Travel – Page 3

Categories: Travel

Reasons I Love Traveling With My Mom

Hi, friends! I had a lovely week off, and I took my time away seriously. I stayed away from the news, things happening at work, blogging, and social media. It was so nice to just completely disconnect for a bit. My mom and I spent a few days in Orlando for her birthday, and we had the most relaxing time. We didn’t do all that much aside from floating around in the pool, sipping fruity cocktails, taking lots of naps, and enjoying our most bougie life by renting a cabana for both days. It was the getaway we both needed!

I was thinking about how I wanted to structure this recap post since there isn’t much to recap. So I decided I’d give you some of the main reasons I love traveling with my mom and will sprinkle in photos from our vacation throughout this post. Think of this as a little birthday shout-out for the most important person in my life!

1) She’s happy to let me take control over the planning.

While my mom will make suggestions on things she wants to do on a vacation, generally, she’s happy to let me take control. She loves taking vacations, but doesn’t love all of the research and planning that goes into making a trip itinerary. Me? I have so much fun creating our itineraries and making them as detailed as I need them to be. It’s nice to have total control over what we’re doing and where we’re going. It satisfies the anxious part of my brain that needs all of the logistics figured out.

This trip didn’t require any sort of itinerary. I planned a fun day for her birthday – we went out for brunch, went to the Orlando SEALIFE Aquarium, and then in the evening, we had dinner at The Boathouse at Disney Springs. The other two days, our only plans were to float in the pool, read our books, and take naps. It was a delight!

2) We have very similar energy levels.

My mom and I are introverts and we don’t need to be out and about all the time. One of my favorite parts of our vacations together is when we come back to the hotel room after dinner. We get in our jammies and then we either play a game or sit side-by-side, reading our books. It’s cozy and familiar and quiet and lovely.

When I’m creating our itineraries, I know that we both don’t want to be on the go the whole day. Building in downtime, whether that’s going back to the hotel to relax or finding a quiet space to sit and play on our phones, is important to both of us. I think it would be a lot harder to vacation with my mom if she was an extrovert who wanted to do all the things and didn’t have an off button. I’ve been on vacations with extroverted friends and while I love them dearly, I also find those trips rather exhausting.

3) She doesn’t drain my social battery.

This is the big one! I love traveling with my mom because she’s probably the only person in the world who doesn’t drain my social battery. I can hang out with her for hours and days and weeks and months and never get tired of being with her. Our personalities mesh so well together—and I do not take that for granted. I know the mother/daughter relationship can be a complicated one for so many people, and I am so grateful it isn’t for us. I just love spending time with my mom, and I feel safe and comforted around her.

4) We have similar picky food tastes.

My mom and I are not foodies, and that works out really well when it comes to vacations. We don’t need to find the best restaurants or have any specific food experiences. We want something easy and simple. If it has a burger on the menu, I’m good. The only thing I try to prioritize for my mom is breweries. She loves trying local beers (specifically IPAs), so I try to seek out a local brewery for her. And this usually works out well for me because most breweries have food that is perfectly within my wheelhouse (pizza, burgers, etc).

Does it make it a little tricky to find restaurants because we are so particular about our food tastes? Sometimes. I carefully inspect every menu to make sure it’s Mom-and-Steph friendly. But mostly, it means I don’t feel bad about being so picky and wanting to eat at “boring” restaurants or chains. She doesn’t care either!

5) We’re making cherished memories.

I feel very lucky to have a young mother. Most of my friends’ parents are in their 70s or older, and traveling with them is a lot different. I know my mom will start to slow down at some point, but she’s still young enough that we can do just about any vacation or experience we want. We’ve done so many cool things together: zip-lining in multiple different countries, parasailing over the Caribbean, exploring Ireland, getting drenched in Niagara Falls, hiking, pub crawls, ghost tours, horseback riding… these are cherished memories that I’ve made with my favorite person that I look back with great fondness. That’s what I love most about traveling with my mom! She is pretty much down for whatever adventure I want to do (as long as I’m not dragging her to museum after museum, ha), and we have so much fun together.

