Today I proudly wore my “I voted” sticker all day long, and you know, it’s true that it feels good to go out and vote.  I know that sounds all kinds of cheesy and hokey, but at 24, I have only voted in one election thus far and I am hoping that Florida doesn’t screw this one up – I don’t know if I can handle being the butt of more national jokes…especially since I’ll be out there on the road this time around!
All of the past debacles aside, with …

An article on USA Today.com calls Dinosaur World near Tampa, Florida a “slice of roadside Americana,” and you know, I pretty much agree.  The park was exactly what you would expect from a roadside attraction in Plant City, Florida- just a relaxing, wholesome experience with just a little bit of kitsch.  
Dinosaur World was surprisingly low key (meaning there is not even a hint of the Disney World mania present) and my family and I were able to just meander through the park at our own pace and really let …

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My departure date is creeping nearer and the teary goodbyes and last minute visits have already begun.  As the date nears all of those friends I touch base with about once a month started emailing en masse.  That’s where I am right now.  I spent this past weekend up in Orlando visiting with college friends and the such – my fraternity brothers …

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A couple of minor epiphanies and one major change to the travel plan:

I am a chronic over-planner. I was trying to plan out the minutia – not good. It was driving me absolutely and 100 percent crazy and all of the stress was making me bummed out. My new plan of attack: as long as I know how to get from …

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I have been a very diligent trip planner over the past two weeks and now I feel all defeated about my travel planning.   Today I spent the entire day carefully combing through all of the Lonely Planet and Fodor’s guides that I checked out from my local library. They had a bunch of guides relevant to New Zealand and Australia,I charted out a …

I had what one can only describe as a “girly moment” today; by that I mean to say that I had a total meltdown and started crying for no definable reason.  Now, you could certainly chalk the crying-jag to pre-trip stress, but at that moment I just felt the full force of my decision to travel.
That means leaving all of my family and friends behind for a year.  The only ones I will see for eleven months are those joining me for parts of the trip.  I look at my …

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Ugh, a dear friend recently informed me that my blog is too dry. Okay, well I haven’t found my voice yet as a travel writer ok?!  This is a work in progress and I truly hope to develop a voice and a style here that is fun for others to read while also hopefully inspiring travelers to also travel the world.
And in …

Planning a round the world trip? Need a mini RTW travel guide with personal recommendations? Perhaps you prefer our top travel posts and stories…look around, ask questions, share :-)
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My brain currently hurts from all of the mind-numbing dullness of reading travel insurance legalese for the past several days.  With my trip just a month away though I had to buckle down and actually choose a travel insurance policy that wouldn’t suck when it came down to making a claim or (hopefully not) being medivaced back to the US.
This is one …