bit by the travel bug

my mom and dad were born and raised in new york (brooklyn & bronx), but cara and i were born and raised in california. since a very young age i have traveled to new york to spend my summers with grandma, visiting friends and family. up until my nana moved to florida a couple of years ago, i'd usually go to new york a couple times a year. when i was 17 i worked at a sleepaway camp (8 weeks) full of long island kids and when i was 21 i worked at a busy cafe in montauk. both summers might have been the worst summers of my life, but i definitely grew... that's for sure. i stopped doing touristy things in new york long ago... but after high school graduation katie and i went for our senior trip and had a blast. since then (now 10 years ago!), i mostly just go to visit friends/family or go to weddings/bar mitzvahs. my grandfather was one of 11 so i have a really large family... plus as you can imagine my parents are incredibly social (wonder where i got that from!), so...

Since Cara (my sis) and Dustin moved and the amazing Noah Grace has arrived, I've been spending a lot of time in Portland. It's quite an interesting city... 75% of the Portland population is white. And you sure do feel it. Since growing up in a predominately Hispanic population in Visalia, everytime I'm there I'm like "where the heck is everyone??" It's the whitest metropolitan city west of the Mississippi. Portland also has the 7th largest LGBT population in the US. This equates to a pretty big hippy & hipster population. Portland is filled with art, compost trash cans, greenery, beautiful hikes, good food (trucks), lots of beer, and fun street markets. My favorite attractions: McMenamins - Kennedy School McMenamins were brothers who have taken over (mostly) historical buildings in the portland area and turned them into pubs, restaurants, movie theaters, hotels, etc. Kennedy School (previously an elementary school) is by far my favorite with...

shonnagaga - the travel gnome recently: santa barbara - carissa's bachelorette party newport beach - carissa and charles' wedding springville - jessica and rob's wedding san francisco - out of darkness suicide awareness walk, giants game, US open, birthday weekend - I LOVE SF!!!!!!!! florida - family weekend on the beach with mama, sister, noahgrace, nana + HUGE fam travel travel travel! 

overall, mexico was an amazing trip. pretty much exactly what i needed to unwind from school and work, and have fun and get tan with my girly friends. i would highly recommend this vacation - mostly because it's SOOOOOO beautiful and super affordable. ME hotel was amazing... food, drinks, staff, pools, right on beach, etc. etc. couldn't get enough of that place. definitely hope to go back! as always, please contact me if you have ANY questions!!!

on Wednesday we set out for our one and only adventure day. with only four full days, we wanted to spend more time relaxing, rather than adventuring, which i normally do on other vacations. we set out to explore isla mujeres, island of the women. we took a 45 minute boat ride to the island that has hugely grown in population in the last 20 years. when we arrived they a had 18 dolphins putting on a quick show, plus sharks and seals and manatees. we didn't plan to play with the dolphins; in my opinion I think it's sad they are captivated and it's something I just would rather pass on. we took a paid taxi to an all-inclusive beach park, so to say, with snorkeling, kayaking, bike riding, free lunch and drinks, and lots of beautiful places to lay out. snorkeling wasn't quite as good as it was in Bali, but we did see a sting ray, which are my absolute favorite. the water there is also incredibly beautiful and it's neat to see cancun from the island. one of my favorite t...

last saturday I graduated with my MBA from Pepperdine. blah blah I'm sure you're you're proud of me or whatever but more importantly, I'm done! working full-time and going to school full-time is definitely one of the harder things ive done in my life. especially for 2.5 years! I honestly don't know how people with wives/husbands/significant others and/or kids do it. I majorly had to change my overly-social ways and spent a good portion of time doing schoolwork during that time. not to mention the two nights of class a week from 6-10pm, plus the drive. now that I look back it was worth it... isn't that always the way it goes? I learned a lot and met some really amazing people, but I'm pretty sure I won't miss it at all. on Saturday I got to take a breath of relief and celebrate with my fellow classmates. and 30 of my closest friends and family (although a few were there in spirit). I don't know how I would have gotten through the program without th...

over the last few years i've been traveling a lot. like a lot, a lot. and i've been trying to document as much as possible. both for others, but more importantly, for myself. i have many stories written in travel journals, which i hope no one ever finds, but more recently i've been sending email updates with detailed information about my adventures. when i came home from jordan and the uae in january, i decided i should start a travel blog. this way y'all can be updated on my travels, at your own convenience. happy traveling!! just call me the travelocity gnome!

jordan and uae pictures (click here)  

Jordan/UAE Days 1 & 2 Hello from Jordan!!! Jamie and I arrived yesterday evening and are having a great time so far. First off, this will be one of many email updates... and you've been put on this list either because you asked or because I thought you would be interested. if at any time you'd like to unsubscribe, please send a reply email with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line. also, feel free to delete and/or not read at all. these things tend to get long, but exciting. and please excuse my poor grammar, typos, and language. I'm on an iPad here, give me a break ; ) btw right now jamie and I are in our hotel and Arab Idol is on tv. it is TERRIBLE, and hilarious. our tv must be from 1992. my travels here were fairly easy... I slept much less than I usually do, as I have been captivated by the first book of the hunger games. I read 300 pages yesterday (70% of the book), and I'll probably finish it today. for those of you who know me well (um, most of you), I...