Tag: travel blog

Coffee Break, travel

Spending One Day In New York

India
If you only had one day to spend in New York what would you do? Would you go to the Empire State Building, see the Statue of Liberty, stroll through Central Park, or maybe enjoy a show on Broadway. There’s so much to see in New York that only having one day is not enough at all, but of course you have to do something, so what do you do?
New York City Streets
For us we only had a few hours. Literally an afternoon in New York City. It’s been years since I’ve been to New York, but I didn’t feel like I had to do some of the big attractions. There are tons of tours on Trip Advisor and Expedia if you’re trying to find some, but they all leave in the morning, which is why we didn’t end up taking any because we were arriving mid afternoon. My mom and I settled for a stroll the Central Park, which is huge, and I still don’t understand what makes it iconic, but it is, so we stopped by. Being from Atlanta we have Piedmont Park, which is our giant park that I don’t believe has an ice rink in it and does not have the MET, but it does have the Botanical Gardens and a dog park that my dog likes to play in.
Inside Central Park
On our way there we stopped by “Famous Amadeus Pizza” and had an amazing slice of New York pizza. It was literally SO GOOD. If you’re in Manhattan definitely stop by there.
Amazing pizza at Famous Amadeus Pizza
What I didn’t like about being in the park were all of the people trying to get you to ride basically a rickshaw ride through the park because that was something we did not want to do. They were everywhere and they wouldn’t let you breathe. It was probably my fault for having my camera in my hand, so I looked like a tourist, but honestly a park is a park is a park. I just wanted to enjoy the green space. It’s one of the reasons that I remain down south because we are not short of trees and greenery anywhere in the city.  We did not walk the entire park because I’m pretty sure you could do that for days and still not see everything, but we felt like we saw enough. If you’re looking to take wedding pictures there you would not be alone. We saw 4 bridal parties in the park alone all trying to be in the same spaces.
NYC is known for its subway system
Next we took a stroll down 5th Avenue so we could pretend like we have money and can shop at some of the stores that are there. I can definitely shop at the MAC store that’s on 5th Avenue, but I definitely wasn’t going to have breakfast at Tiffany’s.
A shopper’s paradise
After getting some well deserved rest after flying all day and then walking miles around the city we were able to take in a show as the saying goes. We saw The Lion King and it was FABULOUS!! Oh my goodness I can go see that again and again and again. The costumes were amazing and the way they made the safari come to life was absolutely phenomenal. I liked the original songs that were done to fill the production out and of course I sang along to my childhood favorites. I can’t wait for it to come back around to Atlanta and I know I will be seeing it again. There are so many productions going on you have to pick something because that is its own experience.
Seeing The Lion King on Broadway was amazing!
We stayed at the Marriott Marquis in Manhattan and it was wonderful. We were so high up we could see a lot of Times Square. Oh yeah, the location was fantastic. We were very central to anything that we wanted to see and we barely had to leave the hotel to go see The Lion King. I will say that if you want to go to their rotating restaurant “The View” book a dinner reservation in advance or get ready to wait in line to go be in the lounge to see what it’s all about. We did not get to do this, but I’m not sure we were missing much other than the views of the river going around Manhattan, but it’s something you can do in the hotel if you really want a birds eye view of the city.
View from our hotel room
We enjoyed our time in New York because it felt like its own separate vacation instead of a one night stay. We felt like we experienced New York City, but we definitely could have used a couple of more days to see it all, but New York City is way too expensive for all of that lol. I’m glad we got to do it and we had fun exploring! Have you ever been to NYC? What are some of your favorite places to go or activities to do? I need a reason to go back, and BEA and BookCon are not it lol. Let me know in the comments! Until next time,
Keep turning the Pages
India
Bookish

Do you have to be a writer to be on Booktube?

