why you should take a solo road trip... annually

It's been four months since I took my most recent solo road trip... and I'm just now writing about it. I was worried that if I waited, I wouldn't have that same elated feeling that I had when I got back... but going through my pictures is bringing it back and reviving me all over again. 

I've done a solo road trip before; I drove down the California coast when I was going through a break-up or few. It was so therapeutic and life changing in ways that I thought I could never redo a trip like that. 

I was wrong. 

When you travel alone, there are things that happen that have taken me a couple months to really reflect on and realize and now I'm ready to tell you why you should do it. 

Let it be known- it's going to be scary. The days leading up to this trip, it was kinda hard for me to talk about it or plan a whole lot. I didn't know if I was going to be able to do this again. There were a lot of thoughts like "do I really have to do this again?" and "maybe I should just see what friends I can meet up with along the way." The truth is- I could EASILY do it again, and I didn't need any plans, friends, or safety blankets to help me out. 

So, reason #1- You'll conquer some fears. 

When I decided to book this trip, I knew I was in some sort of funk that I needed to kick before I got to the iHeartRadio Music Festival. I've always been proud to be fiercely independent, but after moving in with the bf, I quickly built up a lot of dependency on him. He helps me find everything I lost, calms me down when I'm over-stressing and working myself, and gives me that comfort of not being alone. Somehow I had subconsciously let myself think that I couldn't do things without him anymore. Honestly, this made me hate myself. Of course it's nice to have that person to help you out, but everyone should have some independence in a relationship... and if you're anything like me, you have to find a lot of ways to remain your independent, self serving person while keeping the relationship happy. [Let me know if you have any real secrets or tips for that, btw.] As soon as I had my first meal out and alone, while talking to the bartender, I realized I hadn't "lost myself," she was just put on a back burner. 

Reason #2- You will empower yourself and ignite independence and strength.A lot of people immediately ask "but where do you eat?" when I tell them about a solo trip. What do you mean where do I eat? I eat at whatever bar or restaurant Yelp and Facebook suggest to me, duh. I typically sit at a bar, so I can talk to the bartender, other solo visitors, or my phone. There's no pressure to talk or not talk, but the option is there if you want it. It's brilliant, and far less awkward than it feels when you arrive at a place before all your other friends and you're impatiently waiting on them. The best part- 

Reason #3- You can eat wherever you want. Order as much food or drinks as you want. No splitting checks, and no judgment. 

That "no judgment" thing is big. I think one of the biggest issues people have with solo trips is worrying about what other people will think about them doing everything alone. Let me tell you what they'll think- the same thing you're [probably, hopefully] thinking right now- that's badass. Bartenders high fived me, and fellow hikers offered to help with pictures, then literally applaused or said "oh WOW!!" when they saw I already had the photos under control. [I would set up my GoPro on a tripod, then look at it/control it from an app on my phone.]  People at the hotels and hostels were welcoming and helpful and friendly [although I was a little nervous to tell some of them I was staying alone.. but it ended up being nbd]. When's the last time you didn't care about what people thought about you? Unfortunately, it's not often enough for me anymore.

Reason #4- You'll realize the world really doesn't give a f#@% about what you're doing... and it'll free your mind to also not care about what your self is doing. 

Speaking of other people... when you plan a trip with others, whether it be one or ten other people, you have to plan things with them. Where do they wanna stay? What's their budget? When do they wanna be there or leave or move on? Do they even wanna commit to a trip? It's exhausting. You know what's not?

Reason #5- You get to live on your own time and on your own budget. Your plans can change whenever you want them to. There's no one to answer to. 

Something else that's in your control- what you listen to along the road trip. After reading "my Bible" on my last road trip, I decided to try some books on tape to give me that same feel. [What I didn't realize before this trip is that it wasn't just the book that changed me in California.. it was the whole experience.] I listened to "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck" and "Creativity, Inc" to help revive my brain and give me some real therapeutic thoughts. Maybe you'll want a podcast, or music blasting as you sing along.. or, get all of the above.

Reason #6- The time you'll have with yourself and the road is magical. You can let your mind go wild and the scenery will [hopefully] make it all okay. 

