I’m obsessed with … Spring Break 2012

As of 11am this morning, I am going on Spring Break 2012!

Destination: Scottsdale, Arizona

Have you ever felt like you just needed to get away from reality? That’s me. Now.

On top of being spontaneous (we depart on Friday) I love the idea of having no plans once we arrive … and  no I technically don’t have Spring Break, but Lin and Laura do and I’m on board. I’m foreseeing an itinerary full of: pool time, relaxation, hiking and quality time with Miss Jenny who lives in Scottsdale. Perfection.

4 days and this girl will be in the SUN! Peace out Chi!

Travel Addict: Extreme Adventures Australia

Yesterday’s post reminded me of one of the best trip I’ve ever been on:

Extreme Adventures One Fish Two Fish Spring Break Trip

You may remember my study abroad experience in Australia from this post. One Fish Two Fish was my spring break trip: 9-days up the east coast of Australia, Brisbane to Cairns. AKA 9-day trip of waiver after waiver, signing my life away. Perfection.

Trip highlights:

[Group shot with our guides Tim & Belinda]

[Croc Hunter Steve Irwin at the Australia Zoo in Brisbane]

[Snorkeling … somewhere, maybe Fraser Island?]

[White Water Rafting the Tully River]

[The Whitsundays, paradise]

[Sailing and Snorkeling the Whitsundays]

[High Speed Ocean Rafting]

[AJ Hackett Bungy Jumping in Cairns]

[Bungy Swinging in Cairns]

[Off-roading 4WD Adventure]

[Post-Skydiving in Cairns]

[Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef]

[EXTREME Group Shot on the Reef]

Did you see a trend in the photos? Awesome, extreme sports every single day. Jeesh I miss it!

Unfortunately, this trip is only for students, but you could create something similar on your own if you were interested.

Next week I’ll give you  more tips on the what, when, where, and why of traveling to Australia. Stay tuned…

Travel Addict: Yosemite

The 1st Annual Ski Trip reminded me of how much I love the outdoors … which reminded me of one of my fave Petersen family vacations:

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

Located in California, Yosemite National Park is home to so much natural beauty it gives me the chills just looking through my pictures. Seriously. TAKE ME BACK.

It’s nearly impossible to experience all that Yosemite has to offer in a day so plan at least a few days to take it all in. We visited in August, but Yosemite if gorgeous and diverse every season. My favorite memory is hiking — Upper Yosemite Falls was my #1, but Lower Yosemite Falls was also an adventure. Other highlights included El Capitan, Bridalveil Falls, Mirror Lake, Royal Arches, Cathedral Rocks … I could probs go on forever. Beautiful!

Another bomb thing about Yosemite is that there are tons of choices – do you hike or bike or drive or go horseback? Do you go self-guided or guided? Group tour or custom tour? It’s like Burger King: have it your way.

Go ahead and fall in love with this California gem:

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START PLANNING YOUR TRIP STAT:

Yosemite.com

Yosemitepark.com

Yosemite Government Site

Travel Addict: Vegas

VIVA. LAS. VEGAS.

There are many reasons to visit Las Vegas: the lavish-themed casinos, marriage, impressive shows, gambling … or what I go for, a nice balance between pool time and clubbing.

The girls and I have taken on Vegas 3 times…

[2007]

[2009]

[2011]

Tread lightly with this advice…

Hotels:

In 2007, we stayed at New York, New York on the south end of the strip. The next two trips we opted for Treasure Island which is affordable, in the middle of the strip and the pool gets sun all day.

Dream hotels: Bellagio (duh), Wynn, Encore, Cosmopolitan, Aria or The Venetian.

In reality, you probably cannot go wrong; however, I do recommend visiting all the other hotels if you’re a first-timer — unreal.

Shows:

While a show is always on the docket for our trips, it usually slips off the itinerary somehow (maybe next time?) so I am no pro, but I’ve always wanted to see a Cirque du Soleil show. Truth.

Clubs:

New hot spots are constantly opening in Vegas but my fave is The Bank at Bellagio. XS and Haze are up there. Lavo, Tao and The Foundation Room would be next. Being real honest though — it’s all about who you’re with, promoters and VIP.

While I’d like to disclose more … what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

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HELPFUL-ISH LINKS

LasVegas.com

VisitLasVegas.com

Vegas.com

THRIFTY TRAVEL TIPS

1. Join a hotel’s mailing list to get emails about special promotions and discounts.
2. Check out Groupon Las Vegas or Groupon Getaways, could find something good.

Travel Addict: Costa Rica

Second travel post and already taking it international… love!

Costa Rica.

Located in Central America, the phrase that Costa Ricans most identify with is “Pura Vida” — which means pure life or good life and reflects the Costa Rican way of life. As soon as I heard that I was on board with this 2011 summer vacay.

It wasn’t a traditional Petersen Family  vacay, it was the extended fam … Mom, Dad, brother Matt, Gram, Aunt Gayle, Uncle Tom, cousins Brent, Shelley and Chris.

Costa Rica is a tropical climate with an average temperature of 80 degrees on the coasts, 70 degrees in the main cities and 50 degrees in the mountains. In other words … awesome. We stayed on the Pacific coast in Tamarindo, located in the Guanacaste province.

