The first time I looked at Niagara Falls, I could hardly believe I was there. And alive to see it.

There’s a voice inside me that has turned up in one place after another: “Oh my God. Can you believe you’re alive? Can you believe this is what you’re doing with your life?”

I usually say it out loud to Ray. Sometimes I tell AI, too. Apparently, one audience isn’t enough when I’m that excited.

All I have to do is open Google Photos and start scrolling. There are the places, and then there are the moments that come back with them.

Waterfalls and geysers in Iceland. Glaciers in Alaska. The tulips at Keukenhof. Florence. The Amalfi Coast. A lookout in Hawaii.

I get goosebumps thinking I’ve lived this life. Those are my pictures. I was actually there.

Some of those moments took more effort to reach than others.

In Tennessee, my family told me they would wait. It was okay to be slow. I could go at my own pace. Getting up to that waterfall was difficult, and I stopped plenty of times.

But I got there. I got to sit on that big rock with the grandkids, see their smiles, and look up at the waterfall. God, that felt good.

Travel has given me reasons to want to do more. Experiences like that helped make me want to take better care of this body so it could carry me to the next one. The cave steps, the waterfall, the dancing—all of it added something.

And yes, somewhere between those wonderful moments, there is luggage. Wanting to see the world does not automatically teach a woman how to pack for it.

That’s some of what you’ll find here on Travel Mondays.

I want to give you a reference for the places I’ve been and the experiences I can actually tell you about. I have Mediterranean cruise pictures and memories I’ve hardly shared, along with stories from Iceland, Alaska, Canada, Hawaii, and other places that still make me shake my head and smile.

As I work through them, I’ll get into the details: what we did, how we planned it, what I thought of it, what it cost, and whether I thought it was worth it.

I’ll share how I’ve used points and how I’ve used ChatGPT to help put together itineraries, back-to-back cruises, and ideas for things to do in port. There’s a practical side to getting us to all those places, and that belongs in the story, too.

When I show what we paid, I want to be clear about what that figure covers and what it leaves out. The 50-day trip and traveling with points deserve their own explanation.

But this is where I want to begin: with the moments that made me glad I went.

I’m also preserving these stories for my grandkids. I want them to know what their grandma saw, what delighted her, and why she kept wanting to go somewhere else.

I stopped saving my life for later. I’m living my bonus days.

And I still catch myself asking, “Can you believe it?”

Where have you been that made you stop and think, “I can’t believe I’m really here”?

A few of the places I’ve been

As I publish reviews and travel stories, I’ll link them here.

• Niagara Falls
• Tuckaleechee Caverns and Laurel Falls, Tennessee
• Iceland
• Alaska
• Keukenhof
• Florence
• The Amalfi Coast
• Hawaii
• Canada

Want to know more about one of these places? Ask me in the comments. Your questions can help me decide which story to tell next.