I kept setting my GoPro on the dash because the views were unbelievable. A lot of them are still on my Insta Highlights.

THE ULTIMATE REASON: You will come back invigorated, confident, excited to share everything with everyone you know, and ready to take on anything in this world.

I should clarify why I specifically say road trip and not just any solo trip. When you're alone, you need to stay active so that you don't feel that lonely factor. The more I discovered, the more badass I felt. The more I traveled, the more I learned... about the world and myself. I can't imagine going to a beach resort or one city for a couple days by myself. As much as I love a good drink and meal, I don't want to be drunk trying to explore my way home. I also don't want to just sleep on the beach alone all day. Booorriinnggg.

So my trip started in Denver, went through Utah, and ended in Las Vegas. It was only four days alone, but I wanted at least one or two more by the time I got to Vegas and had to answer to people again. Three days would be enough to get all of this goodness, I think.. and is a fair place to start for those

who are a little worried. And maybe "annually" is a ridiculous goal, but it's what I'm going to aim for. There's no reason for me to put something so beneficial to my life and health off. Maybe it won't always include National Parks, a full week away, a plane ride to my first destination, or my sweet minivan named Bonnie... but I'll always try to make some time for myself.

Now that I've gotten into all of this again, expect some details about each place that I stopped [and all of the amazing places I got to stay as a solo traveler] in the next couple weeks. Maybe you'll be ready to book something for you and yourself by then, too.

love,
elizabethany

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photo diary: adventures in costa rica

One of the trendiest places to travel to right now: Costa Rica. I'm a follower not a leader in travel so I jumped on that bandwagon, too. 

*I say I'm a follower with traveling because it is so much easier to get recommendations from friends on Facebook before going than to go blind and probably spend too much money on everything.*

I'm pretty sure AirBNB deserves the credit for making the country trendy. They've regularly featured treehouses with monkeys or just really chill vibes, then steer you towards the beautiful beaches and jungles and dayum- it looks lovely. 

My plan was to have a bunch of friends get a big house for $150/night and a private chef [they have so many cheap options] but getting adult friends to commit is nearly impossible, even though we finally have our own money to spend. We ended up going with another couple and getting my first ever all inclusive experience.

All-inclusive is bittersweet to me. You can get a really good deal, drink unlimited beverages, get four plates of food at every meal, and have lovely pool time... but you also feel obligated to stay there and not explore. Luckily, I think we spent our time pretty wisely. 

Our resort: DoubleTree in Puntarenas

Cost: $327 per person for four nights

The resort was right on the beach, with seemingly nothing else around. The beach had mostly black sand, and large volcanic rocks at the shore. Because of the rocks and the waves, we weren't allowed to swim in it. I tried to be a mf rebel and do it anyway, but having fist-size rocks come hurdling at your ankles isn't fun for more than .7 seconds. They were fun to look through, though. They had such fun colors and shapes and I planned on bringing them back to show everyone, but TSA stole them out of my carry on bag. WTF. 

It's one of those rare beaches that is not photogenic at all... but it's pretty cool when you're there in person.

We woke up every morning by 7:30 to eat breakfast and be at the pool by 8am. It was strangely easy. It might have been the fact that I was on a mission to try every drink on the menu, but no one can confirm. We wanted to soak up that sun before heading to the jungles. 

Important thing to realize: While different locations in Costa Rica are technically close, the roads are insanely windy and it took us three hours to get to the mountains and volcanoes from the beach. 

Adventure #1- Lake Arenal area. I, once again, had starred everything I found on Pinterest that I wanted to try and see. There were 15+ things and I had to narrow it down to what was easy to do in one day.. on Friday the 13th. We chose La Fortuna Waterfall and Tabacon Hot Springs. 

The drive there proved to be terrifying. The roads are narrow and windy, and trucks are zipping around and crossing over lines like it's nothing. When we got towards the top of the mountain, the fog was so thick we couldn't see five feet in front of us. The man kept driving while I crouched behind the seat in the back, not wanting to see our death happen.

Also, if you refuse to give a homeless person money on the road, they'll know where you come from and they'll hit your window and give you the middle finger. Stand your ground, okay?

