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Ithaca

This summer my best friend and I decided to plan a road trip to Ithaca, NY. We both entered our “granola girl” era and wanted to explore some of the beautiful hikes in the area.

On our first day, we drove to our AirBNB which was the coolest Yurt we had ever seen. I think the best part of going on these silly little weekend getaways with your friends is finding unique places to stay at. On this day, we just explored the property and did our food shopping for the trip because we are both broke college students who cannot afford eating out for every meal. We were determined to learn how to cook and I would say we were pretty successful!

On our second day we went to Watkins Glen State Park. This was unlike anything we have ever explored in New Jersey. The rocks were unreal and we even went off trail to discover a crazy waterfall! Neither of us had hiking shoes yet so we had a sketchy climb down a very slippery slope to make it to the bottom of the falls. It was there that we went for a swim and met this group of students who go to Cornell University. They gave us other trails to try out for the rest of our stay and they were some of the coolest places we got to go!

On our next day, we went to Robert Treman State Park. This one is super similar to the other popular park, “Buttermilk Falls”. This was a 5 mile loop that took us to the top, bottom, and all around one of the biggest waterfalls I have ever seen. There were two trails, the Gorge trail and the Short Rim trail… definitely start with the Gorge because you are NOT going to want to do the Short Rim stairs on the way up… At the end of the trail there’s a swimming area with a diving board - no flips allowed but like my cousin says, “Ask for forgiveness, not permission.” This was my personal favorite day of our trip as this was hands down the most exciting hike I have ever done.

On our third and final day of hiking, we went to the First and Second Dam. We were unaware that cliff jumping at the second dam is borderline illegal… but if you do the safe jumps you should be fine! This was super fun but definitely a big challenge. In order to get to the 20 foot jump, you have to swim out across the dam to get to this rope that's hanging from the top of the platform. You start from floating in the water and then have to climb this big rope. It was slippery and took every ounce of strength I had to climb up it. Many people struggle to make it to the top or just simply can’t. If you can make it up there, the only way down is to jump - hope you’re not afraid of heights!

After the second dam we went to the first dam whose entrance was on the other side of the street. Here you have the option to jump off a waterfall which is super fun, super cool, but SUUUUPER slippery!! This is more of a family friendly and popular place as you don’t have to hike to get to it. If you are just looking for a refreshing place to swim, this is the place for you!

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Hawaii

My sister is a travel nurse and got to work in Hawaii for three months. During her time there I OF COURSE had to visit her! Despite being in summer classes at my local community college, I made time to see her for a week. Our first day, we were hecka tired from our travel day so we just explored the area and went to sleep.

The next day we were still very jet lagged so we just had a beach day, played some volleyball, and I did all my school work so that way I wouldn’t have to worry about it for the rest of the trip. This worked out great because my sister had work that day anyways so she couldn’t really take us anywhere.

The third day we explored the North Shore and got to eat at the famous Sunrise Shack. I have never had such a delicious and beautiful açaí bowl in my life!! This was incredible??? On our way home from the North Shore we went to Coco Head and hiked it. This was my redemption for the time we came in 2019 and I was not able to hike it because I was not strong enough for it. It is a thousand stairs that just go straight up without any breaks. It is BRUTAL if you don’t like stairs… I don’t like stairs. The view at the top was gorgeous though and I am so glad I did this hike!

The next day I walked to get another açaí bowl… this is going to be a common theme from the trip lol. We explored a local outdoor mall which was HUGE! They had every store, even an Oreo cafe! We got hot pot at the mall and I’ve never had it before but it was DELICIOUS. Hawaii takes the cake on all the amazing food. After that we went to a chocolate tasting and tried all sorts of chocolates. I had no idea that Hawaii was known for its organic chocolate and that it is one of the few places that has real and authentic cocoa beans. We ended the night at Dave and Busters with my sister's friends and played an infinite amount of Dance Dance Revolution.

We started our fifth day in the early morning at Cream Pot for breakfast. They make the most delicious caramel apple French toast! After that, we headed our way to do another hike, this one was 5 miles! It was super muddy since it had just rained but this one was way less stairs and much more hilly than Coco Head. This was a perfect hike though and the view was insane. It completely destroyed my shoes but luckily that was the last day of hiking for me! We ended the night watching fireworks at a random resort and getting overpriced but delicious ice cream.

The last day we just played mini golf and enjoyed the beach. This trip was my first sibling’s trip and I am so beyond grateful for my brother and sister. The best travel buddies a sibling could ask for!

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Colorado

My trip to Colorado has to be the most magical trip of my life. I went there with my mom and sister on a mother daughter's trip and we made the most of our 5 days. The first day was the highlight of my entire existence because we got to see Taylor Swift at the Era’s Tour. We flew in from NJ just to see her because we have not missed one of her tours since I have been allowed to go to concerts! Our surprise songs were Picture To Burn and Timeless which is arguably one of the best pairings she had. I’ve never seen one of her concerts from the floor and I literally was so close to her I could actually see her blink. Best. Day. Ever.

The next day we went out to dinner and then went right back to the stadium to watch her perform from the parking lot for free. Such a wonderful experience to be with all of the fans who couldn’t make it inside but just have a genuine love for her work. That night we heard Starlight and Back To December and screamed every word of it with all the other Swifties.

We started to explore Rocky Mountain National Park on the third day of our trip. We met up with an old family friend who took us to explore the park and it was the first national park I’ve ever been to. It’s my dream to explore them all so this was so exciting for me!! The views were incredible and literally nothing like I have ever seen before in my life as a NJ native.

We loved Rocky Mountain so much that we went back the next day and did another trail. We packed food from Snarf’s which is a sandwich shop in Colorado - they make the best peanut butter banana sandwiches ever and everyone should try them if they ever find themself in Colorado!

Our last day we just explored the city of Denver before our flight. This was such a perfect trip with my family and I feel so blessed everyday to have such great relationships with them.

New York City

Coming soon!!