Welcome!

Welcome to "Ground Travel", a blog about travel that involves primarily land and sea travel.

A little bit about myself:

I am a 27 year old college graduate with a degree in Wildlife and Wildlands Conservation, with a passion for travel and photography.  I have a brown and white border collie/Australian cattle dog/Australian kelpie mix who enjoys traveling with me to the places closer to home (and where our four legged friends are allowed).  I am a native of California, and I still live in the San Fransisco Bay Area.

I started this blog because I realized that there are lots of people out there looking for trips they can do that don't involve flying.  Whether it's because you have a large family, enjoy driving yourself around, want to save money and see the sights, or don't like flying, this blog is here to give you some insights on various forms of ground travel.  Me personally, I do not like to fly.  I avoid it when possible.  There are certain places you can't (at least not very reasonably) get to without flying, Hawaii being one of them.  As much as I hate flying, that is one of the only places in the world I am willing to suffer a 5ish hour flight to, because it is totally worth it.  Hawaii is gorgeous!  I visited there a few years ago, and when I get this blog rolling, I'll share some pictures and things I did while there.

Some places I have been, and how I got there/traveled around:

Pacific Northwest - This includes Northern California, Oregon and Washington, we drove ourselves

Southwest - This includes Utah, Nevada and Arizona, we drove ourselves

Alaska - Flew to Anchorage, drove a rental car for a week, southbound cruise home (Princess)

Alaska - Round-trip 9 day cruise out of Vancouver (Disney) (we drove to Vancouver, so no flying involved)

Mexican Riviera - Flew to San Diego, cruised (Princess several times and Carnival)

Western Caribbean - Flew to Texas, cruised 

Washington D.C. - Flew several times to visit the capital as well as the surrounding area

Hawaii - Flew and stayed for a couple weeks, split between the Big Island and Oahu

Upcoming planned trips:

Florida & Caribbean Cruise - Visiting Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica and Castaway Cay as well as Disney World for 1 week.  I am taking the train from California to Florida...which will be a first for me!

Now you might be wondering, for someone who doesn't like flying why do you fly so many places?  Good question :)  My dislike for flying probably stems from a terrifying flight I took around 10 years old to Mississippi.  It was literally like a roller coaster in the sky.  I have since that day flown to various places, but each time I do, my dislike for flying grows.  I am also afraid of heights, which doesn't help at all when flying.  They say you shouldn't avoid doing something you are afraid of or it turns it into a bigger fear, so I promise myself that when necessary, I will fly.  Otherwise, I'm sticking to land!  The last few trips I have taken all were driving tours, and my upcoming Florida trip will be a train, car and cruise ship.

So I hope this blog is a happy balance of traveling on the ground and flying when needed.  

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to comments from my followers :)