Shereen Rayle's Blog, page 17

5 Affordable Valentine's Travel Destinations

Still looking for a great getaway for your Valentine? Travel is a great experience, and many times experiences are better than things. Candy and flowers last only so long, but memories last forever. If you can swing a trip in February with your sweetheart, I guarantee it'll be more exciting than one fancy dinner. 

Not sure where to go on a budget? Well, here are 5 destinations for you:

Chicago 

Bring your big coat and layers, because it will be cold, but you can easily escape the rough weather by h...

Literal Champagne Travel (Even On a Beer Budget)

When people celebrate things, like Valentine's Day or weddings or anniversaries or accomplishments, they often do so by popping open a bottle of bubbly. Sometimes it's sparkling wine or prosecco, but we almost always say champagne. By now, you probably know it's not champagne unless it comes from the champagne region in France. If you love a good glass of bubbles, you're not alone. 

If you want to travel to Champagne, know that the exchange rate is very favorable for Americans heading to France. ...

Your Next Romantic Getaway

Are you ready for Valentine's Day and beyond? We don't celebrate the day, because everything is so expensive, and we try really hard to do special things all year. If a romantic getaway sounds like something you want to jump on, I'll be bringing you several posts just in time for Valentine's Day.

Some places are just more romantic than others, so if you're looking to go to one of those destinations in the U.S., Fodor's has a list of 15 small towns to check out, from the surprising Eureka Springs,...

You Have Questions, I Have Answers!

I'm coming at you mid-posts to ask you for your struggles. I want to help you all more in 2024 and to do that, I need to know where you're falling short on your travels or what could just help you more.  

photo credit

I'll be addressing these via blog posts and newsletters, and short ones may get put into compilation posts and Facebook posts. No matter what you have questions on or need a little bit of help to do better, let me know: 

Need help learning to plan better?Need ideas for budget destinat...

Hunt For Happiness Week

Hunt For Happiness Week is almost here. January 21-27th is your time to find and do the things that make you happy. For most of us, a big contributor to that is travel. Whether you travel alone or with friends, you can really up your happiness quotient. Even just the act of planning or booking a trip is helpful to your mental health.

Traveling rewires our brains. It's a great way to gain knowledge through action instead of books. Not that reading isn't awesome, it is, and I encourage you to read ...

Where To Travel Alone in 2024

Solo traveling can be very fun and beneficial. Maybe your partner doesn't want to go on a trip. Maybe your friend dipped out on you. Maybe you just do most things alone and this is no different. Whatever the case, sometimes it's either go alone or stay home. I don't know about you, but I hate the stay home option. We usually travel as a couple, once a year I go somewhere with my mom, and other times I get a friend to go with me, but sometimes I am happy to explore on my own.

One of my favorite pl...

Using Rakuten to Travel Cheaper

Did you know that you can basically get paid to travel and shop [for your travel gear and clothing] for things you buy everyday? You can and Rakuten will pay you for it. I never buy or book anything without first checking Rakuten. So, what IS Rakuten? It's a fantastic - and free! - site that offers you cash back for purchasing from online merchants. If you plan to make a purchase anyway, you might as well get something for being a loyal (or even a new) customer. 
Here's how it works: Sign up is...

Dining Out For Less

January is Be Kind to Food Servers Month, so it feels like it's time to bring back some tips for saving money while dining on vacation, along with some suggestions on how you can inject a little more kindness when you're somewhere that you are being served food or beverages. 

I love food, and I travel to try new things. I know there are a lot of Americans who try their best to only dine at restaurants they recognize when they vacation, and that's very odd to me. I understand if you travel with pi...

2024 Travel Trends

I love looking ahead to the coming travel trends so I can see how travel is expected to change in the coming year. Since 2020, people have been vacationing differently than they did before. I know that I savor the ability to explore the world more than I did, while other people have finally discovered that slow travel (taking their time in a destination) is more rewarding than spending 1-2 days in a city before moving on. 

photo credit 

I may not be going anywhere super original this year, but I a...

Happy New Year 2024

Happy New Year! It feels like 2023 just started and now it's a whole new year. Usually, we try to travel during this time, but we've been doing so much local stuff, that it has felt like a mini vacation. Plus, there weren't any flight deals for the places we were thinking of going to, so we just skipped it this year.

As you know, the majority of my resolutions are travel-related, non-specific, and pretty easy to achieve, because making resolutions like "going to the gym" or "losing 10 lbs" or "ca...