Where to Travel in 2018 According to NY Times, Frommer’s, Lonely Planet, Fodor’s, AFAR, and Me

Many people get excited about the end of the year because of the holidays, the time off, the food, and seeing family and friends. Don’t get me wrong, all of that is awesome (duh), but another tradition I get excited about around this time is seeing the next year’s “where to travel” lists, the pinnacle, of course, being the NY Times’ “52 Places to Go in 2018.” Yes, I was one of the 9,000 people to apply for the job of visiting and writing about each of the 52 places over the upcoming year. I didn’t get it.

Guadeloupe | 7 Bucket List Items

You know Aruba, the Bahamas, St. Thomas, and St. John. Turks & Caicos, St. Lucia, and the Dominican. But do you recall…one of the most beautiful Caribbean islands of all?

Okay, I’ll stop so you don’t have that song in your head, but I think Rudolph is a good metaphor for Guadeloupe in that it’s very underrated and would probably save Christmas if given the chance.

2016 Travel Year in Review

Oh, 2016. What a year it’s been. Like many of my friends (including Katie and Erin), I had an incredible year personally, and while we can’t just ignore everything that’s going on in the world and in our country, that’s not what this post is about. With all the memes showing “me at the start of 2016” and “me at the end of 2016,” my favorite, and my goal, is this one (though the video version communicates the message better):

Dominican Republic | A Concrete Impact

As most of you know by now, my attendance on the final Fathom pilot trip made a huge impact on the trajectory of my life. I’d been thinking a lot about building volunteering into my travels and giving back to those people who so openly share their cities or countries with me as a visitor. Participating in impact activities like planting trees on the beach, working with children on their English, and working with women in a recycling paper co-op, confirmed that this path was one I needed to explore further.

While I appreciate the long-term impact of other Fathom projects, when I first heard about the opportunity to install concrete floors into people’s homes and see the immediate impact, I knew I had to return to the Dominican Republic and experience this activity specifically. On our second day in the Dominican Republic, Katie and I joined other Fathom travelers to complete this impact activity for three homes.

Dominican Republic | More Than Words

I learned a new language recently and it wasn’t easy. I took 6 months of French and I think if I went back to Lyon right now, I still might be in trouble. And that’s because I haven’t been practicing – sorry Leemore, I will have time soon!

On my first Fathom experience in the Dominican Republic, I’d worked with a 4th-grade class on their English. I loved the one-on-one interaction – getting to know a student, helping with her English, and practicing my Spanish with her as well. While I loved that day, I wanted to try different impact activities on my next Fathom trip. On our first day on the ground in the DR during my second Fathom experience, my sister and I chose Community English Conversation & Learning, speaking English with a family or a group of adults. Tourism is such a huge industry in the Dominican Republic that knowing English can be the difference between whether someone gets a job or not.

Dominican Republic | A Cruise I’d Choose

I didn’t go for the cruise.

I’d been on one cruise a decade ago with someone who I never should have traveled with. He was more interested in staying in the room and watching Transformers than in exploring the ports where we docked. It didn’t help that we had gone on the cheapest cruise we could find. It only docked in Key West and Cozumel, each for just a few hours. But it’s a memory I repress, along with the rest of the relationship.

Guadeloupe | 3 Must-Have Dining Experiences

While my family and I may not have spent as much time in Guadeloupe as we wish we had, we were able to fit in a variety of activities and experiences in our few days there. And when I travel, a lot of the experiences tend to be food-related. We ate some great meals at our hotels – the Langley Resort Fort Royal and Auberge de la Vieille – but we also explored the food scene a bit outside. Here are three of our favorite dining experiences:

Hotel Review | Langley Resort Fort Royal Guadeloupe

When I told people I was going to the Guadeloupe Islands, the majority of them immediately asked, “Where?” The islands in the French Antilles in the Caribbean are not yet a popular destination for Americans, with most of the visitors from Europe and speaking much better French than I do, but all that could change soon. Guadeloupe was featured as #11 on the NY Times’ 52 Places to Go in 2016, Norwegian Air now offers (cheap!) direct flights from JFK, Baltimore, & Boston, and if that’s not enough to spark interest, the internet will also be reading my posts about the islands over the next few weeks.

April 2016 Recap | NYC, Philly, Guadeloupe Islands

By the beginning of April, I already had something scheduled every day of the month and I was stressed out majorly. I eventually realized I could skip out on some of the events, but there was still a lot to think about. Because of this, I didn’t get a chance to work on this site as much as I wanted to. But I did get a chance to explore a new island, spend time with family and friends, and listen to the newest Justin Bieber album {well, three songs on repeat} 1000 times.

Dominican Republic | Reduce, Reuse, RePapel

“I work hard for the money…So hard for the money…” – the woman next to me sang out while we sat ripping paper on a warm day in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. It was just one of many songs we sang together to pass the time, but it was the one where her voice rang out the strongest. She could have definitely been on Dominican Idol. And she does work hard for the money. Not just for herself, but for other women at RePapel, and for the local economy of Puerto Plata. We spent our last morning volunteering with Fathom Travel at RePapel, a women’s co-op that recycles old office paper into beautiful notecards, postcards, and other paper products.

Dominican Republic | Fathom Travel Gon’ Give it to You

On our second day in the Dominican Republic with Fathom Travel (read an overview of the trip here and a first day recap of planting trees here), we worked with children in a school at the top of the mountains in Puerto Plata. Our little tour bus puttered and puttered up the dirt roads of the mountains, dodging burrows and cattle. I have never gotten carsick in my life (knock on wood) but I had to move closer to the front of the bus because these roads were no joke.

Dominican Republic | Planting Trees & Taking Names with Fathom

Our first full day in the Dominican Republic was spent on a gorgeous beach, but not in a sit-in-a-bikini and get-300-pages-deep-in-a-novel kind of way that I’m used to (and frankly, really good at). I was in the DR with Fathom, a new cruise line under Carnival which takes travelers to the DR from Miami for a few days of impact activities working with local organizations. To learn more about my experience with Fathom or if you want to plant trees in the Dominican Republic, too – read this post before continuing on.

Dominican Republic | I Didn’t Get a Tan in the Caribbean

I spent four days in the Caribbean and didn’t put my bathing suit on once. It wasn’t because I spent my time on nude beaches or because it was raining. It was because I was on a different kind of trip with Fathom Travel and I was there to immerse myself into the community and help out on different impact projects with local organizations. I didn’t get a tan, but I got so much more than I could have ever imagined.

St. Thomas | Winter Escapes

It’s so difficult to make it through the winter for me, especially this particular winter. I know it could be worse, since I don’t live in Boston, but it could also be so much better! In previous years, my winter escape was St. Thomas, made easy by the fact that one of my friends has a house down there. We went two “spring breaks” in a row and had the times of our lives.