Shereen Rayle's Blog, page 7

Romantic Paris Staycation

This was from my destination date night for Valentine's Day 2024.
Valentine's Day is just a few days away. If you haven't planned anything yet, it's okay, there's still time to get the most coveted reservation, the one at home with your sweetie. If that doesn't sound all that exciting to you, what if I told you that you'd be taking them to Paris (or really any city they've been dreaming of)?

In 2022, we took a vacation to Paris, and it was awesome, but not every year can be a Paris year. In fact, ...

Visiting Places Along The Civil Rights Trail

The older I get, the more I realize that our education in Black history (and history in general) was woefully lacking and highly whitewashed. I'm always so upset to learn how cleaned up much of our learning was, when actual history is anything but neat and tidy. It's messy and complicated and though it can be heartbreaking to learn the truth of how people were treated, and are still being treated, knowing history is what helps us move forward and do better. 

As you know, I have been trying to do ...

Saving On a Romantic Getaway

As someone who hasn't celebrated Valentine's Day since I was a teenager, and even then didn't love it, I say make the holiday whenever you want and skip the crazy prices on the day/weekend/week itself. Take a getaway later in February or even March. Your money will go a bit further and you won't be fighting with a ton of other couples for overpriced "romance packages". 

Here are ways you can get away for less:
Use Groupon for things to do or places to eatGroupon is an amazing site that offers deal...

Travel Apps That Support Black Travel and Travelers

Today marks the first day of Black History Month, and even if our new government doesn't celebrate it and is doing everything they can to stop teaching Black history of any kind, I will always lift up Black travel, travelers, and experiences, because the U.S. was build by Black and brown people, who were native, brought here against their will, or came seeking a better life. 
Photo by Humphrey Muleba on Unsplash
I don't know about you, but I try to support and learn about local businesses in my ho...

Your Perfect Pink Destinations

With Valentine's Day coming up, I thought we might look back at some pink destinations, because you don't always have to go to the stereotypical romantic locations to celebrate your love. Yes, I enjoy Paris, but I also love Palm Springs, which is perfectly pink.

Did you know there are so many places you can go that a covered in pink homes, castles, beaches, and even religious sites? This isn't an exhaustive list, but a sprinkling of destinations that can pink up your travels.

If you're looking fo...

Welcome to Meow Wolf's Convergence Station

In 2021, Eric and I took a road trip to Las Vegas to visit with family and experience Omega Mart, an interactive art installation by Meow Wolf that I'd been waiting 3 years to open. There are other massive installations that they've done, but last year we finally had the chance to visit the one in Denver, Convergence Station. 

Meow Wolf is an art collective that wanted to do something huge and different that got people interested in art, and what started in a warehouse has turned into a phenomeno...

Portland Coffee Tour 2025 - Part 1

I'm getting back on my coffee grind, because I love coffee and a bunch of you love coffee, and if you come to Portland, I want you to get to some great shops and skip ones that are mediocre. I'm hoping to get up a new tour post each month. 

I'll post about 2-4 Portland (metro area) coffee shops in each post in the series, depending on how many I can get to in 4-6 weeks. Here are 3 that I've gotten to recently:

Hold the WheatThis shop has all the vibes and it comes through on all of it. Located in ...

Get More Travel Help From Me!

Are you on Patreon? Do you want to save more money on travel and learn more about specific destinations, get more say in what content you see, and maybe win (or purchase) some travel goodies? Well, then join me over on Patreon, where you can choose from several membership tiers, so you can do some or all of those things! 

Why do I need a Patreon? Because there are some things that I want to do that require a lot more effort than a blog post, but unless I get paid for that, I can't really invest m...

2025 Travel Trends

Are you traveling differently right now? Travel trends come and go and each generation has their own way of taking vacations. Maybe you also are pivoting into taking your dog with you more often or giving the travel reigns to your children or doing more adventuring on your trips. Here are 6 of 2025's upcoming travel trends.

Solo travel can be really rewarding and I tend to do it once a year, even though I have a travel partner. Here are some awesome places to travel alone.
Do any of your travel pl...

New Year, New Ways to Make Your Travels Better

There are always ways to make your travel better and if you didn't get any of those things for the holidays, it's okay, because I'm here to give you ideas on what to buy yourself with any of those Amazon gift cards or Grandma money you got instead.

I'm a travel gadget person there are things I always take with me and different stuff I take for different trips. If you feel like you could be traveling a little better and want something new

Did you do all the walking? Does your body hurt? Get a cheap...