Wilde Child Travel

I'm so excited to share the new website! I've been working on it for a few months now and I'm happy to say that from here on out, all blog posts, tips, stories, and videos will now be located on Wilde Child Travels! Don't forget to check out my Youtube Channel  ( Wilde Child ) to keep up with more fun and adventures - like my recent trip to England and Italy! Thanks so much for sharing this space with me, I hope to see you on the new website 💓

I haven't been writing too much, but I've still been active and sharing stories, interviews, and packing tips on my Youtube travel channel! To keep up with all of the new content I'm sharing, don't forget to subscribe to the channel, and to like, comment, and share the videos Here are the two most recent videos up!

Welcome back to the blog and the Group Travel Series! My goal is to help make your group travel planning and execution a little easier. Feel free to start from the beginning with How To Start . Today, I've listed my top 5 tips to help make you and your friends enjoy your get away! 1. Don't Be Too Eager: Itineraries for large groups always have the possibility to end up being stressful for all involved. First and foremost,  the top priorities are fun and enjoyment. When you overload your plans for the day, fun and enjoyment can be lost. Think about limiting one big outing/activity per day - such as The Vatican Museum or spelunking. 2.  Try the Democratic Option: With a group of people, it's easiest to vote on what to see and do. A trip has a certain amount of days and it would be a shame to waste any of them! There's always a chance that everyone won't get to do what they want in a democratic setting. If this doesn't suit your group, and if you're ...

Traveling with friends can be a blast. Sometimes, even before you book tickets/hotels, it can also be a pain. The group has to get together, decide on location, dates, duration of trip, where to stay, and more. I believe the more work you put into your trip before travel, the more fun and relaxing the trip will be! Don't forget to check out an earlier post on Which Travel Size Fits You to help determine if group travel is for you! Currently I’m in the midst of planning a group trip with some friends overseas - which adds a bit more difficulty to this group travel planning process. They live in Europe and I’m in Ohio, so it's not like we can all sit down over coffee to hammer out the details in one go. But, thanks to modern technology there's group chat, video messages, and other ways to overcome the time differences. We know where we want to visit; Rome. Now we come to figuring out how long each of us are able to travel. ...

Happy 2018! (Japan - New Years 2017)  It's already half way through the first month of the year and I'm already plotting my trips for 2018! Well, actually, I decided on the locations months ago! But the planning and saving starts now!  (Australia 2017) Last year trips were so much fun, but I'm always looking forward to the next plane ride or booking the next accommodation and exploring a new environment! Travel is truly addictive :) My 2017 adventures were either solo trips or I travel with one other friend. 2018 will be very different! I have two major trips and they are both group trips! I'll be going to Europe, which  will be a girls adventure, and Nicaragua, which will be AWESOME! I'm very excited about both travel opportunities and sharing it all on the blog and on the Youtube channel ( Wilde Child Travel )!  (Albq, NM 2017) Make sure you subscribe to the Youtube Channel and follow the blog to come along on the next year of adve...

I still have a few more goodies to share from my trip to Australia! Today I've posted a video to my Youtube Channel (Wilde Child) about my first day in Sydney! It's at the bottom of this post, so don't forget to check it out! Amie and I traveled back to Sydney after a few days at Port Stephens, which was a blast! Now it was time to explore a new city! On my first full day in Sydney we had breakfast at Petal Met Sugar , which was a cafe and a florist shop. After eating we joined a free walking tour with the I'm Free Walking Tours ! The walking tour is a tip based tour and our guide (Indigo) was a history student who really made the tour fun by mixing convict history with iconic tourist spots and the architectural history! She was really fun, energetic, and truly informative! You'd be lucky to get her on a tour! After our tour we went to Glebe Market . There's a jewelry line that I follow on IG called Haus of Dizzy and, since I was in Sydney I wanted ...

November and December are always the worst blog months for me because I'm usually doing NANOWRIMO and there are lots of family birthdays and holiday events. And now I've started a second job! Although I'm not writing as much as I want, I do still have a backlog of videos! Don't forget that I do have a Youtube Channel (Click HERE) , a home for all of my trip videos, as well as travel tips and conversations with some of my favorite travel buddies!  Here is the latest video I posted; more footage of my Australian adventure :)  We spent our last day in Port Stephens and Nelson Bay buying postcard and wandering around the Marine Park working our way to the Lighthouse. It was a on-and-off-again cloudy and rainy day, but the views were still worth standing in the chilly air and a little rain. At the top of the incline, where the lighthouse and lighthouse museum is, there's also a little darling cafe! It's called the Inner Light Tea Rooms . (I'm telling you, ...

