My Dream Of Traveling The World

I grew up in a very tiny town with very few people in it. There probably was more cows then people now that I think about it. As I got older I became fascinated with big cities. Places like New York, San Francisco and Chicago. Something about the tall skyscrapers and bright shiny lights really appealed to me. I still haven't had the chance to live in a big city. I wish I would of moved to Cincinnati when I had the chance. Lived in Ohio most of my life and didn't even explore the city while I was there, bummer!


Once I got away from Ohio and started to see more areas of the United States I was bitten by the travel bug. I now have a dream of traveling the world. I'm just a small town girl who wants to see it all. A fulfilling life for me, would be exploring as much of this beautiful planet as I can. There is nothing more that I want out of life then to see historical places and the natural wonders of the world.

Somewhere in Arizona on my cross country drive in 2011
Jen from Red Parka Dairies wrote a really cool post about "Impossible Things" she wanted to accomplish in her life. When I read it I knew my only true dream in life was to travel. Honestly though I didn't think it was ever going to be possible. I always say that you can do anything that your heart desires, but the dream of traveling requires lots of dollar signs. I didn't see myself ever having enough money to travel the world.

Then I stumbled across the whole tiny house movement. (Read my post HERE.) The lightbulb went off over my head!!! If I could build my own home, live debt free/mortgage free, save money and live a simple life, I could spend my money and time traveling. YES PLEASE! I can't explain the happiness I have been feeling since discovering tiny houses. For the first time in my life I felt like my dream was achievable. THAT'S A BIG DEAL! So where will I go?


Venice and Rome, Italy
I have to admit, I'm not a history buff. Growing up I hated history and really anything that had to do with learning. As I've gotten older I have become very interested in learning about other countries and cultures. Italy to me is just simply gorgeous. I would love to see all the buildings and take in the sites. I think this will be our first overseas vacation. Now I just have to start saving money for it.

I mentioned a few posts back that I got a promotion at work. I am now full time which means more money. I was scared to go full time, but I decided there are way too many awesome things I want to do in the future to not be making the extra cash while I can. I may not have a high paying job but I know how to save money. For the first time in our lives we are saving money and not wasting it. Saving money to build a tiny house and travel the world is a dream come true for me.

Needless to say there aren't many places in this world that I don't want to visit.
I figured I would spare you the long list and just share Italy for now. hahaha
What do you dream of doing in your life?

DISNEY VACATION: MAGIC KINGDOM

I am finally sharing with you my last Disney vacation post, which features Magic Kingdom. Our vacation feels like it was forever ago. I miss Disney World everyday, especially this time of year. I recommend going to Disney in December. I love the Christmas decorations and overall vibe. Plus, it's not 100 degrees outside. As you can see we went when they had the parks decked out in Halloween stuff. It was fun, just not my favorite. It's also very hard to get good photos at the Park because it's always a sea of people. Also the sun is always making you squint.


Magic Kingdom is hands down my favorite park to visit. Even though we spend lots of time at Hollywood Studios, when you are at Magic Kingdom you really do feel the magic that is Disney. You feel like a kid in a candy store. It's pure happiness and all the rides and attractions are classic. If you go in the morning there are always Disney character's ready to have their picture taken with you.


Daisy is one of my favorite characters and I have yet to have my photo taken with her. This vacation we didn't get many photos taken with characters. Something Disney offers is a Photo Pass. There are Disney photographers through out the park who will snap photos of you with the characters or with landmarks of Disney in the background. It's a bit pricey to order the photos after your trip has ended, so we oped out to do it this vacation. They will however also snap of few photos of you with your own camera if you ask. That of course is how we ended up with a few photos of us together. You need proof that we actually DID go together. :)


When you do go to Magic Kingdom make sure you have a plan ahead of time. The park is huge and there is so much to do. Map out everything you want to do before heading to the park. We always seem to start on the left side of the park, in Adventure Land. We usually ride Pirates of The Caribbean first. One of the funniest things that happened while we were on this trip was a little girl who was getting ready to ride it got really scared. Her and her parents were walking ahead of us in the line and when it got really dark in the waiting area she yelled, "Whoa! Let's get out of here!" It always amazes me how many parents make their kids ride all the dark rides. Yes, they are not scary to us, but to a 4 year old it is. I felt bad for her and yes she did still ride it. Luckily for us she rode (screamed) on a different boat.


