or go backpacking, I have some great tips, but you have to be open-minded about them. There are great sites for cheap airline tickets. For instance, www.ryanair.com is an extremely cheap site for flights in Europe. You can book a flight for as low as 4$ a person to fly from one country to the next in Europe sometimes. Also, to cut down on transportation costs, some of my traveling buddies hitchhike. (Just be careful if you choose this option.) Bus travel is usually very cheap too. There is also a really great website called www.couchsurfing.com, where you can search for people in the city you wish to visit, and they will lend you a free bedroom for a few nights, until you jump to the next city. There is a website called www.airbnb.com, where you can rent out someone's house or apartment for a few nights, and sometimes the prices are cheap. In this case, sometimes the person lives there, and sometimes the person doesn't live there but just owns the place. If you don’t feel comfortable sleeping in someone’s home, you can always camp out, house-sit, visit family, or simply find a cheap hostel (which is easy to find in most countries.) The lowest rate I found in a hostel in South America was 5$ per person per night. As far as food goes, you can “Dumpster Dive,” which is when you go to a restaurant after it has closed and request the food they are going to throw out. It’s illegal in the United States for a restaurant to give out such food, but it’s perfectly legal in a lot of other countries. I have also found that buying groceries at a grocery store and cooking while I’m in another country is a money-saver. Also, in many other countries, there are outdoor markets that have small restaurants, where food is almost free.

Along with these tips, I have a ton of other great ways to save money on traveling and many more sites to give you if you guys want to see me after class and get them from me. The point is, travel can be extremely affordable. You may just have to be willing to rough it sometimes.

Works Cited:

Akerstrom, Lola. "The 50 Most Inspiring Travel Quotes of All TIme." Matador BNT. 7 Mar.

2008. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. <http://matadornetwork.com/bnt/50-most-inspiring-travel-

quotes-of-all-time/>.

Ammons, David. "State Project Targets U.S. Passport Plan." The Olympian (2006).

Mobilisa.com. 14 Nov. 2006. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. <http://www.mobilisa.com/highlights/

newsArticles/The%20Olympian%20-%20State%20Project%20Targets%20U.S.%20Pass

port%20Plan%2011.14.06.pdf>.

Ammons, David. "State Project Targets U.S. Passport Plan." The Olympian (2006).

Mobilisa.com. 14 Nov. 2006. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. <http://www.mobilisa.com/highlights/

newsArticles/The%20Olympian%20-%20State%20Project%20Targets%20U.S.%20Pass

port%20Plan%2011.14.06.pdf>.

Avon, Natalie. "Why More Americans Don't Travel Abroad - CNN." Featured Articles from C

NN. 04 Feb. 2011. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. <http://articles.cnn.com/2011-0204/travel/america

ns.travel.domestically_1_western-hemisphere-travel-initiative-passports-tourism-

industries?_s=P M:TRAVEL>.

"The Condition of Education - Contexts of Postsecondary Education - Characteristics of

Postsecondary Students - U.S. Students Studying Abroad - Indicator 40 (2010)." National

Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Home Page, a Part of the U.S. Department of

Education. U.S. Department of Education, 2010. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. <http://nces.ed.gov/

programs/coe/indicator_ssa.asp>.

Travel Websites:

Lodging

www.couchsurfing.com
www.airbnb.com

Study Abroad

www.studyabroadfunding.org

www.statravel.com

www.studentuniverse.com

Air Transportation, Lodging, Tours, and More

www.ryanair.com

www.orbitz.com

www.clarkhoward.com

www.cheapoair.com

www.easyjet.com

www.wizzair.com

Volunteer and Work Opportunites Abroad

www.peacecorps.gov

www.gapyear.com

 Now is as perfect a time as any. If you don't do it now, you'll never do it!

This girl gets each country colored in once she visits it.

#13: Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, Summer 2004, 2005, & 2006

This is a combination blog entry. Growing up, my mom and aunt were not talking to each other, as they had a 7-year-long feud going on. So it was hard for me to get to know my cousins on that side of the family, since I never saw them. The last time I saw them before our multiple year hiatus was when I was 7 or 8 years old. My grandparents wanted their grandkids to get to know each other, so starting in 2004, my grandparents bought an RV and decided to get their grandkids together every summer for a trip, which we called Camp Schilling. (My grandparents' last name is Schilling.) For the first 3 years, we went to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, because there was so much to do there - not just fun for kids, but fun for adults as well.

Like I said, we stayed in an RV, but since there were so many of us, we would park the RV in an RV park, and then some of us would sleep in the RV, while the rest of us slept in a log cabin. Lots of RV parks have log cabins inside the parks, so we always did took advantage of that. I remember my grandparents bought us a tandem bike (a double bike - one with two seats,) and we rode that around the RV park all the time. RV parks also usually have a game room that has things like TVs, air-hocky tables, and pool tables.

