Where I've Been, Where I'm At, & Where I'm Going

The best thing about Wren Urban Nest is not the rooms. It’s the location. That is the only reasn I’d still seriously consider staying there again. We paid about $1,500 for four nights, and while the room had some real drawbacks, the location carried the whole stay. For a short first visit to Dublin, especially while fighting jet lag, that mattered more than I expected. This is my honest Wren Urban Nest Review after using it as our downtown Dublin base at the start of our trip

The day before we left for Ireland, I got a gift from the oncology gods. Actually, I have mixed feelings about this, but Mektovi was harming my heart again already after just 2 months on it at the lowest dose. I was instructed to stop taking my medications just in time to go away. Not having the pesky skin, feet, and nausea side effects was a godsend. Flying Out of Kelowna Our Wingbuddy trip started off alright because they let us fly out of Kelowna, which is a 3.5 hour drive

I went to the wig specialist expecting to leave with my new human hair wig. Her name for it was Hollywood. It was going to fall well past my shoulders. Too long for me, but that was fine. The plan was simple. Put it on. Make sure it fit. Cut it into a manageable length. Leave feeling more like myself. That did not happen. We tried it on, and it did not fit. The specialist thought my own hair might be creating bulk under the cap. That made sense. My hair was thin in front, but

Sunburn is not a travel inconvenience when melanoma is part of the picture. It is a risk to plan for. With advanced melanoma, side-effects like fever are common with our medication, too. It's possible to travel with this condition, but still it can be easy to get overwhelmed. As I'm getting ready to go away to Dublin, Paris, and the South of France in two weeks, I'm already thinking about packing. This packing list focuses on sun protection, medication safety, cooling, low-st

Our combination tour of Montserrat and Sagrada Familia ended up being the best value trip we took in Spain. After seeing Montserrat in the morning, we went back to our hotel for a quick rest waiting for our 3:00pm meeting time outside Sagrada Familia. We left Park Hotel Barcelona around 2:30 pm, took a cab over, and met our tour group at a souvenir shop right outside the basilica. By the time we arrived, my feet were already not thrilled with me. I had been dealing with inten

The first thing I noticed was the shape of the mountains. They didn’t look like any ridgeline I’d seen before. The peaks rose in rounded, jagged fingers, pale and dramatic against the sky, like someone had carved the whole range by hand. We went in late April and the timing felt perfect. The temperature was lovely and the mountain views had that clear spring brightness that makes every photo look better than expected. The monastery is nestled in the mountains, so high up it f

I used my Aeroplan points, 153,000 to be exact, to book flights for Dean and I to go to Calgary this past weekend. We went to visit a mutual friend who we hadn't seen in about a year. It's been since 2016, when I last spent time in the city. A lot has changed since then, but none of our plans came to fruition, so I feel like we barely experienced the city. We left to escape smoke from the BC wildfires, but what we got was a lost friendship from an entirely different disaster.

The best thing about seeing a show at Palau Dalmases is that the night starts before anyone steps onstage. Ours started outside, earlier that day, with a market set up near the old stone streets of El Born. I lingered over a pair of gold earrings for a little while. Then we found a casual pizza place nearby serving slices and cheap wine, which felt perfect before a 6:45 pm performance in a 17th-century palace. We walked into Palau Dalmases and had cava before entering the sho

My mom and I went to Park Güell on April 25th, the day we returned to Barcelona from our 9 day cruise. Braftovi had caused severe inflammation in my feet, and I didn't have much stamina for a long exploration of the site. This park was like being in a real-life cartoon; it injected some energy into the expedition. We went in the late afternoon, around 3 pm, with tickets booked through GetYourGuide. Our tickets were technically for 5 pm, but the staff let us in early, a major

Valldemossa is one of those places that looks better in real life than it does in photographs. It's worth the day trip from Palma if you have the time. We left on our cruise excursion at 9 am and found good seats in the middle of the bus. Then after 30 minutes the road started climbing. The city fell away behind us. The mountains folded in close. Olive trees, stone terraces, honey-coloured houses, and a soft Mediterranean light showed up like it had been waiting for us. By th