It’s well-known that I have a lot of anxiety surrounding my mom. I don’t want anything to happen to her because she’s my soulmate and the center of my universe. And it’s because of the memories we have made together that I want to keep making more of them. I love spending time with my mom, I love creating new memories, and I love exploring new places with her. I think there’s something truly special about that. <3

Categories: Travel

Allure of the Seas | Days 3 & 4

WEDNESDAY

On Wednesday, we woke up in Nassau, the Bahamas! My mom and I booked a really fun shore excursion: a sea lion encounter at Blue Lagoon Island. I was so excited to play with some sea lions! We got up around 9, did the breakfast buffet, and then left the boat for some fun in Nassau. I was worried it was going to be on the colder side (not cold cold, but when you’re in the Bahamas, you want it to be hot and sunny, you know?) and it started off that way, but quickly warmed up to the 80s. I was happy about that! We stood in a long line for a while, finally receiving our wristbands and being told our excursion would take place at 1:30 and we would have the rest of the time to explore the island. Then, we walked over to the ferry that would take us to the island.

The ride to Blue Lagoon took about 30 minutes and I mainly played Happy Color on my phone and sang along to the music they were playing. The fun part was when the tour guide pointed out all the celebrity homes, though! Oprah apparently has two mansions right next door to each other. We also saw houses for Michael Jordan, DJ Khaled, and maybe Lebron James? I can’t remember all of the celebrities now.

We got to Blue Lagoon right around noon and we strolled around the island for a while. There was a buffet for food but we didn’t get a meal with our shore excursion and it would have been $30 to buy a ticket to the buffet. I was feeling a little meh about that option so after standing around at a bar and getting no service, we walked to a different bar where we ordered daiquiris! I got my fave mango daiquiri mixed with pina colada and it was so, so good. It really hit the spot! Then we decided to walk over to the place where we would do the sea lion excursion. We were there a bit on the early side, but no matter! We got to watch some of the dolphins play and then peek in on their raccoon rescue (gah, why are raccoons so cute?!). Then we found the sea lions!

The group before us was finishing up as we arrived, and they were all getting their photos with sea lions. The sea lions were so cute and I was so excited for our turn!

Then… disaster. One of the tour guides came up to our group and said that they were going to have to cancel our sea lion encounter. The sea lions were acting up a bit, apparently, and they needed to cancel the rest of the encounters to give them a break. And while I very much understand that the sea lions’ well-being takes center stage, I was not happy with how our cruise ship handled this cancellation. They told us we could either do a dolphin encounter (been there, done that) or downgrade to the beach excursion (which would come with some money back on the excursion). We would get a meal ticket and could enjoy the beach for the next few hours. We decided to downgrade to the beach excursion, and hoped that we could talk to the shore excursions desk to get a full refund. That’s what felt fair to us. We were stuck on this beach after all, and if we had our choice, we would have left and done some shopping at the port.

I was also upset with myself because I didn’t bring my Kindle with me! I figured we weren’t going to have that much downtime with the sea lion encounter, so I didn’t bring it with me. I tried to nap but it was very hot and I wasn’t super comfortable. I played on my phone for a bit but then it started to get overheated. Eventually, my mom and I walked around the island for a bit. I was hoping to find ice cream, but the ice cream truck was closed down for the day. Then we just waited at the nearby bar for our ferry to arrive and take us back to the port.

The ferry ride back to the port was really fun! They played a lot of songs that we sang along to (and some people even got up and danced to!), and then we were back at the port just 20 minutes before we had to be back on the ship. Eeps! We normally like to be back on board at least an hour before the ship leaves, so this was uncomfortable for us. While the ship wouldn’t leave us in Nassau (since we were returning from an excursion through the cruise line), we still felt the pressure to get on the ship. We couldn’t speed-walk, either, because of my mom’s injury so we had to walk slowly back. We got on board on time, though.

