Gift an Adventure for Christmas

Check out my segment on Utah’s Fresh Living Show (KUTV)

Having a difficult time deciding what to give to Christmas for someone special?  I believe the best present you could do is give them a memory that will last a lifetime. Recently I just saw this quote, and I loved it.

Ok, so I do admit that I love Diamonds, but in reality most material things do not last.  I am usually not reminiscing about that perfume I got for Christmas 10 years ago.  Yes, it was fantastic smelling, and it served its purpose, but I didn’t ponder or dream about it.  However, I will always remember the weekend excursions to get away or a particular cruise or the trip I took with my friends or family.

With Christmas coming up, I thought I would give a few fun travel ideas as well as how to give it to that special someone.  I have done all of these trips, and they are all wonderful.  I understand that not everyone can take time off work to do a long journey. But a great Christmas gift is even taking a weekend and staying in a hotel somewhere.  I love to go downtown with my husband for one or two nights and just relax and explore.  It is a break in the routine, and honestly I feel that when you escape the routine it is the best time to bond.  I am also doing a giveaway right now for a gift certificate for $200 towards a trip through my company Fun For Less Tours.  All you need to do is follow my blog, follow my Instagram (secretsofatraveler) and leave your email with a comment.  Tag your friends for more entries!  But for now, let’s begin with a few different ways to travel.

Family trip

I know my best moments with my kids have been while traveling.  But traveling with kids has their issues, so I want to make it as comfortable as possible.  An all-inclusive resort in Cancun is fabulous (trust me, my kids loved it).  My family can spend hours on the beach swimming and snorkeling (as snorkel gear is free rental) and drinking a free pina colada.  We can stuff ourselves with yummy Mexican food all day long.  Then at night we can watch shows at the resort.  Plus I can send kids off to play in the kids area.  You can also spend a day exploring the ruins of Chichen Itza and Ek Balam.  And when you get home those memories and photos will last a lifetime.  I still talk to my siblings about the fun trips we did when we were younger and the crazy moments that happened.

Christmas morning under the tree will be fun with all sorts of Mexican treats.  Because you are spending money on a big trip for the family, you don’t need to spend a lot of money for the presentation of the journey.  At the party store or on Amazon.com I found fun maracas, fake mustaches and sombreros.  Place these under the tree for each member of the family.  Chips and Salsa can be left where the plate of cookies and milk for Santa is.

My travel company I own with my family has an excellent Mexican all-inclusive tour in Cancun.  Feel free to check it out at funforlesstours.com

Couples or Friends trips

I love a good Caribbean cruise.  One of my favorites is the Southern Caribbean.  With ports to Puerto Rico, St. Maarten, St. Kitts, St. John, Antigua, St. Lucia and Barbados you can not go wrong!!  Now those are just the islands, let me tell you about the ship.  The ship our company uses for this cruise is Adventure of the Seas through Royal Caribbean.  They have an indoor ice-skating rink, a rock-climbing wall, miniature golf and much more.  However, many other ships are out there doing the Caribbean.  The days are filled with food, beautiful islands, shopping, site-seeing and, of course, more food.  The nightlife also has plenty to keep you busy.  This is a great gift to get away with your loved one.  But it is also fabulous if you are single and do a trip with friends.  The Southern Caribbean can never be a wrong choice.

An excellent way to present this is to get a bunch of mini drink umbrellas that you can get at a party store or Amazon.com.  Place these all around the tree as decorations.  Under the tree, you can put blown up beach balls as well as some shell necklaces.  I found fun bon voyage banners that can also be placed around the tree or on the wall.  Can you imagine the excitement Christmas morning?  For presents, you can wrap up special items to bring on the cruise, such as sunglasses, swimsuits, beachwear and sandals or flip flops.

We do offer this as a tour with my company.  If you are interested in coming with us, feel free to look at funforlesstours.com.

Couples Epic Romantic Trip

Some places in the world just scream romance.   A Mediterranean cruise is a longer trip and, of course, more costly, but well worth it.  A trip that is enjoyable for anyone, but especially couples.  Imagine walking through the Colosseum in Rome, visiting the Piazza del Duomo in Florence, taking a gondola ride in Venice and then heading over to see some of the beautiful Greek Isles.   A once in a lifetime romantic getaway.  One that I highly recommend.

Venetian masks and hats can be found online at Amazon.com or any party store.  Place these on the tree.  I also love the giant helium alphabet letter balloons.  You can use these to spell out the word Italy or Love.  Either way I’m sure you will impress.  Print out photos of the places you will be visiting and place them all around the room.  Something else that would be fun would be to give them a keychain of the Leaning Tower or Pisa.  Something they can hold on to until and get excited about daily until the traveling begins.

If you are interested in our Mediterranean cruise with my company, please go to funforlesstours.com

An Epic Adventure

My company has been taking thousands of people all over the world.  And believe it or not, many of them say that their favorite trip is China (if you visit the right places in the right way).  I know you probably weren’t even thinking of going to China, but this is that once in a lifetime epic trip.  I can not say enough how amazing it is.  The other trips that I have mentioned above can be organized with any other company, hotel or cruise line.  You will have a fantastic time regardless if you come with my agency, as the most important thing is that you go and have fun!  However for this one I must say that if you want to see China right I recommend using our company.  China has some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world.  The culture is so unique and different surrounded by sites dating back hundreds and sometimes thousands of years.  You can cruise down the Yangtze River as well as the Li River in Guilin (which is one of my favorite cities in China).  There isn’t much that I can say to describe this beautiful place.  If you are looking for a real Epic adventure, then this is one I highly recommend.

Fortune cookies anyone?  These are fun to place in small bowls in the room. Asian hats can also be found online at Amazon.com or party stores.  There are many fun Chinese decorations that I found all over such as dragons and banners around the room.  Don’t forget to put under the tree a gift card for your favorite Chinese restaurant to get you in the mood and excited to go on your excursion.

If you are interested in our China trip, please look on our website funforlesstours.com.

Well, those are some of my favorite trips and recommendations.  Please leave any comments or questions you might have!  I want you to know that whatever you do, just try and go somewhere.  Create some memories this Christmas with your friends and family. Memories that will never fade and will stay with you throughout this life.  Go Adventure!