Shereen Rayle's Blog, page 9

Repurposing Old Buildings for Tourism

We love a repurposed building, especially if the alternative is that it gets the wrecking ball. We've seen quite a few of these places at home and when we've been traveling. It makes for a very cool experience and is a fun history lesson. 

At home, we have several cool buildings that used to be something and are now something else. The new tea house down the street from our house is in a tiny building that was originally the Chamber of Commerce. Now you get an authentic Asian tea experience and a...

Give the Gift of Language

We are big fans of giving and getting experiences for the holidays. Not only do we not need anymore stuff, experiences generally let us spend more time together. It's like giving memories. We've given tours, escape rooms, and more over the years. With so much about on-time delivery questionable right now, giving an experience is also easy to print and put into a card or send by email. 

I got excited last year about going on bigger trips this year, including going to France, so I gifted ourselves ...

6 Winter Travel Packing Tips

Packing even for a beach trip in just a carry-on can be a little tricky if you aren’t used to packing light. Carry-on travel has become more and more popular as baggage fees have become the norm among most airlines. 

Not only does packing light save money, but it also saves time, because travelers don’t have to stand around the baggage carousel waiting for their luggage to (hopefully) make it off the plane. Having minimal baggage can save your back, too. Not sure where to start when planni...

Holiday Travel Headaches to Prepare For

The holidays are coming and that means braving the crowds and being ready for all the extra headaches that come along with it, including delayed and even cancelled flights. Soon you'll join the millions of people traveling to visit friends and family or, if you're lucky, going on a winter getaway. I definitely approve of those, because the holidays can be stressful and getting away from everything is always nice and relaxing.

The airport during the holidays is a madhouse and security lines can be...

31 Days of Halloween 2024

Every October, I round up some of the most interesting spooky, creepy, and haunting stories on my Facebook page called 31 Days of Halloween. If you're not following me there, I'd love it if you did, as I share different things there than on the blog and Instagram. Maybe you missed some of them or you aren't over on Facebook to see these, so here is my round-up. Happy Halloween!

1: What the heck is "mummy cheese"? Find out what it is and how it's helping reveal historical mysteries.
2: What's scari...

Save Money for Travel While Booking Travel

Did you know that you can basically get paid to travel and shop (for your travel gear and clothing) for things you buy every day? 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 i...

Doing All the Fall Things

It's pumpkin spice season! Okay, I know a lot of us don't gauge the year in seasonal coffee drinks. It's fall, when the leaves turn, and the weather turns crisp, and we wear a jacket in the morning, and bring out our boots. If you're an autumn traveler like we are, it's a great time to do all the fun fall things before Halloween comes and some of these things go away. 

Not only is it cheaper to travel in the fall, but there are fewer tourists everywhere and the shorter hours is actually made up f...

Easy To Pack Halloween Costumes

When you travel over Halloween, you might also be doing holiday activities where you'll need a costume. We have often gone to a Disney park during Halloween season and have packed costumes, but still only took a carry-on. 

Here are 10 easy, but fun, costumes to bring with you, that will still enable you to pack light.

A game show contestant

You basically only need a plain colored shirt for this, and then a name tag and points card (or dollar guess), both of which are flat and easy to pack. 

Salt & P...

Horror Movies Based Around Travel

I adore Halloween and almost everything that comes with it, except haunted houses and corn mazes. I will see a corn maze in the daytime. Each year I try to consume as much spooky media as possible, including horror movies and scary podcasts. If you also enjoy such things, then this post is for you. I've got a long list of great horror movies that revolve around travel, which you would think would scare me off from a lot of things, but actually haven't. 

I feel as if you can definitely learn a lot...

Affordable Art & History in Nashville

We've just returned from Nashville and though we didn't do a ton of stuff, we did almost all the things on our list of must-dos. As always, I'm here to give you the tips on how to do places for less and make the most of your time and money. 

If you're short on time and/or on a tight budget while visiting Nashville, there are two places that I feel are an easy way to indulge in culture for not a ton of money. If you have a rental car, for $40 (and free parking!), you can visit 4 great places that ...