The Newest Member of the Family

What does a travel addict do when they get an adult job, a mini poodle, and lots of new responsibilities? Although it sounds like the set-up of a really awkward joke, this is the question that I have been contemplating for the past 9 months. My desire to be on the road, meet new people, and live an exciting life did not dissipate, but it has become much more challenging to leave for months at a time when bills and pets are relying on you.

Cue Youtube and the large number of full-time RVers growing their followings and holding my interest. The more I watch videos about living on the road, the more it seems to be the answer I was looking for. I would be able to travel for months at a time, have a stable and comfortable place for my dog, and continue to explore and meet new people. It would also be a way to make up my US travel deficit, one that has grown after three years spent fixated on Europe.

For those who know me personally, you know I do not let an idea fester once I have made up my mind. I started spending weeks looking for different travel trailers that I could pull with my current tow vehicle. I decided between a few makes and scoured every resale sight looking for the perfect match. After 7 months searching and being disappointed over sales that fell through, I was contacted by a couple looking to sell their Scamp 13' in Kentucky. My father and I talked to them on the phone, we felt very comfortable with the situation, and made plans to drive down at the end of my Spring Break.

Which leads to my big announcement: I am now the proud owner of a 13-foot Scamp Camper! I look forward to MANY trips this summer that will allow me to experience the great outdoors and see corners of this country that I have been itching to visit. I can host friends on my journeys and, most excitingly, see these places with my dog, Jeri.

After a long break on this blog and my Youtube channel, I am thrilled to get going again and document this experience for those who are interested. I have some decorating to do, some trips to plan, and everything-there-is to learn about fiberglass travel trailers.

Truly, I CANNOT WAIT to take you along for the ride!

Until Next Time,

The Opinionated Lassie

Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico | June 2016

Dealing with Peeling - Mexico - Part Three

After such a busy day at Las Caletas on Wednesday, I spent Thursday relaxing in my room. I think I slept until about 2 pm, ate some lunch, and began watching the newest season of Orange is the New Black on Netflix. In the evening, the whole family went to our cousins' room for a pizza party, and we ended up playing a game outside on their giant balcony. 

Friday was the day for my family to go to town! We were feeling a bit cooped up on the resort so went into Puerto Vallarta and did some shopping and looking around. There is a very quaint market where tourists can shop for all of their Mexican souvenirs. Daniel was looking for a soccer jersey, Dad looking for a bicycle memento, and me looking for whatever caught my eye. After walking around the market a while, we settled on a place called River Cafe for lunch. This place was absolutely delightful! It was an open air structure and we got a nice breeze during our meal. I ordered an enchilada and taco, and this was one of my favorite meals of the week. After walking around town for a bit longer, we took a taxi back to the resort. I practiced my Spanish with the driver, who was a super cool guy, and hopped into the wading pool when we got back. For dinner we went to a restaurant called Havana Moon, and enjoyed a lovely sunset on the beach.

Saturday was our final day spent relaxing and hanging out at the pool. We took family photos in the early evening and went to La Cantina for dinner. As we were leaving the next day, I had to pack all of my things and settled in for bed.

Sunday was our departure day. Being ready early, I went for crepes with a few family members. I got a chicken enchilada crepe and, even though it was a bit strange, it was surprisingly good. We then ordered a taxi, checked in at the airport, and ate Subway for lunch. 

And that was it. A week of family in paradise. Thank you to Grandma Judy for making this possible and I am so glad that I could bond with family before my independent adventure in Europe. 

Thanks for reading!

The Opinionated Lassie

Bruises, Burns, and Battery - Mexico - Part Two

Wednesday was the day we had all been looking forward to - a boat ride to a private beach, catered breakfast and lunch, paddle boarding, snorkeling, a slide, a zipline, paradise. But this was also the day where my fried skin caught up to me and I woke up very sick. Even with all of the sunscreen applications I had A LOT of red on my body and was gathering quite the collection of bug bites on my ankles (cute picture, right?) Even though I felt so horrible, I was determined to go on the trip so tied my swimsuit and put on a smile. And while this day was a very fun day, the misfortune did NOT stop there.