India
The short answer to this is no. No you do not, but you’re looking at this post for a reason. It’s because you see so many of your favorite booktubers talking about writing their first book, trying to find a publisher, “querying” – whatever in the world that means- , and getting an editor and so many more things. You see them getting excited to be a part of the world that you love so much in a different aspect. You see them becoming the hyped book that you want to add to the top of your TBR list. But where does that make you fit? It makes you just like the rest of us. Readers! Readers and critics and free media advertising for your favorite booktubers. Now, I’m not a writer by any means, and I’m pretty sure there are probably so many grammatical errors in this post alone, and it’s because of all of those things I know that I don’t want to be a writer. So don’t let those writing marathon thingys – looking at you NaNoWriMo – convince you that you need to try it out.
Don’t get caught up in the authortube or the how to write your first book videos if you don’t want to be a writer. For some people that’s going to make you anxious thinking that, well if I want to grow in this community I have to be writing a book, and that’s not true! Without readers, writers would have nothing and be nothing, so don’t be afraid to just be a reader. That’s all I am! I read and I enjoy reading! Maybe I’m writing this post to convince myself of that even though in my heart of hearts I know I don’t want to be a writer, and I’ve never wanted to be a writer.
Forever a reader
I guess what I’m saying is that it’s okay to just be a reader and never ever want to write your own book. It’s okay to want to be a consumer and to take the time to read a book. If you want to be a reviewer it’s okay to be a reviewer for pleasure and it’s okay to be a critical reader.  You get to make those decisions for yourself and always chose what makes you happy. I hope this helps to keep you true to what you want to do and not make you feel like you need to be anywhere else, but on Booktube as a reader. Has booktube ever made you feel like you need to change?  Until next time,
Keep turning the pages
India
Coffee Break, travel

Travel Tuesday | Bali and Gratitude

India

If you follow me on social media and on my youtube channel then you know that I had the most amazing experience in Bali with my mother and Craftours. We did so many amazing things from being with the elephants to learning how to make a type of fabric called Batiks, but most importantly we learned about these offering baskets that they do every morning to express gratitude and other feelings.

The beginnings of our offering baskets

I think that it is so important to remember to be grateful for the things that we have. Whether it be having a job, having supportive family, being able to travel to amazing places, or just being grateful for waking up in the morning. Taking a few moments to reflect on all of the things that you do have instead of focusing on the things that you don’t have can be mind altering.

The finished project of the offering basket!

During this trip I felt more spiritual and awakened by all the amazing people in this country. They are all kind, genuine, and their happiness spreads into you. Also being with a group of creative people helps to bring happiness as well. I know every day I’m grateful for my mother and the amazing woman that she is and what a role model she is to me. Without her I would not have been able to partake in the journey. In the video, I don’t do a good job expressing all of the things that I’m grateful for, but I would love to hear about some of the things that you’re grateful for in the comments. How do you keep track of the things that you’re grateful for? If you’re grateful for someone have you told them recently? Until next time,

Keep Turning the Pages

India

Coffee Break, travel

My New Favorite Luggage!

India

Okay, I have a problem, I love to buy bags, and in this case I love to buy luggage. I buy travel gear all of the time and through that I found Away Luggage. Away is a 2 year old luggage company that has already made such a huge impact through out the world. Just go check out their instagram feed and you can see all of the amazing places they’ve been and products they’ve launched. I’ve managed to get my hands on two sets of their special edition luggage colors and I am in love. So far I’ve only traveled with the medium and their carry-on and they held up well in the airport.

It’s summer time, which means it’s travel time! For some…. not for me …. someone should take me somewhere!! So, I felt like it was a good time to share my favorite luggage on the blog. Considering I’ve had these videos up on my youtube channel for awhile I didn’t want to make it a travel Tuesday post, but it will probably end up being one in the future anyway as I travel with the other sizes. I’m definitely going to put up more thoughts, ideas, and comparisons of the sizes later. You can check out my unboxing videos down below, which give a general overview of what makes this luggage so special! If you’re looking to buy the luggage you can click here to get $20 off your order! Let me know if you have any questions or comments down below! Until next time,

Keep turning the Pages

India

Coffee Break, travel

Travel Tuesdays | Key West, Florida

India
I am so excited to be starting this on my channel and on my blog!! It’s something I’ve thought about doing for a while, and haven’t actually put into motion [ read I have a lot of video from previous trips that I haven’t done anything with, and I would like to do something with said videos ]. My idea behind doing this is to share some tips and tricks that I have learned through traveling. Now, I’m not a professional traveler by any means and we all know that this is not a travel blog, but it is something that I absolutely love to do when I’m not at my day job…or night job… depending on my schedule and my life.
I need one of these wrap around balcony porches in my life
The first video that I’m going to share is a throwback video to when Eric an I were on a cruise through the caribbean over the holidays. Our first stop on our vacation was to go to Key West, which is technically still in Florida, but it’s closer to Cuba than the continental US. You can click here to see my vlog or you can scroll down to see it below. I’m sorry that it’s a day late, I was good about scheduling it on Youtube and not on here! I also have almost the full tour of Ernest Hemingway’s house in Key West and if you would like for me to post that on youtube down in the comments below.
Who wouldn’t dream of having a studio like this?
If there are any specific ideas that you would like for me to talk about? Any questions that you may have? Please let me know! This is going to be a lot of fun!! Until next time,
It’s good to have someone who puts up with your reading whims
Keep turning the pages
India