There are tons of things to do in Pigeon Forge and in the surrounding area. My family and I loved to go to the Dixie Stampede, which is a rodeo. I'm not crazy about using animals for rodeos, but as long as they are well taken care of and treated with respect, I'm not completely against it. Anyway, as long as it's a cruelty-free zone, it's a neat experience. You can eat dinner while you watch the show. There's also a huge Cabbage Patch Kids store in the area, and it's a wonderland for little kids who like dolls. Dollywood was always a fun theme park to go to. That is owned by Dolly Parton and has all kinds of fun, country-themed rides, like roller coasters, water rides, swings, Splash Mountain, a Ferris Wheel, a Mary-Go-Round, etc. One time, my family even got together and took an old-time "Wild West" saloon photo. The teen girls dressed in corsets and feathered headbands, while the little girls wore Flapper dresses, and my grandma wore a sun dress and hat. The boys and my grandpa wore coats and cowboy hats and carried shotguns. All the ladies smiled, while the gentlemen wore scowls on their faces. This was super fun!

There are so many things to do outdoors in Pigeon Forge. Our favorite past time was go-kart racing on the Wild Woody at The Track. Not only does this place have great go-karting tracks, but also there are bumper boats outside and an arcade inside. There is also a ride there called the Sky Flyer, where they pull you up about 50 feet in the air, superman-style, and when you pull the lever next to you, you drop and swing high in the air. It's the most amazing rush! I did it by myself the first time, and then when my cousins saw that I didn't die, two of them joined in, and all 3 of us were able to ride it together.

There are tons of other things to do outside too. My family and I went white-water rafting there one time. There's this place where you can go zorbing, where you get inside a human-sized hamster ball and play in the water while inside the ball. I haven't done that, but I will do it the next time I'm in Pigeon Forge, for sure. My family and I went to a water park one time, and that was fun. Be careful about potential diseases there, though. There are too many things to do in the city for me to spell them all out. It's a great place for adults, but an even better place for kids.

I don't think I got the chance to go to any of the museums down there, but a bunch of them seem like they'd be interesting. There's the Titanic Museum, the Dinosaur Walk Museum, the Hollywood Wax Museum, the Chasing Rainbows Museum in Dollywood (a museum about Dolly Parton,) & the Pigeon Forge Mill, the latter of which is not actually a museum but is surrounded around the American Civil War.

The food in Pigeon Forge is a dream for kids. There's basically carnival food everywhere. There are funnel cakes with delicious toppings, ice cream, and Dippin' Dots galore! There are a ton of country-cookin' family-owned restaurants that are worth a shot. Paula Deen even has a restaurant up there! I've never been to it, so I can't really vouch for it, but I bet it's full of buttery deliciousness.

Make sure to do everything outdoors while you're in Pigeon Forge. It's a great place to get in touch with your adventurous side. No time to back down from anything while you're there, or your vacation will be a waste. It's time to get back to nature!

 Splash Mountain at Dollywood.

 My family's old-time "Wild West" photo. I am in the dead center of the photo, to the left of the little boy (one of my cousins.)

Sky Flyer at The Track.

#12: Disney Cruise to Mexico & the Caribbean, Summer 2001

Ok, I really wish I had documented this trip better, but since I was 10 years old when I went, documenting the trip wasn't my #1 concern. I'll try to relay to you the highlights of the trip as best as I can remember.

First of all, if you have kids, take them on a Disney Cruise. You will NOT regret it. It was a magical wonderland for me as a child, and I can't thank my parents enough for organizing this trip for us. Cruises are always great, but add Disney characters all over the ship, and it's pure bliss. Even adults enjoy these cruises. They are a bit pricey but totally worth it.

Boat life was great. You can barely feel cruise ships moving, since they sail pretty slowly and are so big and stable. And there were so many fun things to do on the ship! I remember one day, I got corn rows in my hair, and it was the neatest thing. There was even a daycare, where my sister went when my parents and I wanted some time without little kids. (Haha, I was 10 years old!) My sister loved the daycare. She even got her face painted there. There were certain times when Disney characters would show up, and we got to meet them and get them to sign our autograph books.

We had the absolute best dinners on the ship, and while it's wasteful, you can order whatever you want on cruise ships. If you don't like what you ordered, they'll send out a different plate for you. I don't know how every ship operates, but on this ship, we were assigned a few servers for our breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals. They made the trip so special for us. I remember one of them had red hair and joked around that he liked to eat mayonnaise on his ice cream. My sister and I were disgusted, but he was so funny. Another one's name was Antonio, and he was from a Spanish-speaking country, although I don't remember where. And then our favorite server was from Jamaica, and boy, was he the friendliest guy you'd ever meet. They made our trip so special during meal time, and they were so good with us kids.