I will say, though... it's all worth it. There's so much to look at everywhere you go.

La Fortuna is really easy to make happen, assuming you can handle going down 514 steps, and then back up when you're done. You just pay $15 a person at the entrance of the park and go. It's worth it. It was huge, and you don't have to spend too much time there, but it's still nice to see.

250 feet top to bottom of the waterfall, and a nice hang out/wading area to the side.

From Fortuna, Tabacon Hot Springs are only about twenty quick minutes. We GPS'ed to a resort, but after parking along the street, they sent us back to some little trail that went down to the hot springs that felt like a hot urban oasis in the jungle. There was graffiti and cement, but also fallen trees, mossy stone steps, and natural round hot tubs.

We spent under an hour here, but you could easily spend half a day and be happy. Besides the man who may have been on drugs and was just floating around, everyone was chillin, minding their business, and probably posted up there for a few hours.

If you're a photographer- it's a dream place for a photoshoot with all sorts of backgrounds/scenes. I had all of these great ideas for brilliant pics but they didn't work out in my favor. I'm sure you could really kill it, though.


Because of the earlier foggy drive, we didn't want to risk driving the same way or in the dark, so I found Costa Rica's first craft brewery along the other side of the lake that only added about 10 minutes to our route, but gave us a completely different drive and views of every angle of the lake.

views of the water and of beers. 

For adventure #2, we had to go ziplining. Again, my original plan was changed because of convenience, but I'm not upset with how it turned out. Instead of going back to the mountains and doing an above-the-trees course, we did one through the trees and over smaller waterfalls that was thirty minutes away- Adventure Park.

We lucked out in getting a tour without anyone else [1:00 on a Saturday], which was a real game changer. No waiting, no unfamiliar faces in our photos... it might change the way I think about paying extra for a private tour in the future.

My face on the right does not accurately portray how fun I thought it was. 

They also let us swim in a little waterfall/pool for a while, which again, was extra great with it only being the four of us. One of our guides even got fancy with his pictures he took of us. That leaf adds SO much privacy, amiright?! 

At night, it was vacation-business as usual- dinner, drinks, dancing... and some really extravagant shows that I hope you saw glimpses of on my Instagram story. At one point, the two of us ended up becoming the stars of the show. *shocker* My drunk and ADD mind could not focus on lines though and I don't think the show runners appreciated that.

If you're thinking of going to Costa Rica, DO IT. You can easily do a full week if you're driving to stay in different places every two days. That would be the only thing I'll do differently next time I go- don't stay in one place the entire time you're there.

Also learned:

• When it comes to the food- don't expect spicy. I was surprised to find out that Costa Ricans hate spicy food, but it's all very flavorful, with a bit more sweet than spice. 
• They don't have a military, and I find that to be very cool. They're also very proud. 
• The people who work in tourism seem to have a much better quality of life than those who don't... and the tourism workers know how to help you out [with hopes of a tip].
• Sloths and monkeys aren't going to be everywhere like they suggest... at least not in regularly traveled paths. We saw exactly zero sloths, and the only monkeys we saw were at the Monkey House. 

Now, because it wouldn't be a vacation post without a handstand pic, there's this one from the hot springs. 

love,
elizabethany

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visiting a monkey house in costa rica

I sat down to start writing my Costa Rica blog when I realized there was one part of the trip that absolutely deserves its own post... and also deserves the first post. Our trip to a "monkey house."

There was really one main reason we wanted to go to Costa Rica- in all of the pictures I've seen, there have been monkeys running around like squirrels. When I did more research, I realized that's an internet thing and not necessarily a real thing you can expect. After even more research, I really couldn't decide where to go to make sure I was able to touch a monkey. 

We decided to talk to one of those people who try to make you spend way too much for some excursion at a hotel and said to cut the BS- all we care about are some monkeys. He told us to meet a cab driver who would take us to a place five minutes away... the "monkey house."

This guy, Chino, took us through a neighborhood while we all thought we were definitely getting scammed and probably doomed, then ended up in someone's yard who had dozens of monkeys running around. It was literally someone's house who grew fruit that the monkeys loved. Nothing official, nothing you can find on the Internet.

