Hey earth muffins! Summer is just around the corner – time for some fun vacations!! As of yet, I only have one major trip planned in July… But I will definitely be planning some weekend getaways too. 😍 The travel excitement always gets me once I start packing for my destination. And who said you can’t pack your suitcase to align with your eco-friendly values? Here’s your ultimate guide on how to pack your bags the zero waste way this summer!
Make a list of everything you need for the trip.
This is obviously helpful if you are doing specific activities that require certain gear… But, making a detailed list is the way to go for any trip. Think ahead to what you will be doing and also research the weather forecast too. Once you have a list, stick to it and pack only what you need. Set a rule with yourself that you will make do with what you have on the trip – no need to buy that extra sweatshirt or flip flops when you already thought ahead and packed them.
Hey earth muffins! Summer is just around the corner which means one thing – time for some vacations! Road trips are one of my favorite ways to take some time off work. 😎 I recently took a short trip to attend a graduation, and it was super fun… Until I tested positive for COVID when I got home. Yupp, after 2+ years and 3 vaccines Mister Corona still got me. I’m (thankfully) all better now and hoping my next road trip doesn’t come with any surprise illnesses. Here are my tips on how to have the best zero waste road trip this summer!
Tip #1: Pick the most eco-friendly car you have access to!
Depending on who/how many people you are traveling with, you might have more than one vehicle to choose from. While things like number of seats and vehicle age are obviously important, make sure to consider each car’s environmental impact as well. Pick the car that is a hybrid or gets the best gas mileage to reduce your emissions on the road. (And this will save you money too with how crazy gas prices are right now.)
Hey earth muffins! As I shared on a recent Instagram post, I went on a silent retreat a couple weekends ago. I had been wanting to try out a retreat like this for quite some time… And thought it would be fun to share the experience with you all! Before jumping into my opinions on the retreat itself, let’s first get into what exactly a silent retreat is.
What is a Silent Retreat?
There is no single definition of what a silent retreat is. Depending on the person, it can mean a lot of different things. But, a retreat of this type centers around one thing: silence. You can go on a retreat like this for religious or spiritual reasons to get closer to God/whomever you believe in. Or you can go on the retreat to restore or rest or to just force yourself to think for a bit. There are legit retreat centers that have these, but you can also just plan your own like I did (which is usually the cheaper option as well).
Hey earth muffins! While massive companies like Google are by no means sustainable or eco-friendly, there are sometimes small parts of them that are. For Google specificially, they offer ways to search for eco hotels and a Google maps eco feature to reduce your impact when driving. Did you know they also offer a tool to check carbon emissions when flying? This search function on Google Flights allows you to see estimated emissions and even sort by low emission flights. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to use the awesome feature!
How to Check the Emissions of Flights
On Google Flights, type in your “to” and “from” destinations as well as the dates you will be traveling. Hit enter and a list of flights will pop up. To see the carbon emissions estimate for each flight, hit the down arrow to the far right. Once the drop down is shown, the arrow will turn into an up arrow. In the extra information, you can now see the estimated carbon emission!
Hey earth muffins! A couple of months ago, I wrote a post about Google Map’s new eco-friendly feature. It is surprisingly easy to turn on the Google Maps eco route feature… Which got me wondering if our favorite search engine had other sustainable abilities. Turns out it does! 😊 Did you know you can find hotels that are “eco-certified” just by searching through Google? Here’s everything you need to know about using this Google hotel sustainability feature.
How to Find “Eco-Certified” Hotels
If you are looking for the top-notch sustainable hotels for your travels, Google can help you out. Hotels labeled with the “eco-certified” label have been certified by an independent organization for meeting certain standards. I tried to look up what organization and standards are used, but couldn’t find any further information. However, it is better to choose an “eco-certified” hotel over a normal one any day.
Hey earth muffins, Happy Thanksgiving!! 🦃 As many of you know, I recently lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Back in July, I moved home to be closer to family… And I am extremely grateful that next month I will be moving into my new house! 🎉 Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks – so I wanted to write a tribute post to my year in Grand Rapids. I am incredibly thankful for the time I spent in the city; here is my travel guide for the best things to do in Grand Rapids, Michigan!
