Diary of the Traveling Pairs

My husband and I like a variety of travel. As you know, it is our goal to go somewhere every month of the year, except December as we like to be home for the holidays with family. We have again traveled every month this year. We traveled to Playa Del Carmen in January and New York in February. We cruised to Belize, Cozumel, and Costa Maya on the Smooth Jazz Cruise in March. We went to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon in April. We went back to New York to see Denzel Washington on Broadway in May. We cruised again in June to Aruba, Curacao, St. Thomas, and St. Kitts. We went to Detroit, Michigan and hopped over to Windsor Canada in July. We also went back to Mexico to Maroma Beach in July for a long weekend. We went to Europe (Portugal and Italy) in August. We went to Myrtle Beach, SC in September. We went to Orlando and New Orleans in October. We also went to Spokane Washington and Coeur d’Alene Idaho in November. We will summarize our travels and note all of the highlights in our 2018

We have had a number of trips this year with family and to attend family events. We have enjoyed every single trip with our family. We feel extremely blessed to have the family we have. My husband’s family is very close. They support each other in everything and work together to make events special. There is a level of love and respect that still exists in the Person and Hedgepeth families that many families have lost.  We traveled to Detroit this year with our daughter (mine through love) and with our mother for our family reunion and had a wonderful time. There is a Hedgepeth family reunion every other year and a Person family reunion on the opposite year every other year. The majority of the family attends the family reunions and we celebrate the achievements of the family. We have had young people finish their PhDs, complete master’s degrees, complete bachelor’s degrees, become medical doctors and judges. It is an amazing opportunity to share the success of the young people i

My travels throughout Europe have been limited but we are increasing our travel across the pond. The richness of the culture in the various European countries seems boundless. Within the same country, you can find extreme diversity and distinctly different beauty. In our travels, we have visited London, Paris, Lisbon, Rome, Venice, and Frankfort. England, France, Portugal, Italy, and Germany have so much to offer. I can not begin to put all of the information about our adventures in these countries into a blog. There are endless books about these wonderful countries that are centuries older than the U.S. It is also immediately obvious that Europe tackled its struggle with racism much earlier and more directly than we dealt with it in the U.S. as the various races seem more ingrained in the culture of the countries. This embracing of diversity lends itself to an enriching and enlightening travel experience. On our most recent trip to Rome, Venice, Lisbon, and a brief stop in Fra

Travel! Your money will return. Your time will not. This is a powerful quote!! This month, my blog will be short and sweet. Do today what you may not be able to do tomorrow. Enjoy your life! See the world. What are the things you have always wanted to do? What places have you always wanted to see? Life is short. Do not delay your travel bucket list. Save, plan, and take advantage of various travel programs and promotional offers, so you can see the beauty and wonder of God's world while you have the health and means to do so. Whether you go alone, with family, with friends, or with that special someone, GO! You will be thankful for the experiences and the memories. Travel. Your money will return. Your time will not. My husband and I wholeheartedly believe that travel is an essential part of life and are diligently working to see as much of the world as God gives us the strength to see. We plan in advance and work to check things off our travel bucket list every single month.

In July, the reggae loving pair ventured back home to Jamaica for Reggae Sumfest 2018.  We were only in Montego Bay, Jamaica for four days and three nights and stayed at the Montego Bay Zoetry Resort.  This resort is branded as the top of the line for the Unlimited Vacation Club Amstar resorts. The resort has a healthy lifestyle focus and this particular one centered around water, wood, and fire.  You are assigned a butler upon arrival and are supposed to have a bottle of champagne and fruit in your room daily. The resort is quaint with only has 49 or 50 rooms and two small 3' pools.  The beach at the resort is small and has quite a bit of coral and grass so you can't just walk into the water and swim. There was a long pier with stairs that you can walk on and watch the sunset as well as jump off and swim at the end.  There is a perfect area to swim without coral reef.  The pier was lovely and quite romantic. Overall, we had an amazing time in Jamaica and enjoyed the peac

There are many pros and cons to both all inclusive resorts and to cruises.  We have stayed at all inclusive resorts in Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Panama.  We are Unlimited Vacation Members of the Amstar resorts and although each resort is different; the quality is pretty consistent.  We have tried other all inclusive resorts to see and experience the difference but there were many things that we did not like.  For example, with our membership we get an automatic upgrade to the best category room available.  We love this because we can book the cheaper room but always get an ocean view preferred club room.  Our resorts have 24 hour room service and often come with dummy waiters so if its late at night and you don't want to answer the door; it's all good.  Another very important feature of our resorts is that you don't have to make reservations for the restaurants.  This is extremely important to us because we often don't know what we are in the