I wish I had more photos to share with you but the rides are dark and the park was so packed. We didn't spend as much time as I would of liked to at Magic Kingdom because of the crowds. It's just such a popular place and it seemed everyone else wanted to be there when we did. We still made the best of it and just picked things based on the wait time. Plus, this vacation our main focus was trading Vinylmations anyways.


I have to admit that I'm kinda obsessed with It's A Small World After All. It's one of the only rides I actually have memories of from my childhood vacation with my parents. Once the song is in your head it's GAME OVER. It will stay there for about a week. That is why I made this video for you! (Your welcome!)


I love this picture I got of the clock opening!

Here are a few Instagram photos I took at Magic Kingdom...

If you really want a awesome souvenir, you can purchase this castle covered in crystals
and I'm assuming diamonds considering it's $37,500.00 price tag!!
I'm sure none of your friends would have one like it! HA!


I love being at Magic Kingdom at night. The castle is lite up with lights and the color changes every few minutes. You can get some great photos of the castle on some of the bridges in the park. The reflection of the castle on the water is gorgeous...



This concludes all my Disney Vacation posts.
I hope that you enjoyed taking a peek into our vacation photos.
You can view all my posts from our vacation by clicking HERE.
I enjoyed sharing them with you and can't wait to go back in a few years!

DISNEY VACATION: ANIMAL KINGDOM

Here is yet another Disney vacation post. Today I will be sharing with you photos of Animal Kingdom. If you enjoy wildlife and trips to the zoo you would enjoy this park. When you first walk into the park you go through a tropical setting where there are beautiful parrots and even a waterfall. I love photographing parrots. They always look so pretty and colorful...


Once you get a little further in you will see the Tree of Life. It's really neat and I feel any picture I have ever taken of it is never good enough! It's just something you have to see for yourself. Every type of animal you can imagine is carved into the tree. I love it so much. You can even get really close to it, which we actually forgot to do this vacation. Oops! That's what the hot temperatures do to your brain sometimes.

Here is a photo of us with the tree in the background.

One of our favorite rides at the park is the Kilimanjaro Safari. You ride in a safari truck and your driver acts as a guide the entire time. Educating you about the animals along the way. I love being close to the animals. You never know what you are going to see and there are always great photo opportunities!



This is one of those times I am glad my camera has a good zoom!!!!


I also love that they talk about saving the environment and the importance of saving the animals that are endangered.
Here I am with one of the cutest palm trees EVER...


One of my favorite things we did was watched the Flights of Wonder bird show. I highly recommend it. It's a 30 minute show which is funny, education and fascinating. I loved seeing the trainer on stage with the animals. It was amazing the things that the birds were trained to do. Here is a video I shot of the show, very cute...


Here are a few of my favorite photos I snapped....


Isn't the owl beautiful? She looks like a stuffed animal!!

Another cool ride at Animal Kingdom is a roller coaster called Expedition Everest. Make sure you ride it!
This is a photo of it from far away...


More animals throughout the park...


My photos this vacation were mainly centered around the animals. Even though this park is kinda like a zoo, there are still many rides and attractions I didn't photograph. I highly recommend the live shows, Finding Nemo & The Lion King. Both worth seeing for sure! There is also a whole dinosaur themed area geared towards kids. The stores are fun also because you find animal themed stuff you can't get at any of the other parks or stores. I love going to the zoo, so going to Animal Kingdom is a nice break from long lines and rides.

