The American Rockies have been one of our favorite places to visit in the world. Despite making a sort of an unofficial pact not to repeat a destination, we have ended up at Yellowstone and Grand Tetons about 4 times. So we were certain that  we would love the Canadian Rockies. We visited Banff and Jasper for a 5 day trip this July and really enjoyed it.  For a change, I am structuring this trip report as an FAQ. These are some of the questions I got after the trip. Continued…

By early March, the kids were tired of the winter and ready to go to the beach. “Is it summer, already?”, asked Tanay.  “Can I take my cars to the beach? “.  So, I knew a beach vacation was on the cards sometime in the summer.  But by the time we could make concrete plans, most of summer had sped by.  On a whim, Seejo suggested going to Outer Banks for the upcoming weekend.  We loved Outer Banks the last time we were there but we also knew that it a tad too far for a weekend trip.  However, when we broached the idea to our friends Ketan and Sheetal, they were game as well for an impromptu beach weekend and Outer Banks. Continued…

We had our first ever resort vacation this December.  Though we have stayed in a couple of resorts before, we really treated those as just a place to crash after a busy day of sightseeing.   But this December, we (along with another family)  went on an all-inclusive 5 day vacation to the Dreams Palm Beach Resort at Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.  We booked the vacation package through Costco and it worked out incredibly well. This was our very first experience with an all inclusive , kick back and relax and do nothing kind of vacation.  We were met at the airport by Costco folks who escorted us and our luggage to the resort.  The drive to the resort and back was all that we saw of the country.  One of the reasons that we picked the DR/Punta Cana was because there wasn’t anything in the must see to see/do that really seemed exciting to us.  A location with interesting to do items outside would leave us antsy to go and do and see things – and would be counterproductive to relaxing at the hotel. Continued…

The Cotswolds district boasts of a series of rural villages about an hours drive form London and is designated as an “Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty”. Pretty villages with picture postcard views abound. We visited just three of them during our one day drive through the Cotswolds. The reason that we picked Bibury as our starting point was that it is the home of the Arlington Row cottages. Continued…

A few days ago, I read an article that indicated that millennials were returning to vacation at the same spots because they didn’t want to spend time and effort researching the vacation spots or optimal flights, best hotels, figuring out the itinerary, what to see etc. This is rather strange to me because I really enjoy researching new destinations. Sometimes I research new places and plan travels even when I have no immediate travel plans!  I like doing the research because it helps me get the most of my (always short) vacation. As I have mentioned before, due to leave concerns my style of travel is not “lets visit this town for a week and immerse ourselves to understand local culture”. My research helps me understand more of the “local culture” – so even when I spend less time in a city I already feel like I have a boost in knowing the pulse of the city. Continued…