Now here comes the hard part. I don't remember too terribly much about the stops we made. I know we went to Cozumel first. We mostly hung out on the beach, but we did a few other things too. I remember my dad found a coconut on the beach, and it's not every day you see a coconut where I'm from, so he took it with him and tried to take it back on the ship. However, customs officials on the ship would not allow foreign fruit to be taken from Mexico to the U.S. for health reasons, so it was a no-go on the coconut. My dad is weird. Anyway, I remember we signed up to go swimming with dolphins, and it turned out to be the most awful thing. The dolphins were not free-swimming. They were in tiny cages in the water, and they were bruised and scratched from trying to break out of the cages. All we got to do was get in the cage with a bunch of other people and stand up against the back of the cage on a ledge until the dolphin trainer brought the dolphins over to us, so that we could, one by one, kiss the dolphin. That was it. There was no swimming with the dolphins, and the poor beasts were in the worst conditions. So I wouldn't recommend swimming with dolphins, unless they are wild dolphins. That can be risky, as you're out in the ocean around wild animals, but it is much better than fueling such a terrible industry such as this one. Anyway, on a lighter note, Cozumel is more like a tourist town, so it's not a place to go if you want culture. Everyone there speaks English, and the town is all about shopping and lying on the beach. However, I don't know of any cultural cities that you can visit on cruise ships. Who knows what you'll find in your research?

The next stop was The Grand Cayman Islands. The only thing I (sort of) remember about this place is that my family and I went on a submarine ride! I don't remember much about it, but if you can ride a submarine at an island, I'm game. The last stop was Key West, which is an island owned by Florida. I remember literally nothing about this island, but I'm sure it's lovely. It's probably just another beach location. We've all been to plenty of those.

Anyway, the real point of this trip is the Disney Cruise part of it all. If you have kids, or even if you don't, this is a great idea and is something a bit different than going to regular old Disney World for the 5th year in a row. Have fun on your trip!

The whole Disney crew waving goodbye at the end of the trip.

#11: Oahu & Maui, Hawaii, Fall 2011

Ok, this is a really good vacation, so I hope you guys choose to do this one day. Hawaii is gorgeous! Every island has its own beauty, but if you want paradise, go to Maui; if you want history, go to Oahu. For this vacation, my family went to both.

We flew into Oahu and, of course, crashed upon arrival. The flight is long and usually includes at least one stop on the way there, and it is several time zones behind Georgia, which is where I came from. Of course, we had to see Pearl Harbor, which is really the only thing you want to spend much time doing in Oahu. There is a museum at Pearl Harbor, so we not only saw the Pearl Harbor Monument, but also battleships and all kinds of Pearl Harbor artifacts, such as Teddy Roosevelt's declaration of war on the Japanese, in his original handwriting.We also went to the Dole Pineapple Plantation, the beach where "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" was filmed, and the mountain area where both "Jurassic Park" (one of my favorites!) & "50 First Dates" were filmed. We even ate lunch at the picnic area outside of the restaurant where the latter film's Adam Sandler & Drew Barrymore ate breakfast in many of their scenes. (The restaurant itself is no longer in business.) And, along the way to these places, you'll likely try some local snacks. You should definitely try drinking coconut milk out of a coconut, if only to be able to say you've done it. It's disgusting and tastes like watery milk, but I'm glad I can say I've done it. You can do what we did and take tours to all of these sights, or you can drive around trying to locate them yourself - your choice. But the easier choice, and probably even the most economical choice, is to let a guide take you to these locations. Later, we saw the King Kamehameha Statue and went around a huge shopping area. There are a lot of unique shops on the island, which I know a lot of people love to do while on vacation. My sister bought a scarf/dress-type thing, which was really neat, because you can wrap it in all kinds of different ways to make a different outfit each time you wear it. Everything in Hawaii is covered in bright colors and flowers, so of course her scar/dress-type thing was too. You'll also see lots of beautiful trees, some of which are slanted due to being hit by rough winds all the time. It's bizarre-looking! You can check out a lot of stores that sell local artists' artwork, and some of them even use surf boards and flip-flops as mediums.

Next, we went to the long anticipated Maui. If you want paradise and the most vividly bright and beautiful rainbows you'll ever see, Maui is the place to be! You'll see at least one rainbow every day, because it rains in the mountains every day, even though the land below is usually sunny and dry. Don't forget to eat at local restaurants! But if you want to eat somewhere that's a chain, Bubba Gump's is never a bad choice. And, of course, you could never forget to book a luau. Hoolah dancers, male dancers blowing fire, cooked Kalua Pig on a platter, and more! If you like checking out fancy hotels, we loved the Hyatt Hotel, because it has a lot of wildlife and a fantastic pool area. As for the wildlife, they have penguins, swans, & some emu-like birds. You can even eat a buffet breakfast overlooking the swans in their beautiful pond. The pool area is enormous and has a massive water slide and cave where you can swim between the rocks. There are cabana boys who will tend to you too. You can access all of these things, even if you don't stay at the hotel. (The hotel is too expensive anyway.) You might have to pay a fee to get in, but I don't think we had to. Also, run over to the Wailea Hotel to see another incredible hotel, which is about $3000/night to stay in. Obviously, it's not economical to stay there, but you can walk through the hotel and see what you're missing out on. You'll see a giant pool area with massage tents, a private beach, a waterslide, a cave over part of the swimming pool (like the one at the Hyatt Hotel,) cabana huts, and everything rich in the world that most people will never have!