It was only in the elevator to go back to our room that I realized I was starving and hadn’t eaten much all day! Thankfully, there were Reese’s and Dr. Pepper in the cabin so I was able to quickly get some sugar in me to prevent a crash. Then, we decided the dining room’s menu for tonight was meh and skipped it in favor for dinner at Johnny Rockets! Mmm. I ordered a burger, fries, and a delicious chocolate shake and it really hit the spot!

Afterward, we went over to the shore excursions desk to see if they would grant us a refund for our cancelled shore excursion. Not only did they refuse to give us a refund, but they said they wouldn’t even give us money back for the downgraded shore excursion since we got the original one 30% off! It was very disappointing service, and I was more than happy to fill out the post-cruise survey and let them know how I felt about it. I doubt anything will come of it (it’s been almost a week since I submitted my feedback and… crickets).

The entertainment on Wednesday evening wasn’t too exciting so we decided to go back to the cabin early and try to see if we could stream Paramount+ on my phone. I had purchased the ship’s Internet package but wasn’t sure if the signal would be strong enough to stream a show, but it worked! We were able to watch Survivor and the season finale of The Summit, so that was a nice surprise. After the shows, we read for a bit before calling it a night.

THURSDAY

We woke up on Thursday in Cococay, which is Royal Caribbean’s private island in the Bahamas. We booked a pool day at their adults-only area of the island, which was such an excellent decision. We got there around 10, found two chairs next to each other, and then got right into the pool. It felt glorious! The temperature was like bathwater, which felt great since it wasn’t all very hot at that point of the day. We got some drinks at the swim-up bar (a rum punch for me, a Bahama Mama for my mom) and boy, those drinks were strong. I honestly didn’t taste any punch in my drink, just rum. After sucking that down quickly, it was back to the bar for my second drink (this time, I got a Bahama Mama) and I was a happy little drunk very early in the day. However, I am a sleepy drunk so after those drinks and doing some walking laps around the pool, I was ready for a nap on the lounge chair, and that’s exactly what I did!

I woke up an hour later a bit more sober and ready for lunch. My mom and I walked over to a pizza place where I scarfed down food. Then, we got ice cream and walked back to the pool.

It was starting to get hot at this point of the day so I slathered on (more) sunscreen and read my book for a bit while my mom napped. Then, we opted to spend more time in the pool. We got more drinks (I opted for a strawberry daiquiri, which was fine but not outstanding), strolled around the pool, and sighed with envy at the people in their cabanas (which were in the thousands of dollars to rent for a day!).

Around 2, we decided we were ready to go back to the ship so we packed up and got a ride back to the port. Then, we collapsed on our bed and took naps for a few hours. The naps I took on the cruise! A delight, I tell ya.

I took a shower and got dressed for dinner. We opted for the main dining room tonight since the menu looked a lot better for our picky tastes. We had a lovely dinner together (although the dessert did not hit the spot, wah). Then, we went to the casino to play our luck! The BEST part about this ship is that they have a NON-SMOKING CASINO! There’s still the big casino where people can smoke (ugh), but I really appreciated that they offered a smaller room where you could enjoy some games without dealing with all the cigarette smoke. We both just put $20 in the machine to play and when we used it all up, we called it a night.

Then, it was back to the cabin to pack up! We got everything done by 9pm and we’re both cozy in bed reading for the rest of the evening. I was hoping to zoom through a lot of my book, but I got sleepy so easily. We had an early start to our day and a long drive home, so it was good to call it a night early.

And that’s our cruise! It was filled with lots of ups and downs, but mainly, I got to make more memories with my mom and enjoy a very relaxing getaway. And that’s all I can ask for!

Have you ever played the slots at a casino?

Categories: Travel

Allure of the Seas | Days 1 & 2

My 12th cruise is in the books and while I wouldn’t say it was the best cruise (I’ll talk about why below), it was still a really nice getaway with my mom. We enjoyed ourselves and I feel refreshed and ready to take on the last month of 2024! (It probably helps that I’m only working two weeks in December, oops.)

Let’s get into the recap, shall we? I was hoping to do my recap in one post but when I was nearing 1,000 words after day 2, I decided to spare you guys a super-long post and I’m breaking this up into the first two days of ship life and then the second two days (when we were in port in the Bahamas).