The Monkey House yard

Chino grabbed us some bananas, told us to stand by the tree holding them, and BAM, just like that- monkeys were running up to us, on us, grabbing the bananas, and being much more friendly than even I could imagine. If you know one important thing about me, it's that only two things can make me smile on a rough day: doing gymnastics, and watching monkey videos. I was in Heaven. 

Not gonna lie, I was scared, but so happy, amazed, and just everything. 

They loved selfies, gave serious side eye, and even straight chilled on us.

There's no such thing as too many monkey pictures so here are my favorites. 

 Unfortunately, there's an unhappy but hilarious way this story ends, my friends.

We were warned from the beginning to stay away from the "alpha" monkey. It was obvious which one he was. He watched from afar and had a bigger "beard" than the rest. If he got upset, we'd be in trouble with wild animals.

At one point, there were four monkeys on my man. Two of them started fighting each other, and Alpha was not pumped about that. He must have ran from 50 yards away to attack his leg, start screaming very loudly, then run back. It was so quick none of us really knew what had happened, but he had a scratch on his leg and a really small puncture. Chino and his friend did some of their Costa Rican witchcraft [pouring alcohol on it], acted like it was nbd, and kept handing us bananas.

Uhhh, I think I'm done here.

Two of them, neither one the Alpha, were inseparable from each other, and making this face:

Chino: "Oh they're smiling!"

All of us: Uhhh, you have a different idea of smiling than we do."

We took a few more pictures [because priorities], left, had some drinks, and decided to worry about whether or not it was a real issue later. 

Everything has been fine for him, but the next day we heard a different story from Chino when we saw him in the lobby. Another man he took to the house had worn a hat that the monkey took off his head. When he went to steal it back, monkey was not happy. Monkey fought back. Human went to hospital for stitches. 

So... if you're going to be in the Puntarenas area like we were... think about how badass you feel that day. Are you too scared or are you ready to take a risk? Are you ready to fight a monkey for a hat? We need you somewhere between those things. Fighting a monkey is bad. Do not go find Chino for the Monkey House if you think a hat is important. Stay in your hotel. Go get a pina colada.. and then still stay there even when it may seem like a good idea again.

More on Costa Rica very soon.

love,
elizabethany

PS I made that very dramatic graphic for Pinterest purposes, of course. 

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photo diary: my trip to portland and seattle

I don't know why I always wait til this late in the Fall season to go on my "big trip." It's cold and there's less daylight... but I did it again. 

This time, I called upon the BFF to help me through rough times and escape for a few days to uncharted territory in my life: The Northwest. I told myself it wouldn't be that cold. I believed that 50 degrees as a high was just jacket weather. Once again, like last year's trip to Europe, I was way under-prepared for mostly 30-something degree wet weather. 

When life gives you rain, dance in it... or.... something. 

First stop: Portland. 

We didn't really know anyone there and everything I found was like "try this beer" or "you've gotta eat this." So that's what we did. We drank and we ate, and stumbled around the city. [Hey, we were doing the buddy system so it's totally okay, Mom!] There are MULTIPLE breweries on every block it seems, and we tried to go to as many as possible but I'm going to blame the altitude and the higher ABV percentage on our relatively early night. [Don't you look at me like that.]

On Saturday, we got to walk through the Saturday Market which helped me pick up some Christmas gifts for myself, and then Powell's Books which I figured would not be for me, a girl who doesn't read.... but they had some fun journal-style books that I've been wanting to check out. YAY for a daily journal that only makes me write one line a day! 

When you walk everywhere, even if it's a couple miles away, you stumble across things you may not have found otherwise. I spent a solid 20+ minutes on this bridge just taking pictures of a park. [I love a good park in the city.]

Pinterest helped me find a bunch of "Insta-Worthy Spot in Portland," so we looked for a few of those. Including a fountain park [that ended up having zero water working at the time] and the smallest park in the world- Mills End Park. Really- it's just a plant in the middle of the road as if that's a safe place for humans to hang out in. 

