I went to Cuba for my 30th birthday in April 2018. What can I say, the people, the vibe, the culture was EVERYTHING. My group of 8 friends, stayed at a Penthouse Airbnb along the Malecon--La Habana. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/20539279?source_impression_id=p3_1615557201_TYKGAXWCYta%2Fg%2F00&guests=1&adults=1. To kick off the trip, we started with a walking tour of Old Havana. In the afternoon, we had a 2 hour private salsa lesson classes at Casa del Son ($25 CUC/person). This was so much fun! We were each paired with a male partner and learned a routine that we practiced over and over, which proved super helpful for the rest of the trip. The instructors were very patient and had lots of energy to keep us excited and entertained. There is also a little cafe in the back of the studio, so we grabbed a few drinks during breaks. The next day we did a classic car tour ($40 CUC/person). We visited so many sites--Plaza Revolution (a must), Fusterlandia (a colorful, fun neighborhood--covered in mosaics), Habana Forest (super enchanting), Christ of Havana, Morro-Cabana fortress, and the Beverly Hills of Havana. The highlight of the trip was hands down our day trip to Vinales, the countryside and home to many tobacco farms ($100 CUC/person). We started off the day by visiting the Indian Cave and took a boat trip to through the cave and underground river. Next we went ziplining . Then we visited Proyecto Raices (Project Roots) owned by a local farmer. The views here were breathtaking. For lunch, we visited the local organic farm El Paraiso. This was the best meal we had the entire trip! Everything was super fresh and well seasoned (which was hard to find in Cuba). After lunch, we did an hour and a half walking tour through the Valley, where we visited a local tobacco farm and had the opportunity to talk to a famer, learn about the process of making cigars and try some cigars ourselves. After the farm, we did an hour horseback ride through Silence Valley to the Prehistoric Mural, located in Dos Hermanas Valley. Our final stop was at the Jazmines lookout, capped off with a fresh pina colada drink. The last day of our trip we Santa Maria beach, the local's beach :). I had the best time in Cuba and look forward to visiting again!

I visited Napa in the Summer of 2019. My good friend and I decided we wanted to have a wine day, so we drove the 1 hour trip from San Francisco to the Valley. Our first stop was Domaine Carneros. The grounds were so beautiful. We did a flight of red and sparkling wines (our favorite). Next, we visited Artesa Winery. Artesa was featured in the film, "Wine Country" starring Amy Poehler, Maya Roudolph and Tina Fey, and it did not disappoint. The views were simply gorgeous--definitely movie worthy! Unfortunately tasting were fully booked at the time when we arrived so we weren't able to taste their wines (although I've heard they are fantastic). We ended up just walking around the grounds and basking in the beauty. Lesson noted---make sure you make a reservation ahead of time if you want to visit Artesa. Our next stop was Gundlach Bundschu Winery. Gundlach's is California's oldest family-owned winery founded in 1858. You can really sense and feel the history here. Since were still feeling the flights that we got from Domaine, we decided to just get a bottle here (red of course), sip and stroll the vineyards. Gundlach is HUGE! It was easy for us to find an area without any other guests and relax. They also have a popular old, rustic truck out in the middle of the winery, super insta-worthy so of course we had to take pics! Our last stop of the day was at Brown Estate. Brown is Napa's first Black-owned estate winery, established in 1996. We had to check it out for the culture and of course to #supportblackbusiness! Brown is located in downtown Napa. Let me tell you the ambiance, the vibe and the wine is EVERYTHING. Definitely check it out if you go! Overall we had a blast during our day trip to Napa. One key thing that I want to stress is to make a reservation if you want a private tasting. There were several other places we tried to visit, but couldn't because we didn't have a reservation. If you're just buying a bottle, you should be good at most places.

Aruba truly is one happy island!! I went this past January on a group trip for my best friend's birthday. We had the perfect amount of adventure and relaxation. On the first day, we did a 4 hour tour of the Island by "Around Aruba Tours" with stops at Philips Animal Garden, the Natural Bridge, the Gold Mine Ruins and the Natural Pool ($50/person). We had a blast feeding the animals at the "garden" and every other stop on the tour was absolutely breathtaking! The last stop, the Natural Pool was a hidden gem. Apparently there are two natural pools, and we went to the less populated one, in the Conchi area. It felt great to be somewhat secluded and have the pool almost entirely to ourselves (especially with COVID). The next day, we spent the afternoon on a catamaran with light snacks and drinks included ($60/person). But the overall highlight of the trip had to be Flamingo Beach! Flamingo Beach is a private island hosted by the Renaissance Hotel and it's where all those cute insta-worthy flamingos reside. To access the beach, we booked a night at the Renaissance Hotel so that we could avoid paying the $125 entry fee for non-guests. We also booked a private six-person cabana for the day so that we could relax and carve out space to ourselves--because COVID ($85/per person). The cabana came with a bottle of champagne, fruit and light snacks. As a special touch, they also wrote my friend's last name in the sand--how cool! Now onto the fun part--the flamingos! We enjoyed feeding the flamingos and getting our glamour shots :) The beach itself is also perfection! On our last day, we woke up early to catch the sunrise and check out Eagle Beach which is home to the famous Divi Trees :). The trees remind me of something out to the Lion King. We were one of the few people on the beach in the morning and right before we left we saw a rainbow! How fitting is that! It was the perfect way to cap off the trip. I was celebrating my friend's birthday, but I didn't know how much I needed the trip for myself---to relax, re-energize and recharge after a difficult season. I will definitely be back :)