MONDAY

We left early Monday morning (a little after 6 a.m.) so that we could make it to Miami by noon. With a pit stop for Starbucks, another for gas, and a third at a Publix to pick up Dr. Pepper for the room, we were cruising into the port right around noon. We dropped off our luggage and then zipped through check-in pretty quickly. Before long, we were on the ship! Our first order of business was lunch, and thankfully, we were situated right next to a pizza place so we got food, found a table, and then ate and people-watched for a bit. That first hour on the ship is always a bit overwhelming because people are everywhere! So many people! And everyone wants to find food and a place to sit. Once we ate and learned the rooms were ready, we decided to get away from the crowd and find our room.

We had a balcony room at the front of the ship, which was a good location in some respects (close to the solarium, the breakfast buffet, and the pizza place/soda machine) but a lot of the other happenings around the ship were on the aft side, which meant a LOT of walking for us. But it meant I closed all of my rings every day I was on the cruise, which is something I never do. Ha.

We spent a little time in our room before we went to do our safety check-in, which was quick and easy, and then ventured over to the solarium to hang out and watch the ship leave port. We found a cabana to lay in, my mom got us some drinks, and I laid back to read on my Kindle. I was ready for cruise life to begin!

The rest of the day was fairly low-key for us! We eventually went inside when it started feeling a little too cool outside, took naps, and then unpacked our suitcases when they arrived. At night, we saw a really cool ice-skating show, had dinner in the main dining room (delicious!), and then strolled around the shops looking for little items to bring home. (I always buy a magnet from the ship!) By 9:30, we were ready to head back to the room so we did, got cozy in our jammies, and played a round of triple Yahtzee before calling it a night.

TUESDAY

Tuesday was an at-sea day! We got up around 9, went to the buffet for breakfast (which was a bit disappointing), and then decided to try to find a soda machine to fill up our cups. Unfortunately, on our way to a soda machine, my mom fell on the deck and likely pulled her hamstring really badly. Oof. Poor mommy! But as she said afterward, “It’s not a trip if I don’t fall.” Which we should really get stitched on a pillow because IF THAT AIN’T THE TRUTH. She was in a lot of pain but was able to walk to a nearby deck chair to sit down for a bit, and then we made our way slowly back to the room so she could elevate her leg and ice it. (We opted against going to the medical center. I had a really bad experience in a cruise ship medical center on our last cruise, and we’re both scarred by the experience.) I got some ice from one of the bars on deck and used the plastic bag from the gift shop we went to yesterday to create a makeshift ice pack.

And then we just lounged in bed! I played games on my phone, read my Kindle, and eventually fell asleep. My mom had booked a mani/pedi at the spa for herself in the afternoon so while she did that, I… slept some more. Oops. It was a good nap, though! I woke up refreshed.

My mom’s leg was doing a bit better in the afternoon. She was still limping but she could walk on it more than she could earlier. We got pizza for lunch and then went to the solarium for some time in the sun. But oof, it was not fun in the sun on deck! It was windy and cold and not very relaxing. We stayed for maybe 30 minutes, womp. We wandered around inside for a bit—I always love checking out the library on cruise ships and this one was located in a quiet part of the ship and had a really nice selection of books. Then, we stopped by a bar to get some drinks and chat with the bartender. Once we had finished our drinks, it was time to head back up to the room for showers and to get dolled up for elegant night.

Our evening was a good one! We had dinner in the main dining room, although it was a bit lackluster. (They even gave me my dessert with a hair in the ice cream and when I told the waiter, he was like, “So you want a new one?” UM YES????) Then, we played Bingo, which was fun but gah, prices have really increased. We paid $50 to get 6 cards for the three games. And that was the cheapest option! I love playing Bingo on the ship but I wish it wasn’t so expensive. We didn’t win anything sadly.

After Bingo, it was time to head over to the back of the ship for a show! It was an acrobatics/diving show that was really sensational. I was so impressed with all of the divers/dancers because it was very windy and a bit cold, and they handled it like the pros they are. I was in awe of them the whole time! Most shows on cruise ships are pretty cheesy, but this cruise had some really amazing ones that didn’t feel cheesy at all.

