Travel - Aesthetic Journeys Photography

Why Traveling is the Most Important Way to Spend Money

December 30, 2021

In early 2020, I looked at my husband told him I wanted to do a solo backpacking hike. That for my birthday I wanted to get a backpack and start training and planning for it. See, I felt I just needed to get away from people. I needed to clear my head and just be by myself. Well, we all know what happened in 2020. A pandemic in case you didn’t know. 😉 Which meant, I was alone (alone with my husband) and had plenty of time to clear my head. So that backpacking trip didn’t happen. In fact, very few trips happened in 2020. We road tripped to a couple of places but it definitely was not the year

Why the Same Trip Can be the Best Trip

May 18, 2021

Why are you going there? You’ve already been. Hands up if anyone has said this to you. Okay, put your hands down, I can’t really see you. However, if you’ve ever returned to the same vacation spot over and over again, someone has probably said this to you. Usually, for me, it’s people who just don’t understand why my family would go camping in the exact same location every year, but we did. Or why we feel the need to go to Disney World every few years. Or why when summer hits in central Texas, I hit Schlitterbahn. Over and over again. Why? Because sometimes the best place you can go is actually one you’ve already been. I think there’s

The Best Way to See Elephants in Thailand + 10 Reasons Why You’ll Love It

May 11, 2021

There’s a lot of mixed feelings out there about seeing Elephants in Thailand. Feelings range from completely against it to trying to find an ethical way to see them, to simply riding elephants where they can. I’m not here to tell you what’s right or wrong, I’m just sharing my experience that was fantastic. If you really want to spend quality time with elephants then this is for you. You essentially get to take care of an elephant for the day. Elephants in Thailand Before we get to the experience, let’s talk about why symbols of elephants are everywhere in Thailand and how to spot unsafe conditions for both you and the elephants. Let’s talk first about the history of

How to Fall In Love with an Ireland Road Trip

March 4, 2021

Did you know that St. Patrick was not born in Ireland? Or that blue is the color most associated with him, not green? Like a lot of holidays there have been stories, myths, and twisted facts that have changed the way we celebrate them. Regardless of this, no matter who you are, you probably associate St. Patrick’s Day with Ireland (at least in your head). For that reason and in honor of St. Patrick’s Day this month, I’m sharing my top 10 Ireland road trip stops. It’s been almost 8 years since my personal Ireland road trip. That means, I had to dust-off the scrapbook (because yes, I scrapbook) and remember the good times. We did an Ireland trip

How Many Days to Fall in Love with Yellowstone?

November 12, 2020

I’m going to be honest right off the bat with you: I LOVE Yellowstone. It ranks right up there with Australia. I do believe it is the best National Park I’ve been to and that you must see it in your lifetime. It gets neglected a lot because it’s far, it’s huge, and it’s NOT a “drive thru” park. It greatly pains me to speak to anyone that has been to Yellowstone and doesn’t love it. The reason for this is quite simple: they did it wrong. Yes, there is a right way and wrong way to do Yellowstone and I’m here to tell you how. I’ve been to Yellowstone 4 times in my life. Once when I was a

Can’t Miss Australian Animal Encounters + How to Find Them

July 30, 2020

Think Australian animals are only out to kill you? Think again. This is a huge misconception about Aussie animals. They’re actually really quite amazing. Australian animals are one of the main reasons I wanted to go to Australia. I loved the koalas and was so looking forward to holding one. They are so stinkin’ cute and I love small furry animals. When I arrived in Australia, I was shocked to learn you can only hold a koala in the state of Queensland. I was in New South Wales. This was right after I graduated from university and was on an unpaid internship. I was only in the country for 10 weeks, and didn’t have a whole lot of money. I did find

The Best Travel Experiences You’ll Love to Add to Your Bucket List

May 14, 2020

Do you love to travel? Are you constantly adding places to your bucket list? I get it. I’ve been there. In fact, I’m still there. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the best travel experiences I’ve ever had. Then, with all the things being cancelled and everyone staying in, I began to wonder if my cancelled trips really mattered. However, that then raised a bigger question of does travel matter? And I’m here to tell you it does. It’s critical to my well-being personally but I also truly believe it’s critical to a well-balanced world. So Why Does Travel Matter so Much? During all the covid-19 mess, I kept seeing things on social media about how I shouldn’t complain

Moving to Australia: 5 Things I Wish I Had Known

April 16, 2020

Living in Australia If you’ve met me, you know I lived in Australia. It pretty much comes up within the first 5 minutes of knowing me and I can’t help it. I love Australia. If it were cheaper and a closer to family, I’d still be there. I started this post 3 years ago when we were on our way back home, but never published it. I’ve decided to come back and finish it. This is a subject that is near and dear to my heart: travel. I often wonder why people who have made enough money to last them a lifetime still work. Why don’t they just travel? Life out of a van? See the world? That’s what I’d

10 Touristy New York City Activities to Do

October 17, 2019

A few weeks ago we took an extended weekend trip to NYC with a couple of dear friends and had the best time. It’s true there’s loads to do in that city and sometimes things get left out or the touristy New York City activities get bumped from the list. However, I’m here to tell you there are a few tourist activities you really shouldn’t miss in NYC. While you may not have time for them all in one weekend, we had two full days and did all of the below. Don’t disregard these items just because they may be for tourists, they are truly worth it. With a little planning you can definitely get them all done in a

The Perfect One Day Itinerary for Madrid, Spain

July 18, 2019

Adam and I recently took a trip with a couple of friends to Spain and visited Madrid and Sevilla. While Madrid wasn’t necessarily our favorite part of Spain, we did spend one lovely day there before heading out to the smaller town of Toledo. As with most European countries, there’s a lot of history in Madrid, a palace to see, and plenty of shopping and meandering on your one day itinerary for Madrid. I’m also giving away a few free photos on the Journey Junkies page taken from our trip. If you’re not a member, you can sign up here so you can download free photos to inspire your wanderlust. One Day Itinerary for Madrid, Spain On our day in

the Archives