If you'd like to see my other Disney Vacation posts, here are the links:

Hollywood Studios
Epcot
Meeting Alice
Downtown Disney
View All Posts at once HERE

Want to learn more about Animal Kingdom? Visit the website HERE.

DISNEY VACATION: EPCOT

This Disney vacation post will feature EPCOT. A lot of people LOVE Epcot. For me, it's my least favorite park. Sorry to those who love it. I don't have as many photos for this blog post. We only went to Epcot once. In my opinion Epcot is great the first time you go and it's great for people who want to eat some neat food while you are at Disney. The World Showcase at Disney offers all kinds of food from different countries. I am going to feature the things that I enjoy about Epcot in this post.


When you first walk into the park it is neat to snap some photos of the big Epcot ball. The correct name is Spaceship Earth. It is an actual ride, so yes you can go inside the big round thing. I have actually never done it. The first time we went to Disney we flew and on the plane I could see the Epcot ball below on the ground. That was pretty exciting! I also love seeing the Trams run through the park...


I'm always photographing wildlife!
I do enjoy the scenery at Epcot. It's wonderful to photograph. They have a flower show in the springtime. I haven't been yet, but think that's the time of year I will plan my next Disney vacation for. I couldn't imagine all the beautiful flowers I could take photos of! I'd probably explode actually.


Epcot is a good place to go when you kinda want to relax and get away from the crowds. One draw back for us though is when you enter the back of the park where the world showcase area is, lots of people are pretty drunk. You can almost instantly tell a difference in the way people are acting, walking and talking. If you like to drink it probably wouldn't both you. ;) I am sorry I don't have any photos of the world showcase to share. We walked through very quickly hoping to find soy latte's, no luck. I recommend going early in the morning before everyone starts drinking.


There are many beautiful fountains at the park, making it a rather peaceful. They have The Land Pavilion which is a nice area geared towards saving the environment. One of my favorite things was the film Circle of Life. I highly recommend it. Then we did the Living with the Land ride, pictured below...


You ride on a boat and it takes you through the Disney greenhouse area. Showing you how they are growing produce for some of their restaurants at the park. They are trying to spread awareness about better ways to farm that are healthy and better for our planet. It was really neat. Another thing I like about Epcot is the aquarium area that they have. It's actually a Finding Nemo ride that you get on and then after the ride ends you walk around and look at fish.


They do have a few Dolphins there, which breaks my heart. I hate seeing them in captivity. I actually was so upset that I had to walk away. It's amazing how an animal can touch my heart so much. On a happier note, I really enjoyed seeing this many clown fish together in one place...

Of course you should always try on silly hats while on vacation at Disney...
Another highlight for me at Epcot was getting my picture taken with Alice! If you missed that post, you can see it HERE. So if you want your photo taken with her, she's at Epcot in the Great Britain area. There is also a building that has lots of character greetings. Great place to get your photo taken with Mickey and Minnie! The ride Soarin' is supposed to be really good. I haven't done it yet because the line is always really long, so get a Fastpass for that!! I like that we haven't done everything yet. Gives us stuff to look forward to next time. :)

If you'd like to see the other Disney Vacation Posts, here are the links:
Hollywood Studios
Downtown Disney
What I Wore {Meeting Alice}

I still have to post about Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom and Collecting Vinylmations!

DISNEY VACATION: HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

Be prepared to see a lot of pictures! I liked so many that it was hard for me to narrow it down. I am sure I took over 2000 pictures on our vacation at Disney World!

For my second Disney post, I wanted to feature Hollywood Studios! We love this park and it was the first place we went. During this trip to Disney we found that most days Magic Kingdom was very busy. We are not a fan of huge crowds so we did spend a lot of time at Hollywood Studios. Hollywood Studios is themed around old Hollywood glam! Lots of movie themed rides and decorations. The park has a very Art Deco feel to it. One of our favorite things at HS is the Toy Story ride, Midway Mania.


