TrekSimple

Holy moly, I’ve officially become one of those bloggers who goes months at a time without a post.

Well, I have good reason – I’ve been busy packing about three years’ worth of “bucket list” activities into less than six months of 2023. Things have finally slowed down and it’s time to catch up.

In January, I went to a conference in North Florida and one of the speakers was the very inspiring Chris, who has a great blog, Life Outside the Maze, discussing financial independence, his cancer journey, and encouraging regular people to do things like treasure dive and dinosaur dig and all manner of Indiana Jones-style adventuring. I learned he and his family live very close to Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado, and having zero shame, I told him I might visit if my favorite band, The Head and The Heart, ever played there. He insisted on hosting me if so. What do you know, as I drove away from the conference, I got an alert that the band would be playing Red Rocks in late June. I’ve wanted to see the band there before but always had conflicts with the date. Not this time!

Another interesting thing happened in January. I went to an event and at the end, organizers, Oprah-style, announced that EVERYBODY GETS A CRUISE for two on Virgin Voyages, sailing out of Miami, near where I live. The only catch – you had to book and go before the end of April. This would be a bit hard to schedule, but hey, free cruise, challenge accepted.

Sicily
Early February rolled around and it was time for 2023’s Epic Solo Birthday Week Trip, a tradition I started on my pandemic 40^th Birthday in 2021 when I went to the Big Island of Hawaii, and followed up by going back there in 2022. This year, I chose a different island, a place where some of my DNA (Thank you, 23 and Me), and that of many other Italian Americans comes from – Sicily. I hope to write in depth about Sicily later, and in particular the food. Good Lord, the food. Sicily was 100% worth visiting if you have any tie to it, and even if you don’t. It was everything I hoped it would be, and more. I am thrilled that it was the site of my first trip to Italy, along with a couple of days in Rome. Highlights: Spending quality time in Rome with a high school pal I hadn’t seen in two decades; Sicily in February was a little cold (for a Floridian), It was off-season which meant way less people than in summer; Some things were closed, but that was okay; It was easier to drive there than expected – but still a little scary; It was a magical place to ring in year 42.

Joshua Tree National Park
March brought a work trip to San Diego, but not just any work trip – a comprehensive study of the community, meeting with key leaders and peers, touring significant and interesting sites and learning all about what makes San Diego tick. Since we were already on the other side of the country, I was fortunate to extend my trip a bit, and with a dear friend, check another item off the bucket list: a visit to Joshua Tree National Park, just a couple hours’ drive from San Diego. Joshua Tree will hopefully also be getting its own in-depth post. I loved it, and the AirBnB we stayed at, so much. Highlights: March was a perfect time to visit, not too crowded and far cooler than summer, but still hot, because desert; It’s so very quiet out there – the perfect place for a retreat of any kind; It had a wood-fired hot tub; The park is stunningly beautiful; Put it on your list.

Virgin Voyages Cruise
The arrival of April meant it was time to set sail on fun, cheeky new cruise line, Virgin Voyages. Virgin is part of Richard Branson’s epic brand, and I’ve been interested in the company for years as it is headquartered in Plantation, Florida. Our team worked with the company on locating here and I helped share the grand opening with local media in 2018. Sadly, the HQ opening coincided with the Parkland tragedy that took place just miles away. Fast forward five years and a cruise-industry-crippling pandemic later, Virgin is ready to (pun intended) rock and roll. My friend and fellow traveler Krissy joined me. She had another Virgin cruise booked and played the role of travel agent, reading up on the details. Side note: I either research a trip to the hilt, planning out every detail in an elaborate Google doc, OR I show up somewhere like a cow that has been blindfolded and transported in the back of a truck to an unfamiliar field. There is no in between. We chose the “Dominican Daze” four-day cruise which fit both of our schedules and took up minimal PTO. Krissy also tricked me into a treacherous, yet ultimately fun, waterfall excursion in the Dominican Republic. Highlights: No one under 18 on the cruise; Everything was cashless – you just tap a wristband a la Disney; Beverage prices were reasonable; Taxes and tips were included with the cabin; All food was specialty; Less formal than other cruise lines (for better or for worse); Two words: Balcony. Hammock. Free-to-me cruise; Spent less than $400 – all in for an excursion, Brightline and rideshares to/from Miami, plus drinks onboard.

That’s it for Part I – I’ll be back soon with more of April, plus May, June and July’s adventures in Part II.