Category Archives: Blog

Australia, Blog

Vivid Sydney 2017

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Vivid Sydney Festival 2017
Jellyfish light art display on the sails of the Opera House

There were a lot of things I was excited to see in Australia when I was planning my move and Vivid Sydney was at the top of my list! I had high expectations for Vivid Sydney 2017 and I am happy to say that I was not disappointed, Vivid Sydney was amazing! Sydney has so many places to go to enjoy the light displays, so I loved that I could stroll through the streets and see artwork. There were so many little displays and interactive ones as well. I didn’t get to see everything, but next year I know to plan more time for the festival. Here are a few of my favorite Vivid Sydney 2017 displays. Enjoy!

Taronga Zoo
Anteater display at the Lights for the Wild

Seeing the Vivid display at Taronga Zoo is an absolute must! I wasn’t sure if I would be able to fit this experience into my schedule, but thankfully I didn’t put it off until next year. The Vivid Light show at Taronga zoo is the Lights for the Wild walk and it was my favorite Vivid display. The displays were so ornate and fun, I loved them all!

Taronga Zoo Entrance Light Display

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Blog

GPSmyCity Announcement

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GPSmyCity Article Announcement

Things to do in Orlando (besides theme parks)!

Hey guys, I have some exciting news! Two of my posts will be added to GPSmyCity as travel articles! The first article that will be released this week is: “Things to Do in Orlando (Besides the Theme Parks)!”

For those of you who don’t know what GPSmyCity is, you’re in for a treat. GPSmyCity takes travel articles and turns them into maps for the readers. So the next time you’re in a new city, you don’t have to keep looking online for places to visit, or figure out where the good restaurants in the area to eat are. You’ll have all of the information at your fingertips with GPSmyCity!

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Australia, Blog, Travel

My First Week in Sydney

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I have been in the Land Down Under for two weeks now and I absolutely love it! In fact, I’ve loved it so much that I’m a week late on my blog post for my first week in Sydney! So here it is, better late than never.

The Plane Ride
My first sunrise in Australia!

My total flight time from Birmingham to Sydney was 24 hours. I had three different connections, but overall the flight wasn’t too bad! My longest leg (from LAX to Sydney) was supposed to be almost 15 hours, but we ended up landing an hour early! Thankfully, I didn’t feel too bad getting off the plane since I slept in intervals of about 30 minutes (totaling to 3 or 4 hours) and I even got my row to myself (yay, yay!). Continue reading My First Week in Sydney →

Adventures, Blog, Florida

Florida Top 10 Places to Visit

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Heading to Florida for an extended trip and want to make the most of your stay? Here are my Florida top 10 places to visit, you should add these adventures to your list! From theme parks, to art, to becoming one with nature, Florida offers a variety of experiences for each type of person. I tend to be more nature oriented, so I must say my list is a little biased towards the outdoors. Even if you’re not an outdoors person, while you’re in Florida, you should experience natural Florida while you have the chance! Since I recently moved away from Orlando, this will be my last post on Florida. I decided a good way to go out is to list my top ten ‘not to miss’ places in Florida. Enjoy:

Dry Tortugas National Park
Fort Jefferson at Dry Tortugas National Park

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Adventures, Blog, Florida

5 Springs in Florida to Visit

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Florida has an abundance of springs. They are all beautiful in their own way, but I have a list of my favorites that I’d like to share. Below are the 5 springs in Florida that I recommend to visit:

Blue Spring State Park
Manatees swimming in Blue Spring State Park

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Adventures, Blog, Florida

Exploring Dry Tortugas National Park

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There’s a hidden treasure near Key West that not many people venture out to see, Dry Tortugas National Park. My whole trip to Key West revolved around Dry Tortugas. Key West was beautiful! The atmosphere was fun, the food was amazing, the water was beautiful, but the highlight of my trip was visiting Dry Tortugas. I highly recommend adding this destination to your Key West list!

Dry Tortugas National Park in the Keys, Florida
Dry Tortugas National Park
Brick hallways in Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas National Park

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Australia, Blog

A Change in Direction

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“And suddenly you know: it’s time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings.” – Meister Eckhart

Today I did something that I’ve been waiting a long time to do: I turned in my two weeks notice to my office job. I’m making a huge change in direction. I am leaving a career so I can live a life of travel and I am starting off with one year in Australia on a working holiday visa! I am both proud and slightly nervous of my decision. On the one hand, I am about to start living the life I’ve been dreaming about and on the other, I just said goodbye to a stable income. I know I won’t steady my nerves until I find a job, but I also believe that I can do this, I know I can!

I have been preparing for this lifestyle change for around a year now. I’ve been paying off credit cards, saving up money, and researching like crazy! I have sold and donated almost all of my belongings (and I will be covering how I did this in another post, so stay tuned!). And even though I’ve known I was going to do this for almost a year, I’m still anxious! I have had plenty of time to prepare, but are you ever prepared for a huge lifestyle change?

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Adventures, Blog, Florida

Ichetucknee Springs State Park

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Out of all the springs I’ve been to in Florida, Ichetucknee Springs State Park is my absolute favorite. You can hike, swim, snorkel, scuba dive (during certain months), tube, and canoe & kayak. The park is also pet friendly.

South Entrance to Ichetucknee Springs
Dampiers Landing Dock at Ichetucknee Springs

There are two entrances to the park:the North entrance and South entrance. The South entrance has Dampiers Landing Dock, tram road, and 1 trail: Midpoint trail. You can go on a short tube ride from midpoint to Dampiers Landing dock. The hiking paths are pretty, but I’m glad I went to the South entrance first because the North entrance is where the best areas are!

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Blog, Florida

Things to do in Orlando (besides the Theme Parks)!

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When someone mentions Orlando, the first two things that usually come to mind are Disney World and Universal. Well, there are many other things to do in Orlando besides the theme parks! Orlando has so much to offer. Below is a list of some of my favorite things to do in Orlando besides Disney World and Universal Orlando.

Trapeze class
Trapeze class

My friend and I took a trapeze class and it was so much fun! I wasn’t that great at it, but I still loved it, and watching others was fun, too. I was really nervous once I got up on the platform, but you just have to take a leap of faith! Down the street there is also an indoor skydiving area. I haven’t done this yet, but it looks awesome!

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Adventures, Blog, Florida

Swimming with Manatees

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Crystal River

One of the things I love most about Florida is being able to see manatees during the winter. Well, at Crystal River not only can you see manatees, but you can swim with them! Swimming with manatees is an unmatched experience and a needs to be on everyone’s Florida list. My friend and I signed up to do this, when we first arrived at the registration building we sat down for a presentation on the manatees. We learned about proper interactions with them: you can’t go out of your way to pet a manatee, the manatees have to engage you first. You also can’t kick when you are near them, so really you float with the manatees instead of swim with them!

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