Where Has the Girl Gang Traveled?

Today all of us here at The Dynamic Damsels are going to be talking about where we've traveled to (with a heavy focus on international travel). Get ready to feel some serious wanderlust!

Amelia

My dad is a Delta Airlines mechanic...which pretty much means I have it made when it comes to prices with flights (for now lol). Unfortunately, my dad is more of a homebody than anything. So growing up we did our yearly family trips, but I have never been out of the country expect to Costa Rica! Like many people, there are places I have plans to travel to in the future, but here are my most memorable travels so far.

San Diego, California

This is my city, man! I have been there three times so far. First with my family and then traveling back with friends. San Diego has a great vibe to it. The weather is nice. The beach is right there. There are hiking trails both near water and further inland. LA and Nor Cal are only a train ride away. Dude, it is great...minus the cost of living. Everything costs something, and it's never cheap!

Puerto Rico

While it has been a few...like 2014...years, Puerto Rico has a unique element about itself. The rainforests. The beach towns where you have to be careful where you put down your phone. The Spanish language signs everywhere, making it hard when you took 4 years of French.

No, this place really is cool. The most southeastern tip of Puerto Rico, Punta Tuna, is considered Caribbean water (closest I have ever been). But it looks like a mixture of Caribbean and Hawaii. It was a great day when my family went there. I even got wrapped up in a Portuguese man o' war!

There is also Bioluminescent Bay, but I didn't get to go. So if you are traveling to Puerto Rico, make it a priority.

Nosara, Costa Rica

This was the last family vacation my family (sister, mom, dad, and me) have been on. And let me tell you, it was a trip. We were in a small, authentic beach town. There was no running water after 4 pm. No one spoke much English. We weren't sure where to buy or find food.

There were four foot long iguanas walking around. Howler Monkeys (by the way, I am not a fan of monkeys) hung from the trees around our house and made terrifying noises (link to example). Oh and it was monsoon season. Overall, fun times and great stories.

We had to drive three hours on a mostly gravel road without any maps or GPS to get to the town from the airport. The drive started with paved roads, signs, and a clear sky. It ended up being a three-foot-deep pothole run-around with torrential down pour and a rental car with crappy windshield whippers.

Swipe right to see the drive's progression.

Then we came upon a place in the road where it had turned into a river. It runs in my family's blood to drive like a crazy person, so my dad was convinced he should try to take the car through it...but first we had to figure out how deep the water was. It was decided I was the best one to go out and determine this (see below).

Looking back, there could have been snakes, sea monsters, and who knows what else.

Oh did I mention we went in the middle of the Zika outbreak? Never have I worn so much bug spray. I swear it seeped into my skin because bugs did not bite me for t years after that trip.

Overall, it was an experience I would like to redo with the right mindset. My parents talked it up to be some fancy beach house in a lovely town, but they forgot a few details!

Driftwood in the sand on a beach in Puerto Rico

Martha

The places I have traveled to internationally include Germany, England, Ireland, and Wales.

Germany

I have traveled once to Germany in order to visit my mom’s family (she’s fully German). Unfortunately, I was only about four years old, so I don’t remember much; therefore, I don’t truly count this one.

England, Ireland, and Wales

The summer between junior and senior year of high school, my amazing mom paid for me to go on a nine-day school trip to England, Ireland, and Wales. This trip I definitely do count.

On the plane to Ireland! Ignore my crazy hair and please instead focus on my adorable teacher cheesing in the background (she's the one in green).

We first arrived in Ireland. Most of our time in Ireland was spent in Killarney. The main things I remember about Killarney were how green it was and our interaction with some of the locals. We met two Irish teenagers (hi Fergus and Temka!) who we spent most of a day with and from whom we learned that a backwards peace sign in Ireland was equivalent to flipping the bird in the United States. From then on, using backwards peace signs in photos became a theme of the trip (we were stupid, I know).

While in Ireland, we also explored Dublin, saw the Book of Kells at Trinity College, kissed the Blarney Stone, traversed along the Ring of Kerry, and saw many, many castles.

Grabbing lunch while on the Ring of Kerry!

One of the many castes we explored.

We then passed through Wales on our way to England. Really, that’s all we saw of Wales besides a brief stop.

This was either in Wales or in England. Either way, I was clearly having a great time!

Then, we were in England. We stumbled upon Big Ben, took a stop at Tower Bridge, a beautiful bridge stretching across the River Thames, saw Buckingham Palace from outside the gates, walked around Piccadilly Circus, saw a showing of Wicked, and toured the birthplace of Shakespeare.

Outside of a restaurant in England if I remember correctly, happy to be touring incredible countries with some incredible friends!

It was the trip of a lifetime, and I am so grateful to my mom. This trip put the travel bug inside of me and has inspired me to do things differently in order to make sure I can travel around the world. I strongly encourage you to travel when you have the opportunity as long as you are financially responsible in doing so. It will change your life!

Nikita

Being born in India, I guess the travel bug bit me fairly early on in life. When I left India, I was only four years old, but the next few years consisted of my parents moving to various countries around Africa and Europe before settling down in London.

London

Of all the places I went with my parents, London is the only one I vividly remember because we ended up living there for a little over two years. I can proudly say that I have traveled pretty much all over the world as a baby, but now my goal is to do it all over again as an adult. I've created an enormous travel list consisting of all the cities and countries I want to visit. So far, I've tackled most of the cities I've wanted to visit in the States, and soon, I plan to finally start crossing off countries overseas that are on my bucket list. The first three I'd like to cross off are Greece, Italy, and Iceland.

