 10 years of blogging ~ What a strange trip its been! I'm not sure how it's even possible, but this blog is 10 years old today. WTF?? How is that even possible?? It seems like only last year I took the plunge and leaped out there and bought this domain. Looking back, I've blogged about my adventures traveling in the USA, Europe, Iceland, Canada, Mexico and South America. I've written about trips planned, delayed and failed, as well as amazing adventures that were life changing. I've shared my cruises to the Caribbean, Europe and the Transatlantic journeys. I documented my switch from Vegetarian to Vegan, shared recipes, created book reviews and wrote about my day to day life. I've moved from Texas to the south of France, London, the Lake District and back to the USA and you have been with me.  I have learned and grown so much on this adventure. This blog has opened so many doors for me. I have written several best selling books that wouldn't have happened if I wasn't pushing myself to write here. It's also helped me to try new things, and be open to new experiences. I've gotten serious about Youtube and started sharing way more of everyday life. My world has grown as I've meet new people from all walks of life and become much more of a global citizen.  Thank you so much for reading my posts, sharing your own stories and connecting with me. Your feedback, suggestions and insights have helped me so much. Your friendships mean the world to me and I treasure you.  Where will be go in the next 10 years? In the next part of this 10 year celebration I'm going to share some stats with you and take a trip down memory lane. (Reading the old posts used to make me cringe now I am just nostalgic!)
I can't wait to see what the next 10 years bring!
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If you are bored and want a blast of travel goodness, scenery from the southwest and picture of critters, I got you. Check out my "shorts" playlist for that and more random goodness! Most clips are under 30 seconds and should shift your mood and maybe even inspire you to travel. Speak soon~ Hope you are having a fantastic day!
Travel is such a bother right now, but luckily my trusty iPhone decided to unearth some memories today and found some lost footage of a visit to Inverness and Culloden. I made a very short video, enjoy!  “Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don't be sorry.”
― Jack Kerouac Happy Birthday Jack Kerouac !  Did I mention my buddies is a HUGE Outlander fan? Yep, she is. So while we were in Scotland I searched for a #Outlander themed tour for her. I was surprised at how wildly popular the show was...(I must really live in a cave, right? I had no idea.) The tours were booked up for 2 years in advance and cost? Well as much as well a trip to Scotland! We found a slightly cheaper one and lucked into a open spot. The only open spot for the entire MONTH!  We started the tour in Inverness.  We stayed in a nice B & B in the heart of the city.    This tour was based on historical parts of the novels and TV show, not movie sets or locations that were used in filming. A few of the places I had visited already, but was glad to return to.  Our 1st stop was the Culloden Battlefield. We told the guide that we were more interested in somethings than others and she was kind enough to let us take as long as we wanted here.    The visitor center blends in with the hills and is unobtrusive.      It had been 7 years since I was last at the museum and it had been expanded to include more exhibits, a film and a cafe. I found out later there was no photos allowed, so enjoy my blurry iPhone photos, ok?    We then went back outside to walk around the moor.         Highland Cows are in a area by the parking lot.   We left them and made our way to the Clava Cairn.  (Our train went over this bridge coming into the city!)   For me this is a very peaceful and quiet place. I was last year about 7 years ago. The site is approx 4,000 years old and not far from the Battlefield. To learn more click here for Historic Scotland.       These are the burial cairns.          Driving around Scotland :D     Papers that ended up in the bottom of my bag, lol 1. Dunvegan, Ord House and Calloden Vistitors Centre.  We stopped for tea at the Ord House. (Does it look like Jamies house to you?)  Inside- we had tea and cake and then looked around a bit.    It was cold and the fire was most welcome!  The grounds outside.       It was starting to mist rain so we set off again.  Then went to Beauly          And Back to Inverness proper for more magic!   A lot more happened and we saw a lot more stuff, but thats about all the pictures I can sort for today. We had a really nice time, with a great guide and a really fun tour. We stayed another few days in Inverness (more posts on that adventure soon.)
