Did anyone else get to the end of this year and wonder where it went? Holy cow! Yep. That was me. But then I scroll back through my photos on my phone and I'm like, gee, I did a whole lot of stuff in 2017. I consider it a good year when I get to travel around the world. I'm not much of a home body so I consider it a success if I hop a plane a few times. Mission accomplished. I even finally made MVP status with my favorite airline {Alaska Airlines if you were wondering}. So why don't we take a peek at all the places I've been this year. It's kind of fun looking back and just for fun, you can leave me a comment with some of your favorite places you made it to this year too. We can start a fun little list.
Teodoro Travels 2017
January 2017
I started off January with a quick solo trip to Kona, Hawaii. My parents were renting a condo with a spare room and I was missing my boy in college. I figured they were probably missing me as much as I was missing my kid, so I hopped on a plane to soak up some sun for four days.
Highlights: Long daily walks on the beach and spending time at the Hilton Waikoloa watching the sunset. A huge windstorm swept in and I will forever remember getting pelted by sand in my attempt to "hold out" just a bit longer at the beach.
**In case you love Hawaii like I do, I have a list of my picks of things to do on Maui with Kids**
March 2017
March brought the family {minus our college kid} to Whistler, Canada for a ski trip with my husbands family. We hit the slopes for a few days and enjoyed a lot of fun family time.
Highlights: I skied from the top of Whistler mountain {OK fine, the Roundhouse} all the way to the bottom all by myself. There were a few times that I stood at the top of a hill and had to make myself go, but I did it. I heard the term blue-bird day for the first time and sent my son to ski lessons with my ski boots on. Thankfully, we caught him before he hit the lift. Oops.
April 2017
In April my husband and I traveled to Las Vegas, NV for the first time. I had a humanitarian trip to Jordan {the country, not the new kid} planned that got canceled but my kids were already scheduled for a trip over their spring break to visit my parents in Arizona, so we took advantage of the kid free time and hopped a plane to the sun. You can check out my tips to visiting Vegas if you don't drink or gamble.
Highlights: We had a super fun red Mazda MX-5 Miata convertible we zipped around the Valley of Fire State Park in. I highly recommend one!
May 2017
May brought a quick blog trip to Orlando, Florida. I took a red eye and woke up ready to tackle The Wonderful Wizarding World of Harry Potter before all the blogging fun began.
Highlights: Three of my favorite blogging friends {Kendra, Melissa and Natalie} and I rented a house with a pool and while we weren't busy learning at the conference, we were putting our heads together discussing very important things like The Freckled Foxes Instagram account. Seriously. Why does she not have a reality show? Also, I met Andrew Shue and then he e-mailed me like we were bff's. NBD.
June 2017
We had one of the most beautiful summers I ever remember in the greater Seattle area. It started in May and went all the way into September. I wanted to leave our area never, so forgive me if the "travel" portion of the next few months isn't travel enough for you. It's my blog I can do what I want. Plus, I highly recommend traveling to the Seattle area anytime from July-September. It won't disappoint.
Highlights: A hike to Green Mountain Lake with the family made us all start thinking about how fun camping might be. Not sure it will happen, but we at least discussed it.
July 2017
I was on my first live television broadcast, New Day Northwest, talking about my new book The Ultimate Garage Sale Handbook. {It will save you money people...promise!} in Seattle.
Let's stop for a hot minute and wonder aloud at when Rachel got old lady squinty eyes. Geez. I swear I'm only 21!
Several days later, my husband and I celebrated 20 years of dating {yep, we celebrate our dating anniversary doesn't everyone?} at the top of the Space Needle. The Space Needle is where he proposed and the kids gave us a gift certificate for dinner as a combo mothers day/fathers day gift. Aren't they sweet?! We also headed across to Whidbey Island, WA on the ferry a few times where my kids go to camp.
Highlights: We could not have picked a better night for dinner at the top of the Space Needle. The food is expensive and sub par, but the views, man,the views are amazing!
August
The sun set on our summer with a lot of time at the beach.
Highlights: Picnics at sunset at Dash Point Lighthouse and low tide days at my favorite beach.
September
We took some time to drive up to Mt. Rainier National Park. Our area had a lot of wildfires this summer and while the haze made for some amazing pictures, the smoke was heavy.
I also ended up back home again in Indiana visiting the Delta Faucet Headquarters. A few months later, I'd get to see my friends from Delta on my home turf as we toured the 2018 HGTV Dream Home together in Gig Harbor, WA {see also beach image from August}.
Highlights: One of my childhood friends and I were able to reunite after decades. So fun to meet up as adults and pick up right where we left off...well, with less talk of Wrestlemania.
October
I wasn't home long from the Midwest before I headed back again to Nashville, Tennessee for a World Vision Child Ambassadors conference. I'm passionate about the work that World Vision does, especially after seeing it first hand in Uganda and Zambia.
I also had time to sneak off with a new friend to the Carnton Plantation in Franklin. I did not spend enough time caring about history when I was younger and now I can't seem to get enough.
Highlights: I was awarded a trip to Bangladesh I will be taking with World Vision in February {stay tuned!}! I was also reminded of why people like fall. Fall in the Midwest is gorgeous! Fall in the PNW just means the start of our rainy season.
November
My husband turned 40 this year and it had been a few years since we took a couples trip {never mind the Vegas trip...that didn't count or something}, so we decided to take a week together in Cancun. I love the Caribbean, but as a west coast girl it's hard to get to that side of the world without long flights and layovers. Thankfully Alaska Airlines {did I mention they are my favorite?}, has a seasonal non-stop 6 hour flight to Cancun that makes it easy.
Before you think that I didn't allow my husband to come along, I did. He was there. Here is proof. We stayed at our absolute favorite couples-only resort The Excellence Playa Mujeres. I'd highly recommend it.
Highlights: A full week in paradise followed by a cancelled flight {mechanical problems} and an unexpected overnight in Cancun. It really could have been worse had we not run into some old college friends at the airport on our same flight home. We used our food stipend on drinks at the bar and played Yahtzee while catching up on life. So yes, a cancelled flight was a highlight.
December
It was such a treat to get to join my friends from Delta Faucet at a private tour of the 2018 HGTV Dream Home. I was the only local gal, but was still offered the opportunity to join the group in Seattle for the evening and stayed at The Four Seasons because why not?! You can read more about my private tour to visit to the Dream Home here.
We didn't intend to travel to Mexico twice this year, it just kind of happened. It's a long story but it involves mom guilt and the looming thought that we may just never have another Teodoro family of five vacation if the kids keep getting older and jobs and weddings...Geez, slow down life.With that in mind, we pared back Christmas gifts and did experience over things this year and we loved it!
The kids asked to go to an all-inclusive resort and we delivered staying at the Riu Palace Pacifico in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Though traveling with kids that are now considered adults gets to be more expensive {we need several rooms}, it was worth it for the family memories that were created.
In case you need some tips for how to get the most from your all-inclusive vacation, I'm kind of an expert.
See, I told you, it was a busy year! I'm not expecting 2018 to slow down at all. Where did you go this year? Any travel plans for the new year? I'd love to hear them!
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