You haven’t seen waterfalls until you’ve been to the Iguazu Falls (or Iguaçu Falls if you’re Argentian or Foz do Iguaçu if you’re Brazillian). I will be completely honest, I thought these would be mildly impressive but likely nothing to knock my socks off. Let me tell you… my socks were obliterated. If I had to rank this UNESCO Heritage site in my list of the most magical places my traveling eyeballs have beheld… it definitely lands within the top 3.

After spending two days exploring the Iguazu Falls National Park, here are my tips for you ahead of your visit.

When I tell you that Buenos Aires was the most hyped destination of my trip… I do not lie. I had multiple people in multiple destinations in South America (and before), leading up to my arrival in this curiously European-vibed but South American-infused capital city, raving about Buenos Aires. The amount of “I could live there” and “ugh I wish I could have spent longer” were enough to get me psyched for this change of scenery.

After a week in Peru, I was off to Chile for some time in the desert. If you’re looking to visit Machu Picchu, read my tips before you go here! A friend recommended San Pedro de Atacama as a “must stop” on my backpacking route so, of course, I added it into my itinerary. I ended up meeting up with some friends I met in Ecuador, which made for an even more fun few days, to explore this otherworldly terrain.

The longest and narrowest country in the world covers a lot of climates - from the desert to the mountains of Patagonia and beyond to many glaciers - allowing for a lot to be explored.

If you’re planning a visit to this wonder of the world, I’m incredibly excited for you. Not only does it seem like an impossible feat but the landscape these ruins were built into, is unreal.

Regardless of whether you are planning on no hiking, a little hiking, or doing the complete trek, here are some of my tips from one traveler to another.

My weekend visit to one of the seven wonders of the world: Machu Picchu. The visit of a lifetime, that is totally worth the hype (even if my original plans got a smidge thwarted).

I can’t say enough about the beauty of Peru. The colors, the landscapes, the llamas! I cannot wait to go back and explore more of this country. There were so many vivid colors in the landscapes but also the decor - I fully plan to recreate the Peruvian pom pom garland you see in so many shops, for my own home sometime soon.

I kicked off my eight weeks of backpacking in South America in Ecuador, where I would start my backward “J” trek through the continent. I decided to give myself time to explore Ecuador while keeping my itinerary a little “looser.” The only thing I had booked was my first three nights in Quito. I’m so glad I left myself open to everything I experienced in Ecuador.

I spent six weeks in Scotland, exploring Edinburgh, Galway, the highlands, some of Perthshire, and the Isle of Skye. Through those trips and interactions, I came across a few observations (and learnings) that I found noteworthy enough to share. Aren’t you blessed? I’m sure someone from Scotland will read this and correct me so I fully am here for a deeper understanding BUT these were just various things I absorbed in my month and a half.

I think we all know that Scotland is a beauty, whether you’ve personally visited or not. Just in case, Scotland is a BEAUTY (I would say stunning but my mom said I use that word “a lot”). After staying there for six weeks, and traveling to and from Edinburgh on weekends, here are my top five favorite areas (that I was able to visit) in this country.

I’ve been traveling solo for over ten years now, so I figured I’d offer some tips and tricks I’ve collected along the way. Though most of these are especially relevant if you’re traveling solo as a female, many are applicable regardless of your sexual identity.

I’m a sucker for a quaint and cozy small town. Add in some colorful buildings, a local bakery, and artisan shops and I’m looking at real estate. Birnam and Dunkled hold all the charms I dream about, even amidst dreary Scottish weather. Here’s what I got up to during my long weekend.

I heard from so many locals that the Isle of Skye is a stunning place to visit in Scotland. The weather was absolutely crazy but I made the most of my trip for the weekend. With my base set-up in Portree, here’s what I got into on the Isle of Skye, Scotland.

If you’re looking for a winter escape to sunshine and happiness, Puerto Rico is the spot for you. The colorful streets of San Juan, beautiful blue waters, iguana sitings, and friendly locals are all you need for a quick pick-me-up from the winter blues. I visited with a friend for a long weekend in February and here’s a colorful collection of what we got up to.

I tell you what, I am a sucker for positive reinforcement. Give me a motivational quote on a coaster, the back of a t-shirt, scratched into a wall or spelled out with food, and I will feel automatically empowered. So you besta believe, when I see any and every type of could-be motivation while I’m traveling, I capture it. These are 15 of my more recent finds.

I spent two nights with Fort William as my home base and then spiderwebbed out from there across the weekend. Here’s how I spent this weekend in the Scottish Highlands:

I’ve done cooking classes all over the globe, from Argentina to Italy, Indonesia to Scotland, anywhere from afternoon activities to six-week certificate courses. If there is one thing I love to do when traveling, it’s a cooking class. Since I want everyone to experience the joy of cooking while traveling I’ve put together this list of things to look out for, questions to ask, or things to be conscious of, in advance of choosing a course.

This ongoing list reflects my “musts” for travel. There is rarely a trip where I don’t need the items and they are some of my creature comforts in knowing my bag is packed well.

I spent six weeks in Edinburgh doing a patisserie course. I dedicated two weekends simply to exploring the Edinburgh city center. Here is what I’d recommend if you only have a single, jam-packed, weekend in the city!

Many might say that doing a National Park trip through Utah in July would be a sweltering-hot-fail. Many would be right, but we did it anyway. From Salt Lake City through four of the “Big 5” U.S. National Parks in Utah, here’s how we hit them.