My Trip to Italy: 4 Cities

You should be so proud of me - I unpacked my entire suitcase yesterday, within one day of returning from my trip! {Sometimes this takes me weeks.  It's bad, I know!}

My trip to Italy was so fantastic, and I've almost recovered from the long trip home {getting back to Dominica often takes a couple of days, so on my return trip I had to overnight in Puerto Rico}. I'm excited about sharing bits and pieces from my trip over the next couple of weeks! 

During the ten days that I was in Italy with my family, we were lucky enough to visit four different cities:

Each spot was so beautiful and unique in its own way.  I can't wait to share my photos and tell you all about what we did in each city!  

I would also like to thank my wonderful blog friends for sharing some awesome guest posts while I was away.  In case you missed them... 

Emily gave us some helpful tips for planning a trip. 

Supal shared her essentials for a backpacking trip.

Katie showed us some fun photos from a past trip to Rome.

Bobbi gaves us a glimpse of one of her favorite places in Australia.

Thanks again, ladies!  

Trip Planning Tips

Hi Clare fans! I'm Emily, the girl behind Emmy June {born in May}. I'm so happy to be with you today, talking about a topic I love.... traveling! My husband & I got married in Costa Rica. Six months later we traveled around Europe. And nine months after that, we landed in Sydney, Australia.

So yeah, I love traveling. However, I don't always love trip planning. Why? 

1) I'm a tight wad.  And traveling means spending money.  Spending money means I'm going to be hooked to the computer for twelve hours straight scouting out the best deal. 

2) It can be overwhelming!  Sometimes I feel like there's so much research to do & so many logistics to sort out... I just don't know where to start.

{via}

If you're anything like me, here are some tips that can help with trip planning: 

1) Plan well in advance.  Figure out the framework of your trip--pick your dates, country & region(s), and vibe of your trip.  You can fill in the details later. 

2) Book something so you're firmly committed.  Whether it's your flights or a few nights in a hotel, put some money down and let your employer know you're absolutely going.  Oftentimes, people hem & haw and never end up traveling anywhere.  Don't be a travel commit-aphobe! 

3) Pay for it a little at a time.  This is my biggest secret to successful trip planning!  Pay as you go, booking something every month or two {hotels, flights, tours.}  The goal is to have everything paid in advance, at least 60 days before your trip.  When you board the plane, all the money you bring should be for food & entertainment!  This will keep you stress free & focused on enjoying your trip :) 

I hope you find these travel tips useful! I'm in the midst of booking our next big adventure, so I use these tips all the time. Thanks for listening & come say hello.

Be sure to check out Emily's wonderful blog, Emmy June {Born in May} to read all about her adventures in Australia and for more fun travel posts!  Emily also hosts a great series on her blog called Tuesday Travel Diaries that's lots of fun to read each week.  Also, did you know that she surfs?  How cool is that?!?  Thanks again, Emily! 

Tomorrow

It's hard to believe that tomorrow I finally depart for...

I can't wait to visit my little sister, Margaret (who I affectionately call Marge)...

Marge is currently studying abroad in Rome and has been loving life in Italia and traveling all over Europe these past few months.  Lucky girl!  I can't wait for her to show us around and see all of her favorite spots.

I'll be meeting up with my wonderful mother, Katrina, who is the best!  She's so much fun and is quite the traveler.  

She's had this trip in the works for quite some time, and we can't believe that the fun is finally about to begin! We'll spend a week in Rome, and then we're going to enjoy a weekend trip to Sorrento and Pompeii! 

Frannie, my other lovely, little sister, can't come with us, because she's living it up in Guyana, where she's just begun her work as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer.

She'll be doing awesome things instead, like plucking ducks and hanging out with cows.  Seriously, she's got some stories!  Italy won't be the same without you, Fran!

Charlie isn't able to come with us either, as he needs to spend the break studying a massive amount of medical school material for Ross's enormous comp exam which he'll take in May.  So he'll spend his spring break visiting Kentucky to spend time with family, enjoy America, and get in some serious studying.

He can do it, he's a rock star! {He's also a very handsome man, if I do say so myself!}

To my lovely friends and family who aren't joining us, I'll eat some gelato for you, lots and lots of it.  Don't worry, I won't let you down!

I also have some sweet guest posts lined up for your enjoyment while I'm gone; some of my favorite ladies are going to share some awesome travel-related posts with y'all.  It's going to be almost as fun as visiting Italy!

Marge, we'll see you when we arrive in Rome on Friday!

Arrivederci!

10 Days In Dominica: Day 4

Day 4: What has been your favorite trip?

There have been so many good ones, but I think that my all-time favorite trip has been the Seven Waterfalls hike, which I have been on twice so far, once each semester, and I hope to continue the trend! This five-hour hike is difficult and is the perfect combination of difficulty, astonishing beauty, adrenaline-pumping jumps into waterfalls, and refreshing icy swims in the waterfalls pools. I know I've mentioned the hike before, but I absolutely love it. When you finish, you are exhausted, but so proud of how far you've hiked, trekked, and adventured.

The fact that you see seven "official" waterfalls, plus several more if it has rained recently is just awesome. Swimming in the waterfalls is the best part of all, and you can swim in about five of them.

What is really cool is how different the same waterfall can look, just a few months later, based on the weather and amount of rainfall. Check out the photos below of the same waterfall, taken in February (during the dry season), and in June (during the rainy season).

The waterfall was so much bigger in June, that looking back at my photos from my first trip, I had a difficult time matching up the two.


Although I've been lucky enough to go on this trip twice (once with strangers, once with friends), I am still dying to do this hike with Charlie. He's also been wanting to go on this adventure, so we're hoping to make it happen this semester... we'll keep you posted!

***Update: I have now done this hike three times - Charlie joined me last time! It was, as usual, awesome and impressive