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!