As someone who once dreamed about being a Belle or Snow White face character at Disney's Magic Kingdom, it's probably no surprise that I'm an adult who still loves visiting theme parks. I was lucky to have grandparents who lived in Celebration , Florida (a community actually originally developed by Disney!) and to have lived in South Florida myself for a few years -- both of which meant that I was able to visit the theme parks multiple times. However, I hadn't been back to Orlando since 2016 (when one of my best friends had her bachelorette at MK and Universal!). So when my family planned a visit to Orlando over Halloween weekend 2021, I jumped at the chance to go.

In October 2021, I took my first trip to Greece, via my first cruise ever... hopefully the first of many more such trips! I've said before that because I didn't travel very much until 2017 or so, I like to hit many different places in one trip to see as much as possible. However, during  our vacation to Mexico , my husband realized how much he enjoyed being able to unpack and stay in one place, and he really wanted another vacation where we weren't constantly on the go, lugging suitcases. A cruise was our compromise -- we'd be able to visit multiple locations, but without having to pack and unpack or deal with all the time and costs involved with moving cities or countries. So we booked a week around the Greek islands on the Norwegian Jade -- and we loved  it! 

At the end of August 2021, I had the opportunity to visit one of my best friends in Washington state. I've said it before in other travel diaries, but a fter visiting  New Zealand in 2020 , I knew I wanted to see more of the beauty of the United States. This was my first time visiting the state of Washington --  before 2021, the farthest west I'd been in the U.S. was L.A., Las Vegas, and Denver --  and it did not disappoint! You can see Mt. Rainier rising up in the distance in the top left of the photo!

After my honeymoon in New Zealand in 2020, I realized I wanted to see more of the beauty within my own country; then, like millions of other Americans, the COVID pandemic further increased my desire to get outdoors . So when I scheduled a Labor Day trip to visit one of my best friends in Washington state, I was hoping we'd get to do a hike with stunning views -- and I lucked out with a thru-hike of the Enchantments! 

After visiting Europe for the first time in 2017 at the age of 29, I set a goal of visiting at least 2 new countries every year. So in 2018 I jumped at a last-minute chance to visit Ireland with my then-boyfriend -- with a name as Irish as "Sarah Quinlan," I was excited to see my ancestors' homeland!

I think this post may actually beat my New Zealand posts as my most photo-heavy post -- because Yosemite is one of the most stunning places I have ever visited.  Travel has made me so much more aware of how incredible our planet is. After visiting New Zealand on my honeymoon in 2020 and marveling at the beauty of the country, I became determined to see more of my own country's beauty -- and Yosemite lived up to the hype.

I visited Rome in September 2017 as part of a two-week trip that included Portugal, England,  and France , and Rome was immediately my favorite city of the trip. I loved being able to just wander the city and see history everywhere. It was unlike any other place I've been, mostly in part because it felt ancient in a way no city I'd ever visited did.

Of all the countries I've visited, Italy is at the top of my list to see more of. As of writing this, I've only been to Rome and Venice, and both cities had so much culture and history but felt so different from each other while still feeling distinctly Italian.

Amsterdam is one of my favorite cities in the world. Amsterdam was already on the top of my travel list because I wanted to visit the Anne Frank House  and see  the famous tulips . Unfortunately, the tulips only bloom for approximately 8 weeks in the spring, and I missed them the first time I visited by a few weeks, but I made it back the following year in time!

In 2017, I visited Europe for the very first time. Because it was my first time in Europe and I didn't know the next time I'd be back, I decided to make the most of it by staying for 2 weeks:  1 week in Portugal with two of my girlfriends, then meeting up with my then-boyfriend (now husband!) for a 2nd week in London, Rome, and Paris.  I joke that the 2nd week was such a stereotypical basic girl Eurotrip itinerary -- but I thought they'd be a good intro for my first time to Europe, and I'm so glad I visited all of them!  Seeing the Eiffel Tower was a magical experience, and I loved all of the food -- escargots, bread, champagne, cheese, chocolate. I also appreciated the opportunity to take day trips, especially to Normandy. And my boyfriend loved Paris so much that less than a year later, he proposed in front of the Eiffel Tower. :-) 

For my very first trip to Mexico, we booked 5 nights at the all-inclusive resort Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya . Some of our good friends have been to this resort several times now and were heading back for another trip, so we decided to join them -- and I'm so glad we did! Since we didn't leave the resort except for our scuba-diving trip, this travel recap will serve mostly as a review of the  Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya . Overall, I highly recommend it -- and I can see now why our friends, and so many others, continue to return to the resort! 

Auckland is in the North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) of New Zealand, and not only is it charming in its own right, there are so many amazing day trips you can take in pretty much every direction. Auckland was our final stop on our honeymoon, but I could have happily sent my whole honeymoon here. Warning... I thought Queenstown would remain my most photo-heavy post, but Auckland tops it because of all of my Hobbiton photos! :-) So sorry in advance for a photo-heavy post! 

Queenstown is, hands down, one of the most incredible places I have ever been in my life. My husband semi-seriously asks me on a weekly basis if we can move there. This is by far my heaviest photo post so far, and I had to force myself not to include even more photos. I couldn't believe how stunning it was! 

Sydney was the third and final destination of our honeymoon in Australia. I wasn't expecting to love the city so much, but Sydney ended up being my favorite part of our time in Australia! 

Just one of the things Australia is famous for is the Great Barrier Reef, so we knew we couldn't miss an opportunity to see it! We considered this the "beach" portion of our honeymoon, as it was the warmest location and our resort was across the street from the beach.  We flew from Melbourne to Cairns, and it was a very easy trip (about 3.5 hours). It was the second of our three stops in Australia, and it was so relaxing that when it was time to leave, we almost considered canceling our next portion (in Sydney) and staying! 

When my then-fiancé and I were trying to decide upon a honeymoon destination, we knew our honeymoon would likely be the longest vacation we'd ever take, so we wanted to take advantage of that when it came to travel time. That's why we chose Australia and New Zealand, since a day of travel both ways wouldn't cut too  much into it. And it helped that our honeymoon was in January, which is summer in the Southern Hemisphere! So we booked our first flight to  Melbourne, the capital of the Australian state of Victoria and a foodie city with lots of street art and options for several easy nearby day trips. 

Hi there -- and welcome to a breath of fresh sarah ! I'm Sarah, and this is my collection of travel recaps where I plan to share information about trips I have taken, including general commentary, specific recommendations, photos, and useful links I myself have used to help plan the trip. I hope you find it helpful and interesting!