The boat ride was nice and if I positioned my body on the chair just right, my red back didn’t hurt too bad. We arrived at Las Caletas, at some DELICIOUS tacos, and continued over to the beach. I wanted to try paddle boarding so hopped right on and remained fairly upright - until I tried to take a picture of Daniel. I fell right off my board, paddle flying, GoPro flying, and worst of all, glasses flying - right to the bottom of the deep blue sea. I didn’t know what to do, so I told Daniel to inform one of the workers. Ruben (the worker) proceeded to snorkel my direction. As my board floated away from me, he scanned the water for my $15 Amazon Specs. I “thought” I knew where they had fallen, but turns out I was wrong and after 10 minutes he finally dove down and grabbed them (my new hero). I then didn’t know what to do with them (seriously such an annoying tourist) so he WORE them for 30 minutes until I got out of the water. It was so adorable, he was so adorable, and it made my day.

Then I went with my cousin and some other family members to the activity part of the island (included a blob, a zipline, and a slide). When I went off the zipline I landed in the water and the worker just stared at me, worried. She asked if I was okay and I, responding to the very rough but tolerable landing said, “Yah I’m great!” She then told me that my face was bleeding and my cousin located three different cuts on my face. What can you do but suck it up, right?

Then I went on the blob, because a little blood can’t stop me! For those of you who don’t know, a blob is like a giant water pillow where one person sits on the end and another jumps propelling the first person into the water. When my cousin was on the end of the blob, I jumped down and fell off - a relatively painless endeavor. I then jumped on the blob so that someone else could jump me off but landed wrong and propelled myself right into the boat. Once again, I shook it off. When I finally crawled to the end of the water pillow and a worker jumped down to launch me, I flew off the thing (it felt like 10 feet in the air) and landed in the water with a slap. Not too comfortable, but since there was no blood I was good.

When we all climbed out of the water this random guy asked if we wanted to swim in the stingray tank. Naturally, I jumped in. And thank God they didn’t have their barbs anymore because that could have been poisonous. We got to play with the stingrays for a while - even when one escaped from the trainer and we all low-key freaked out. Then it was time for the giant waterslide.

This was no ordinary slide because the end of it shot you into the air. We climbed the 300+ stairs and when we made it to the top a worker chased after me to sign a liability waiver for my bleeding face. Figures, they didn’t want me to sue them. And THEN I went on the super-tall-probably-not-entirely-up-to-code-water-slide-where-you-are-shot-20-feet-in-the-air. I was feeling good about this life decision because four other family members had gone before me (and only one had chickened out). I sat down on the slide, acted all cool like the heights didn’t freak me out, and screamed my way down the ramp. Then, SPLAT. Holy cow that was the most painful landing I have ever felt. I landed, with extreme force, on my left thigh and still feel the pain with every step I take. Not to mention the BRUISE.

But again, I’m cool, shake it off, grit your teeth and bare it.

So I went back to the relaxing beach and snorkeled for a while. They had these floating hammock things and I decided to snorkel to one of then and then try to hammock. When the hammock hurt my burnt back too much I settled for a picture and hopped in my aunt’s kayak to head back to the beach. As we approached the shore I reminisced about my time in the adventure park and laughed fondly as I realized all injuries for the day were behind me. But as Aunt Kristin pulled her paddle out of the salty ocean I turned her direction and - WHACK - she paddled me in the nose!

At this point the workers were very concerned for my well-being. I just laughed, insisted I was fine, and promised that I did not want to fill out another stupid liability waiver.

When we got back to the resort I took a nice Netflix break in our private wading pool and some Tylenol for my troubles. We then got some tasty cheeseburgers for dinner and went to bed.

Thanks for reading,

The Opinionated Lassie

And I'm Back! - Mexico - Part One

Before my adventures in Europe began (I am in Iceland as I type), my Grandmother generously took the whole family on vacation to Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico! I was a great week of family bonding, beautiful weather, and lots of laughing. Here is a recap of the first few days:

To leave for Mexico, I had to wake up at 2:45am. We drove to the airport, checked in everything, and I ate a bagel We then flew to Houston (little detail because I was so tired) and proceeded to Puerto Vallarta.

When we arrived at the airport, the heat was immediate and overwhelming. Even in my cool travel outfit, the humidity was rampant - fogging my cameras and glasses as soon as I left the air conditioning. When we arrived at the resort we had time to kill before our rooms were ready. All very hungry, we wandered to a taco restaurant and enjoyed our first bite of Mexican food. We then got into our room, headed to Walmart for groceries, took a dip in our wading pool, ate some dinner, I took a shower, went to bed, and slept like a rock.