You may see Banyan Trees all over Hawaii, but I'd recommend checking out the biggest one in the world, located in Lahaina, Maui. There are lots of cool shops and restaurants over there too. Make sure to make time for Humpback Whale-watching! This time around, we only saw a couple, and they barely breeched, because it was November, which is barely in whale season. Whale season is from November to May, but the peak is from January to March. My family and I have been to Maui during peak whale season and seen tons of Humpback Whales do much more than barely breech! Make sure to make time for it. This time around, the main show included wild dolphins, who did tricks and jumped out of the water for us. These creatures are so intelligent that they know you want a show when they find you out on a boat, and they are more than willing to oblige!

While in Maui, you'll want to drive the road to Hana. You'll have to rent a car. Although, you might be able to join a tour. It'll take several hours, but it's so worth it. You'll pass by gorgeous Rainbow Eucalyptus Trees, black sand beaches, a red sand beach in Kaihalulu Bay (which you have to be in decent shape to see, because you have to hike to it,) and the 7 Sacred Pools. The black sand beaches are not actually made from sand; they're made from bits of volcanic rock, as Hawaii is full of volcanoes. The red sand beach is made from dried clay and pebbles, which really hurt your feet, so make sure to wear padded shoes. All of these beautiful sights are more than worth the trip. The journey to Hana is what you go for, not the actual town of Hana, but everything up that way is gorgeous. There are so many colors and plants and nature, so it's definitely a tree-hugger's dream!

I'll go ahead and throw in here that, on a previous Hawaii trip, I went to the island of Lanai. I've seen photos online which paint Lanai as a beautiful place, but the area that we went to was a dump. I would recommend not wasting your time there. I have never been to the Big Island or Kauai, but I've heard they are both amazing. The Big Island is on my Bucket List, because Mt. Kilauea erupts almost every day, and that is going to be an incredible view! My grandma says Kauai is covered in thousands of different plant and flower species and is a truly spectacular place.

Contrary to popular belief, flights to Maui are not that expensive. You can definitely find a flight for less than $800 roundtrip, and it's pretty cheap to fly from one island to the next. Go to Hawaii. Do it now. NOW.

The Pearl Harbor memorial.

The mountains where Jurassic Park was filmed.

A misshapen tree caused by strong winds.

Black sand beach.

Red sand beach.

One of the performing dolphins on our whale-watching tour.

I found the end of the rainbow in Maui!

#10: South to Midwest USA Cross-Country Roadtrip, Summer 2011

I know this entry is going to be all over the place, but bare with me. The point of this trip was to go to my cousin's wedding in South Dakota, and then drop my step sister off at her house in Oklahoma before heading back home to Georgia. For this trip, my family and I drove through 13 states on this trip, many of which were boring, but some were really cool!

We started the trip by working our way from Georgia through Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, & Missouri on the first day of driving. Along the way, we liked to stop and do some quick things along the route to break up the amount of time we were in the car. There are a lot of things to do on the route of this road trip, but not a lot of these things are very fast, so we missed out on a lot. Now, of course there are a lot of things to do in north Georgia if you have a lot of time, such as camping, kayaking, ziplining, visiting the German town of Helen, tubing, visiting fruit orchards when they are in season, etc. I'm sure there are many places you can do these things, though. Anyway, we were just passing through, so we did not do any of these things. Tennessee also has some really neat cities to visit if you're ever there for a few days. I recommend visiting Nashville or Pigeon Forge, where there are tons of things to do, whether you're in the mood for go-karting, cave tours, zorbing, etc. Again, on this trip, we were just passing through, so we missed out on all of that on this trip. You can pretty much forget about seeing anything neat in Kentucky. Illinois is a nice state to drive through. Chicago was about a 5-hour drive out of our way, so we didn't get to go there, but I wish we had gotten to see the Chicago Bean and step into Skydeck Chicago of the former Sears tower (now called Willis Tower.) Skydeck Chicago is a completely glass overlook of the city. It hangs off of the side of the 103rd floor of the building for you to see the city on every side of you, including underneath you. We stayed in a hotel on the very edge of Illinois, right next to St. Louis, Missouri, which is a beautiful city. We visited the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, and it was beautiful, but I wish we had gotten to ride in the elevator to the top.

The next day, we continued driving through Missouri & Iowa until we reached Nebraska, where we stayed at a couple of family member's houses for a few days. We found quite a few neat places along the way. Missouri had a Russel Stover store where we stopped for some chocolate, and we also found a fun Irish pub to grab some lunch: Paddy O'Quigley's. I'll never forget that pub gave us free cups that read "And so it was said that on the grand & glorious eight & extra day, God did indeed create beer to keep the Irish from conquering the world." I kept that cup for about 4.5 years until my mom accidentally threw it away a couple of months ago. Iowa and Nebraska are beautiful states covered in corn fields, bean fields, pivots, tractors, & bales of hay, which are completely normal for the folks who live out there, but for a Georgia girl, that's scarce to see down here. Before moving on, we stayed a few days at a couple of family member's houses in Nebraska, just visiting them and seeing places where my step dad used to live and go to school and church when he was growing up in York, Nebraska.