Things to Do in Grand Rapids
First, I highly suggest taking a walk around Downtown. I’m a huge believer in exploring cities on foot, and Grand Rapids has plenty of fun things to do as you walk around. From embracing the beauty of the Amway Hotel (which also has public restrooms you can use!) to shopping around near Rosa Parks Circle, there is fun for everyone in the family. I also suggest taking a walk over the Blue Bridge. It is an iconic part of the city, so make sure to take a photo!
Hey earth muffins! If you follow me on Instagram, you will know that I took a trip to Austin, Texas last month. It was my first vacation in almost two years – it felt so weird traveling after the pandemic! I was only in Austin for about four days, but I hit up a lot of fun places. As I haven’t written a travel guide post in awhile, I thought I would share my travel guide to Austin with you all today. Here are my recommendations for what you should see and do in the great city of Austin, Texas! 🤠
Fun Things to Do in Austin, TX
Hit up some bars downtown! Austin is known for having a great nightlife scene; however, I am not really into that… So, I didn’t actually go to any bars downtown. However, it is still fun to walk around the city regardless! If you want to see an old hotel (and use a public bathroom), I suggest hitting up the Driskill Hotel. It is super pretty! The area around it has a few shops and a Voodoo Donuts as well.
Go shopping on S. Congress street. In the actual downtown portion of Austin, there are plenty of restaurants but not much shopping. If you are looking for some cute shops, I suggest heading to the trendy S. Congress street area. They have everything from cowboy boot stores to vintage and cutesy art shops. One of the coolest shops in this area is Lucy in Disguise with Diamonds, a huge costume store with so much interesting stuff!
Take some pictures at Austin’s many murals! I’m not one to drive around for Instagram photos, but there are definitely plenty of opportunities for Insta pics in Austin. I just had to add this in my travel guide to Austin, as I know many peope love a good mural pic!
Drive through Hill Country. Texas is absolutely beautiful. (Hot, but gorgeous views.) There is a famous lookout spot called Mount Bonnell that has a great view of the city of Austin as well as the Colorado River. To get there, you have to drive through some affluent neighborhoods – I spotted around 20 Teslas in only five minutes! I was impressed at how beautiful Hill Country actually was, so I would highly suggest driving around it for a bit.
Go see some bats at dusk! 🦇 The “Bat Bridge” in downtown Austin has a gigantic population of bats that live underneath it. At dusk, they fly out for the night which has become a popular spectacle for tourists and locals alike. The timing of when the bats emerge is different each night, so I suggest bringing a picnic blanket and some snacks as you wait.
Tasty Things to Eat in Austin, TX
Get yourself a frozen banana at Bananarchy. This food truck has three different locations across the city – and I totally recommend going at least once! The truck sells frozen bananas dipped in anything you can imagine. You can either build your own (with a sauce, drizzle, and topping) or get a combo that has already been created. I’ve shared my frozen banana snacks recipe before, and this is an amped up version of that. So perfect for a hot Texas day.
Eat some Torchy’s Tacos! I am a huge fan of Mexican food, and I try to get it whenever I travel. Austin has a huge taco scene and a lot of great Mexican restaurants. Torchy’s is a chain that has some delicious food! Their queso dip is really good, and the tacos are excellent as well. 10/10 would recommend to a friend!
Get yourself a gigantic milkshake at The Yard. This place was on Shark Tank and sells massive milkshakes… How could I not add this to my travel guide to Austin? Be prepared for a long wait – the one I ordered took about an hour to come out due to a crazy amount of people at the store. But, it is located in a cute shopping area, so just go shop while you wait to pass the time. I personally loved that the milkshake came in a collectible glass jar, and I can’t wait to add it to my mason jar collection!