Monday morning was great because the all of my family gathered for a crepe breakfast at a nice restaurant on the resort. This trip included aunts, uncles, and cousins so everybody could catch up after arrival and settling in. Once my stomach was content I went to the beach with everyone else and enjoyed the sunshine, the powerful waves, the thatched umbrellas, and happy hour. After a few hours at the beach I went back to the room for a quick shower, and then my immediate family left the resort for a nice meal at a restaurant named Fajita Republic. It was absolutely delicious and we all ordered fajitas with steak, chicken, and shrimp! Before bed I was dismayed to see a sunburn forming on my chest and shoulders. Even though I had generously applied SPF 50, my pale skin loves to burn anyway. So I did the only thing I could do, apply tons of lotion, and settled in to bed.

Tuesday I woke up stiff and afraid to look in the mirror. My toasty complexion was not pretty! In hopes of avoiding the sun, my mother and some other girl cousins ventured across the massive resort to paint pottery (the bowl I made pictured below). In the whole week that I was in Mexico, this was one of my favorite activities and left me with my favorite souvenir! After two therapeutic hours of painting I braved the beach once more (with even more SPF 50) and ended the day with seafood at a restaurant called Blue Fish, and some frozen yogurt.

Until Next Time,

The Opinionated Lassie

Travel Tip : Seek the Unexpected

No matter where you travel, there will be specific things that you just have to do in that location. Visit the famous museums, take that classic picture. But I encourage you to stray off that over-beaten path and do something funny, different, or a little crazy. Plan these adventures or stumble upon them. But regardless, making them happen is worth it.

Escape Games: 

When I was planning my trip to Krakow, I scoured tripadvisor.com to find interesting activities. This is when I learned about escape games, and led to one of my favorite experiences of the trip. All we did was sign up for an appointment, we showed up at our assigned time, the friendly receptionist locked us in a room, and we had an hour to solve puzzles to escape. 

It sounds a little freaky, but it is so fun, and is a trendy activity in many popular European locations. Usually the cost is around $20-$30 per person, but varies based on the popularity of the location, and how involved the set-up is.

Haunted Houses:

Before I moved to Europe, I had never been in a haunted house. After I left, I had been in two. While they are rarely historical, haunted houses are an excellent way to bond with friends and let loose.

When in London, we were looking for the London Bridge Experience (which we thought was a museum). When we arrived, it was a haunted house, and though we were confused, we were all down for the adventure. It ended up being so much fun! Not only was it a good break in our day of sight-seeing, but it was also informative and created an awesome memory.

In Cork around Halloween, a group of friends went to the local haunted house (The Nightmare Realm) for a short adventure. Again, we had a blast, and it was a great way to experience something that local students enjoy. It also gave us some of my favorite pictures from my entire trip.

Scary/Ghost Tours:

These tours are surprisingly popular in Europe, and I went on one in Edinburgh and Krakow. They provide an exciting alternative to a normal walking tour, and show you a different (if not fictional) aspect of the city. These tours are an awesome way for you to learn about the city but also avoid getting bored. They tend to include very eclectic individuals and let you experience in a new way.

Wax Museums:

I had never been to a wax museum before visiting London, but they are actually really fun to visit and can be found in many major European cities. It is a fun way to get a lot of exciting pictures, have a good time goofing off with friends, and learning about the history of a place in a creative way. Madame Tussaud’s locations are common as well as other more local museums.

So next time you travel, do something funny! Do something weird, and memorable. Because it just may be your favorite part of the trip.

Until Next Time,

The Opinionated Lassie 

How to plan a weekend trip in Europe:

(This post was originally written for my college's study abroad blog and is being republished here)

When planning a short trip in Europe, the most important thing to do is research. While every potential city and activity sounds exciting, reading and outlining a trip will help you make the most of your time and money! Following are steps and websites that will help maximize shorts trips within Europe and tips from my personal experiences.

1) Look at your calendar and establish what dates are good for you to travel. These may include long weekends, days that you may not have school, or even just days that you think it would be nice to get away.