It was late by the time to show ended, so my mom and I were happy to go back to our room, get in our jammies, and read until we were tired.

Have you ever been on a cruise?

Categories: Travel

Stephany & Kim’s AMEOWZING Popcast Weekend

Last weekend was spent with Kim! It was the weekend we’d been planning for since I found out that our favorite podcast, The Popcast with Knox and Jamie, was doing a live show in Chicago. This was in early February. The moment I found out it was coming to Chicago, I texted Kim to see if she had the weekend free and then basically told her we were going to it. SORRY NOT SORRY, Kim!

It was such a fun-filled weekend with Kim where I got to spend time in a brand-new state (Wisconsin!), visit the best bookstore I’ve ever been to, and try my best to make her cats fall in love with me. And we capped it all off with an incredible live show with some of my favorite people. Let’s get into the weekend.

Nine Painted Rocks

Kim is quite an exceptional rock painter, and I have been the lucky recipient of many of her painted rocks. When she took me on a tour of her house after I arrived, I nearly died when I saw she had put together the cutest tray in her guest room with water bottles, toys for my girls, and the most incredible painted rock of Eloise and Lila. I’m hoping the girls will use the rock as inspiration to cuddle up together more often. 😉

During our days out and about, Kim was gracious enough to give me a handful of painted rocks to hide around town. And I got to see the expert rock hider in action! She was pretty stealthy with her hides! It was fun to get in on the action, although it took me some time to get into the swing of things. By the end, I’d like to think I had jumped up a few levels of rock hiding expertise.

And finally, Kim and I spent one of our nights painting rocks. She brought up the idea to me and I was like, “I’ll do it, but I may whine a lot about my lack of skill.” Art like this is not my forte, but I was also confident in Kim’s teaching ability. I got to see her entire rock painting setup and she took me through the process of drawing a cat butt, which was easier than I expected. And then I made a cute turtle rock for my mom! (I must admit: Kim helped me a lot with getting the body of the turtle just right.)

Seven Cats

One of the things I was most looking forward to was meeting all of Kim’s cats. For reference, she has four indoor cats and then a random assortment of cats who show up often in her backyard that she takes care of. Notably, there’s one black cat named Snow Jr who basically lives in her backyard now, and I got to see the newest cat who arrived just a day or two before I did! It’s this pitiful black-and-white tiny bebe who scarfs down the food Kim puts out and has some rough fur problems that Kim’s trying to sort out. I spent the majority of the weekend trying to get all of the cats to fall in love with me, and I mostly succeeded. Khali was not too impressed by me, even though I tried to buy her love with food tubes and lots of attention. I guess this means I have to return someday because I am determined for Khali to love me!

In terms of the other cats, Apollo was the easiest sell and we wasted no time falling in love! Ned took a little time but then he would rub against my feet and even let me hold him like a baby once. And Starbuck liked being near me but didn’t want me to get too close (although she did let me give her pets on my last morning there, and even did some tumbling on the floor near me, the ultimate sign of cat acceptance). All in all, I was surrounded by cats and I couldn’t have been a happier person!

Four Farmer’s Market Purchases

On Saturday morning, after a lazy start to our day with coffee and Kringle and conversation, Kim and I took a trip to Wisconsin to visit the Kenosha Farmer’s Market. While it was more market than farmers (I think we only counted one fruit stand and one vegetable stand), I loved all the cool vendors that set up there. I picked up a bag of caramel and cheddar popcorn from Pop’s Kettle Corn, which I can confirm is delicious. We also ran across a vendor who sold really tough dog toys. They are these densely knitted ropes that can withstand the ferociousness of hard chewers. The woman works so hard on these dog toys that she recently had surgery to repair her wrists. I bought a rope toy to see if it’s any match for Chip, who can destroy even the toys designed for hardcore chewers.

