Friday Links!

Greetings explorers!

This has been a strange week to say the least. A lot of getting things done that needed to be done but no really earth shattering or exciting events. Well... that is unless you count surprise Valentine's Day flowers from your boyfriend as earth shattering, which I do....

Tulips because he couldn't bring me a souvenir from Amsterdam <3 

But now that I'm done kinda (okay really) bragging lets get back to business.

In all honesty it's been a slow week for all things travel related. Matt and I are still waiting to hear some hopefully very good news soon but until then, it's just a waiting game.  Keeping all that in mind, I thought this week would be great to leave everyone some links. Below is a small collection of articles, blogs and helpful sites I'm really into currently. Maybe these can inspire you to stop putting off that next romantic get away or, better still, to finally take your first big trip!

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If you're like me, you're feeling the winter blues all over. I'm convinced that travel is the answer to everything and the BBC's Passport Blog agrees with me. Here's a post perfect for Valentine's Day.

Also from over at the BBC, something for those couples traveling together for the first time. You can learn these lessons on your own (Matt and I did) but thinking about these things beforehand might cut down on bickering. Emphasis on might.

Sometimes, just being able to look at destination and plan trips is enough of an escape for your mind to help you through the day. I tend to do this on Mondays. Matt and I favor the Lonely Planet travel books on travel as well as their website. With their Destination search, you can easily find anywhere you'd like to go. It's great for learning more about areas around World Heritage Sites!

And last but not least, some UNESCO news. UNESCO has just hosted an event called Marine World Heritage: Crown Jewels of the Ocean. There are 46 World Heritage Sites located in the ocean all in the name of conservation and marine sustainability.  I don't actually know if Matt and I will be able to get to some of these... maybe above them on a boat... does that count?

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Happy  Friday everyone!

xxT

The Fact of the Matter

When Matt first told me about his goal to see all 900... well it must have been 920-and-some at that time, I didn't know him well. He was very cute and I couldn't get enough but I also wasn't too sure what World Heritage Sites even were. I'm not saying I thought it was silly. I thought it was incredibly romantic. I saw images of jet-setting and beautiful hotels- Oh, the joys of loving a man who loved to travel....

A Very Special Day

Hello everyone! Today's post has mostly zero to do with traveling, just as fair warning. Then why make a post you say? 

Because it's Matthew's Birthday!!!!! 

He tries to pretend he doesn't know how good looking
 he is, but he knows...

Yes, the love of my life turns 22 today! Which means I can now tease him for being old just like he teases me. 

Since this time last year we've really fallen into sync. We've seen some amazing things and gone through some ridiculous(ly sad/painful/super-stressful) times together and, honestly, I would never want to do that again with or for anyone else. Even with all of that, I think that this past year has been a good one and I hope that Matt feels the same. 21 wasn't all that bad but I'm betting 22 will be better :)

Unfortunately, I can't celebrate it with him and, because of the perils of overseas shipping, it doesn't seem he'll get his presents anytime soon either. Below is a small birthday present for him.

A Happy Tuesday to you all :)

Happy Birthday Matthew <3

Pay Attention

My least favorite month of the year is officially over and it's time to breath a sigh of relief. At least until Valentines Day. It's the little things in life that are really what keep me going when we enter this particular stretch of time. There's no Matt, no traveling and not much to enjoy but work which, at least, gets me out of the house.

One thing that January is good for though is thought. Deep thought. Well... deep-ish thought. Mostly I sit and daydream about next year and about past travels. In those daydreams, however, have highlighted a bit of a frustration.

Last week is a great example: As I was writing about exploring Washington D.C. with Matt, I realized that I was having to really sit and wrack my brain to remember exact moments. I'm not saying that I don't remember the trip or that I didn't have an amazing time, quite to the contrary. However, I didn't remember specific moments as vividly as I wish I did.

Honestly that's been happing a lot in the recent years. I look forward to something so much that I put such pressure on it that I can't enjoy it. Or I focus on how the moment can't last and it passes me by. That's why visits with Matt seem so short and the reason it can be so hard to write about our trips. This struggle to remember our trips brings it to a whole other level of frustrating. The point of travel is to experience another place, not go and sit and leave just to say you visited. Even worse, it makes me feel like Matt is making memories without me.

My father was always telling me to pay attention to my surroundings and it's high time to take his advice again, I know, but the question is how? With so many distractions and a world full of hyper-awareness of the wrong thing (i.e. everything that could ever go wrong) how am I supposed to retrain myself to focus?

Obviously I don't have answers. It's just something I have to work on. Hopefully, with every new event and trip I'll find a way to work it out.

Have a lovely weekend all. I hope you all can make some good memories. <3

Txx

Happy Monday!

A white rose from the Blenheim's Gardens

I do know that the words Happy and Monday don't actually make any sense together at all. However, in the vein of trying to look at this year as a new opportunity for growth, I'm trying to pretend like I'm happy it's Monday.

As I was perusing for my own purposes, I found that Vanity Fair has done a complete photo story about Blenheim Palace - FROM THE INSIDE! In case you've forgotten, I was properly chastised for trying to take a picture in the Great Hall so, I'm very excited that you can see how absolutely beautiful it is there.

Think of it as a small gift to you all to make your Monday a little brighter. Have a great rest of the week and I'll see you on Friday!

Vanity Fair's "Inside Blenheim Palace"