Amanda and Deidra met and became instant best friends in 1997. But our travel journey began many years before when we each caught the travel bug. Welcome to our journey!
Amanda’s Travel Origin
Amanda’s first mini-vacation occurred at 6 months old. The family limited vacations to Texas the first two years, but Texas is a big state and they explored it all! When Amanda was three, the family headed west to California in their brand new pick-up camper. Amanda has a few distinct memories including riding on the bed in the top of the camper and watching the open road, learning to swim in the Mission Bay campground pool, and riding Small World at Disneyland. Small World made a big impression and the souvenir record and book was well-used through the years. Perhaps it was this “happiest cruise that ever sailed” that ignited a love of world travel.
Deidra’s Travel Origin
Deidra was three years old when she took her first trip. Her family went on vacation to Denver, Colorado, She only has glimpses of memories from that trip. First, she remembers meeting Santa Claus at his North Pole workshop in Colorado Springs. She also vividly remembers her mom screaming at her dad to slow down as they drove over Pikes Peak, and him laughing and driving faster. According to her mom, she showed early signs of the world travel she would become on that trip. Deidra asked at the end of a very long day, “So, what are we going to do next?” When told they were finished touring for the day, she laid down and went to sleep. She was ready to be refreshed for the next day’s adventure!
How We Travel Today
Since these early days, we have traveled the United States and the world separately and together. Amanda’s travel without Deidra includes road trips with her husband, Caribbean cruises with her parents and sister, beach and shopping vacations with friends, and solo trips when a destination calls and only Amanda can answer it!
Deidra’s travel without Amanda usually consists of family trips with her husband and two children to Disney and Universal theme parks, National Parks, and major domestic and international cities. She also chaperones large groups of college students on academic study tours around the world. Occasionally there are also multigenerational extended family trips to beaches and abroad. Finally, she makes occasional trips to visit friends living around the world.
Our travel together started when we were working at different universities and would meet up at professional conferences. We would add a few days before or after each conference and explore the conference location. In 2000, we had the opportunity to live in the same town and work at the same university. This opened the door for further travel around the U.S. and occasional hops across the border to shop in Mexico. Together we have visited Florida, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and California.
Life changed again in 2005 when Deidra moved away and started a new job in international education. Suddenly we found opportunities to travel abroad! Amanda is Deidra’s +1 on many trips with students, and we always try to squeeze in extra countries on these trips. Since we are also more established in our careers, we occasionally spring for our own non-work related trips as well! Together we’ve visited Egypt, Czech Republic, Peru, India, England, South Africa, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Spain, Morocco, Chile, Argentina, Japan, South Korea, and Kenya.
Purpose of Blog
We started the blog to share travel tips, tricks, ideas, and stories. Our goal is to connect to others who share this passion and provide as much information as possible to make our readers’ trips better than ever. Of course, one of our mottos is that you either have a good experience or a good story, so we also want to embrace those times when everything goes wrong and all you can do is laugh about it.
Disclaimers
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Let’s Go!
OK – it’s time fasten your seatbelts and secure all baggage underneath your seat or in the overhead compartments. Place your seats and table trays are in the upright position for take-off. Thank you for choosing Extravelgance! Enjoy your journey!