I hope you like the new name of my blog!  I didn't want to change my domain but thought the island girl part of my blog name needed to go.  I'm not saying I will never visit another island again, but the type of travel I will be doing is likely to change at least for a while.  You can read my previous post to see why I have become disillusioned with visiting tropical islands especially if the UV rays are very high which most are.  I live in Florida as it is so I get more than enough UV rays already! 

Today I'm packing for my dream trip to Tahiti, Bora-Bora, and the Marquesas Islands.  I'm very excited, but having a hard time deciding what I need as I will be gone for 17 days!  Part of the trip is a cruise which will disembark in San Diego.  I will have 4 days at sea.  I know that is a long time but after having 11 days at sea when I visited Antarctica, I know that LOTS of good reading material is very, very important!  I hope it's a little different than Hawaii and New Zealand, but if it's similar that will be OK :-)

Hawaii:

New Zealand:

Thank you so much for stopping by!  I will be in touch as soon as I have a decent internet connection.  The internet on cruise ships is notoriously expensive and slow so I won't be posting until my return in mid March.  Take care my friends!

~Michelle

"Hawaii is paradise. It sounds cheesy to say it, but there's music in the air there."

Bruno Mars

If anyone were to ask me if I like Hawaii I would tell them that I have visited five times in the past three years and stayed there for a total of four months.  I have visited three of the islands and my favorite is probably Kauai which is the island I will focus on in this post.  There is really nothing I don't like about Hawaii other than the price of food at the grocery store and gas for your car.  However, there are plenty of farmer's markets to buy fresh organic vegetables and fruit everywhere.  There is nothing like the fruit in Hawaii I tell you!

During my first trip we focused on the nature which  abundant and during my second trip the people I went with wanted to do a lot of touristy activities such as a helicopter ride around the island, a sunset boat cruise,  A Hawaiian luau, and a tour of the botanical gardens.  Both trips were quite different, but I enjoyed both and I feel like I got to do everything or almost everything I wanted to on Kauai between those two trips.

  On the Kalalau Trail

Waimea Canyon

Below is a photo of a natural geyser called "Sprouting Horn"

Wailua falls

 Queen's Bath

Meditating at Queen's Bath

Practicing Yoga on one of the many beautiful and free public beaches :)

At a beach in Hanalei using the tree roots as a cabana for swimming and snorkeling gear

  The next four photos are from the helicopter ride which was amazing!!!  We saw SO many waterfalls due to the large amount of rain the island had recently received.

The next four photos were taken at the Botanical gardens.  In the first photo, my friend Sylvia and I were holding grapefruits pretending we'd found dinosaur eggs in "Jurassic Park" since Kauai is where that movie was filmed.

The last four photos were taken as we were sailing along the Napali Coast at sunset.  As you can see we saw a beautiful rainbow after it rained briefly.

   I would love to visit Hawaii again.  I've loved all three islands I've visited including Kauai, Maui, and the Big Island.  I would love to return and am in the process of making plans to return to the the Big Island during 2014.

 Thank you so much for stopping by.  I love to read your comments or questions and and reading other people's blogs as well.  Your e-mail address will never be published.  Until next time, take care my friends!

  ~Michelle

"I don't think there's much point in bemoaning the state of the world unless there's some way you can think of to improve it. Otherwise, don't bother writing a book; go and find a tropical island and lie in the sun."

Peter Singer

 As I was saying in my previous post I do not live on an island, but I have and do travel to many.  Here are some more photos of the islands I have traveled to including Cancun, Bermuda, Maui, Kauai, Malta, and Gozo.  I do NOT like public transportation and would rather walk literally hours than get on a bus or subway.  I feel like I get to see more that way plus get a little exercise :-)  The first two photos were taken in Cancun, Mexico.  I have visited there many, many times and love it.  There is definitely plenty to do, and every where you look is like a postcard!

The following two photos were taken in Bermuda.  I thought I had found paradise when I went there and can't wait to go back!

The following two photos were taken in Puerto Rico.  The first photo was taken at night during a thunder storm from my balcony.  It's not a great photo (out of focus, etc.), but was one of most popular photos on Panoramio.  Here is my account where you can see all of my photos:  http://www.panoramio.com/user/7406641

The following two photos are of Maui.  I have been to Maui two times and was fortunate enough to spend a month there for my advanced Yoga teacher training

The next two photos were also taken in Hawaii, but on the island of Kauai which is probably my personal favorite.  In the first photo, I'm hiking the Kalalui Trail which isn't easy AT ALL, but the views were spectacular.  The second photo was taken at a beautiful area on the island called Queen's Bath.

 The final two photos were taken on two tiny islands in the Mediterranean Sea named Malta and Gozo.  The first photo is of a famous rock structure named "the Azure Window" on Gozo. 

Thanks so much for stopping.  I love to hear your comments and questions and please remember your e-mail address will not be published.  Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you all have a nice week.  ]

Until next time ~ Michelle