Final Thoughts on Austin, TX
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I hope this was a helpful travel guide to Austin, Texas! 🤠 There is a lot to see and do in the city (and in the area around it); it was a super fun trip that was packed full of good times. From shopping the cute vintage stores on S. Congress street to eating a too large milkshake at The Yard, the memories from this trip will last a lifetime! If you ever have the chance to visit Austin, I would highly recommend. Where have you traveled to lately? Comment below, and I’d love to hear about other fun things to do in Austin that I didn’t add to this list!
Hey earth muffins! Today, I am back with another weekender’s travel guide! The last travel guide I wrote was back in March where I shared my thoughts on what you should do in Ann Arbor, MI. With this pandemic, I haven’t been able to write many of these in the past year…. But I am hoping to post a few of them once I start traveling again. 😊 Check out this page with all of my sustainable travel guides so far! Today, I wanted to share my recommendations from a trip I took before the pandemic started. (I didn’t want to post it during the pandemic because no one could travel, but I figured now would be a fun time to share.) Here are my thoughts on fun things to do in Boston, Massachusetts!
What to Do in Boston, MA
Check out the Freedom Trail! Whether you like history or not, Boston is full of some pretty cool sites to visit. I personally love that the trail is marked with a brick path throughout the city. It makes you feel like you are almost on a treasure hunt as you walk around. One of my personal favorites is the Old North Church where Paul Revere hung up the lanterns in the window – such an iconic symbol of American history!
Take a ride in a Duck Tours… (or maybe don’t?). As someone who grew up on the East Coast, I visited Boston many times as a child. The Duck Tours are basically tour buses that end up driving into the harbor where they then turn into boats. While an iconic scene in the city, they aren’t that safe… So maybe just get a picture of one and call it a day!
Enjoy the outdoors at Boston Common. Just like any well known city, Boston has a great park to play in! This park is a great place for a picnic or to soak up some sun. The park is massive and has a bunch of fun statues to look at as well. My personal favorite is Make Way for Ducklings – which they dress up for certain holidays!
Do some shopping at Newbury Street. There are a ton of fun little shops on this street, including well known brands but also some local boutiques. If you are traveling with someone who likes to shop, this is a great option that will take all afternoon!
Visit the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum – and see empty frames from the infamous robbery! Whenever I travel I love to visit at least one museum. This museum is full of amazing pieces of art, as well as 13 empty frames from the pieces that were stolen in 1990. If you are interested in learning about the theft, I would highly recommend the book Master Thieves: The Boston Gangsters Who Pulled Off the World’s Greatest Art Heist by Stephen Kurkjian, which I reviewed in a post a couple of years ago. I’ve always loved heist novels, so it is amazing to actually go to the museum and see the empty frames for yourself.
What to Eat in Boston, MA
Eat a cannoli in Little Italy! If you are by the Old North Church I mentioned above, then you are right next to Boston’s Little Italy. The streets are so quaint and adorable, and it honestly reminds me of my trip to Italy a few years ago. As a girl who loves good cannoli, I recommend checking out Mike’s Pastry. While it is a bit of a touristy location, the cannoli are totally worth it. Definitely a great snack for walking along the Freedom Trail!
Find something tasty at Faneuil Hall. If you are traveling with a group of people who have totally different tastes in food, then this stop is for you! This hall is full of tons of different choices from Chinese food to pizza. It can get pretty busy during peak hours; it is best if some people order while others go track down a table. Sometimes it can be hard to find a place to eat when you have a ton of tasty food in hand!
Hit up a classic Dunkin’. Growing up on the East Coast I was around a lot of Dunkin’ Donuts. They are all over the place in Boston, so I would recommend getting a few donuts at least once. There is nothing special (in my opinion) about their drinks and pastries, but it is just an East Coast thing you have to do. 😊
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Final Thoughts!
Overall, I think Boston is a great place to visit. There is tons of history, plenty of fun things to do, and definitely some tasty things to eat. Make sure you are conscious of your choices as you travel – make your Airbnb as sustainable as possible, reduce your impact when flying, and explore the public transportation Boston has to offer instead of driving everywhere. Where will you be headed on vacation this summer??