For the longest time I've been dreaming of going to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. This year I just decided to knock this item off my "Travel List" (you know, the list of places and things that inspire you to get up and go). I put the balloon fiesta on my list for a reason, so why not go? There's a point in time when you get tired of dreaming of something and want to see it in real life, up close and personal.  Don't forget to check out the video below. It brings to life all of the colorful beauty that is the fiesta! I bought a ticket online before leaving, they were $10 each (but there are various packages and offers on the website). Honestly, it's more expensive to catch a ride the balloon park than to get tickets.  Seriously, transportation to the park was THE WORST part. If I wanted to catch a ride on the coach buses near my hotel it would have been $45 round trip...um, no thanks. The International Balloon Fiesta is a very big event i...

As you know, my flight to Australia was delay for a whole day, which meant I lost a whole day of fun. Once the plane touched down in Sydney Amie and I rented a car and drove to Port Stephens to catch up on the time we lost. One of the best ways to get through jet lag is to fight through it. Don't go to the hotel and sleep, get out and get moving. Do stuff. That's exactly what I did. First thing on my list: sandboarding!  Birubi Beach is a was not at all what I expected. It was a little difficult finding the designated location for the Port Stephens 4WD check-in. Once we found the little road leading down towards the water we found the paved parking lot, two sandboarding companies (4WD was one of them!), and a service that gives camel rides.  We jumped into the 4WD vehicle for a bumpy ride over the dunes to the designated sandboarding location a few minutes away from the parking lot. From this spot we could still see the car lot and the beach area, bu...

I was racing to make my connection from Dallas to Sydney when I got to a very empty gate. The Qantas representative at the desk smiled and handed me some papers and explained that my flight to Australia has been delayed for 24 HOURS and they were putting us all in a hotel with food vouchers. This was the last thing I wanted to hear! But there was nothing anyone could do but go to the hotel, sleep in a bed, and eat hotel food until we got more information and a departure time.  I appreciate that Qantas put us up for the time we were delayed, but what I did not appreciate was that  there were no notifications or emails ahead of time to inform us that our flight was not going out on the date and time intended. Also, there was no one helping us at the hotel. They did not send representatives to inform us about updates. The only information we received was that the check-in desk would open at 6 pm. All day my fellow Australia-bound voyagers and I stood at the arrival and departu...

It feels so good to be off on another adventure! I'm visiting my friend, Amie, in Sydney and she's going to show me the locals live in this beautiful city. I've never been to Australia and I'm very excited to make some lasting memories, write new blog posts, and film new videos! Make sure you subscribe to my Youtube Channel , follow the blog, or even connect with me on Instagram ( Wildechildyup ) to keep up on the updates, adventures, and fun times!  Get to know my good friend Amie in this video we did a while ago (before she even left for Australia) about our different traveling styles: 

One of my favorite Netflix shows is Border Security; USA, Canada, and the Australian one. Among the smuggling and blatant disregard for the declaration process, other major issues that arise tend to revolve around visas.  Either it's fake, or they are not a "genuine tourist/student", or the holder did not realize that their visa has expired. Really, there is no excuse to skip this VERY important step, if this is a step you need to take, when you are about to travel.  As I mentioned in "The Worst Common Travel Mistakes" , a visa can truly make or break a vacation. I'm an American with a passport, so I can easily travel pass the Canadian border. Planning for Australia was my chance to determine the difficulty of the Australia Visa Application. Which One? The Australian government website has plenty of visa options available - and they know it! A first timer, like myself, can get a little overwhelmed with looking through all the types of visa, e...

New Video on the WCT Youtube Channel! Don't forget to comment, like, subscribe, or share! 💞💞

There are, of course, so many things to see and very little time when all you've got is about 24 hours in one city. I did a quick day trip to Pittsburgh, PA and challenged myself to see some interesting stuff during my time there.   I did the Duquesne Incline and saw the stadiums, bridges, and sights from afar. (View from the top of the Incline)  I didn't want to waste time trying to get to all of the best diners all around the city, which I am sure are great, and I didn't go to The Strip or do any tours. Instead, after the Incline, I went to the place that drew me to this city in the first place: RandyLand !  I saw this place on Instagram and knew I had to see it for myself. The drive wasn't long for me, coming from Columbus, OH. It opens at 10 am and Randy was there tinkering around. He welcomes everyone with a great big smile and his contagious high energy. Randyland is truly an expression of the man who made it. (Randy Gilson) ...