Get Hyped, Your City Is Awesome!

Small city, Rochester, NY beat out every other city in the nation to win the title of "Most Hyped" leading up to the Superbowl...and their (Buffalo Bills) home team isn't even in it.  What makes Rochester so hyped?

It's a small city but there is a lot of good stuff going on.  Rochester, and it's larger neighbor, Buffalo, are cities in New York State that are often overlooked or brushed aside in the shadow of their world-renowned distant cousin to the southeast.  That doesn't stop their residents from getting hyped every game, every season, every year for their sports teams to win out.  It seems that it's not just for the home team that Rochester gets hyped, though.  They may not win the Superbowl this year, but they won the Superbowl Halftime Show...and that's a pretty good consolation prize for fans of a team that didn't make the playoffs.

Still hatin' on lil' old Rochester?  Appreciate your hometown.  There is beauty in every place and everyone if you'll only take the time to get hyped about it!  This Pepsi video of their free-ganza in the winning city is sure to give you a glimpse at how great a city can be when it gets pumped for something bigger than itself.

Thank you, Pepsi, for putting Rochester and its fans in the spotlight 

(it probably didn't hurt that the Bills colors match your logo...)

P.S. Go Bills!

Things we miss about traveling...

Here is a good list of 14 things every traveler misses when they return home.  Definitely not the full list but a good start, for sure!  I'd only disagree with sleeping in.  Though I love sleeping in, I wish I ddi it less when I'm traveling so I could pack more adventure into every second!

My favorite two are "meeting new people" and "getting lost."  I've found that when you combine the two, it's the best way to create lifelong friendships and to get to know the best parts of a place!

Lost...with direction

Never fear if you're feeling lost...we're all lost!  Just find your direction :)

Lower Airfare Near the Witching Hour?

Totally in the experimental stage still...but for the past two-three weeks when searching for airfares, they were almost always cheaper when I looked late at night (between 9pm and 12am EST) than when I searched during the daytime at the same flights.

By waiting until nighttime to buy, the price drop was significant going from as high as $346 to as low as $211 for a one way ticket, which is obviously an even larger gap if you need two of them.  Since a lot of airlines are changing over to an equal-equal pricing system, where you even buy your round trip tickets by combining individual one-ways, it's worth thinking about this daytime vs. late night buying timetable.  So if you're searching, try it for yourselves, and let me know if you guys are getting the same results!

Werifesteria...

Werifesteria: A word worth knowing if you've got wanderlust!

The stars are calling...

daVinci's Flight Lust...

Go Somewhere!

New Twitter account for all of you travel addicts out there: @TraveLifeLove

Follow to get updates from this blog as well as other articles, quotes, messages, pictures, travel deals and information!  All to fulfill your wanderlust spirits :)

Wild-Hearted Woman

Cue "Wild at Heart" by Gloriana:

To expat or not to expat?

For any and all of you considering actually officially becoming expats by renouncing your US citizenship, I highly suggest checking out this article.

Looks like the government is taking the increasing number of expatriates seriously...and they aren't looking kindly on it.  Cost of renouncing citizenship has multiplied by 5 and once you renounce, you may not be able to get back in (welcome to the world of immigrant visas, I'll be happy to walk you through it if you want some info...but it's NOT a fun world...which may make you take a look at the border crossing "specialists" instead -- but this topic is for another day and time).  In addition to leaving "for good,"  if you've got a TON of money (I don't so this isn't such an issue for me) your exit tax might be something worth considering.  My guess is, though, that if you have as much money as is required for you to pay an exit tax in the first place, you probably won't give a damn!

To expat, or not to expat...US government trying to make you rethink the question?

Southwest Airlines Adds a New International Destination

HIP HIP HOORAYYYYY!!  

Southwest Airlines is now planning on...well?  

Heading Southwest!

Costa Rica is the newest destination for the airline, determined based on surveys of their customers and their desired destinations.  Beginning March 7, direct flights from Baltimore Washington International (BWI) will be available daily to Juan Santamaria International (SJO) which is located just outside of the Costa Rican capitol, San Jose.

Still a good deal going international?  You bet!  Flights are going to be priced around $130 each way...and the airline hopes to keep its tickets 30-40% lower than its competitors as they do on domestic flights.

Need more variety?  Texas can look forward to direct flights starting out of Houston Hobby Airport (HOU) sometime this coming fall.

If Costa Rica isn't quite your deal, maybe you'll find Southwest's existing international Carribbean destinations of interest (Aruba, Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Mexico) and if those aren't enough with the addition of Costa Rica, Belize is next on the list.

Happy travels to the Southwest!
See original article here.

iPhone tips and tricks!

Camera was stolen on your trip and you're left with iPhone pics for the rest of your trip?

HAVE NO FEAR!

Here are some awesome ways to get great pics with your little rectangular camera phone.