See you at the airport~ I'm not gonna lie, July sucked ass. It was not a good month. I hope it was better for you than it was here. July was busy, like a blur, a ugly, off center blur that left me feeling battered and bruised. So thanks GOD it's over. Maybe now things will slow down and get back into balance. "Goodbye July, see ya! and wouldn't want to be ya!" #FML That said, here are the top most clicked on posts for July on this website: #1. Weekend in Scotland Part #1 51 +pictures of getting to Glasgow & a bit of the stuff we saw there. Really a good trip. The weather was dark and it rained, some of the pictures are in HD and some are gray. Sorry/not sorry. #2. Adventures in UK IKEA Post from 6/28/15 trip to Newcastle Ikea store. 15+pictures, mostly just an average day. #3. Weekend in Scotland Part #2 Most Recent post, the 2nd part of the Glasgow trip and still over 64 pictures!! and I'm not done with the trip post, yet! Yikes, I need to get those Scotland pictures sorted in some kinda order! #4. Weekend in Wilshire, UK Older post from 12/09/14 - but it is listed on the front of the webpage. I really need to update those, don't I? Lord. This was a fun trip to Wiltshire with 32 pictures of the cold and colorful life of the small village we visited. All these post are form the United Kingdom, most of them are really photo heavy. Should I pay attention to that fact? Do you actually like picture overload as much as me? I think I only did 6 or 7 posts for the whole month of July. #FAIL BUT two of which were really quite good and not listed above. I actually WROTE ABOUT TRAVEL here and the other post I quite enjoyed was the Organic Flour Mill post. We revisited the Mill/Cafe again in late July with my friend from NOLA, but most of the pictures of the colorful, charming place are in this post HERE. If you want to check it out. Once again I want to say THANK YOU for reading my silly little blog. I'm not sure why you do, but your comments and emails make me smile and laugh on some days when I really need it. Thanks for sharing your travel adventures with me and looking at my crazy life. See you at the airport-    (Street view) :D  The Oldest House in Glasgow. Warning: Another Picture heavy Post For part 1 of the Scotland weekend click here, for MORE SCOTLAND from another trip HERE. Our Inverness Trip will be a whole other post, lol. So to recap: My friend from New Orleans (USA) came to a conference in England & then stayed 2+ weeks with me. We went adventuring (mostly in Scotland) and knocked some things off her bucket list. And we took about a million photos, some of which are here. This post focuses on day 2 of being in Glasgow, Scotland.     And it was free.      Much bigger place than I imagined. We were able to explore 3 full floors.                We left to explore the back gardens.     Back herb garden~                From there we crossed the street to the Glasgow Cathedral.       There was a wedding earlier in the day. #WeddingCrashers       There is a small gift shop inside.  It's stunning inside, very calm and peaceful.    The windows are amazing!    Catch you at the airport-   It was a gray, over cast day. (July in England, lol) When we set off for the train station. *WARNING PICTURE HEAVY TRAVEL POST* Last Friday we took the train from Penrith, Cumbria to Glasgow, Scotland. I have not been to Scotland (other than just over the line) in approx. 6 years. We elected to make 2 or 3 small trips over the rest of July, as I have company from New Orleans in town. She has never been to Scotland, but has seen Ireland and England before, so she understands how just a few miles can be a BIG change in scenery and city life.  Starting off at the train station.  Not really many people waiting for trains... I may complain about all the rain and colder temps here, but I do love all the flowers!   Exploring the small train station while waiting for our train.  Our station change..   Arriving in Glasgow, Scotland.  Love the details of the station.  The only picture I took in the hotel, lol At the Breakfast buffet and the room #.  It was a dark, over cast day - so I took 1/2 pictures in HD to show the colors. So consider yourself warned!  But on to sight seeing-    Hospital -          Cathedral   There was a wedding - so we waited till it was over to go inside.  So we went shopping!    And then before the rains came we were off again.  Necropolis       This place is super huge!     Twisted Tree..      The roses were massive and smelled so nice.    And the rain moved in..  So we headed into the cathedral. Next post on the cathedral and other places we went.
See you at the airport! |
Author Welcome to my (I'm excited to travel again) blog, my healthy Vegan lifestyle blog and my life! It's a lot, but it's my passions and I just love to write about it. Visit the "About Me Page" to learn more. 
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