My Dad instilled the "travel bug" in me from our first month-long family trip to Europe when I was 4 years old. He was an intrepid traveler, and given that this occurred back in the 70s, these family adventures consisted of plane tickets and a rental car; from there, we hit the autobahn with a paper map, and went on our way! Things are much more advanced these days, and I love the use of technology to plan and navigate my travels, but my Dad's adventurous heart lives on! 

Planning travels, for me, is part of the experience, and I love to research destinations for myself and for others. I've learned you can throw caution to the wind and go big on luxury, or you can have a nice blend of safe, comfortable, convenient, efficient, fun, exiciting and affordable travel, with some fun luxury experiences thrown in here and there. 

I love land-based travel and cover quite a bit of ground on land adventures, and I also enjoy cruises travel for a variety of reasons. I consider cruises to be a "sample platter" of destinations. While you can't completely immerse yourself in a port stop (unless the ship remains docked for multiple days in a port), you can get the flavor of many destinations, all while using the ship as a "floating hotel" to avoid dealing with challenging logistics, changing hotels and having to pack/unpack/repack constantly. I've sailed on approximately 20 cruises, from long-weekend getaways to the Caribbean on traditional cruise lines, to more exotic, longer sailings and those with a more refined small-ship experience. Both definitely have their virtues, although the different sailing styles may not be everyone's cup of tea.

Let me know if I can help you plan your next adventure!

PSA: If you want to see how awful the world is, watch the news. If you want to see how wonderful and beautiful it is and how amazing the people in it are, TRAVEL!