Hi let me introduce myself! My name is Amy and planning adventures is my #1 stress reliever! I have a full-time career in sales/management for a large Fortune 500 company. I love my job and appreciate the opportunities that I have been given. Planning and executing are strengths that I have leveraged to help me be successful in my career. But all work and no play makes Amy a dull girl! Fortunately, I’ve found a healthy, creative way to parlay my love of planning with my love of travel. I take great pleasure in researching, scheduling, booking and counting down the days until my next departure. Planning is half the fun!
Planning for any adventure requires that I take stock of the following situations: current finances, travel logistics, required time off work, and my personal fitness level. I’d like to tell you that I’m one of those disciplined travelers that sets a budget, plans accordingly and works within that budget…..but I’d be totally lying to you. And since this our first time meeting, the last thing I want to do is lie to a new friend! Let me put it to you this way, I will never be debt free OR have any unused vacation days at the end of the year.
My idea of budgeting for a vacation is to look up flight information, hotel accommodations, available vacation days and then go from there. I pay for as much as I can up front (credit cards totally count). Then, I just hope that I have enough money left in my savings to pay off my Amex when it comes due! Admittedly not the best strategy, but it’s always worked for me. I think I just heard you gasp so this is probably a good time to point out that this is not a financial blog. Notice that I did not list being financially savvy as a strength in my introduction? That’s because I’m fumbling through life like almost everyone else. I am absolutely not advising that you budget for your vacations the way I do. You do you. Just don’t judge!
Now that I’ve fully disclosed my budgeting strategy, it’s time to get to the good stuff, planning! Airfare and lodging consume a significant percentage of my vacation dollars, so I start by figuring out the logistics. I utilize American Express Travel, Google Flights and Hopper to find the best deals on airfare. Once I have an approximate budget for airfare, I research lodging. I spend a great deal of time on this segment of planning because accommodations can make or break a trip. There’s nothing worse than booking what looks to be a great room online, only to arrive in person to find there’s no central air, the interior hasn’t been updated in years, the room is dank and reeks of stale cigarette smoke, and that the pool is so green with algae that you wouldn’t even consider even dipping in your big toe! ! Experience is a good teacher so I now rely on word of mouth, TripAdviser, andPinterest for suggestions and reviews.
My next big adventure is to Sedona and the Grand Canyon! In less than a month, I will meet up with my daughters, Lauren and Courtney, for 4 days of hiking and biking in Arizona! This will be my second annual trip to the Grand Canyon and first time to Sedona. I actually started planning this trip last year while I was in the Canyon. I have a long standing rule that I have to plan my next vacation while still on my current vacation. This makes leaving so much easier knowing that my next adventure is in the works! Anyway, I digress…… we are flying into Pheonix, renting an SUV, and then heading to Junipine Resorts for the first leg of the trip. I am really looking forward to the Jeep Sunset Vortex Tour in the desert. There are also a few metaphysical shops that to I’m excited to visit. From Sedona, we will head to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. We are staying at the Yavapai Lodge in Grand Canyon Village in order to be close to the trails. I can’t wait to share the details on a future post!
Today, my daughter Lauren and I went on a day trip to the Red River Gorge! We loaded up our backpacks and the GoPro and hit the trail. This was our first trip to Red River Gorge and the experience was nothing short of amazing. We started at the Sky Bridge trailhead and quickly came upon the iconic Sky Bridge Arch. This natural sandstone measures 23 feet high and 75 feet long and is 10,000 years in the making!
Next we headed to Sheltowee Trace and discovered the most beautiful lagoon. After hiking for only about a half mile, we discovered a suspension bridge!
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