It’s that time of year again! After the rush of the winter holidays, it’s time for me to sit down and think about my favorite travel moments of 2019. And what a year it has been!
I started off the year thinking that I had it all figured out – where I wanted to go and what I was going to do when I got there. But then, as always, life had other plans and I found myself on another path.
The cool thing is that just because our path is different than we originally anticipated, doesn’t mean that it isn’t meaningful. Special. Full of adventure and memories.
Like I’ve said over and over again – you can find adventures wherever you are. Sure, they might not be the ones you were planning on, but hey – isn’t that what an adventure is?
If you missed last year’s post – check it out here!
The beginning of a new year is a time for reflection for many reasons. For me, I use it as a time to remind myself that although I sometimes get caught up in the daily grind of work and responsibilities, I do a great job at balancing the mundane with adventures.
And thank goodness for social media – those dates and little blurbs I include with my pictures do wonders when my memory is struggling to recall those little thoughts and impressions I had along the way.
So from road trips to camping on a beach to getting caught in a rainstorm, here are my favorite travel moments of 2019!
Disneyland Memorial Weekend
As a Southern California native and former Cast Member, I learned that there are particular times of the year to avoid going to Disneyland: major holidays, summer, and the Spring Break Period of late-March through April. But sometimes those dates are unavoidable and I find myself dodging through swarms of people.
Related: 10 Things You’re Doing Wrong at Disneyland
I was fortunate to spend a day during Memorial Weekend with my best friend from kindergarten, running through the Park like little kids. Both of us grew up going to Disneyland and have lost track how many times we’ve ridden ALL of the attractions.
But the reason this particular trip makes my favorite travel moments of 2019 is because we tried something we’ve never done before. Even in a place where we’ve basically grown up, where we can walk around with our eyes closed and navigate our way to our favorite rides, seen every parade and show countless times…even in a place like this, we were able to have a new adventure.
After gorging ourselves on a delicious meal, we headed over to Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer’s Island – an island in the middle of the Waters of America in the heart of Frontierland. We ran around and giggled like we were back in elementary school. We pretended we were pirates, searching for the lost treasure, hidden somewhere on the island. All in all, it was an amazing day.
Riding the Pacific Surfliner
One of the things I miss most about Europe is the amazing train systems that criss-cross the countries. Although America is still far away from reaching the expansive network of trains, I discovered that train travel is still possible.
While in Southern California for some family business, I decided to travel down to San Diego to visit my friend Michelle. I was tired of driving, so I took a little trip on the Pacific Surfliner, the Southern California Amtrak route that hugs the coast from San Luis Obispo down to San Diego.
My favorite part of the trip, aside from seeing my friend, was the journey back to Anaheim from San Diego. When I say that the train hugs the coast, I mean it literally. As I sat in my first class window seat facing the setting sun, I realized that there was nothing between the train and the ocean. During the golden hour, I got to watch surfers catching waves and playing with dolphins with a completely unobstructed view. At that moment, I felt at peace.
Cute AirBnB Host in Montana
En route to Canada for a birthday trip with Ashley, we stopped overnight in The Middle of Nowhere, Montana (seriously, the drive from Salt Lake City to Calgary is NO JOKE). Every corner we turned towards our lodging had us exclaiming how beautiful Montana was, how fortunate we were to be there, and planning out a future return…even before we reached our destination.
We pulled up to our AirBnB for the night – a downstairs 2-bed apartment complete with hot tub, sauna, pond, fire pit, and 20 acres to explore. Our host greeted us and was one of the nicest people we’d meet during our travels.
I could honestly go on and on like a broken record about how much we thoroughly enjoyed our stay: soaking in the hot tub, roasting mallows by the pond and making s’mores, the reason I included this experience on my favorite travel moments of 2019 list was one sentence uttered by our dear host:
The bears this year are young and stupid. They haven’t even figured out the bird feeders yet.
AirBnB host Cindy
Canada
For my friend Ashley’s 30th birthday, we loaded up StanLee, her Subaru, with winter clothes, camera gear, her puppy, and headed north to Calgary, Alberta, Canada. We planned a week-long adventure in Montana, Calgary, Banff, Jasper, and whatever else we could find along the way.
Oh, Canada. How much I have underestimated thee. Although I didn’t bring a notebook on this particular trip, my notes app on my phone was full of random thoughts, quotes, and insights. Writing everything down was the only way I could keep track of the last experience before a new one came along and wiped the old one from my memory.
There’s no way I could pinpoint a penultimate experience within our adventures. Every day, Ashley and I would exclaim, “Stahp it, Canada.” We couldn’t get over how beautiful it was.
We maxed out our SD camera cards, overloaded our phones, and still didn’t feel like we were able to adequately capture the grandeur of the Canadian Rockies.
Sunrise over Lake Powell
I’m a sucker for a good sunrise. I’ve traveled all over the world looking for some of the most epic moments where the sky is painted golds, pinks, and yellows. If you want to read about my previous sunrises, check out this post here.
Over the summer I was at Lake Powell for the first time, finally able to figure out what all of the fuss was about. For years, friends and neighbors would just gush about the wonder that was Lake Powell, and marvel and (playfully) judge me for having never been.
Every day, the sun would creep over the mountains like a toddler peeking over their crib. The heat would wake me up first, but I’d hurry out of my tent on the beach and just sit and watch it. Every morning started off with a beautiful view and meditation while listening to the stillness of the lake. Nothing has yet to compare.
Disneyland at Christmas
I know, I know, I already have Disneyland listed on my favorite travel moments of 2019 list, but I went to Disneyland twice this year (consequently both during holidays). Since I don’t work for Disney anymore, this was a rare oddity that I took full advantage of.
The night before we went into Disneyland, we were walking around the Disneyland Hotel and happened upon the Tangaroa Terrace Tropical Bar & Grill. For about 2 hours, my mom and brothers and I sat out on the terrace, drinking a variety of mocktails with fun names: Skipper Sipper, Polynesian Punch, Schweitzer Falls.
Normally whenever our family goes to Disneyland, we’re always go-go-go and running from place to place to “make the most” of our time and money (Disneyland is pricey!). We’ve figured out how to navigate even the most busiest of days and this particular trip, we built in some extra time so we could relax and enjoy.
I can’t properly explain how refreshing it was to be able to hang out with some cold (virgin) drinks, chat about everything from travel to Disney to family to movies, nowhere to be and with just time on our hands. Surrounded by tiki torches, the smell of Disneyland in the air, good company…it can’t get any better.
It was also a nice reminder to take time to slow down so you don’t burn out!
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