Thanks to Facebook friends, I was told about Salt and Straw, an ice cream place with seriously unique flavors. We're talking Thanksgiving Turkey and cranberry-apple stuffing flavors [which I'm eating over there], plus olive oil, basil, mashed potatoes and more that you can see in the menu below. Luckily they let you taste everything and it was FANTASTIC. The BFF loved the mashed potatoes and olive oil flavors, and I was shocked to be ordering the turkey that tasted like a salty maple syrup of sorts. If you go to Portland, skip the Voodoo Doughnuts and check this out instead. There will likely be a line, but it's more unique than the semi- decent doughnuts.

As for other Portland food options, make sure you check out one of the food cart areas [lots of Greek and Asian food, but so good!] and don't think it's weird to eat at a brewery.

Portland has all sorts of places for #views, but if you want all of it, the five minute aerial tram is lovely. 

After a solid 40 hours in Portland, it was off to Seattle. Renting a car was only about $30 for the day, which is cheaper than most Uber rides to downtown. There are SO many places I wish we could have stopped at along the way, but we were antsy and low on time in each city. Plus- when it's cold and rainy- hiking to a waterfall isn't high on my want to do list. 

Seattle came with a tour guide for us- one of my closest high school friends. He helped us feel a little like a local [which is one of my favorite things to do/feel when visiting a city] then we hit the things Pinterest and Facebook told me to. After proudly cheering on my Redskins to a victory in their city, we did some bar hopping. 

One of my favorite things about Portland and Seattle [and really a lot of other cities outside of DC in general] is how much character all the bars have. There's something about the decor that always makes me amazed, even if it's a local sports bar. 

From left, then clockwise- Al's Den in Portland, which was a tiny basement bar in the middle of the street/median. 10 Barrel Brewing in Portland. A punching bag in Sam's Taven's bathroom in Seattle. Nacho Borracho in Seattle. 

One of the most beautiful bars I've ever stepped foot in was in Seattle, though. Someone told me about it on Facebook and my friend said it's normally dead unless it's late on a weekend night. That was perfect. I had all of the room to take all of the pictures of Unicorn. 

Just bring a good camera and someone with not-wasted eyeballs to take some great pics. 

Speaking of drinks, I had also read about a place called Canon, which was tagged with all sorts of Insta-worthy drinks on Instagram so duh, had to go there. Why would anyone travel without planning everything around their Instagram pics?! 

Turns out, you need a reservation just to try out their $18 drinks... but LOOK AT THESE THINGS. 

The Pop Art, Warhol and Bitter Petals. Elementary and Child's Play. Campfire in Georgia. 

Then it was all about the touristy things. Luckily, most of them are really close together in Seattle and we did a lot of walking [and commenting about how rough it was to walk in the cold mountains].

Let's first acknowledge the most beautiful wall to ever exist.. at the Museum of Pop Culture. It's right next to the Space Needle and I saw someone with a perfect picture/reflection and wanted to recreate it, but instead took a couple dozen tries of different angles.

The rest I'm sure you've heard of or seen plenty of so I'll do what everyone wants: Less words, more pictures. 

The very first Starbucks... that was packed the first time I went, but was a fairly normal line at about 9:30 on a Tuesday before my flight.

The Market... which you've probably seen endless videos of fish being thrown, but I was amazed that it was such an old building, that smelled old, and so many random shops! Also, it was interesting to see the set up happening around 9:30.

The Gum Wall, which had unfortunately been cleaned recently. HOW DO YOU CLEAN A LANDMARK LIKE THAT?!

The Fremont Troll, which is amazingly huge when you're driving straight for it. 

The nighttime view from Gas Works Park is breathtaking.

We drank a lot of Rainier beer and heard all about the mountain, but hadn't had clear enough weather to see it. I'm so glad I went on the morning walk before my flight. I walked down Pier 66 and saw it reaching over the stadiums and up to the clouds and just like everyone says- no picture truly captures what your eyeball sees. 

There were also some pretty incredible views on the way home.. which ALMOST makes the fact that you're going home a little better.

