Travel Tales & Coffee Trails

The night before, I stood on Manhattan Beach hoping the weather would cancel my trip so I wouldn't have to cancel it myself. I'd never ridden a jet ski. I'd never done anything like this alone. But the next morning, I boarded a SeaDoo anyway, and thirty miles later, found myself surrounded by hundreds of wild dolphins in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Here's what a full day jet skiing to Catalina Island, solo and terrified, actually looks like.

Not pictured: my dad's scooter, we try to sneak it out of family photos when we can. This story starts back in the summer of 2023. I remember sitting on the back patio with my mom enjoying the weather and some mother daughter conversation. I mentioned to her that I was thinking about planning a trip to Disney World during Christmas time. I had always wanted to experience Disney at Christmas: the lights, the food, the smells, the joy, the over-zealous theming. It seemed so mag

Three lakes, One Unforgettable Day In early 2026, I made a pretty impulsive booking to visit Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. It was January in Georgia, and not a snowflake in sight. I was craving some REAL snow. Banff had been on my list for a while. I've seen the tiktoks and Instagram Reels of the ice blue lakes and overwhelming beauty of the Canadian Rockies. Banff was the perfect destination for what I was looking for, the town itself is walkable, with local bus tr