Shereen Rayle's Blog, page 52

Cool Things About Mount Fuji

Last week we took a staycation to Mt. Fuji in Japan, and we've been planning a big trip to Japan in the next 10 years, where we will visit Mt. Fuji, explore Tokyo, and even hit up Tokyo Disney. So, why is Mt. Fuji so attractive to visitors? 

Here are a few more cool facts: The distinctive cone shape of Mt. Fuji is very unusual for a volcano. Not only is it beautiful, but it's actually very climbable for even novice hikers. It can take 4-8 hours to hike to the top, meaning you can totally do it if...

How To Take a Japan Staycation

We are on a steady every-other-weekend schedule for our destination date nights. I was excited to visit Japan, and while planning, I couldn't decide between Mt. Fuji and Tokyo, so I we will be doing a second Japan staycation focusing on Tokyo. Since we aren't traveling at all right now, this is a fun way to take a mini vacay without leaving home. 

This last weekend I focused on Mt. Fuji and Japanese culture, as we are looking forward to a future trip and I'll be interested to learn a little more ...

Why You Need Vacation Time

I know we're all sick of being in the house, with no foreseeable real vacationing in sight, but that doesn't mean you can't take a vacation. Just working straight through the year, even though you don't have a trip planned, isn't a great idea. You can and should still take time off, because it's good for you. Even if you don't go anywhere, you can still do a rad staycation. We've been doing destination date nights to break up the time spent at home and you can do something similar, while also pl...

How To Pack For a Cruise

In my last post, we had a cruise staycation. If you've been thinking about a cruise vacation, now is a great time to get started on a plan. Research your choices of ships and places to cruise and start saving for your amazing travel, since you have probably another year to plan for your next trip. Let's look at how to perfectly pack for a cruise.

Just because there are so many different things to do on the ship, it doesn’t mean you need to bring your whole closet. In fact, you can still pack ligh...

Our Polynesian Cruise Staycation

I'm back with another destination date night, though this destination is on the "open seas". As with regular vacations, things don't always go as planned, and so goes staycations as well. I had a great big plan for our last one, but my items weren't going to get here in time, so instead we put it off and did a cruise instead. Summer is quickly ebbing away and I wanted to take advantage of one of the last warm days. 

I've been reflecting back on some of our past vacations and put two of them toget...

Living and Traveling Better with SpectraSpray

As Quarantine drags on and on and we're trying to keep healthy in all the ways, it's nice to have ways to help you achieve that that are also convenient. SpectraSpray is here to help you through this difficult time, and you'll want to continue using it when we are out of quarantine and can begin traveling again.

These vegan, organic, sugar-free, gluten-free, yeast-free, wheat-free, dye-free sprays come separately and in awesome kits to help you live your best life during travel and beyond.
I hate ...

10 Things I Love Doing On Every Trip

Every trip you go on is going to be different, even when I return to a city, it's never the same visit. There are 10 things I like to do to make my trips awesome, and we tend to do these almost every time we travel anywhere, because they are great ways to learn about your destination.

Get up high - As much as I adore seeing everything from the ground, you can see just how big of a place you are visiting, including all the landmark buildings and parks and water features, like rivers. It's like loo...

Planning Your Oktoberfest Trip

If we weren't in the middle of a pandemic, Oktoberfest would have started already. This year would have would have marked the 210th celebration, which I'm sure would have been something. We celebrated in our own way with a destination date night last week. You can follow my lead and put together a family, solo, or romantic Oktoberfest at home. 

Even if you don't like beer, Oktoberfest has something for you. It's based around a travelling funfair. Sure, it's a beer festival, but it's so much more....

Oktoberfest By The Numbers

Last weekend we "traveled" to Germany and Oktoberfest on our destination date night. These Covid staycations have been a lot of fun for us, because it breaks up the monotony of staying home and sitting on the couch, but also because it gives us a chance to learn new things about places we haven't visited yet, and will help us relive some of our best vacation memories. With all the bad of 2020, these are things we need right now.


If you were thinking about a future trip to Germany to get in on Okt...

Visiting Oktoberfest from Home

I've got another destination date night for you! It's September, which means it's official Oktoberfest time. Well, we all know all the actual celebrations are cancelled due to the pandemic, but that doesn't mean you have to miss out. We sure didn't. We had a wonderful date night over the weekend that featured a quaint German street, a Biergarten, and a rowdy crowd of Oktoberfest-goers. 

We did this all without leaving our house, literally, because the air outside is toxic. The whole west coast is...