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Travel Highlights and Adventures of 2015

The blogosphere is always buzzing with many year-end travel highlights and “best of lists” around this time. It’s always fun to see what other travelers were up to and get some travel inspiration. As I’ve done over the years, this is our contribution and a look back on our travel adventures in 2015. It’s a little late this year since we just returned from a holiday travels. It wasn’t as epic as last year’s travels with new sports commitments for the kids but still a memorable year for our busy family. I hope you had a wonderful 2015 too and an even better 2016.

Most Memorable Trip

Visiting the island of Bora Bora in the French Polynesia was our most memorable trip this year. It was hard to top a visit to paradise. This has been a dream destination for years for us and I’m so glad we finally made it. The island met our expectations and more. From the moment we caught a glimpse of the overwater bungalows and its varied shades of blue waters from the air, we were hooked. You can’t beat a welcome greeting like this from the airport.

Bora Bora airport view

We loved hanging out at the hotel and the overwater bungalow. There aren’t many places where you could snorkel or swim right off the balcony. We did manage to venture beyond the hotel though for some swimming and snorkeling with sharks and stingrays, a picnic on a private island and a land tour to learn more about Bora Bora’s history and culture. This is more than a honeymoon or a couple’s destination, we’ve proven that it could also be family-friendly.

Bora Bora lunch at motu

Favorite USA Destination

Our favorite American destination this year was to Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. This was another domestic destination that eluded us for years. The American Wild West’s picturesque symbol was amazing. No wonder this has been used on many movie backdrops. The landscapes and red rock formations were incredible and almost felt like we were on another planet.

Monument Valley Artist Point

Staying at The View Hotel enhanced our experience with incredible views from our balcony. Actually, all its rooms have this panoramic view. Don’t just stop a Monument Valley briefly while on a Southwest road trip though. While we loved the popular 17-mile, self-drive through the area, we highly recommend a scenic safari and cultural tour with a Navajo guide. This tour was a highlight for us as we were taken to restricted areas not open to the public including a walk through the sand dunes. We also visited traditional Navajo dwellings and learned about their interesting culture and traditions. Monument Valley was truly a sacred and special place.

Monument Valley horse

Favorite National Park Visit

I’m a bit disappointed that we didn’t make it to more than three National Parks this year. We’re hoping to fix that in 2016. We loved exploring Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. This park contained thousands of archaelogical sites and some of America’s best preserved prehistoric cliff dwellings. This UNESCO World Heritage Site was home to the Ancestral Pueblo people. It was remarkable to see these cliff dwellings up close and marvel at their construction.

Cliff Palace Mesa Verde

Most Memorable Cruise

We spent part of Labor Day weekend on Maine’s Casco Bay to experience being lobster fishermen for 90 minutes and catch our own dinner. We donned uniforms and had the opportunity to haul lobster traps around the bay. It was fun to learn about our favorite crustaceans including their power to regenerate some body parts. One of the best things of the cruise was buying the lobsters at wholesale prices. We then took them to the nearby restaurant to cook and had one of our best meals this year. Don’t miss this experience if you’re visiting Maine during the warmer months.

Maine Lobstering excursion

Favorite Museum Experience

We visited our fair share of museums this year. But, it’s the living museum that made quite an impact. Plimoth Plantation in Massachusetts was a wonderful, educational experience that showed how the Pilgrims settled into their new home after they landed here. We enjoyed our self-guided tour through the Wampanoag Homesite showing outdoor exhibits of how the Native Americans who occupied this area lived.

The kids loved the Craft Center that showcased some artisans demonstrating how various items were made. My favorite part was visiting the re-created farming village that the Pilgrims started. The 17th century English village included buildings and costumed role players who portrayed actual colony residents. It was so interesting to watch and interact with them. We really felt like we were transported back in time.

Plimoth Plantatin English Village

Most Memorable Land Adventure

Our 4×4 off road adventure through Sedona’s red rocks and amazing scenery. The bumpy ride on the modified Jeeps was fun and exciting as we made our way through the large red boulders and valleys. We didn’t realize that Arizona had a monsoon season and weren’t prepared for their version of a monsoon. Mother Nature put on quite a show with thunder and lightning. But, the rest of our tour also included heavy rain and strong wind. We drove back all wet and precariously through the mud and flooding paths. It was a wild ride and one we hope to do over again.