Jerez is one of the easiest and most memorable day trips from Cádiz. It is close, it has deep wine history, and the sherry houses feel nothing like a standard winery visit. Our cruise excursion to the González-Byass bodega in April was the first stop on a 9-day Spain and Portugal cruise. It set a high bar for the rest of the trip. Why a Cádiz Cruise Excursion to Jerez Works Cádiz sits on the Atlantic coast of Andalusia. Jerez de la Frontera is inland, in the heart of sherry c

Las Ramblas is one of those Barcelona places that feels very energetic. One minute you’re admiring dozens of restaurant options, the next you’re deciding on souvenirs, and then suddenly a very persuasive man has placed elephant bracelets on your wrists and your wallet is lighter by €20. That last part is not a metaphor. It happened to my mom and me. We walked the street in the morning, starting near the Gothic Quarter side and making our way up toward Plaça de Catalunya, wher

My two or so months on Braftovi by itself wreaked havoc on my hair. It had initially got thicker with the treatments including Mektovi and changed texture from straight to curly, but I noticed mostly on my trip to Spain that I was in a heavy shed cycle. I was losing around 200 strands a day when brushing, which is why I cut my hair short above my collar bone. Sadly, the shedding didn't stop and now I'm left very thin on top with less than half the hair I had in April. It's no

Our upcoming trip to France was planned with help from Wingbuddy. We will fly into Nice from Paris and spend exactly a week in the South of France. Every second day involves trips to surrounding cities, each with it's own reputation and charm. And since Wingbuddy determined this part of the itinerary, there wasn't much left to plan for our own free days. This post gives an overview of what our entire week has in store. Wingbuddy's Paris and the French Riviera includes several

October 11th was the last full day of our trip to Italy with Globus. That day was hot and the plan was to take a ferry ride to Capri and tour the Gardens of Augustus. After this, we had at least 3 hours of free time to explore the island on our own. The day was the perfect blend of guided and independent. Can you experience the magic of Capri in just five hours? The short answer is yes. While a brief visit barely scratches the surface of this legendary Italian island, a caref

"In 79 A.D., Mount Vesuvius erupted, covering the city of Pompeii in meters of volcanic ash and preserving it for centuries. We often imagine that ruins are quiet, but today, Pompeii is bustling with tourists roaming the streets to learn how the Romans lived. The ancient streets felt hot, even in October, and I wore a leopard print dress as I followed our tour guide—the one with the red umbrella. When we visited, it was still quite busy for a shoulder season, and the stone st

I had severe hyperkeratosis caused by the medication Braftovi. It was really bad and you can read about it here. Or just see the before picture below. My mom took this photo while on Celebrity Equinox touring Spain. My feet were in agony for much of the trip and my walking was incredibly slow. It didn't take very long for those calluses to develop. Maybe 4 weeks. There was significant inflammation underneath the callus and back in late June, I believed I'd never be callus-fre

As part of an optional excursion on the Globus Italian Tapestry Tour, we had the opportunity to visit Monteriggioni and then go for dinner at a Tuscan Farmhouse. This part of the trip was our highlight of being in Siena and for that reason we were very happy we signed up to see it and its stunning Tuscan views. Monteriggioni makes a strong first impression before you even pass through the gate. A Comprehensive Short Stop Monteriggioni is small. That is the thing that makes it

We only have 3 days in Paris, and there's a lot to see. I'm trying to plan this part of the trip so we can see it all and have some unique experiences, while still leaving enough downtime that we can be relaxed and enjoy the city's vibes. Wingbuddy provides a hop-on, hop-off bus tour on the 2nd day we are there. They also provide a Seine River cruise on our last evening there. With these two activities in mind, I set off to book some other activities. Versailles We are arrivi

Last summer, Dean and I took his two teenage daughters on a 5-day trip to Vancouver Island—Sooke, BC to be specific. We stayed at a campground where we could hook up our 26-foot travel trailer to electricity and sewage. The location was a wide-open lot with a few trees, but it had a large field where we could walk the dogs and it had great showers. The first few days were spent exploring Victoria, doing tours like Butchart Gardens and Hatley Castle. But after those boxes were