3 of 50 non-cliché places to visit

Another fun list out from Elite Daily:  50 non-cliche places to visit in your 20s.

I've been to 3 of the 50:

(2) New Orleans, Louisiana for a one night stint in a 3 week cross-country roadtrip with my friends Keith and Amber in 2009.  I think it would have been more fun if you were either with a huge group of rowdy people, or if you were interested in getting wasted and having a good time.  I liked the street performers and it seemed like there was music every block.  We walked past the House of Blues and tons of bars but it was actually much more low-key than I expected.  I remember wondering if the city was still recovering from Hurricane Katrina.  The architecture had an old riverboat-times style of the 20s.  You can tell its roots were wealthy and stylish.

(16) Christiania Denmark, either a small city within or just outside of Copenhagen, this is a little community most well-known for its order without government order...mostly meaning people smoke, buy, and sell weed and other merchandise without any outside regulation.  No photos are allowed (for obvious reasons) and I heard there are sometimes raids but that usually the people of the town are warned ahead of time.  It seemed like a happy and peaceful place.  Everyone minded their business or looked around at the shops or walked along the river or through the town.  There was a lot of artwork and some funky buildings.  I would suggest checking it out.

(40)  Plitvice (pronounced Plit-VEETcha) National Park, in Croatia, was one of the only things I really knew about the country before visiting in 2011.  It is far from most cities (which was great because a visit resulted in driving through most of the country to reach it and lead us to a crazy fun night in Zagreb, the capitol of Croatia).  It was definitely beautiful but VERY crowded.  I would suggest getting here either "off season" or early in the am.  I was there around 3-5 pm and it is in a bit of a valley so the really vibrant colors weren't QUITE as miraculous as you may have seen...don't get me wrong, it was still stunning!

Have you been to any of the places on the list?  

What do you think about them?  Any suggestions or thoughts?

Who Do You Travel With?

I have many a cohort in wandering and all of them are absolutely fabulous travel-buddies.  Traveling alone allows you to meet new friends a bit easier I think, but traveling with your friends brings you even closer together, teaches you even more about yourself and about them that you may not have guessed was possible!

For me, those new friends and those travel buddies are what really make the trip worth while.  They are the memories that we have, and the place we end up is the stunning backdrop to the trip with THEM.  People are important.  When we travel, even if we start out alone, I think we always come back to how important our interconnectedness is.  Our human desire for socializing and for connecting and for sharing is an overwhelming addition to our journey which more often than not becomes the journey itself.  Enjoy the journey...whomever it may be ;)

Think you know the in flight safety speech by heart?

...Think again!

The newest way to make passengers listen to the safety guidelines...so that they are unforgettable.

So you want to work from home?

Just read a great article for any of you out there hoping to have the "can I work remotely?" conversation with his or her boss.

It's a tough situation, and I've attempted it at least once in my life (giving only all of the positive benefits to the company), but unfortunately I work in architecture, and generally architects are not good business-people and they were unable to see the forest through the trees.  It was as if the words "consultant" and "cost-effective" were not only foreign, but more likely lethal.

I'm hoping that you will have more success on your ventures, and that I may have that same success in any future attempts.  In case you are making a case...here's the article to help you plan your successful "work-from-home" query!  And just in case anyone out in the great beyond is in architecture and needs a remote architect...hit me up ;)

Inexpensive Countries for Budget Travelers

Elite Daily came out with a list of inexpensive nations for travel.  On the list:  Bolivia, Thailand, Greece, Spain, Costa Rica, Vietnam, Romania, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Argentina.

I have heard this regarding Thailand, Bolivia and Vietnam.  I can't speak for them as I haven't been there...yet.

I lived and worked in Costa Rica and can tell you that most people might agree that it's fairly inexpensive to fly to (from the US, at least) but I think we'd argue the cost of an actual vacation there.  In fact, I often hear complaints about how expensive Costa Rica is compared to how inexpensive it's perceived to be.

I would add Peru to this list.  I found it to be a country that was much less expensive than Costa Rica with a great deal of options for travelers within the country.  I got a killer airfare mistake out of AeroMexico, so I'm sure the airfare would contribute to its being more expensive to visit, but two of us spent very little considering our 10 day trip and travel between multiple cities.

Any thoughts on the countries on the list or others you would add?

US Travel Destinations!

We are so often eager to travel away from home, that sometimes US citizens forget that far away from home can often be within our own country.  There are so many different ecosystems, geographic landmarks and destinations to be observed that it's worth taking a look at some of the top destinations that people visit the United States for...


of these, I've seen Niagara Falls, Yosemite National Park and Watkin's Glen State Park.

Sequoia National Park, Glacier National Park, and Haiku Stair are on my list!

How many have you been to?

What was your favorite?

What would you add to the list?