Once we were ready to keep moving, our family joined us on a drive up through northern Nebraska to South Dakota. We went through Kearney, Nebraska and stopped at the Great Platte River Road Bridge, which was a fun place to learn the history of the area and see some the museum inside. Once we reached South Dakota, we saw Mt. Rushmore & the Crazy Horse Memorial. The was even an option to fly over the monuments with a helicopter, but we didn't do that, unfortunately. The memorials were really neat. The Crazy Horse Memorial remains unfinished, as it has since 1947. There is currently no completion date in sight. Both monuments were enormous, and it was nice to explore the parks. Mt. Rushmore has a giant gift shop that has tons of neat merchandise, and the Crazy Horse Memorial has a museum and tons of Native American artisans selling their handmade products and telling stories about their culture. We spent the rest of our time in North Dakota at my cousin's wedding rehearsal, wedding, & reception. I wish we had gone to the Badlands on the way out of the state, because that is a beautiful national park with some really neat rock formations, but we were pressed for time. We did pass by them and see the park from a distance, though.

After the wedding, it was homeward bound! We went from South Dakota, down through Kansas, to Oklahoma to drop my step sister off at her house. There was really nothing to see in either Kansas or Oklahoma. We stayed overnight in Oklahoma and picked up the next morning to go through Arkansas, Mississippi, & Alabama, on our way back to Georgia. Again, there's really nothing to see in these states. The only place I know of that's cool in Mississippi is Biloxi, because they have some good casinos, but that wasn't on our route. The only place in Alabama I've ever liked is Gulf Shores, which is on the southern coast of the state, almost in Florida, so that also wasn't on our route this time around.

No matter what part of the trip was boring, it was nice to take a cross-country roadtrip with family. That's something I'll always recommend doing at least once. Make sure not to try to tackle too much in one day. Make sure to stop at sights along the way. It is worth it to get out and stretch, and seeing what there is to see along the way of the roadtrip is what makes the trip interesting and memorable. Remember, it's not always about the destination; sometimes it's about the journey!

 One of my photos of Mt. Rushmore.

The statue in the foreground is a small version of what the Crazy Horse Monument will look like when it's finished; the actual unfinished monument is in the background.

#9: Orlando & the Bahamas, Winter 2010

The only real reason there is to go to the Bahamas is if you want to take a cheap cruise and/or you're trying to go somewhere warm while it's winter back home. The Bahamas are mostly touristy, but there are some areas that are off the beaten track. However, when you go on a cruise, which is what I did for this vacation, you're pretty much sure to only see the touristy areas of the islands.

My family and I left from a port in Orlando, Florida, so we got to spend a day there first. Florida is always a nice, warm place to go if you want really good entertainment. There are all kinds of things to do, particularly the theme parks. We happened to only spend enough time there this go around to eat dinner at the Rainforest Cafe in the Animal Kingdom, which is decorated just like you're in a rainforest while you eat your food. There are fake animals making noises and moving around all over the restaurant, and there are fake plants and trees everywhere too. It's a really cool place to eat, but there's always a long wait. Just hang out in the gift shop while you wait; you'll be entertained there, I promise.

Most of the fun of this trip was the fact that we were on a cruise ship. Every ship is different, but they always have fun things to do, such as water slides, ziplines, rock-climbing walls, pools, hot tubs, bars, karaoke, live shows, etc. This ship had everything but the first two things I listed.

Our first stop in the Bahamas was to Nassau. Once you get off the boat, people trying to sell you tours will swarm you. There are a lot of cool things that agencies offer, such as horse-back riding tours through the water, city tours via Segway, and snorkeling. We didn't do any of these things. We focused on going to the beach and shopping. (There are tons of outdoor markets with local artists selling their ethnic products.) We ate lunch at Senor Frogs, since we don't have them where I'm from. That's a popular food stop, just like the Hard Rock Cafe or Bubba Gump's - the type of place you always find on vacations to major cities. It's a particularly fun choice if you have kids, because they specifically cater to kids. When we were there, a clown came to our table and made all of the kids in our group (and me) balloon hats, The single coolest thing about the Bahamas, though, is Atlantis, a giant hotel and casino. A room for one night is like $3,000, so you definitely never want to stay there, but it's nice to take a look through the casino and stores. It's a beautiful building and is probably the only rich thing on all of the islands.