In review, in case you're looking to make this mini road trip that's less than three hours between the cities.. [As always, I recommend flagging places that you've seen or been given as recommendations so it's easy to figure out the closest and also the best routes.]

PORTLAND: 

• Uber drivers LOVE to give recommendations
• I stayed at the Hyatt House. It's easy walking to plenty of places, and gives a fantastic free breakfast. 
• Go to as many breweries as possible. Walk around, walk into places that seem intriguing. They won't let you down. 
• Skip Voodoo Doughnuts, get Salt and Straw ice cream
• Eat at a food cart park. Yelp will give you nearby recommendations
• Giggle at Mills End Park
• Walk over Hawthorne Bridge
• Take the aerial tram for a quick and cheap view of the whole city from above
• Check out the market if you're there on Saturday. It's right next to the famous "White Stag" sign and an easy walk to Powell's Books and other things the internet will say are "must-see." 

SEATTLE:

• I stayed at Belltown Inn which was GREAT location, but not the nicest hotel.
• Eat breakfast at Biscuit Bitch
• Pier 66 has a great view of the stadiums, Wheel, Mt. Rainier and more. 
• Go to the Market early [before 10], get your Starbucks if you need to, then go back a little later for the shopping if you must. 
• Gas Works Park has a breathtaking view of the city at night. 
• Get drinks at Unicorn and Canon... if you're into drinks and vibes worth photographing. 
• Museum of Pop's wall is also fun to take pictures in

THINGS I WISH I DID INBETWEEN: [We wanted a straight shot drive, but if you can take a day to drive, do these things]

• Multnomah Falls
• Cannon Beach
• Mt Rainier National Park/High Rock lookout
• Snoqualmie Falls

Okay you have fun pretending like you're gonna do all of these things too, okay? Or making me feel like you're pretending such things. 

love,

elizabethany

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what i'm wearin: coachella 2017

I've been to plenty music festivals before, but Coachella is different than most of them. I'm typically worried about how much I drink and how silly I get... but at Coachella, it's about how you look and who you're with.

Before I share all of the things that I saw, let's get to the important stuff, shall we?!

DAY ONE: 
I ordered these pieces while drunkenly going through ASOS clearance one night... knowing they were "Coachella-y" but having no idea what I'd do with them. The night I was packing I accidentally threw them on together and was real into it.

-velvet crop top: ASOS

-lace tie skirt: ASOS

-combat boots: JustFab

-shapers undies: Target

-peekaboo tat: Amazon

-necklace: F21

-heart sunglasses from Santa "Because love, elizabethany!"

For my make-up, I wanted to go real metallic-y. I found the eyeshadow with the most glitter and did a silver/blue smokey eye, with silver and black liquid eyeliner, and blue shadow on the bottom lash. I saw on Pinterest that "everyone at Coachella would have the lip line" and thought it was ridiculous, but ended up loving it. That's the same eyeliner that is on my eyes. 

-eyeshadow: Urban Decay

-eyeliners: NYX

-mascara I swear by: Stila Extreme Lash

-lipstick: NYX Liquid Suede in Amethyst

DAY TWO: 
This was my "basic Coachella" outfit, but I loved it. It's a little bit sexy, a little bit grunge, and another excuse to not wear a bra.

-bodysuit: ASOS

-jorts: Express [I had to order two sizes up from my usual jean size]

-belt: Boohoo

-booties: I forget. Probably JustFab or Target

-necklaces: F21 and Amazon

My make-up was a lot darker than Friday because in my mind it made sense for Saturday to be for the sultry. Also, rhinestones were a must each night. I thought I would like putting more on... over my eyebrows, in a design, who knows... but ended up keeping them simple.

-Urban Decay eyeshadow palettes

-rhinestones from Amazon

-blue mascara

-NYX lingerie in Embellishment 

DAY THREE

I planned all of my outfits ahead of time, but brought a few extras just in case. This top was an extra, but I liked it with the bandana, which I learned by day two that unless you want painful lungs the next morning, you should have a bandana handy. 

