Nicole
I love to travel. It's shocking, right? There is nothing I love more than turning my dreams about vacations into reality.
In my normal life, I work at a small liberal arts school teaching and tutoring math to college students. It's exhausting work. We are usually understaffed and overworked. The only time I can truly get away is by leaving the country (which is the number one reason why I don't get international data service). I have two dogs (Nali and Albie) and I am also a die-hard baseball fan. My favorite professional team is the Atlanta Braves, but I root just as hard for the Prairie Stars of UIS. During my recent trip, I was even watching my guys play in the NCAA Division II Super Regionals while we were in Dunkeld. Unfortunately, we came up just short of making the World Series. I first ventured to Europe as a 17 year-old with a school trip to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It took me quite a while to get back. My next trip was with my college roommate to Italy in 2011 (age 31). I now try to go about every year or two. I just find that each trip gives me more places on my list that I have to visit - or revisit. This is my fourth Rick Steves' Tour. You can find my scrapbooks for the previous three below. I love all things Rick Steves - guidebooks, tv shows, tours. I use his books for all my planning - include my trip after this one, which will be to Italy and Sicily for my 40th birthday in 2020. (Good thing it is after that new Sicily guidebook comes out!) I take a ton of pictures on vacation. I just love them. You'll notice throughout this scrapbook that there are just lots of pictures of everything. My first trip to Europe were eleven roles of film - now it's thousands of pictures. (I do actually look at things and enjoy them, not just through the camera lens!). Most of the pictures here are in slideshow form - if you wish to flip through them. I don't use Photoshop, but there may be a camera or Instagram filter here or there. I mostly use my Canon G7X Mark I, but I also use my iPhone Xs. I'll be honest, probably the only people that want to see allllll my pictures are my mom and friend, Katie. |
Other Rick Steves' Scrapbooks
Sean
Sean is my older brother. He doesn't quite enjoy traveling as much as I do, but he does like a good adventure every now and then. We went to Ireland together in 2015, which was his first trip out of the country since we went to Canada as teenagers - back before you needed a passport.
He likes video games and comic books. His favorite part about traveling is trying new foods. He really like trying different snack foods, so we are always sure to hit up a convenience store or two on our trip. He often says that I always abandon him on his birthday - since I'm always off traveling somewhere. Taking him with me is the only way to ensure that we celebrate together! He celebrated his birthday while we were on this trip. |