Viva la Vida Travel with Carmen Schaffer

As traditions go, most newlyweds tie the knot then shortly after the wedding ceremony, they head out on their honeymoon in hopes of being pampered and spoiled at a luxurious romantic resort as they slide into their new life together as a shiny, brand new, happy couple.   I never really looked up the definition of "honeymoon" until I began to write this blog, but out of curiosity, I looked up the meaning.  Check out this definition per dictionary.com coupled with my commentary. Noun 1. a vacation or trip taken by a newly married couple.  ( the obvious definition we are all familiar with) 2. the month or so following a marriage. ( that sacred time when everything is still supposed to be perfectly perfect) 3. any period of blissful harmony. ( eludes to the fact that the period of time is short) 4. any new relationship characterized by an initial period of harmony and good will.  ( by the time most people reach a honeymoon, they...

I recently attended my very first Adventure Travel Trade Associations World Summit in Alaska where global partners in adventure tourism gathered to discuss the latest and greatest trends in Adventure travel. The president of the organization asked attendees to write about the impact that the Summit had on us so I did and after having written it, I figured it'd be a great blog post. So here you go, here are my insights from 9 days in Alaska with ATTA ( Adventure Travel Trade Association and the Juneau and Haines tourism board.) Where do I even begin to describe the impact that attending my very first ATTA World Summit has had on me? Let me start my ramblings by saying . . . This was my very first Summit although I’ve been a member of ATTA for about 2 years now. I saw that the Summit was being held in Alaska and that they were accepting applications to be hosted so I jumped on it because 1. I’ve never been to Alaska, 2. I have never considered myself a real fan of ...

The tell tale sign that summer is over : the first day of school.  As a parent, there is nothing more telling of time passing us by then the start of a new school year. Even more so than celebrating New Years Eve or even birthdays, the start of a new school year signifies life's milestones represented in the lives of our children.  Time flies my friends. It's cliche to say but it does and as my own son enters his junior year of high school, I realized just the other day, that next summer will be his LAST summer home with us before he flies the proverbial coop and graduates high school. Upon realizing this, I felt this a sudden urge to cram in a bunch of activities onto the calendar. Plan that trip. Visit that college. Spend more time together. Repent against my not -so -cool-mom moments that have happened throughout the challenges of parenting. It's like the end of a portion of your life that happens when your kids graduate high school. For me it's like knowi...