When you debate what type of vacation you want to take, think about what your goal is for your trip. Do you want fun in the sun, total relaxation, to see several places, explore one place, adults only, time with the children, all included food and drink, or to buy your drink package separately? The answers to these questions will help you determine the answer to the ultimate question, to sea or not to sea. We enjoy both vacations to all inclusive resorts and cruises. However, these two vacations are totally different types of getaways. If you want an adults only, fun in the sun, everything included get away with all the food and drink you want, an all inclusive resort vacation is for you. When we just want to get away with no children and no schedules, when we just want fun in the sun, all inclusive vacations are for us. We love to go somewhere where we can lounge on the beach, enjoy all the food and drink we want without having to pay extra and enjoy an adults only atmosphere. A

I think we on the east coast of the United States often take the Caribbean for granted. The beauty of the Caribbean is breathtaking. The people are amazing. The variety of the topography and things to do on each island is no less than wondrous. We have had amazing vacations to the Caribbean region and it never gets old. Having the Caribbean region a few hours flight away (and typically direct flights) is a benefit we should never take for granted when living on the east coast. We have visited over a dozen places in the Caribbean together and even more before we were a couple. All of them beautiful with many things to do. You cannot go wrong with any area of the Caribbean you choose to visit, although we have some least favorite places. The list of locations we have visited include: the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas (Nassau), Barbados, Jamaica, Cancun, Cozumel, St. Thomas, St. Croix, the Dominican Republic (Punta Cana), Belize, Costa Maya, Coco Cay, an

As you know by now, we love to cruise and have visited many of the Caribbean islands via sea.  In fact we often choose a cruise itinerary that has an island that we have not yet visited. The islands west of the Mona Passage are considered Western Caribbean islands.  We have visited Cozumel, Bahamas Nassau and Freeport islands, Turks and Caicos' Grand Turk island, Dominican Republic on the island of Hispaniola, Jamaica and Grand Cayman.  Although we love all these islands Jamaica and Grand Cayman have a special place in our heart.  In 2012, Kevin proposed in Grand Cayman while on a western Caribbean cruise.  The next stop after Grand Cayman was Jamaica.  We climbed the Dunns River Falls and even carved our names in the rocks.  That same year, we were married in Jamaica and returned to Dunns River Falls while on honeymoon to find our names. The eastern Caribbean islands are the Leeward and Windward islands.  We've visited a number of the Leeward islands, Antigua, St. Maarten, St

To celebrate mom's 70th Birthday, my brother and I took her to Tampa, Florida.  Mom had never been to Florida and we knew she would love it.  Mom and I flew from DCA and had a lovely flight.  My brother and his family drove from NJ down to Florida.  We arrived at about the same time at the AirBnB.  We rented a beautiful Victorian home in Tampa a block from the bay.  It had 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms upstairs a large dining room, living room, library and kitchen on the first floor. It was quaint and roomy.  This was my first time staying at an AirBnB but my brother and sister-in-law have done so many times and enjoy it very much.  There are many conveniences of renting a home, especially when it's a large family vacation like this.  Some of the cons are that you have to make your own bed and clean up after yourself some.  Also, the neighbors next door had a party that lasted into the wee hours of the night on one night which was a bit loud and disturbing. I also am a little ger

This year for our birthday trip we decided to go explore Panama.  Panama did not disappoint.  I was very surprised to learn that Panama City was as advanced of a city as it was.  The skyscrapers were numerous and each more impressive than the next. It was very comparable to NYC or Miami and I would even say that it was even more metropolitan.  I'm not sure why but I was expecting Panama to be more like Costa Rica, more wild wild west.  It was a pleasant surprise. We stayed at Dreams All Inclusive Resort, Playa Bonita which is part of the Unlimited Vacation Club.  It was the first resort we've stayed at that was family oriented and allowed kids.  You would think there were kids running around everywhere; however, there weren't many at all the week we were there.  Now those of you who've been following our blog know that Kevin and I are usually beach bums for most of our vacations.  In Panama, we ventured out of the resort three times.  One day to the mall to do some s

What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas, Unless You are a Travel Blogger   On our rating scale of a place not for me, a place to see (go at least 1 time and stay), a place to be (go again and again), and a place for me (our absolute favorites), Las Vegas is a place to be. We have visited Las Vegas over the course of our lives every few years. Las Vegas is a travel destination where we always enjoy ourselves. We find ourselves traveling to Las Vegas for a specific purpose many times. Typically, we go to Las Vegas to catch a particular show or we go there for a conference. This time, we are visiting Las Vegas to attend a show and to visit the Grand Canyon and the Hoover Dam. There is a lot to do in the Las Vegas area. We highly recommend Las Vegas as a place to go a few times, if you travel often.   When you make the decision to go to Las Vegas, do not pay full price for a hotel stay. Las Vegas is a place where there are always deals. Each time we have traveled to Las Ve