Sometimes You Need a Vacation and Not a Travel Experience

On April 27, 2021April 27, 2021 By Living The Q Life Travel AdventuresIn Blogging, California, Caribbean, Mexico, Spain, Travel Tips2 Comments

We have always believed that we have two types of trips, travel and vacations. When we travel, it is all about seeing historic locations, exploring the architecture, tasting the local cuisine, and immersing ourselves into the culture. Vacations are about relaxation, refreshing our minds and bodies, and just getting away from the daily routines. We tend to travel more than we take vacations, but it is nice to just get away from time to time. Although there are many different places to visit in order to have a relaxing vacation, going to the beach is certainly one of our favorites. These are some of the favorite beach vacations that we’ve taken over the past few years.

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico – This is one of our favorite locations to visit and we’ve been there several times. It is located on the Baha Peninsula that extends south of California, making it very easy to get to from the United States. There are wonderful restaurants along the beach and in the marina, plenty of activities, and a variety of resort styles. We tend to go during the “bumper” season, meaning not quite off-season and not the busiest months. Because we have been there many times, we like the familiarity of it and revisiting places that we have enjoyed in the past.

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic – We definitely indulged ourselves with our visit to the Dominican Republic as we chose to upgrade to the royal concierge service. This gave us a room right on the beach in an adult-only section of the resort. Because the resort was all-inclusive and had so many different restaurants, we didn’t actually leave the grounds of the resort during our time there, which we would do differently next time.

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – Located on the western coast of the mainland of Mexico, Puerto Vallarta is definitely a tourist friendly location. We happen to go during the time when there was a flu scare that actually didn’t have any impact to the region, but it caused a lot of tourists to stay away. We also enjoyed going to a cultural show during our time in Puerto Vallarta in addition to doing the typical tourist activities.

Estepona, Spain – Located in the Spanish Riviera on the coast of the Mediterranean, Estepona is slightly smaller than Marbella that is just a few miles away. We actually spent two weeks in Spain, so this was a combination of travel with a little bit of vacation mixed in. It was certainly a wonderful way to end our days of exploring southern Spain by returning to a relaxing resort.

Just Another Day at the Beach in Carlsbad

Carlsbad, California – We took a quick trip to Carlsbad, which is located north of San Diego. Not only did we spend time in the quaint beach town, but we also took a wine tour to Temecula where we sampled a wonderful variety of wine. We were able to enjoy the laid back lifestyle of California, even if only for a week. Once again we were treated to some beautiful sunsets as we ate at various restaurants across from the beach.

Orlando, Florida – We went to Orlando for our twentieth wedding anniversary and spent time in Walt Disney World. We also went to Cocoa Beach in order to dip our toes in the water. We really enjoyed our time in Epcot Center as you are able to experience different cultures, food, and drinks in one place. There are many wonderful beaches in Florida, but obviously they can be quite crowded and we certainly wouldn’t go during the spring break season.

Cabanas, Umbrellas, and Palapas on the Beach in Acapulco

Acapulco, Mexico – Although there has been a lot of reports of crime in the area in recent years, the beaches of Acapulco are certainly quite beautiful. With the famous cliff divers, wonderful restaurants, and typical water activities, there is plenty to see and do in this resort town. This was the last trip that we took prior to the start of the pandemic.

If you are looking for a location where you can sit on the beach with a tropical drink in your hand, none of these locations will disappoint. Many of them are currently open to travelers although it is the start of the rainy season in most tropical locations, so we’ll probably wait for later in the year before considering a trip to one of these incredible destinations.

Street Art Around the World

On April 8, 2021April 8, 2021 By Living The Q Life Travel AdventuresIn Blogging2 Comments

The sides of buildings have become a blank canvass for artists to create unique and often whimsical murals. While there is still graffiti in plenty of places, a lot of it has mostly been replaced by interesting works of art. Although not everyone is a fan of the works that can be found in cities everywhere, we have certainly seen some interesting ones. Obviously the quality of the artwork depends on the talent of the artist and the choice of subjects can be political or can sometimes offend as well. The notion of using walls of buildings to tell a visual story is nothing new as we witnessed by seeing all of the hieroglyphs on the ancient temples in Egypt. These murals aren’t restricted to the outside of buildings, it is also common to see them painted on the walls of restaurants as well. What do you think, are the paintings on the walls artwork or an eyesore?

Sandhill Cranes Painted on Wall in Southern Colorado

IMGP8438 — Artwork in Cochabamba, Bolivia

IMGP4771 — Painted Wall Above Elevators in Denver

When and Where Will We Travel Once Again?

On April 6, 2021April 6, 2021 By Living The Q Life Travel AdventuresIn Blogging, Travel Tips21 Comments

The past year has been one of frustration in terms of our ability to get out and see the world. As vaccinations continue to rapidly increase across the world, the variants and additional waves continue to keep the future of travel in a state of flux. In general, we are optimistic people and we continue to be hopeful that things will change for the better in the near future, but our optimism seems to get dashed lately. Sure, we can travel domestically and there is nothing wrong with that, however what we really want is to get out and see something new. We had plans to go to Turkey last April and we postponed it to November last year instead of our original destination of Africa and then had to cancel the trip entirely. In its place, we planned a trip for this April to visit Portugal only to be notified that the country remains on lockdown and so that trip was canceled. Ever the optimists, we heard that travel to portions of Africa were open to international travel and since we originally wanted to go there last year so we were looking at going there in June, but now things seem to be closing again there as well.

Entrance to Hoa Lu in the Ninh Binh Province of Vietnam

Standing Outside of the Bent Pyramid in Egypt

We aren’t giving up, though. We will travel someplace this June, we’re just not sure where. There are places in Central and South America that are open, but things could change with a minute’s notice. If we can’t get out of the country, we will go someplace in the continental United States. We will be fully vaccinated within a couple of weeks, which seems to be the new requirement for traveling. We’re not sure if everyone is going through the severe sense of “travel withdrawal” that we are, but if we don’t go somewhere soon we might just go stir crazy. Any recommendations of places that are open to travel for us to consider would be greatly appreciated.