Sedona Pink Jeep tour

Kids’ Favorite Adventure

I didn’t even have to ask my kids the answer to their favorite adventure in 2015. They both agreed that swimming and snorkeling with sharks and stingrays in the islands of Bora Bora and Moorea was a highlight. Yes, we did it twice. It may sound intimidating but the sharks didn’t even give us a second look and the stingrays were harmless as long as we stayed out of their way. We even had the chance to touch them. There was also a bonus of seeing French Polynesia’s colorful and tropical fish.

Moorea swimming with sharks

Year-end Adventures

We finished off the last few days of 2015 with a trip to Lisbon, Portugal. Lisbon was such a charming city and the locals were friendly. Their pastries were so delicious! We loved our day trips to Belem and Sintra to see castles and churches and even did an amphibious vehicle tour. I’m looking forward to writing about those adventures in the next few weeks.

Pena Palace Sintra

We ended our last day of 2015 and first day of 2016 in Switzerland including an amazing fireworks display in Lucerne on January 1st. Switzerland is an incredibly picturesque country even in winter. The Swiss Alps were so beautiful and I can’t wait to share our experiences and photos from that trip.

Switzerland Fuhrenalp

Our family thanks you for being a part of our adventures and for your all your support in reading, sharing and/or commenting especially to those who have virtually followed along all these years. We wish all of you a very healthy and happy new year. Safe travels!

*Where did you go in 2015?

27 thoughts on “Travel Highlights and Adventures of 2015”

  1. I loved reading about your highlights. I’m with the kids on that last one. I just love snorkelling and am not afraid of small sharks or stingrays. Bora Bora looks fantastic and I will venture there if I win or inherit some money. Those blues are amazing. Casco Bay is another must do for me. I love catching mud crabs in Australia and am interested in the catching lobster and more than interested in eating them. What a fab year.

  2. Alright, I’ve found it, a family after my own heart. Every single one of your adventures are either ones we’ve taken and loved, or trips that we are planning. We love being outside, and really digging into a place.
    We have a trip planned to the Grand Canyon in April and we were trying to decide if we should go to Monument Valley. How many days do you think we need to explore the area? We are flying into Vegas and renting a car (and we only have a week).

    1. Thank you Tara! I think you’d need a couple of days in Grand Canyon and probably a day at Monument Valley if you do the self-drive. It’ll be a great and very scenic adventure.

  3. I think Bora Bora will be a very hard destination to beat :) We took many trips in 2015, but surely the most memorable was Costa Rica. The little one enjoyed the animals and the nature a lot :)

  4. You had a great year, Mary, you can’t complain. I would like to visit Bora Bora too. Those blue waters look almost unreal. I think the best part of your travels is that you can go together with your kids. Enjoy them while they are still young. Mine is grown up now and we get to see him only a few times a year, but I still remember the good times when we used to travel with him. Great post!

  5. Mary, Like you I love a “review” post! Also, because of you Bora Bora and Moorea are much higher on my list than they were previously. I have got to figure out a time to go.

  6. What a fantastic year – your family managed to fit in so much! Visiting Bora Bora, Portugal and Switzerland in the same year as well as all of your U.S. adventures is going to be hard to top. What are you planning for 2016?

  7. You had a fantastic year, Mary. Seems like you’ve started out 2016 with a fabulous bang – Portugal and Switzerland!
    Happy New Year! Hope your travels in 2016 continue to be amazing, adventurous and awe-inspiring.

  8. What a fun year 2015 has been for your family, Looks like you started 2016 off with a great trip to Portugal and Switzerland, looking forward to your travels and posts this year!

  9. I really enjoyed the photos you were posting on FB and IG from Portugal and Switzerland. Lucky you! That colors of that castle are gorgeous, and I can see that your daughter has almost caught up with you in height. I’ve been joking that I will soon be the shortest person in the family and will be the one forced to take the smallest bed in the hotel room.

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