Good morning! Since the United States recently celebrated the Constitution on September 17, I wanted to share my trip last year to Memphis, Tennessee, over a similar holiday (Independence Day on July 4).

In my opinion, there's no better time to visit Universal Studios -- and specifically the Wizarding World of Harry Potter -- than the winter holiday season. So I was thrilled when my husband and I were able to stop by Orlando on our road trip from Virginia to visit my parents in Florida over Christmas! I've mentioned in my Sydney  and Disney travel diaries how much I love Christmas time; it is truly my favorite time of the year. I love evergreens, snow, and twinkle lights so much that I even had a December wedding which used the colors of green, white, and gold. And as a Catholic, I love the hope and joy surrounding the holiday. So I just think every experience is enhanced in December... and Universal Studios is no exception! Note: This post contains affiliate links. That means that if you make a purchase after clicking on a link, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. here are outfit ideas for harry potter at universal: JavaScript is currently disabled in this ...

As someone who once dreamed about being a Belle or Snow White face character at Disney's Magic Kingdom, it's probably no surprise that I'm an adult who still loves visiting theme parks. I was lucky to have grandparents who lived in Celebration , Florida (a community actually originally developed by Disney!) and to have lived in South Florida myself for a few years -- both of which meant that I was able to visit the theme parks multiple times. However, I hadn't been back to Orlando since 2016 (when one of my best friends had her bachelorette at MK and Universal!). So when my family planned a visit to Orlando over Halloween weekend 2021, I jumped at the chance to go.

In October 2021, I took my first trip to Greece, via my first cruise ever... hopefully the first of many more such trips! I've said before that because I didn't travel very much until 2017 or so, I like to hit many different places in one trip to see as much as possible. However, during  our vacation to Mexico , my husband realized how much he enjoyed being able to unpack and stay in one place, and he really wanted another vacation where we weren't constantly on the go, lugging suitcases. A cruise was our compromise -- we'd be able to visit multiple locations, but without having to pack and unpack or deal with all the time and costs involved with moving cities or countries. So we booked a week around the Greek islands on the Norwegian Jade -- and we loved  it! 

At the end of August 2021, I had the opportunity to visit one of my best friends in Washington state. I've said it before in other travel diaries, but a fter visiting  New Zealand in 2020 , I knew I wanted to see more of the beauty of the United States. This was my first time visiting the state of Washington --  before 2021, the farthest west I'd been in the U.S. was L.A., Las Vegas, and Denver --  and it did not disappoint! You can see Mt. Rainier rising up in the distance in the top left of the photo!

After my honeymoon in New Zealand in 2020, I realized I wanted to see more of the beauty within my own country; then, like millions of other Americans, the COVID pandemic further increased my desire to get outdoors . So when I scheduled a Labor Day trip to visit one of my best friends in Washington state, I was hoping we'd get to do a hike with stunning views -- and I lucked out with a thru-hike of the Enchantments! 

I think this post may actually beat my New Zealand posts as my most photo-heavy post -- because Yosemite is one of the most stunning places I have ever visited.  Travel has made me so much more aware of how incredible our planet is. After visiting New Zealand on my honeymoon in 2020 and marveling at the beauty of the country, I became determined to see more of my own country's beauty -- and Yosemite lived up to the hype.

For my very first trip to Mexico, we booked 5 nights at the all-inclusive resort Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya . Some of our good friends have been to this resort several times now and were heading back for another trip, so we decided to join them -- and I'm so glad we did! Since we didn't leave the resort except for our scuba-diving trip, this travel recap will serve mostly as a review of the  Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya . Overall, I highly recommend it -- and I can see now why our friends, and so many others, continue to return to the resort!