The Cotswold Way is a long-distance walk that provides a taste of quintessential English countryside. The route is home to ancient castles, Neolithic burial grounds, idyllic villages and breathtaking views. When my friend Lisa recently returned from walking a portion of the Cotswold Way with her husband, I was curious about her trip and she kindly agreed to let me interview her about her experience.

Smart strategies and thoughtful travel budget planning can turn your travel dreams into affordable realities. Travelling doesn’t have to break the bank or leave you with regrets; it can be a fulfilling and enriching experience while staying within your budgetary limits. Looking at your options with a do-it-yourself attitude plays a big part. Understand your travel motivations and priorities to inform your travel budget planning. Whether it is stretching your funds for longer trips or indulging in specific experiences, aligning your spending with your values ensures a fulfilling travel experience. 

Looking for a way to travel differently and save on accommodation costs? Read my home exchange review and learn how this travel community of housing exchanges can provide unique travel experiences while staying for (almost) free in stunning destinations. Discover the benefits, risks, and rewards of home exchanging in this comprehensive guide.

Benefits of Solo Travel? Wait, what!?!?

But I’m not some fearless college backpacker!

What would my family think?

What if I got lost?

Will I feel safe?

I’d feel so guilty!

I have a partner, why would I not want to go with him/her?

I’m too old.

Won’t I feel lonely?

I’d be too bloody scared to leave my hotel!

This is just a crazy idea!

“Slow down, Tracy” Catherine whispered as I walked the forest path. Silently chuckling, I heeded Catherine’s advice, slowed my pace and focused on the forest around me.

Slowing down is a skill I attempt to practice in many areas of my life, but I didn’t expect a nature and wildlife photography tour to be the immersive experience I needed to “find” my slower pace. hmmm

Learn how to choose the best camera to travel for photography. DSLR camera vs phone camera - discover the pros and cons of each and get inspired with photography ideas for your next trip. Whether you're a beginner or enthusiast, find the perfect camera that suits your needs and goals and plan some photo fun.

What to see in Trapani: we arrived in Trapani at night. Our enjoyable 6-hour scenic bus ride across Sicily ended in a dark, deserted parking lot outside of town. With phone GPS in hand, we followed the little blue dot along an industrial waterfront and then into the winding, narrow streets of Trapani Old Town. We stopped once to pick up breakfast foods at a grocery store, then found our sweet apartment off a courtyard filled with hanging laundry. We had no clue until the next morning, just how charming this small city was.

Visiting Pompeii is an awe-inspiring experience. The site is massive - it’s a CITY, so it's helpful to plan ahead to make it as stress-free as humanly possible. There is no ONE right way to travelling well but allow me to share my experience of Pompeii. Learn from my mistakes, try out my recommendations, or do your own thing and strike out on your own path. However your day at Pompeii looks - we can marvel together at the incredible window into the past.

Create a hyper- personalized itinerary for travel in a thoughtful 4-step method. In this article, I use my own solo trip to Seattle to demonstrate how to set your intentions, plan your journey, customize your itinerary, and push past your comfort zone for an unforgettable adventure. Great information for solo travel in Seattle!

If the thought of long-distance walking gives you an exhilarating thrill and feeds your adventurous spirit - I’m with you! Besides being one of the growing trends in active tourism, there is an irresistible allure to spending time outdoors, walking through natural beauty, and learning about a place on foot. Europe in particular, boasts a remarkable network of meticulously designed paths that weave and wind across the continent and has long embraced the culture of long-distance walking and thru-hiking.

Have you ever experienced that nature smells sweeter, food tastes better, buildings seem more photo-worthy, and people-watching is far more engaging when you are travelling?

It’s not that these simple experiences are never “as good” at home, but rather foreign or different settings can heighten or deepen the way we process these as a travel experience. It’s largely psychological: our minds are primed by unfamiliar surroundings, stimulated by new challenges, and highlighted by emotions. Travel (and solo travel especially) puts us into a state where we notice more and feel more.

When we get distracted by other people’s actions and marketing messages, our “Bucket List” of travel wishes simply grows without consideration of personal alignment... I advocate transforming it from a long ‘check off’ list to one that is firmly rooted in self-knowledge and designed with intention. This will help to avoid the pitfalls of a shallow, narrow and disconnected list. The next level, though, is a travel vision board.

Travel with intention - a thoughtful and deliberate approach to exploration. It goes beyond merely hopping on a plane and ticking off a checklist of tourist attractions. Instead, it involves aligning your travel plans with WHY you are travelling. Intentional travel boosts our happiness and well-being!

I have a childhood memory of playing in a local, abandoned graveyard near my friend’s house. I was living in London, England at the time and the tombstones were from the 1800s. The moss growing in the cracks of the stone and the ivy re-claiming the space made our “play space” private, wild and welcoming of our imaginations. My friend and I would make up stories about the people and imagine life “way back then.” My much beloved Anne of Green Gables stories were also set in the 1870s, so 11-year-old me developed an association that cemeteries were like libraries, holding the stories of interesting people.

For some people, trip planning is a thrill and a joy. For others it's a nightmare. If you've gotten to know me through my articles you'll know that I fall firmly in the joy category!

I have two friends visiting southern Spain as I write this and I am so thrilled and excited that their trips look very different from mine. Not because they are doing it better or that my month in Spain was anything less than amazing, but because they created highly personalized travel plans. THEY are the heart of their itinerary - not any instagram influencer, not a guidebook, not a tour company, and not me.

The Alhambra is one of the most visited tourist destinations in Spain. Yet in spite of its crowds and busyness, it can also offer a fantastic opportunity for deep travel. You will have to tolerate people trying to get the perfect selfie or instagrammable photo, but with a little effort to learn some history, eat local food, connect with people, and marvel at different cultures, the Alhambra in Granada has the perfect ingredients for a deep travel experience.

I've been bitten by a travel bug. In this article my husband and frequent travel partner shares his thoughts about how travel influences our relationship, how our travels have evolved together and how travel plays a transitional role in retirement.