We also found a vendor who was selling cat toys, so Kim and I had to take a peek. When Kim found a Taylor Swift cat kicker toy, I knew I had to have it! This vendor also made cute cat toys from wine corks, so I bought the girls one of those as well.

Three Bookstores

Not everyone enjoys a good bookstore visit, especially people who aren’t keen on buying books. I understand that it can be a lot to take me to a bookstore because I like to spend a lot of time perusing the shelves, but Kim further cemented her permanent place in my heart when she found multiple bookstores to visit, one of which had cats to love on! In Milwaukee, we visited Voyageur Book Shop that had two adorable shop cats named Bustopher Jones and Mr. Sanders. Bustopher was a bit friendlier than Mr. Sanders, as he came right out to greet us and then hung around us while we were looking at books. Mr. Sanders, for his part, did let us pet him and take cute pictures but he spent most of the time curled up in a chair behind the counter.

Bustopher is on the left.

I left with a nice little stack of books from this location, and since it was a used bookstore, I spent right around $30 on this stack, which is a great deal!

After Voyageur, we walked to Lion’s Tooth, which was a very eclectic space! It was a very small bookstore with a carefully curated collection of books (a lot of nonfiction and social justice-type books) as well as a great selection of graphic novels for kids. It felt like a really great community space for artsy folks and was super queer-friendly, which I loved. I left with a book and a new sticker for my water bottle.

On Saturday, Kim and I spent time in Kenosha and she was kind enough to take me to a third bookstore. And I am so glad she did because this might have been the best bookstore I’ve ever been to. It’s actually a good thing I am 1,200 miles away from this delightful place, as otherwise, I’d need to add a line item to my budget for all the money I would spend at this store. Blue House Books not only has an excellent collection of books lining their walls and scattered around tables, but also an incredible array of bookish items for sale. There are mugs and t-shirts and notepads and bookmarks and stickers and tote bags and suncatchers and candles and pens and journals… and the list goes on and on from there. Here’s how amazing this bookstore was: I had to choose between two beautiful Anne of Green Gables editions. The only reason I dragged myself out of this store is because I did not account for spending hundreds of dollars at a bookstore. Instead, I spent $103 on a t-shirt, a bookmark, a handful of stickers, a suncatcher, a beautiful AoGG edition, and Emily Henry’s newest release.

Two Pride Shirts

Chicago was throwing a Pride festival the day of the Popcast live show, and since I was missing the St. Pete Pride Parade for this weekend, I was hoping we could make a quick appearance there to take in all the lovely queer energy of the city. We got to Chicago a few hours before the show so we could a) find easy parking, which we did, and b) go to the festival. We spent a little less than an hour wandering around and poking through all the great booths that were set up (I was tempted to buy more stickers, but I had spent enough money so far on this trip, haha). They also had some live concerts going on in different areas of the festival, which is great for people who aren’t like me and feel like their eardrums are being blown out from the noise. But the further from the stages we were, the easier it was on my nervous system, lol. Kim and I talked about the festival afterward and she remarked about how there was such a positive, happy energy there. I think that’s what I have found the most from Pride events—the overwhelming joy and happiness of being around people who get to be their full selves in an inclusive space like this. It’s truly something beautiful. I was really glad we made the time to visit the festival, even if we didn’t get to stay too long.

One Popcast Live Show

The main event! It was so exciting seeing the Popcast’s logo on the marquee outside The Vic Theater and there is something uniquely special about being surrounded by people who like the same silly podcast that you do. I fangirled hard at this event, especially when I saw the adorable Evan Dodson running around in his spiffy Popcast button-down. I was screaming along with everyone else when Knox and Jamie emerged from backstage. And I giggled like a maniac through every segment and bit they did. One of my favorite parts of the show was when they asked audience members to tell them what event they canceled to be there, with the winners being the woman who had rescheduled her daughter’s first birthday party and the man who left his aunt’s funeral early to get to the show on time. That’s dedication!