2) Find out what location is affordable during the days you want to travel.

www.ryanair.com

Ryanair is an Irish airline known for its cheap flights and the bright yellow seats on their planes. They offer a variety of inexpensive flights throughout continental Europe, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. When flying with Ryanair it is important that you read the fine print carefully to avoid unnecessary fees. Traveling with a backpack and no checked luggage is the best way to save money. Additionally, they have you print your own ticket before you get to the airport. Ryanair keeps costs low by flying into minor airports and departing at strange times. But if the flights fit your schedule then they can be a real bargain!

www.easyjet.com

Easyjet is, in many respects, the British equivalent of Ryanair. They are know for affordable flights and, once again, traveling with only a backpack is the best way to save money. If Ryanair does not have any flights that look interesting, Easyjet would be another great airline to check with!

www.skyscanner.com

This is a great website that compares many destinations, airlines, and times to find you the best deal on travel. This is a great place to start and is also very helpful if you have a specific location that you want to go to!

Recommendation: If you do find a great flight on a website that compares multiple airlines, write down the flight information and then buy the ticket directly from the airline. This is the best way to make sure that the deal is legitimate and that all of the information about the airport and specifications are up-to-date and true.

3) Once you have selected your destination, you need to start looking into where you will stay. Depending on the popularity of the city you are headed to, affordable lodging may be readily available or fill up very fast. Looking into your options as soon as possible is the best way to assure affordable and nice accommodation.

Hostels.com

Hostelworld.com

These are two comparable websites that compare different hostels by city and location. Hostels are by far the most affordable way to travel in Europe but may be an adjustment to the novice American traveller. Hostels usually have multiple people sleeping in a single room and include common areas and occasionally kitchens. There is often little privacy in these rooms and it is important to pack lightly and not bring anything expensive with you. Even though they may be intimidating, hostels are a great way to meet fellow travelers and like-minded individuals. The desk attendants are generally very knowledgeable and can help guide you to the best possible stay in their city. Hostels.com and Hostelworld.com both rate hostels by a variety of factors - a nice feature if you know nothing about the city you are heading to. Reading reviews and looking at pictures usually gives you an idea of the quality of the accommodation. Remember, since you will spend the vast majority of your time outside of your accommodation, location is usually the most important factor and can have a huge impact on your trip.

Airbnb.com

If you do not want to stay in a hostel, Airbnb may be a great option for you! This website lets you make an account and find individuals who are renting their homes or apartments out to people that are visiting their city. It helps you feel like you are living in that city for a few nights and lets you experience what life in that city would be like. This option gives you much more privacy and all of the amenities of a full apartment. As with hostels, location is most important, but for those wanting to avoid hostels, this may be something to look into.

Kayak.com

Travelocity.com

On the off chance that hostels are full or really expensive, checking on discount hotels is worth a try. Special deals may come up on sites like Travelocity.com or Kayak.com, especially if you buy it at the last minute.

4) Some people like having no plan when they travel, others have an itemized itinerary - I suggest finding a happy medium. Even if you like to go with the flow, doing some research about your destination helps guarantee that you don’t miss anything too crucial and can make the most out of a short time.

Tripadvisor.com

Trip Advisor is an excellent resource to find stereotypical stops and fun activities that are off the beaten path. This is a great way to research restaurants, find reviews of hotels and hostels, and many different activities and tours. Tours are a great way to get an educational look at your destination, and free walking tours are really common in Europe and are worth checking out. There is also an option to plan your trip on Tripadvisor.com and to mark all destinations on a map for reference.

Tips:

-This may sound crazy, but escape games are common in Europe and are really fun! They usually fill up fast but they are sure to leave a great impression and a fun memory of your travels.

-Depending on how much you want to pack in, day passes can be a good way to save money. These can be found in cities with large tourist industry and are usually packages that include most of the famous landmarks.

-Bike tours are super fun, especially in cities where biking is popular (like Amsterdam or Copenhagen). They let you cover a lot of ground and feel like a local!

-Do the stereotypical stuff (but also some random stuff)! You will regret not getting a red telephone booth picture in London, or an Eiffel tower picture in Paris, but the best stories often come from things that you just happen into and the random people you meet along the way.

-Have fun and be nice to your travel buddy! Traveling brings out the best and worst in people. Everybody wants to have a good time, but take care of your friends and be patient during stressful situations!

 Yours,

The Opinionated Lassie