As we near the end of 2022, I’ve been reflecting on all of the fun places we’ve been able to go to this year! This was the first year in our “pandemic era” where we’ve had the opportunity to travel, including international travel. We’ve been itching to travel for the past few years and we really got to do that this year. This year had a lot of trips to Tampa for work and many fun trips with friends. Take a look at our 12 months of travel throughout 2022! January We started off the year with a family ski trip to Durango, Colorado! It was our first ski trip…
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7-Days in Germany & Austria at Christmas!
AUTHOR’S NOTE: I wrote this blog post back in 2018/2019 but never got around to publishing it! So almost four years later (and just in time for the Christmas holiday season), here is everything we did on our trip to Germany & Austria! I’ve added Author’s Notes anywhere that 2022 Vivian is commenting throughout. Back in December 2018, Drew and I went to Germany and Austria with his family. I spent a full 7-days there before coming back early to spend Christmas with my family. We visited five cities across both countries during that time. This was our first time visiting either country. I had “visited” Germany in passing via…
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Our Stay at Andronis Luxury Suites
In October, Drew and I went back to Santorini for our 5-year anniversary trip! We went to Oia, Santorini for a portion of our honeymoon and loved it so much that we wanted to return for our first milestone anniversary. During our original trip, we stayed at Atrina Canava 1894 and had a great time! For our second visit back to the island, we wanted to try somewhere new and picked Andronis Luxury Suites. You can’t really go wrong with any resort on the island, but I had a few criteria in mind when picking our resort. From location to amenities to price, I tried to think of anything and…
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Restaurant Diaries: Din Tai Fung
Dim sum is one of my favorite styles of eating. Small plates of Chinese food, and A LOT of it! We have amazing Chinese food in Houston, but in our recent travels, I’ve re-connected with one of my food loves – Din Tai Fung! It’s a Michelin-star dim sum restaurant that originated in Taiwan but has 100+ locations all over the world. We have been lucky enough to go to two of those locations – Las Vegas at the ARIA and London at Centre Point. Both locations were very different vibes but had amazing food. The menus differed slightly in the way that some dishes were cooked, but their iconic…
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4-Day Ski Trip to Durango
We took our first family trip (in a long time) with my family to Durango for a weekend of skiing! This was my first time skiing in 5-ish years and my dad and sister’s first time skiing (her boyf has gone once before but he was basically Drew’s level #athleticpeopleamirite). Drew goes every year with his friends (no, I’m not invited………..) so he’s basically a professional. We’ve never been to Durango but my sister’s boyfriend recommended it because he had friends in the area and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. If you’re looking for an affordable, non-touristy town/resort to ski, I would HIGHLY recommend Durango. The ski…
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What I Packed for 4 Days in Durango
I recently went on a 4-day ski trip with my family to Durango – you can read all about it soon! This was our first family vacation in I don’t even know how many years. I have gone skiing twice before, so I had an idea of what to pack. Drew and I wanted to keep our luggage to just one carry-on suitcase each, his backpack, and one bag for our helmets and miscellaneous ski gear. I knew were would spend a lot of our evenings at the condo so I wasn’t too concerned with overpacking and looking cute (and thank goodness I didn’t because we literally would not have…
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A Girls’ Weekend in San Antonio
Back in July, a girlfriend of mine and I spent a weekend in San Antonio! For those who know me IRL, San Antonio is one of my favorite cities to visit. It might be because it was where Drew and I went on our first vacation together in college or where we went for our first getaway (shoutout to La Cantera). We try to visit at least once per year, whether it’s a quick weekend trip or even a day trip from Austin. My friend had never visited before so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity for me to show her around one of my favorite places! Here…
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3-Day Trip to Washington DC
We recently made a 3-day trip to the Washington DC and Virginia area to (1) visit my bestie and (2) attend a wedding! Now that we and almost all of our friends are vaccinated, we felt more comfortable traveling. Because the wedding was on a Friday, we decided to make a long weekend out of the trip. I hadn’t been to Washington DC since our last visit in 2015 so this trip was long overdue. Travel Accommodations Airfare: Round-trip, non-stop flight with Southwest Airlines from Houston Hobby (HOU) to Arlington Ronald Reagan (DCA) Housing: We stayed with my bestie at her apartment in Virginia! (Thank you Errrrr) 🙂Luckily all of…
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Our Dog-Friendly Getaway
I was seeing advertisements all over Instagram about these glamping vacation spots around the country called “Getaways”. When I learned that they were dog-friendly, I knew the three of us had to go for a socially distanced nature stay. After working from home for what feels like non-stop, I was looking for a socially distanced vacation where Drew and I could spend some quality time together and truly disconnect. The concept is simple: Local escapes to tiny cabins surrounded by nature to allow you to disconnect from technology and connect with loved ones. Here is how our dog-friendly Getaway went! Location The Getaways are meant to be a 1-hour-ish drive…
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What I Packed for 9 Days in Paris
We visited Paris back in February for 9-days – see the details of our trip here! Before each trip, I do a ton of research on the weather to get an idea of what I should pack. For this trip, there wasn’t going to be snow but I definitely needed to pack for weather colder than February in Texas. In my experience, the key to packing for international trips is (1) layers and (2) mix-and-match. I try to pack items that can go well with different outfits and will keep me warm (at least in cold weather climates). Here is what I packed (and used) for 9 days in Paris.…