The second place we went to in the Bahamas was Coco Cay. "Cay" is pronounced like "key." This is an area that really just has a little bit of shopping and a lot of beaching. You'll probably see some wildlife running around too. My family and I saw a wild iguana, and one of the kids in our group found something that looked kind of like a sea cucumber, but we really don't know what it was. As far as entertainment goes, for the kids, there are a few things to do, such as the Blob, where kids can jump onto a giant balloon-like blob, and the kid sitting on the end of the Blob will sky-rocket into the air and back down into the water. I've always wanted to ride it, and I saw kids doing it when I was there, but I don't know why I didn't try it out. For the adults, the only thing I think anyone really does is lay around and take in the sun. One thing I'll always remember about this island, though, is the delicious pineapples. I have never had pineapples that were so magically sweet and delicious in my entire life.

Anyway, the Bahamas is also a good place for a couple of other reasons: the cruises there are cheap, the islands are small and easy to navigate on foot, & the cruises can be quick if you don't have much vacation time and just need a quick getaway (just a fews days long.)

Well, that's it for the Bahamas really. It's not the #1 travel spot in the world, but it has its benefits.

 Part of the Rainforest Cafe in Orlando.

 Outside of a market in Nassau.

 Atlantis in Nassau! It's more fantastic in the sunlight.

 Wild iguana in Coco Cay.

Sea cucumber?

#8: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Orlando, October 2015

If you love Harry Potter as much as I do, I would imagine you were giddy with school-girl excitement when you found out a Harry Potter theme park was in the works, and I bet you have been dreaming of going ever since you received word of it. Well, after several years of waiting ever so impatiently, I got the opportunity. My best friend's family decided they wanted to go, so they invited my best friend and me to tag along. And it was magical.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is apart of 2 parks: Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure. Diagon Alley is in Universal Studios, and Hogsmeade is in Islands of Adventure. The Hogwarts Express takes passengers with park-to-park passes between the 2 parks. We stayed at a cute condo that a family friend lent us, and my best friend's dad rented a van for us to get around. We started our adventure off by doing a few things in Universal Studios before entering Diagon Alley through a brick wall in the back of the Leaky Cauldron restaurant. You tap your wand on the wall, and as long as you are magical, the bricks will all separate and allow you to pass. No muggles allowed!

Once in Diagon Alley, there are a ton of things to do, as well as side streets to visit, including Knockturn Alley. There are shops, restaurants, street kiosks with snacks, etc. At the entrance of Diagon Alley, you'll find the magical side of the Leaky Cauldron restaurant on one side of the alley, and on the other side, you'll find Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, where you can purchase love potions and chocolate frogs, complete with a famous witch/wizard card. Mine was Helga Hufflepuff. Walk a bit farther, and you'll find Ollivander's, where you can purchase a wand, if you don't have one already. You can also go to the back of the store, and one lucky witch or wizard will be chosen to step up to the counter, where a wand will choose you. If you are not chosen for this, then you will have to choose your own wand in the store. Unfortunately, I was not chosen, but I chose a beautiful wand that matches my personality. You can choose your own wand, or you can buy a famous witch or wizard's wand. For instance, for sale were wands that belong to Harry, Hermione, Ron, Voldemort, Draco, Professor Snape (May Alan Rickman rest in peace,) Professor Dumbledore (May Richard Harris rest in peace,) etc. If you buy an interactive wand, you can use it anywhere in either Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade to cast spells. My first spell was "Lumos Maxima," by which I turned the lights on in a building! I also levitated a feather, flushed a toilet, opened a giant chocolate frog box, and made fireworks go off.

Walk a little farther, and you'll find Knockturn Alley to the left, where you can enter Borgin & Burke's, shop for horcruxes of your own, & listen to a bird tweeting inside the Vanishing Cabinet. Farther down, at the end of the alley, you'll find Gringott's Bank, the safest place to keep your hard-earned gallions. But they seem to be having a bit of trouble right now, as there is a fire-breathing dragon at the top of the bank! It seems to like to stay in one spot and breathe fire every 30 minutes or so. There is a fun ride inside the bank, so make sure to check that out. You get to walk through the bank on the way to the ride, gasping at all of the goblins doing their work quietly in gorgeous rooms lit with fancy chandeliers. Once on the ride, you ride through the bank and thwart Voldemort's plans, while he tries to steal something very precious from the bank.

There are treats and snacks on the streets, including delicious Butterbeer (non-alcoholic.) Try the frozen version. It's outstanding! Also for sale are pumpkin juice and Gilly Water, and you can buy a an elixir to sweeten up your water. The restaurants aren't too shabby, and they really do have British food, such as Banger's & Mash, which my best friend Gaby & I shared.

Make sure to ride the Hogwarts Express over to Hogsmeade, and go early enough before Diagon Alley closes that you won't have to wait 90 minutes to ride the train. The train is one of the neatest rides at the parks. Once at Hogsmeade, you will find more shops & restaurants, as well as street kiosks. That Butterbeer is readily available everywhere. (Thank goodness!) Honeydukes is on the left at the entrance to Hogsmeade, so if you have a sweet tooth, check out the candy, fudge, & other desserts. Keep moving forward, and you'll see the Three Broomsticks on the left. They have decent food, a bar, & Butterbeer, of course! Keep moving forward, and the owlry is on the right if you'd like to send your family back home an owl. I sent my boyfriend a howler! I got to record my voice yelling at him and everything! Farther down the road, on the right, is the entrance to the Tri-Wizard Tournament, where you get to pick a dragon and become a Tri-Wizard champion.