-patched jorts from Forever21

-top from F21

-combat boots from JustFab

-bandana from Amazon

No matter what, I wanted a LOT of color for Sunday. We'd only be there during the day, it was Easter... color was needed. I used my Alice in Wonderland Urban Decay palette for a teal and purple eyeball, and eventually did a semi-ombre lip with two different Liquid Suedes from NYX. 

A lot of people ask me how I do my eye make-up, and honestly, it's ALWAYS the same formula... normally 3-4 colors... I put a dark one above the crease, a bright one inside the corners of my eyes, a medium shade on the outside corners, and then one final color to blend it all. No real science to it... and most of the time I use my fingers until the blending color.

After MONTHS of looking for ideas on Pinterest and shopping and ordering and returning, I'm pretty proud to say I only copied one outfit, and I probably only spent about... $150ish on everything. I also gained a new love of bandanas.... it's gonna become a regular thing for me, I think.

love,
elizabethany

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photo diary: 8 florida towns in 3 days

My ADD-ness has spread into the way I travel.... and I don't mind it at all. Why visit ONE place, when you could rent a car and make it an adventure/road trip?

This time it was all about Florida. I only had three days to work with, not a lot of money, and I booked it less than 3 weeks before I left. Luckily, flights to Florida are pretty damn cheap most of the time.

The first decision I had to make: Atlantic Coast or Gulf Coast? Thanks to pictures of Siesta Key, the Gulf Coast was the winner, and Tampa would be the starting point.

With a bunch of friends in Tampa, it makes it an easy starting point. My first gamble was on the rental company. Sixt had an incredible deal on a convertible, and reviews that were either awful or fantastic. I'll take a gamble on saving $200 and not getting the car I want. Luckily, even though they told me they didn't have what I reserved, I saw it in the parking lot. A beautiful VW Beetle convertible. [LOL at making him think it'd be something like a Mustang then being all HAHA SUCKA I'M DRIVING EXCEPT FOR WHEN I WANNA TAKE PICS!]

There was some solid people watching in SoHo Tampa [and a huge, nice hotel that did not get enough use] before it was on to the next stop: Siesta Key.

It's America's #1 Beach, so I kind of expected it to be a little crowded, but man I was wrong in that expectation. Even at one of the main public parking entrances, there was barely anyone around. Maybe it was because it was so huge and flat that it felt empty, or maybe people hate little waves, clear water, and searching for sand dollars. When is the last time you've seen this much beach and only three people in the frame?!

I remember going to Sarasota as a kid and searching for sand dollars for hours with my mom... we'd wake up really early and go before everyone else found them. Now I know the real trick is to look when the tide is changing. Suddenly I was finding ALL OF THE BEAUTIES, and also a lot of really ugly rejects. I left those for the lazy people who didn't wanna find them in the water. 

Finding good food has surprisingly become one of my favorite things about traveling. Okay... I say surprisingly but really, I've loved food my whole life... I'm totally fine with eating gas station food most of the time, though.. just NOT WHILE TRAVELING. 

Ask people who have been... check Yelp... do research. The meal could be the best thing about a trip. [I still can't stop thinking about the meal I had in Key West and it's almost been two years!]

Shut up Elizabethany and show the damn food.

Thanks to my boss and his wife, I knew I should skip the oceanside restaurants and head a little north for The Columbia Restaurant. Cuban food, delicious sangria, and so many options. What you see on my delicious plate is Mahi Mahi topped with crab and hot damn- I'm glad I saved some so I could have it for a second meal.

This is when I made my first mistake. Even though I purposely didn't book a hotel for night 2 ahead of time, I stuck to the plan of going to Ft Myers instead of staying in Siesta Key/Sarasota. As we were driving away, the town was picking up, the old people were going to sleep, the people who were hungover from the night before were coming out, and I love a good beach bar... but we headed south to check out another city. 

The problem was.... there was no exploring of Ft Myers. Maybe because it was Sunday night and there were no bodies to be seen walking around, or maybe it was because I had probably the worst sunburn of my life. I don't get sunburnt. That's something silly that white folk have to deal with while I put on SPF 8 and get a slow brown. I learned a valuable lesson that day in Florida: DO NOT DRIVE A CONVERTIBLE, IN THE MORNING, WITHOUT SUNSCREEN ON. YOU WILL GET VERY BURNED IN LESS THAN AN HOUR.