The Toy Story ride is one of the most popular rides and everyone wants to ride it at the same time. The key is to get to the park as soon as it opens and get a Fastpass. The Fastpass gives you a time slot to come back later and ride it without waiting in line. The ride is so popular that they run out for the entire day with in a few hours of the park opening. If you don't get a Fastpass for Toy Story you can expect to wait 1 - 2 hours in line to ride it. :( Not fun! When the park first opens you can see families running or power walking their way to the Toy Story ride,...kinda crazy!

Photos of the waiting area for the ride. Lots of big toy displays and Mr. Potato Head!
You are inside the entire time, so the air conditioning feels really good since it's always so hot in Florida!
Us wearing our 3-D glasses!
What is the toy story ride you may ask? It's a fun 3-D target shooting game with all the Toy Story characters in it. You ride in a little car and aim and shot at targets to get the highest score against the person sitting next to you. This vacation was the first time I beat Cody!!! I actually won the first time we played and Cody's face was priceless. He was so shocked! We love to be competitive with each other! So if you want to ride Midway Mania, plan ahead! Get to the park early and go to the ride right away. Grab a Fastpass and then hop in line. You'll probably only wait 20 - 30 minutes if you get there early!


Another thing we love to do at Disney is get our photo taken with some of the characters. This vacation we didn't do it much because we pretty much had our photos taken with everyone already. I still need to get my picture taken with Daisy! She is so adorable and the line to get your photo taken with her is always long!! I had to leave some things to do for our next Disney vacation. Below is a cute bird that we were giving pieces of bread to while eating lunch. He was so tame and sweet...


Our second favorite ride at HS is The Hollywood Tower of Terror. This ride is based off the old television show the Twilight Zone. This ride is a bit scary and I would be lying if I said I didn't get nervous when I ride it. You ride in an "elevator" and you enter the "twilight zone". The ride is free falling were you go up and down! The best part is it's different every time.

Photo of the big Mickey Hat when you first walk in the park & Tigger stuffed animals!!!The balloons are so magical!
Lots of "non-Vegan" treats at Disney! HA! We did enjoy a soft pretzel and popcorn while we were there.


One of my favorite things at HS is the Muppet ride and the Muppet store. The Muppet ride is a 3-D movie that is very humorous and very fun to watch! The store is full of all kinds of cute stuffed animals and other Muppet souvenirs. Isn't the outside of the building so cool looking? Who is your favorite Muppet? I love Gonzo.


Cody made a little friend while we were eating. Not only are the birds tame, so are all the ducks. So cute! Here is a short video of Cody feeding a duck. Very funny...


They have a parade in the late afternoon which is really fun to watch. It features lots of Pixar characters and dancers. Here we are waiting for the parade to start, it was so hot and I felt like I was melting!!


I love seeing all the floats and characters! Great photo opportunities...


Here is a video of people dancing before the parade. I enjoyed watching others but there is no way in hell I would get out there! Pay attention to the old guy in the gray shirt towards the end! So funny!


If you ever go to HS I recommend the Beauty and The Beast Show! Very entertaining!

This vacation we did the Backlot Tour Ride where you go behind threw some movie sets and see how they make scenes come to life in the movies. It was neat too see. I enjoyed the movie props at the end of the ride the best. Like the Evil Queens dress from Alice in Wonderland...

How about more yummy treats?
I love that Disney pays attention to every small detail!

One of my favorite photos I snapped was this one with the little boy walking up to the Toy Solider from Toy Story. He wanted his autograph. Most of the kids were scared of the solider's walking around and hid from them, not this kid....


So did I make you want to go to Hollywood Studios? Your welcome. :) If you'd like to know more about this park please just ask me in the comments. There is tons of other rides and things to see. I just focused on some of our favorite things from this vacation. If you have been, what's your favorite thing to do at Hollywood Studios?

See my other Disney Vacation Posts Here:

Downtown Disney
What I Wore {Meeting Alice}

Many more posts to come!