The best way to explore an off-beat destination

          Osaka, Japan I meant to do this post at the beginning of the month, but I have been so busy and have been having such a great time that my internet usage has been limited to only a few minutes a day! I haven’t even had time to set up my Christmas tree yet, but I hope to do so during the few hours I have free on Sunday, as my mum arrives on Monday to spend a week with my brother, sister, and me. Life is good. I’ve decided this year to give a small package to one of the readers of this blog! I have often sent out postcards but, you know, tis the season and all that. I have a few bits and bobs from my travels which I will put together to send out to one person. To enter the giveaway, please comment here, telling me about your best adventure of 2011. Remember, adventures don’t always take place abroad; some of the best adventures I’ve ever had have taken place in my hometown! Please limit your entry to three sentences. ...

As you guys know, I recently returned home from more than two weeks in El Salvador and Honduras. Before the trip, I communicated my intentions to several friends.  Some of them were happy for me and wished me a happy trip.  Others gave me a nervous smirk and blurted an insincere: “Cool”.  In that case the word “cool”, in conjunction with all the facial gestures, was a synonym of “What the hell are you going to do there?”  One lady even asked me why my husband was forcing me to visit his family (he is from El Salvador).  I explained I wanted to go.  With a perplexed expression, she asked me if I was scared.  I said no.   I get the situation.  When you are announcing vacations plans, it seems like everybody is expecting to hear about “dream destinations”.   I mean who doesn’t want to visit the Eiffel Tower, the Coliseum, the Parthenon or Angkor Wat.  New York, San Francisco, London and Sydney are some of the most popular cities in ...

I have a bit of an obsession with chasing after and checking off my bucketlist items…so much so that I recently decided to get my greatest bucketlist checks tattooed on my forearm! It’s probably the most meaningful thing I’ve ever done for myself other than sending “Future Alyssa” postcards from Antarctica and Kilimanjaro saying how proud I am of myself for chasing my dreams. That’s exactly what these all were initially by the way…dreams. Four years ago I never truly believed that I’d check off multiple bucketlists by the time I was 30, but I did, and I’m so damn proud about it! So I’ll start this post explaining my new tattoo, and then you’ll next find my “Top 30 Most Epic Adventures Before 30” series that I did earlier this year right after I turned 30! Oh! And if you’re curious about how I started my dream career as a full time travel blogger and social media influencer, please read my full story o...