Tamarindo was gorgeous and there was so much to do. Some of my favorite adventures included our chartered snorkeling trip, playing in the ocean, howling with the Howler Monkeys, surfing, our day trip to Nicaragua (loved Masaya Volcano National Park!) and of course our full-on costume Murder Mystery dinner.

FUN FACTS

Passport: Required

When to Visit: late November until April

Capital City: San Jose

Population: 4,658,887

Average Annual Rainfall: 120 to 140 inches

HELPFUL WEBSITES

Visit Costa Rica

Anywhere Costa Rica

U.S. Government Travel Site

Travel Addict: Vail, Colorado

If you’re looking for an amazing ski experience, visit Vail, Colorado.

I traveled to Vail over MLK Weekend in 2011. My trip sparked from the desire to have a mini-Australia reunion with Moe and Devin. Plus I’d always wanted to go on a ski trip. I did learn that I am not the best skier (green hills yo!) but I also learned that I love Vail!

Devin and I flew into Denver where Maureen lives and we drove to Vail early the next morning. I rented equipment on our drive up and we stayed in a rented condo within walking distance to the mountain. The experience was UNREAL.

As the second largest ski mountain in North America, Vail has 5,289 acres of the most diverse and expansive skiing in the world. The trails range from green (easiest) to double black diamond with extreme and freestyle terrain — so it caters to all levels of skiers. Vail receives more than 335 inches of snow annually and almost 300 days of sunshine each year. It’s also home to a bustling town center full of shops, restaurants and an active nightlife.

In other words …

• The mountain = awesome
• The skiing = awesome
• The climate = awesome
• The town = awesome

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” – Lao Tzu

Travel Addict

Truth.

I am a self-proclaimed travel addict. Growing up, my parents were adamant about Petersen Family Summer Vacations which introduced me to 46 of the 50 states. Then my sophomore year of high school I traveled to Antarctica with my Gram (yes, Antarctica) … and there started my addiction to international travel. The goal is to see all 50 states and visit all 7 continents in my lifetime, but within that overarching goal is an unending list of specific places I want to visit.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be taking a hiatus from Workout Wednesday to promote some of my past travels. Whether you’re wanting to take a short day-trip, weekend getaway or lavish vacation, I’ve had some experience with it all so why not share?

MN Girls Weekend Recap

I recently traveled to the great state of Minnesota for our fall girls weekend.  If you didn’t learn from this post, I’m obsessed with my Drake girlfriends.  That fact was reinforced over the weekend.  Between Hell’s Kitchen (holy pb!), The Loop, Seven, Vikings v. Packers, and a siiiiick Question game, it felt like our good old Drake days … breakfast at Waveland Cafe?!  Ha!   Check out some of our memories:

Maybe it was the ridiculousness of the uber-creeper at The Loop or maybe it was our domestic cooking demo courtesy of thetwentysixthyear, but they constantly rock my world and the countdown has begun for Miss Jenna to arrive in Chi!!

A special thank you to our amazing MN hosts — Jenna, Molls & Grace!

26 places in the U.S. I’d love to visit

Despite the fact that I was just in Dallas and Minneapolis, I’m itching to travel again. Somewhere. Anywhere. And so…

26 places within the U.S. I’d love to visit (in no particular order)

1. Seattle, Washington
2. Santa Fe, New Mexico
3. Austin, Texas
4. San Diego, California
5. Washington D.C.
6. Nashville, Tennessee
7. Charleston, South Carolina
8. Mount Rushmore, South Dakota
9. Portland, Oregon
10. Miami, Florida
11. San Antonio, Texas
12. Boston, Massachusetts
13. Scottsdale, Arizona
14. Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming
15. Anywhere in Montana
16. Kauai, Hawaii
17. Atlanta, Georgia
18. New Orleans, Louisiana
19. Albuquerque, New Mexico
20. Anchorage, Alaska
21. Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri
22. Key West, Florida
23. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
24. Sonoma/Napa Valley, California
25. Park City, Utah
26. Grand Canyon in Arizona

Any other recommendations?

Dallas Recap

With a 50/50 chance, I actually did come home from Dallas.  I freaking love Texas.  Have I mentioned Texas weather is flawless?  Their fall is basically Midwest summer – 80s, sunny and perfect.

Top 5 favorite memories from the trip:

(5) Margaritas as big as my head at dinner at Esparza’s Mexican Restaurant on Friday (everything is bigger in Texas)

(4) Watching 4 years of old Golduster dance videos, BEST DECISION EVER.

(3) Visiting Rangers Ballpark (my dad would be proud)

(2) Breakfast with Meredith & Michael: pumpkin pancakes (amazing!) and a taste test of her wedding = the gown (gorgeous!)

(1) Texas Tailgating for the A&M v. Alabama game at Cowboy Stadium

Honorable mention … eating real Texas BBQ

Jillian – you’re the best.  And one of these days I hope to make my dreams of moving there a reality.  Stay tuned for my next trip, which we’ve decided is going to be a longer “Tour of Texas” through San Antonio, Houston, Austin and Dallas.