Restless Explorer

“To travel is to live”, a quote written in Spanish in the Cartagena airport.  Entering the airport, about to embark with a case of post vacation blues, as I was getting ready to fly home from my first trip to Colombia, the phrase popped out like a water hole in the middle of a desert.  I always loved travelling, but that quote really resonated with me.  Travel opens opportunities for learning new things, experiencing different cultures, seeing cool architecture, trying new things (ex. Surfing, paragliding, or even foods) and to make new friends.

Learning different languages is exciting, challenging and rewarding.  But in addition to that, it can help a lot for travel purposes.  Learning the local language can help you immerse yourself in the local culture, ask for help (effectively) and have lots of fun.  It’s also good for the soul and mind. 

I’ve been to a number of professional sporting events including NFL games, hockey games and last spring was our first NBA game in Chicago.  We went to the Bulls game with our baby and have also taken her to a Winnipeg Jets (hockey) game here at home.  The Bulls game was a lot of fun and probably the best sporting event we’ve been to for kids.  We decided to go on a last-minute trip to Minneapolis this fall;, there wasn’t a Vikings home game that weekend, so we decided to book a Timberwolves game.  Would it be as fun as the Bulls game?  We were going to find out.

When we went to Minneapolis this past fall, we wanted to have a nice dinner and try out something new.  Anyone reading this from Winnipeg proboably knows about Carnaval, the Brazilian Steakhouse; we heard about an even better version in Minneapolis.  It was the wife’s birthday weekend, so we decided to splurge and check out Fogo de Chão. 

I’ve always loved to travel, but in 2024, the year I started my YouTube channel, click here to check it out and subscribe, got bigger heavier into my blog, I stepped up my travel game to the next level.  This was in part due to a 5-week parental leave, on top of my usual holidays, and also a rush in trying to get as much travel in while it is still free for our baby girl.  In 2024 I travelled more than most other years in my life and even though I love solo travel, it was my first year of strictly family vacations; and it was a blast!

On our way home from The Bahamas we had a short stay in Fort Lauderdale for one night before flying home.  It was the last day/night of our vacation and wanted to finish it right.  After reading reviews and comparing prices, we booked The Westin Beach Resort, right on Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd.  I used my hotels.com free night, accumulated from 10 nights stayed prior, and reduced the price of our hotel by about $110.  We still paid close to $200 after taxes, but for a beautiful hotel right on the beach in Fort Lauderdale, a total price tag of $300 was expected.  Hotels.com is one of my favorite sites to use because every 10 stays, you get a night free, there are also member discounts on several hotels each time you are booking.  The free night is the average price of your 10 prior stays, and the night we earned was cheap because we stayed in some cheap hotels in the Philippines earlier in the year.  But that doesn’t matter because if you book a more expensive hotel, you just pay the difference.

The “Free Vacation”

When I was younger and on a family vacation in Miami one of the highlights was a speedboat your of the Biscayne Bay and the Miami Skyline.  Fast forward 20 years, and I now have my own family; we wanted to do something similar but a bit more baby friendly. 

When I was in Florida as a teenager, I remember the food being good and a wide variety of choices.  But when I came back this summer, the food was even better and more diverse than I remembered.  Well, when I say diverse, there was a lot more than typical American food.  Being a fan of Latin America, the wide range of Latin foods was one of my favorite things from our 4 nights in Miami/Fort Lauderdale.  We stayed in South Beach, so that is where we ate in Miami, but we also had one night in Fort Lauderdale on our return back from the Bahamas, and the food was tremendous in both cities. 

Miami is a beautiful city and is most famous for Ocean Drive and the South Beach neighborhood.  I knew when we booked a few nights in Miami we had to stay in South Beach, but was concerned about the price.  After doing some research, and finding out where I could use my remaining Aeroplan points that I had acquired a long time ago, I booked with the Berkley Shore Hotel.  I was able to get two nights with all of my Aeroplan points which worked out to being about $220 a night… not bad for Miami and especially for South Beach.

I have previously written blogs for flying with a baby and for taking a road trip with a baby (click the links to read them), but this post is different.  These tips will focus on being out and about for long periods of time while sightseeing and partaking in touristy things, along with staying in the hotel for an extended period with the baby.

Everyone who has heard of the Bahamas knows about the crystal blue waters and white sand beaches. Most people know about swimming with/feeding the pigs while island hopping and Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island. These things are all wonderful and I've talked about them in my other blog posts, but here are things to do while exploring downtown Nassau for a day or two, and are good options while stopping over on a cruise.