I had a really great time at the show, though. It was everything I could have wanted and I enjoyed being in the room where it happens! And it was fun to experience it with Kim since we talk about The Popcast so much and she’s the one who peer-pressured me into listening to them (a good kind of peer pressure). There was just an overall feeling of joy and happiness in the entire theater, and I’m glad it was such a rousing success for this team that does so much for us in terms of entertainment and giving us a soft place to land. (I was talking in the car with Kim afterward how Knox and Jamie have gotten me through some rough moments because if I’m ever feeling anxious and depressed, I put on one of their episodes to lift my spirits.)

And now I have written almost 2,000 words about the two days I spent with Kim! YOU’RE WELCOME. It was a great time and I had fun with Kim who was just so easy to talk to and be around. And now we have dozens of inside jokes, like the time Kim thought this restaurant we saw called Lulu’s was a Thai restaurant. I don’t want to embarrass her on my blog, especially when she hosted me for the weekend, but really, Kim? A Thai restaurant? Oof.

*Yes, my title for this post is exactly the same as Kim’s title, but this was the name for our weekend so I’m keeping it!

Categories: Recurring Series, Travel

Five for Friday | The New Orleans Edition

1) Delayed flights

I’ve been pretty lucky when it comes to plane travel. I’ve only had one delayed flight, if you can believe that. Well, not on Wednesday! It was hard to find a nonstop flight to New Orleans for some reason, so we were flying to Charlotte first and then catching a connecting flight to New Orleans. Our flight to Charlotte was scheduled for 2 p.m. and we’d have about an hour until our flight to New Orleans around 5:30 p.m. We’d get to New Orleans right around 8 p.m. Unfortunately, our flight to Charlotte was delayed by over two hours, which meant we’d completely miss our connecting flight. There were a lot of frustrated people at the airport that day! Thankfully, we got rebooked on a new flight automatically through the American Airlines app so we didn’t have to worry about anything. Unfortunately, the new flight was at 8 p.m. so we wouldn’t get into New Orleans until after 10 p.m. That connecting flight was then delayed by half an hour so it was closing in on 11:30 p.m. (after midnight to our bodies that were on Eastern time) when we finally got to our hotel. Whew, what a travel day! Thankfully, our flights home did not have any delays.

But the exciting part of our flights were that we didn’t have anyone in the third seat with us for three of the four flights! That meant we could stretch out with one of us at the window seat and one of us at the aisle seat for those flights, which was pretty sweet!

2) The saga of my house keys

I’m always worried about losing my house keys when I travel. I always put them in the same zippered part of my backpack, but still, I worry that somehow they will drop out of my bag. When we got back into town, my stepdad picked my mom and me up from the airport and then we went to dinner. Then, he drove us back to my place. Before I let them leave, I checked my backpack to make sure I had my keys. And I could not find them anywhere! I took everything out of my backpack, everything out of my purse, and even opened up my suitcase to see if I had somehow stuffed them in there. The keys were nowhere to be found. At this point, it was 9 p.m. so I called my apartment’s emergency line to see if they could help me out. When an hour went by without any word from them, I had to start calling locksmiths. The first locksmith I called didn’t have anyone available until the morning, the second locksmith said he could come out in an hour (but then there was an issue where he called my phone and I didn’t answer because my phone, for some reason, sent the calls right to voicemail, so when I realized he had called and called him back, he said he had taken two jobs in the 10 minutes he was waiting on me—felt suspicious, but whatever). Finally, I got ahold of a locksmith that was able to send someone out right away. He arrived within 20 minutes of my original call.

I thought getting into my house would be easier because my cat sitter only uses the knob lock (not the deadbolt) on her last visit, so that she can leave my spare key inside of my apartment (rather than putting it under the doormat). But I think it might have been harder? The locksmith had to really destroy my doorknob to get it to unlock, which meant I had to pay even more money for this service. In the end, it cost me $390, which made me want to throw up, but what could I do? I had to get into my apartment! I hadn’t realized we were getting back so late, so I hadn’t had the cat sitter come the day we were coming home. The girls don’t have automatic feeders, so they hadn’t had food all day! I was terrified they were hungry and sad. (True story: I started crying when the second locksmith told me he couldn’t come because I just wanted to be home and with my girls.)

