Lately, my new hobby has been creating digital scrapbook pages, mostly of my road trip adventures. These are some of my favorite memories and I’m very excited to have them all captured in one place. I’m big fan of traditional scrapbooking as well but digital also gives so much creative freedom and can easily be kept. If anyone is interested in creating a similar scrapbook, I created all of my pages in Canva. Stay tuned for more pages to come!
It’s almost officially one of the best times of the year…fall! I look forward to this time of year because of all the warmth and coziness it brings. Watching the leaves change, carving pumpkins, enjoying pumpkin spiced lattes, and so much more, it is truly a special time of year.
I’ve already started to welcome the new season in my home and through weekend activities. I wanted to share my autumn bucket list (that’s typically the same each year) to provide some inspiration and encourage you to welcome the new season! This past weekend, Patrick and I checked apple picking off the bucket list and it was such a fun way to kick off the fall season.
Wishing you all a wonderful autumn season!
Autumn bucket list
To end the summer and celebrate my birthday, Patrick and I went on a little getaway weekend trip to Newport, Rhode Island. We had so much fun exploring this charming beach town, it’s a place I can’t wait to go back to in the future! Here’s my quick guide of things to do and see during a weekend trip.
🌊 The public beaches require a fee for entry. It seems like the rates are typically $25 weekdays and $35 weekends which is valid for the whole day. We were a bit surprised by this but the beaches were very clean and monitored so the money seems well worth it! Also something to note is there are a couple “residents only” beaches so keep an eye out for those too.
⚓️ There are several areas to stay at surrounding Newport. We found an airbnb in Portsmouth/Middletown, RI and we loved this area! It felt quieter and more residential which gave us space from the downtown area. It was also close to the beaches and only a 15 minute drive to downtown Newport. If you want to be close to the excitement, I’d recommend finding a hotel in the downtown area.
Throughout the weekend, we did a little bit of everything and it made for the perfect way to spend time here + celebrate my birthday! Newport is fairly small so doing a lot in a couple days is definitely manageable without having to drive or walk far which was so ideal for a weekend trip.
Activities
Restaurants
It’s seems like this year’s spring season has gone by so quickly, it’s hard to believe it’s nearly time to welcome summer in about a month.
This spring season has been busy for me, lots of transitioning and change which seemed fitting for spring. A month ago, Patrick and I went away for a camping weekend and had a nice unplugged couple days. Camping is always a nice reset for me, I enjoy that it forces me to be present and gives me a break from the busyness of the usually day to day.
Here are a few of our favorite products for camping:
These items are perfect for a night away or an extended camping trip!
I’m looking forward to everything this summer season brings. We have some fun adventures planned that I cannot wait to share! Here are a few photos from our recent camp trip!
There’s been a lot of recent news and updates regarding the future of national parks. If you’ve read my blog before, you probably know national park travel is so important to me. If you’ve visited a national park before, you likely understand why they need to be protected. I consider it such a gift to have these stunning places throughout the country, full of beautiful scenery, incredible wildlife, and wonderful hikes and activities to explore. These places wouldn’t exist or thrive without the work and dedication of so many park rangers, forest service workers, and volunteers of the national park service.
The current administration recently fired thousands of public land and national park employees, leaving these magical places at risk. Not only for the visitors who cherish these places but for the wildlife that are able to call these places home.
The current updates have been very unsettling for me and I wanted to create a post sharing resources and things to be aware of if you also love and appreciate our national parks. I will also be sharing ways to advocate and do our part in maintaining the national parks to the best we can.
Due to the lack of staffing, there may be many changes within major national parks. It’s easy to not always recognize how much these workers contribute to the parks because of how much time and effort goes into caring for these areas. Now more than ever, it will be important for all of us to do our part. There’s a lot we still don’t know but, for now, these are things that may be a result of less staff to assist in maintaining the parks and public lands.
I will be sharing more information as we continue to learn more about these changes. National parks are truly so special and I hope we can all make an effort to continue to protect them.
Winter is always the time of year where things slow down and there’s less happening. Years ago, I used to dread this time of year, it’s colder, darker, and the holidays are over. But, throughout the last few years, I’ve learned to make the most of this time and romanticize the slowness this season brings. Here are some of my tips on how to romanticize this time of year.
Traveling is something I love because it brings so much to my life and has introduced me to so many amazing places. For the last decade, I’ve made travel a priority in my life even when I’m working full time and balancing other life needs. I truly believe it’s possible and I wanted to create a small guide of some tips on how to prioritize travel for those who would like to travel more in the new year or make it more of a priority.
Planning a trip should be fun! I recommend starting with a list of places you’d love to go to, this could be bucket list places or places close to home. If a big and far trip is possible, definitely go for it! If you’re looking for starting off slow, I’d recommend pulling up a map and looking around the areas that are closest to your home. This could be neighboring towns, neighboring states, or a place that are within driving distance of a few hours. Once you’ve selected a spot you want to visit, the planning can begin!
Planning a trip can be overwhelming and stressful at times, especially larger trips. The planning process can take time depending on where you’re planning to go. I always recommended planning early if possible to relieve stress and give yourself plenty of time…
Throughout the last three years, taking a road trip has become Patrick and I’s favorite way to vacation. We’ve seen some incredible places throughout the country and we do so all from our own car, driving across several states. There’s something about…
I still consider myself new to the camping world. Before I met Patrick, I could count on one hand the amount of times I had camped. Camping became more frequent in my life when Patrick and I started traveling to national parks…
National park travel has become such an important part of my life and easily my favorite kind of travel. There are currently 63 established national parks in the United States and each year, there are new rules, permits, reservations, and important information you need to know before visiting. Gone are the days of spontaneously showing up to some popular parks and having an impromptu trip. Planning is required to ensure your trip is what you hope and expect it to be! I created this guide, similar to last year’s with important information about certain national parks you may need to know before visiting.
Many national parks require a park pass to access the park and are typically valid for 7 days. This is still needed on top of any reservation or permit required. I would recommend looking at your desired national park’s website to make sure a park pass is required or not, however, this can be purchased when entering the park. The main difference between the two is a reservation or permit that is required needs to be purchased in advance before trip dates. The entrance kiosks and visitor’s centers will not sell these types of reservations in person.
It’s important to check on park’s websites when and what kind of reservations may be required. Typically, these kinds of reservations are specifically required during peak seasons (summer-fall).
*as of January 2025*
keep in mind, if you plan to visit all three areas of glacier, you may need three different types of reservation tickets. Check out my blog post about Glacier National park here for more information on the park.
It seems like more parks are trying to implement some kind of reservation system depending on the amount of crowds they see. I would recommend checking any park’s website you plan to visit prior to your trip to determine if any other decisions are made throughout the year to require reservations or permits to access areas.
Keep up to date with tracking what national parks you’ve visited! Download my free national park checklist below. I created two versions, horizontal and vertical PDF’s.
If you don’t get a reservation or if you missed your window to purchase one, here are a few options to still be able to access reserved areas of the park:
It’s hard to believe today is the last day of 2024! I’m definitely one of those people that enjoys new years and finds some magic in making new goals and resolutions. To me, it’s a nice way to reflect and take some time to be intentional with a new year to come. I’ve made a small list of a few simple things you can do to prepare for a new year.
Wishing you all a magical 2025! ✨
I created a 2025 dream and goal planning page, similar to last year’s that I’ll personally be using and wanted to share for anyone else interested. I typically write anything that comes to mind that I hope to achieve or strive for in the new year, even if it feels a little ambiguous at first! That’s what dreaming and goal planning is all about :)
skylarbeck.com 