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Crossing the Cook Straight with Sounds Air: New Zealand
Kia ora, friends, and let me tell you a little about the Cook Strait! The Cook Strait is the body of water separating the North and South islands of New Zealand. It is well known for many things, but two particular facts stick out in my mind: it’s one of the most beautiful ferry crossings in the world, but it’s also one of the roughest ferry crossings in the world. As we planned our honeymoon in December 2017, Matt and I decided that we absolutely had to do the ferry crossing, since all the guidebooks labeled it a “New Zealand must-do.” The ferry crossing goes from Wellington in the North…
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Park City, Utah
I love watching the Winter Olympics. I love figure skating, curling, skiing, snowboarding, hockey, luge, bobsledding, and especially ice dancing. Because of the intensity of the excitement I get to experience every four years, I’ve made it a semi-informal practice to visit the sites of Olympic Villages when I’m in a city that has hosted the Games. So far, I’ve been lucky enough to see the sites of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and the 2012 London Summer Olympics. Next on my list? Pyeongchang, South Korea, which hosted the 2018 Winter Games. In early December 2018, Matt and I took a short weekend trip to visit our favorite Utahans who live near…
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Moments of Bravery
I’d like to give a warm and sincere thank-you to all my new (and not-so-new) readers as I transition into a new blogging sphere! Thank you for your support. If you’re new to this space, hi, hello! I’m Elise, a twenty-seven-year-old Nashville-based lawyer with a heart for serving others. If you read my Instagram bio (which my beloved millennial generation knows to be a definitive guide to a person’s essential self), you’ll encounter three descriptors: Advocate, Adventurer, Atrévete. [1] A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with someone that went a bit like this: Friend: I want to travel, but the whole idea of it makes me anxious. What if…
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Salt Lake City, Utah
How many of you are window seat travelers? If I don’t get a window seat, I am usually pretty petulant during the flight as a result. It may seem strange, but some of my favorite trip memories are getting that first astonishing glimpse at the place you’re visiting. I could spend (and have spent) hours watching landscapes change through a plane’s window. In fact, books are completely wasted on me during flights because I spend the whole time glued to the window. It’s such a grounding experience that gives you such a strong sense of where you’re headed. Ireland is bright green, dotted with farm animals and stone ruins; Phoenix…
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Boston, Massachusetts
“When I think fall, I think Boston,” Matt told me when I asked him where he wanted to go during Halloween weekend. “Tell me why you think that,” I insisted. “You’ve never been, right?” “I don’t know,” he replied with a shrug, “I just think Boston screams fall.” And with little more to go on, Matt and I booked our Halloween trip to Boston. The city, with its colonial charm, historic neighborhoods, cozy cafes, and blustery autumn weather, did not disappoint. On our first day in Boston, Matt and I, along with our best friends Kelsey (of Kelsey Prater Photography) and Saxon, began our excursion on Newbury Street downtown, where…
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Swimming with Wild Dolphins in Bay of Plenty, New Zealand
On Day 4 of our December 2017 honeymoon, we woke up extra early so that we could be at the marina by 8am to meet our ship captain for our next adventure: swimming with wild dolphins. As soon as we located our captain, Paul, he informed us that no one else had booked the tour that day, so we would have the boat to ourselves! The boat itself was lovely—a large catamaran with a cabin area inside and a large bow in the front for us to sit and enjoy the views. We pulled out of the harbor around 8:30am and headed straight towards the open ocean. Matt and I…
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Carefree, Arizona
There’s perhaps nothing more relaxing than staying at a resort in a town called Carefree. This blissful little place sits just forty-five minutes north of Phoenix, situated at the western edge of Tonto National Forest. On a long weekend in September, when Arizona temperatures were climbing past 100 degrees, we flew into Phoenix and rented a car to take us to our resort, The Boulders at Carefree, Arizona. The Boulders is a resort and spa that straddles nearby Scottsdale. The campus sits on 1,300 acres and boasts 160 casitas and 60 villas tucked into the terrain. It takes its name from the nearby granite boulders rock formations rising as tall…
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Concord, Massachusetts
Name something that’s spookier than Boston at Halloween. I dare you. In October, as the leaves started to change and a chill settled into the air, Matt and I did something we haven’t done since college: we took a trip to Boston with friends! My best friend Kelsey (of Kelsey Prater Photography) and her husband lived in Boston for a few years after college, and they know the city like the back of their hands. When Matt expressed a desire to go somewhere “that screams fall” for Halloween, Boston immediately came to mind, and the four of us whipped up this vacation. Together, we chose the absolutely cutest Airbnb in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a…
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Scottsdale and Phoenix, Arizona
Scottsdale, Arizona has the cutest nickname: “The West’s Most Western Town.” When you walk down its charming streets, peering into shops selling Native American artwork, prickly pear candy, and Pendleton blankets, you can’t help but feel like you’re halfway to being a cowgirl yourself. During our Labor Day weekend trip to Arizona, Matt and I spent an afternoon wandering through Old Town Scottsdale, popping our heads into art galleries and admiring turquoise necklaces for sale at each boutique. As the afternoon faded, we turned our sights a bit further south, to Phoenix, where we purchased two tickets to the Desert Botanical Gardens just as the sun started to dip below…
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Arizona Architecture: Taliesin West
Every great architect is – necessarily – a great poet. He must be a great original interpreter of his time, his day, his age.” Frank Lloyd Wright There are a lot of attractions in Phoenix, Arizona that vie for your time and attention—meandering through the Desert Botanic Gardens, shopping in Old Town Scottsdale, hiking around Camelback Mountain. If you’re taking a trip to Arizona, allow me to add something to your can’t-miss-list: a tour of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home, Taliesin West. Much like the Grand Canyon, Frank Lloyd Wright really needs no introduction. Even to readers who aren’t interested in architecture or design, the name will ring familiar,…
