Camping in Yosemite

A Camping Weekend in Yosemite National Park

One of the stops both Mr Ayla and I were looking forward to most on our American adventure was camping in one of the United States’ most incredible national parks.  Yosemite is a four hour drive from San Francisco so, once Mr Ayla had got the hang of a slightly bigger drive than he was used to, we headed out of the city in our absolutely awesome campervan courtesy of Escape Campervans.

After driving along the windy tree filled roads, we arrived late at night and made our way to the Upper Pines Campground, right in the heart of Yosemite Valley, where we would be setting up our camper for the next couple of nights.  It was pretty difficult but equally fun to set up the bed in the dark, find the bear locker to store our food in (no bears would be getting to my leftover cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory!), and find the toilets, all the while trying to be quiet so as not to wake the other campers nearby.

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5 Reasons To Love Fabulous Las Vegas

Las Vegas was never somewhere that I particularly wanted to visit.  With no culture, not a lot of history, and no major sights to see, it seemed to be a place to just gamble and party.  And while I do like a good party, it isn’t the sort of thing I plan my travels around.

So I couldn’t have been any more surprised when I found myself absolutely loving the city almost as soon as we arrived.  I loved it so much that it was one of my favourite parts of our American adventure and I’m already desperate to go back.

From the minute our taxi hit the Strip, I had my eager face pressed up against the window, oohing and aahing at all the bright lights and enormous hotels dominating the skyline, people spilling out onto the sidewalks watching the majestic displays of entertainment on the streets.

There really is so much more to Sin City than I gave it credit for.  While it might not be to everyone’s taste, the fact that I ended up in complete wonderment of the place just goes to show that it certainly shouldn’t be written off.  I could enthusiastically chatter on about this place all day but here are just a few of the many reasons why Las Vegas won me over so easily.

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Travel blogger planning a trip

A Surprise Adventure

It’s been five long torturous months of having to keep this secret to myself and now I can finally share it.  Mr Ayla turned 30 yesterday and I’d planned a little surprise for his birthday.  There may actually be a few of you (okay possibly a lot of you) who already know about this surprise – I may not have been able to share it with my husband but the excitement was too much not to share with anyone at all!

Mr Ayla woke up on his birthday morning to be greeted with a treasure hunt leading him to a selection of clues around the house and finally to his big surprise…

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Reasons to visit New Orleans

Wanderlusting Over New Orleans

As someone who is ridiculously crazy about travel, it’s not surprising that I always have some far flung destination floating around my head, whether it’s thinking back on memories from somewhere I’ve fallen in love with or daydreaming about a new place I would love to explore. Reading so many other travel blogs about people’s adventures around the world is fascinating and infuriating in equal measure. Fascinating because oh my goodness I want to go there, and infuriating because oh my goodness I want to go there!!

The US has never really been high on my list of places to explore, mainly because I prefer countries with as different a culture and traditions to us as possible.  But lately I just can’t seem to get New Orleans out of my head.  This Louisiana city, known for its vibrant nightlife, live music scene and rich mix of cultures is like nowhere else in the US and the more I see and read about it, the more I desperately want to visit.  Writing about it really isn’t helping but what the hell!  These are just a few of the many reasons why I am wanderlusting so hard over this city right now.

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