Okay, there may be some dramatics coming into my whining, but think back to your first/worst sunburn. You were crying and complaining for days too, RIGHT?!? 

The lesson was learned, sunscreen was on, and Naples was the next stop. I don't think I've ever seen a cuter town in my entire life. So much green, and vibrant colors in general.

There were also these huge trees, that I've now learned are "banyon trees." If you've never seen a huge one of these in person, you're missing out. You're also missing out on an old person yelling at you with their half-voice if you don't climb it. 

The pier was just as beautiful... and full of gray [hair]. People were fishing, then throwing their fish back into the water where dolphins and pelicans would get them. The dolphins were SO close to the pier and even the swimmers, but of course I don't have pictures to capture that.

You don't really need more than a few hours in Naples, I don't think... unless Grandma June is there or something. 

It was time to take on the Everglades. I had done some research on all of the different airboat rides, but in the end- unless you're paying the big bucks for a private boat, they're all highly rated and about the same price. Wooten's had an animal sanctuary and a late final-boat time, so that was the winner. They had a white tiger, lots of crocs, otters... all kinds of babes... but we were there for the ride. 

I was a little discouraged when we got on this big ass boat... I was so rudely thinking the big guy can't do tricks... but it did. All the spins, all the coasting over mud, and quite a bit of fear tbh. It's only about 45 minutes long, but that's all I needed. Here's a quick clip:

And the third stop in one day: Miami.

There was a restaurant that I went to by myself the last time I was in Miami, and I was determined to find it again. It was so cute, the vibe was great, live cuban music was playing.... It's called Moreno's, and it's hiding in an alley attached to a hotel.

The service was worse than I remember, but it was still such a good vibe with neat drink options that I wouldn't write it off.

Now is when I should say Miami brought the crazy party, there was so much bar hopping and fancy drinks, and dancing next to rich people... but I've been having to severely limit my drinking lately. [If this is the first time you've heard this, it could be quite shocking.... but I've been sharing on the show and some on social about my migraines. Something about drinking is triggering cluster migraines and it is totally life changing in all the awful ways.]

Instead of partying the night away, we walked along the beach/strip of hotel pools that are probably full of rage on the weekend. Then I found a patch of green in the middle of downtown Miami Beach and decided to lay down and look up for a while.

When's the last time you've done that? Put your phone away, shut the bleep up, and just relax and observe.... It was foreign to me, but hot damn did it feel good. So good, this picture of my view over here gives me happy feels and it's not even a good picture.

The final day was all about Ft. Lauderdale... specifically Ft. Lauderdale Beach Park. Who's gonna turn down a bunch of picnic tables, an outdoor gym [lolz not that I'm gonna use it on vaca but it was fun to watch the babes on it], and nearby restaurants?! No one smart, that's who. 

It was another huge, flat beach, that was pretty empty on a Tuesday. There was also a huge chair so *cue photoshoot.*

I had been looking for a good place to get fish tacos all week and finally found a dive bar celebrating Taco Tuesday! Perfect! ...except that their Taco Tuesday was strictly chicken and beef since they pump out a bunch of them. They were $1 each and hella good.

Somehow the entire trip was a combination of adventure and relaxation. Sure, there was a lot of moving around city to city, but it was only 3.5 hours total driving, and a lot of laying around once we got to each place. If you're looking to do the most amount of traveling and sight seeing along the Gulf Coast in 66 hours, here's where I'd go again:

• Tampa
• Siesta Key/Sarasota
• Naples
• Everglades
• Miami
• Ft Lauderdale

I had hoped to get to Sanibel Island and also this coral castle in Miami, but it would have messed with timing more than I'd liked. You can save a lot of time by getting sandwiches to eat at the beach and only eating dinner out. Drive in the morning or at night, and soak up the daylight hours away from the car. Just like when I went to California, I starred places I wanted to see on Google Maps, then picked the best route/timing to see as much of it as I could.

66 hours.... that's literally all we had to do all of this. Make the most of your time, always.

love,
elizabethany

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