The United States

I've been extremely fortunate to have had the ability to visit some of my dream cities around the United States in recent years. New York City has always been near and dear to my heart, and I think it will stay that way forever. Washington D.C. was deeply moving, Charlotte was charming, and Orlando was fun-filled.

Strolling through the Tidal Basin in D.C. during the National Cherry Blossom Festival!

I love the east coast, but my recent travels to the west coast have been nothing short of amazing, which is why I think I might be switching sides. Seattle and Portland have such chill vibes, but California as a whole has my heart at the moment. I've been to various cities in the state: San Francisco, Napa, Monteray, Los Angeles, and even San Diego. Each of these cities have completely different vibes, but they each have two things in common: breathtaking views and delicious food! Check out some pictures below!

At a beautiful museum in Seattle.

This is McWay Falls in California. Bucket list moment!

If you've seen Big Little Lies, this is where the show was filmed! Big Sur, California, which is about 3 hours south of San Fransisco.

Sunset Cliffs, San Diego. Sat on the edge of a cliff, conquered my fear of heights and watched a beautiful sunset!

Katelynn

First and foremost, let me just say that I barely ever travel. In fact, I have never been on a plane. I don't know if it's because my parents hate traveling, but they DEFINITELY hate flying. When we do travel, we drive, and as a result, we haven't been very far away from Atlanta. Despite all this, I have still traveled internationally. And it was only one time, but I went to three different countries: Jamaica, Haiti, and Cozumel, Mexico.

Jamaica, Haiti, and Cozumel, Mexico

Last year, in a somewhat last-minute vacation idea, my parents decided we should take the family on a cruise. It was expensive as hell, but I had been saving up money for a while so I was able to afford it. Total for each ticket was going to be about $1,000. With a family of 6 and on top of money that would be spent on the trip, it was an expensive idea. But we did it. And it was hands down the best vacation I've ever been on (aside from having to deal with my insane family the whole time).

If you have been thinking about taking a cruise, I would recommend it. Our tickets were incredibly expensive because of how last-minute they were. If you plan about a year in advance, you can get a much better deal. We also went on Royal Caribbean, and I highly recommend them because you should NEVER be bored. There is always something to do. Our ship was Oasis of the Seas. It was the second largest ship Royal Caribbean had.

First stop: Haiti. The port we went to was Labadee, Haiti, and this is Royal Caribbean's private beach on the island. The coolest thing we did here was ziplining. It was called the Dragon's Flight, and it is the longest continuous zipline over water in the world.

Me, my dad, and my brothers after riding the Dragon's Flight zipline

Next stop: Jamaica. We went to the Port at Falmouth, and we had signed up for an excursion to the Dunn's River Falls to climb the waterfall. The water was freezing, and our guide walked around with no shoes, climbing the falls and all. I also got a kiss from a Macaw!

I can say I've climbed a waterfall! (does that make up for never having been on a plane???)

Three things: 1) Yes I am incredibly sunburned but I have red hair so. 2) I do have braces here if you're wondering why my teeth look weird. And 3) I had no idea what was going to happen when we were taking pictures so this was a very surprised look. The guy told me to bring him up to my face so he could give me a kiss, and he opened his beak and poked my cheek with his tongue several times. Also bird tongues are weird.

Last stop: Cozumel, Mexico. We rented a Jeep and drove around the entire island. The coolest thing we did was explore ancient Mayan ruins. Pro tip: if you want to buy anything here, go to the actual shops made for tourists because you will get ripped off from locals in other parts of the island, and you won't even realize it until you've bought stuff for three times the amount you should have paid.

The water here was beautiful. Truly the prettiest water I have ever seen.

And that sums up my international travel! I hope to one day have traveled much more, but I will just have to wait for those trips to come!

Alex

Internationally, your girl has traveled to Mexico, Jamaica, Turks & Caicos and Bermuda. Not to be confused with the triangle, Bermuda is hands down my favorite on that list. There’s little poverty, a thriving ecotourism industry and the most breathtaking views. BUT! My favorite trip is hands down my family’s trip to Turks and Caicos.

Aww! How cute! These are my siblings and I minus my brother Jackson. His terrible twos didn’t end until he was 17…he was having a moment lol.

This trip to Turks and Caicos was my favorite because my mom and my step-dad got married! They took just us kids and my cousin Natalie to our favorite island (we had already been on trips together ooh scandalous) and they got hitched on a private island.

Here part of the prettiest little island and my brother Jackson not in a moment.

This wedding was actually the best for a couple of reasons. Reason number one: we got to take the coolest catamaran ride out to the island. The captain driving was wild and his driving was worse. Almost as good as the catamaran that tried to serve Jackson and I rum punch when we were tweens. Reason number two: The ceremony was short and sweet. Perfect for restless kids who just off the best catamaran ever. We were in and out. Finally reason number three: After the ceremony we went to an out of this world seafood restaurant and I had the best oysters I have ever had in my life.

Our happy Brady Bunch family after the ceremony. We’re actually all just pumped to get back on the catamaran. (jk mom)

As short and sweet as it was, it was the perfect way to marry this family. There was a lot of love that day and I couldn’t have imagined celebrating this couple any other way. As much as I love Bermuda, it will never stack up to this unforgettable trip with the crazy Brady Bunch.

So that's where we've traveled to! What about YOU? Let us know in the comments where you've been and what your favorite place was so we can start planning our next vacation. :)

Love,

The Dynamic Damsels