Our next stop after Music City would soon see us waving the Star Spangled Banner and doing our best impressions of the American Patriot. While only a short stopover in Washington DC, we had arranged our travels to be in the nation’s capital during the enormous Fourth of July (American Independence Day) celebrations. Arriving two…

“They’re going to love your Australian accent down in Nashville!” We weren’t sure if the airport security officer meant it in a good or sarcastic tone, but we soon came to realise what he meant. Arriving at Nashville airport we were greeted with the sounds of country music and display cases of Gibson guitars –…

Hola amigos! Our week of sun, sand and unlimited cocktails in Cancun had arrived in time to celebrate Tom’s 30th birthday! We stayed in the Gran Caribe Resort on the main tourist strip and our Oceanfront Suites were worth every dollar! Beautiful rooms with stunning views looking right out over the sandy white beaches and…

Theme parks and famous beaches. Florida isn’t short of things to see and do and we had a bit planned for our short stay, starting with the theme parks in Orlando. Katherine booked tickets for her and Liam to live out her childhood dream – Disneyland! For me, visiting the Harry Potter attraction at Universal…

Tom and I were excited to be heading back to New York City three years since our honeymoon. Last time we were here, we were greeted with a cool 2 degrees Celsius, icy winds and snow! This trip we made sure it was during the summer and the weather did not disappoint. We stayed in…

Sunshine and spectacular views! Our four days in San Francisco with the Silman family was full of adventure. We booked a great little AirBNB unit at Ocean Beach and spent our first afternoon at the local brew house planning the next couple of days. One of the “must do” things in San Fran is to hire…

“Jasper is quiet, pristine and more authentic than Banff – you’ll see what we mean” is what we’d heard from several mountain locals and they weren’t wrong. The scenery is much the same but the vibe is like chalk and cheese. Banff is a lively hub of backpackers, bars and gift shops, while Jasper is…

It is often called the most scenic drive in the world and the Icefields Parkway – the 300-odd kilometre stretch between Banff and Jasper national parks – did not disappoint. While the drive can be done in a touch over three hours, locals advise a full day is needed to enjoy all this wonderful journey…

Arriving early afternoon we checked in to HI Banff, a nice hostel 5 minutes out of the city centre. The town is beautiful, but before exploring the main streets, we decided to get an overview of the area by hiking Tunnel Mountain. It was about a 2.5hr round trip and the summit had beautiful views…

Hopping off a 13 hour flight with a couple of hours sleep, we checked into our hostel, dumped the bags and went to explore the Yaletown and Gastown districts of Vancouver. Surrounded by snow capped mountains, the city itself is quite picturesque. There’s a couple of little historical landmarks we checked out including the world’s…