Throughout the entirety of Hogsmeade, you will find decorations, props, and displays, and some of them are interactive. For instance, in the Honeydukes window, you'll see Chess pieces playing a game of Wizard's Chess. And in the window of another shop down the way, you'll see a box of Quidditch balls, in which the bludgers shake wildly! In other windows and shops, you will find props like Hermione's dress to the Yule Ball, the Monster Book of Monsters (sleeping, thank goodness,) & a Quidditch uniform.There is so much to see!

At the end of Hogsmeade, you will come to Hogwarts Castle, where you can fly through parts of the castle, the Quidditch Field, & the Dark Forest. On the way to take off, you find your way through the castle and get to see the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, the Gryffindor Common Room, the Fat Lady singing, & Professor Dumbledore's office. In the gift shop of the castle, you can buy the Sorting Hat, the Tri-Wizard Golden Egg, the cursed Opal Necklace, & the Sword of Gryffindor. You can find everything in the magical world that you could ever need or want in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley!

Since we were there for Halloween, we spent one night at Halloween Horror Nights, which is all about the Jack Show and the haunted houses. We only got to see 2 haunted houses, because we were so tired from our daytime adventures, but they were the most legitimate haunted houses I've ever been in! It makes sense, because Universal Studios has the best film producers working there. They make the magic happen in movies, so of course, they do the same with haunted houses in person. In addition to all of this, there are creepy decorations, music, and scary characters creeping around every corner, and if you want to get really scared and chased around with a chain saw, make your way to the "Scare Zones."

As far as Harry Potter World goes, we were at the park at the perfect time of year, because it was down time after the insane summer season, so there were not near as many people there as there are during the warm months. That, coupled with the fact that we rode in the single rider lines, we got to go straight through the lines and ride the rides multiple times back-to-back without taking hours out of our days. However, the lines for the haunted houses at Haunted Horror Nights were pretty bad. A couple of them weren't too terrible - 20-30 minutes or so, but the first one we went through took up all of our time, as the line was a good 1.5 hours long. If you decide to go to Haunted Horror Nights, make sure you have been sitting around on your butt all day, so your feet don't already hurt before you get in those long lines. We had been walking around Harry Potter World all day before standing in the haunted house lines at night, and that killed my feet to a point where it was hard to enjoy the night. (It was still a great experience and totally worth it, though.)

If you decide to visit other parts of the parks, I'd suggest spending more time in Islands of Adventure, where you'll find tons of different mini-parks, including but not limited to, Jurassic Park, Seuss Land, & Marvel Super Hero Island (where the famous Hulk roller coaster is!) The CityWalk is at the entrance of the Islands of Adventures & Universal Studios parks. That's where you can find tons of great restaurants and bars if you want to do grown up things after the day is over, but if you use your days well, you will be too tired for that.

We got to eat at the Hard Rock Café at the entrance of the parks, which is always a good choice, but I regret that we didn't get to eat at Bubba Gump's, which is in the CityWalk. However, we did get some awesome seafood and drinks at Joe's Crab Shack, which is about 15-20 minutes from the parks. This was a quick weekend trip, but it was awesome (and expensive!)

 Diagon Alley.

 Me doing magic!

The Hogwarts Express.

 Hogsmeade.

Hogwarts Castle!

#7: Mardi Gras, New Orleans, January 2016

You may have recently read my last entry "Dodger Logic #6: New Orleans & Mexio, Summer 2009," in which I detailed my trip to New Orleans and cruise through Cozumel & Progreso, Mexico in 2009, and I threw in some details from other trips I've taken to New Orleans in the past. If you read that entry, you found all kinds of information about fun things to do in New Orleans, as well as delicious food you can try, ways to get around the city, and tips on how to make the most of your vacation. But as of the time that I wrote that entry, I had not actually been to New Orleans during Mardi Gras. Now I have! And I'd like to share my experiences with you. Since I've already written a blog entry about the wonderful city of New Orleans, I'm just going to include in this entry what to include in your vacation if you go during Mardi Gras, which is a few weeks in February and March. (Every year the dates are different.)

