• Road trip in southern Spain

    alhambra spain

    Last year, my friend Patty and I decided to take a free military flight to Europe and do a girls’ road trip in Southern Spain for about five days. We visited Sevilla, Cordoba, Granada and Rota before heading home, and it was an awesome trip! Because we weren’t 100 percent sure we’d even get on […]

  • Visiting the Abu Dhabi Louvre

    Visiting the Abu Dhabi Louvre

    I’ve visited the Louvre in Paris several times, and was thrilled to be able to visit the brand new Abu Dhabi Louvre. But I wasn’t sure what to expect. The first time my family and I visited the Paris Louvre, it took us 20 minutes to figure out how to get inside (FYI: the entrance […]

  • Military family guide to Disney World

    magic kingdom railroad

    Many years ago — long before Magic Bands, rose gold mouse ears, and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train — Toby and I went to Disney World. It was the first time he had ever been to a Disney park, and the first time I had been since my high school graduation. We were going to […]

  • Dubai for New Year’s

    new years family photo

    Everything about Dubai — from buildings to brunches — is super luxe and over-the-top, so it’s not suprising that their New Year’s Eve celebration is one of the most opulent (and popular) in the world. But we learned last year that you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars or stand outside for 18 hours to […]

  • The best way to visit the Burj Khalifa

    burj khalifa view

    There are a few things you absolutely MUST do if you visit Dubai, and going up in the world’s tallest building is one of them. (Yes, even if, like me, you’re terrified of heights) The Burj Khalifa stands more than 2,700 feet — 160 stories — tall and has the highest outdoor observation deck in the world. You may […]

  • Tree of Life and the Bahrain Fort

    Bahrain’s location has made it a center for trade for centuries, and the Bahrain Fort — a UNESCO World Heritage site — is a Portugeuse-built structure on the site of the capital of an ancient civilization. It was built between the 15th and early 17th century, and is a must-visit if you’re in Bahrain. It […]

  • Visiting Disney World for July 4th

    Visiting DIsney World for Fourth of July

    We love Disney, and they have the best fireworks ever. So when we found out we were moving overseas last summer, we knew we had to spend  July 4th in the most magical place on Earth before leaving the U.S. It was a fantastic trip, and I would definitely do it again if we have […]

  • Shopping and camels

    camel closeup

    I wasn’t sure what to expect when we moved to an island so tiny it only takes 30 minutes to drive from one side to the other… particularly since a significant portion of the land is desert and/or oil refineries. But it turns out that there are tons of good restaurants and lots of interesting […]

  • Lake Charlevoix

    lake charlevoix

    I’ve never been much of a lake person. Maybe it’s the murky water, or the fact that my idea of a “lake” growing up was a man-made MTV Spring Break destination, but I’ve never been super pumped about going to a lake. This wasn’t helped by the fact that shortly after my family moved to […]

  • Surfing in Lahaina

    royal hawaiian surf academy

    Maybe it’s because I grew up in the desert, or because my father played the Beach Boys and Jimmy Buffett on near-constant repeat through most of my childhood, but I am a little obsessed with the beach and the ocean. I assume that’s why I think surfing is the coolest sport in the world. Yes, you […]