Anyway, the fun part of this story is that I found my house keys as I was unpacking!!! They were in my backpack all along!!! Three of us completely unpacked this backpack and felt around, and none of us noticed the keys!!! I paid $400 for no reason!!!

The expensive lessons I learned were: a) always ask my cat sitter to put the key under the doormat, b) always make sure my mom has a spare key at her house, and c) make sure the next apartment I rent has a smart door lock.

3) Souvenirs!

Whenever I visit a new city, I try to find a handful of souvenirs to bring back home: a magnet for my fridge, a Christmas ornament for my tree, a t-shirt, a mug, and locally made art. Yes, it’s a lot but I’m not always successful at finding all of them. In New Orleans, I was! I had great luck finding all of my souvenirs—and then some.

We’ll start with the books. At Garden District Book Shop, I purchased three books and was excited when my mom pointed me in the direction of their Agatha Christie collection. I picked out all of the Christie books I hadn’t read and then looked up the Goodreads rating. Five Little Pigs had the highest rating (4.03 stars, if you’re curious), so I bought it. And I also got a beautiful new hardcover edition of Anne of Green Gables.

I also found a magnet, Christmas ornament, mug, and t-shirt. Yay!

I found this piece of art in a local shop, but then we stumbled onto the art fair later on that day and I was bummed I already bought my piece! Ah, well. I love the one I selected!

And lastly, at the art fair, I did purchase this really cute cat painting. I couldn’t pass it up! It’s a cat and my favorite color? It also has pre-drilled holes so I can nail it into a wall easily.

4) The flare of all flares

Leading up to my trip, my psoriasis was the worst it’s ever been. I had these big red patches on both sides of my scalp and they were so, so, so itchy. I tried everything: my steroid gels, apple cider vinegar, OTC psoriasis cream, specialized shampoo, etc. I was ready to call my dermatologist and demand an emergency appointment because things had gotten to such a bad state. On Wednesday, the day we were flying into New Orleans, the flare was still really bad. I was trying to keep things at bay by applying the steroid gels every few hours, which would help my scalp calm down for an hour or so. (I was so desperate for relief on one flight that I started rubbing an ice cube from my complimentary drink over the affected areas.) On the first day of our trip, before we did anything else, I found a CVS where I bought OTC cream (Exederm) as well as a numbing cream. (When I was scrolling the psoriasis Reddit forum late one night, someone mentioned numbing cream that would provide a bit of relief and I was willing to try anything at that moment.)

I felt so sorry for myself in the days leading up to the trip, thinking about dealing with this stupid flare and how it would affect how much I enjoyed my vacation. I applied the Exederm twice (on Thursday night and Friday morning) but starting on Friday, my psoriasis cleared up! It wasn’t itchy and the redness had lessened a bit. Was it the Exederm? Maybe. But I think this flare was 100% stress-related and that’s why I was in such a bad state. I think I was feeling a bit anxious about the vacation—leaving my cats, the logistics of flying, getting to New Orleans safe and sound, etc—and once we were there and enjoying ourselves, my psoriasis flare went away. It was such a relief. It’s been over a week since that really bad flare and I haven’t been putting any steroid gel or cream on my scalp (I wanted to give my scalp a break), and things are still doing good. I have an appointment with my dermatologist in a few weeks, and we will have a lot to chat about!

5) New shoes + new exercise routine = not being sore after walking all day!

One of the things I like least about vacation is all the walking, which always leads to me having sore feet and a sore body at the end of each day. After a few days of this, I am usually ready to chop off my feet and less likely to want to walk around and do things. The whole point of vacation is to walk around and do things! (And relax, but this wasn’t one of those vacations.) One of the things I noticed about this vacation was that I didn’t end each day with sore feet! I felt like I could walk farther without getting tired, and it was a truly eye-opening moment to realize that I am getting fitter from my new exercise routine. And also, it probably helped that I wasn’t walking around in four-year-old shoes that provided zero cushioning and support. There’s that, too.

What’s the last souvenir you bought? Have you ever needed the (expensive!) services of a locksmith?