First off, there are parades going on all the time, and most of them are fabulous. I only sat through one parade that was boring. My family, best friend, & I got grandstand tickets for $15/person, which you could use to watch a group of parades from some bleachers. They are grouped in daytime parades and nighttime parades. The daytime ones typically run from around 1pm until 5pm, and the nighttime parades usually run from around 6pm-10pm. These parades go all throughout the city of New Orleans, so depending on where you are located in the city, you'll want to find out when the parade will pass through your area. There are also smaller parades that go through smaller sections of the city at times. If you don't buy grandstand tickets, the parades are all free to attend. You are not required to wear a mask if you are attending the parades, but a lot of people do dress up in funky outfits and/or wear fun masks, hats, headbands, etc. When you watch the parades, you will see tons of different kinds of people and things passing through: people with masks riding on funky floats; horseback-riders; city political figures driving in fancy cars; high school marching bands, dance teams, flag teams, cheerleaders, etc. The people in the parades throw all kinds of beads, doubloons, light-up necklaces, glow-stick necklaces, cups, bags, and other prizes at onlookers. You are supposed to wave your hands and yell "Throw me something, mister!" at them if you want them to throw you some beads. And contrary to popular belief, the ladies are not required to lift their shirts for beads. That's just something some people do when they are partying during Mardi Gras, but I never saw anything naughty happen at the parades. You will end up going back to your hotel with 30 lbs of beads around your neck and needing to see a doctor.

The parades are great, but as an adult that is of age, I wanted to get the full experience of Mardi Gras, so I spent a lot of time on Bourbon Street with my family and best friend. We spent an overwhelming amount of time at Huge Ass Beers. There are two locations of this bar on Bourbon Street, since the street is so long. You can literally buy giant beers to drink. A lot of people love the 45 oz cup called "The Butt," because it is shaped like a woman's mid-section, including a butt on the back of the cup. The largest huge ass beer is 70 oz, and I drank the whole thing in the span of maybe an hour or so! My best friend called me "Beercules." That was the night I turned 25 at midnight, and it was our last night in New Orleans, so I definitely had to live it up that night. My cousin thought the fishbowls were really cool, although I don't think she was crazy about how sweet hers was. It literally looks like a huge fishbowl that contains a fruity cocktail, and there is a place right next door to one of the Huge Ass Beers bars where you can buy the fishbowls. Oh, and the best thing about partying at Mardi Gras: no open container law. That's right, you can walk right down the street, alcoholic beverage in hand. This comes in handy at the to-go bars, which serve to-go beers and alcoholic slushies.

Other than Huge Ass Beers, there are tons of restaurants (Check out Saints & Sinners, Channing Tatum's restaurant,) bars, clubs, & gentlemen's clubs on Bourbon Street. People will throw beads from the balconies down to the people on the street below, and sometimes clothes will come off for beads. One side of the street is a little more risque than the others. You definitely don't want to take your kids to Bourbon Street, especially during Mardi Gras. Now, I didn't see too much inappropriate craziness while I was there, but I did see one girl lift up her shirt for beads, and my cousin saw one guy whip out his privates for beads. I didn't know that was a thing for guys, but hey, this is Bourbon Street we're talking about. We did try to stay at the cleaner end of the street most of the time, so as to not be around the gentlemen's clubs with pictures of naked women outside, though, so maybe we were just on the better end of the street. Also, it's important to note that we were not there for Fat Tuesday, which is the last day of Mardi Gras, and I hear that's when things get completely out of control and crazy. We decided to go about a week before Fat Tuesday, because it's just too expensive to go then. Don't worry, if you go in the weeks leading up to Fat Tuesday, you will still get in on plenty of the fun, and it's still technically Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras lasts a few weeks in December & January each year.

If you want to be able to afford to go to Mardi Gras, then you need to book months in advance. I'm talking like 6 months, if possible. Also, try not to go on Fat Tuesday, or expect to pay outrageous amounts of money. My best friend, my cousin, my cousin's boyfriend, & I stayed in a cute hotel room with 2 double beds. It cost us just over $500 to stay there for 3 nights, so we each only had to pay $127 for the hotel. The hotel room was huge and even had a pull-out couch and a kitchenette with a fridge, stove, coffee maker, and dishwasher. The location of the hotel was pretty perfect too. It only took us about 10-15 minutes or so to walk to Bourbon Street and maybe 20 minutes, if that, to walk to the French Quarter. It only took us about 5 minutes to walk to the grandstands for the parades, as that was right around the corner. But remember, we did not stay there for Fat Tuesday, and we booked the room about 6 months or so in advance. Once you get close to Fat Tuesday, rates will sky-rocket, and it'll be hard to find an available room. To compare, while we were in New Orleans, we looked up some hotels online. I think the best price we found was $500/night, which is what we paid for the whole weekend! The highest price we found was $800/night. That's a big, fat "NO."

Remember to be careful walking around on Bourbon Street, especially if it's late at night, and you're intoxicated. There are Ubers all over the place, and they are cheap if you chose a hotel in the general area of Bourbon Street and/or the French Quarter. Always use the "Buddy System," and try not to go down any dark alleys. (Don't worry, people in New Orleans are friendly, but there are psychos in every city all over the world, so especially if you're in an unfamiliar setting, you should be careful.) Stay safe, have fun, and party on!

 The New York float with a couple of King Kongs, giant bananas, and about 20 Statues of Liberty.

 A cliché Mardi Gras float.

My family. :)

 BEEEEEEADS!!!

Proof I drank a 70 oz beer!