This post is just a look back at my travels during 2015.  I chose my top five trips and a few of my personal favorite photos.  I do believe that Oahu and Vermont made the list only partially because I have friends there and that tends to make vacations more fun!  I will say that Bora Bora / French Polynesia were at the top of my bucket list and I finally made it in February and March 2015.

Lake Garda,  Italy

Ko Olina Oahu Hawaii

Curacao

Burlington, Vermont

Bora Bora - French Polynesia

 Sorry this is a photo only post.  If you've been following along you've probably seen these photos already.  Thank you for the visit.  Happy new year to all and I hope 2016 is your best year yet! 

~Michelle

 Here is Rangiroa which is the second largest atoll in the world. I could only take photos from the ship because we weren't able to get off the boat due to wind and rough shallow water. It was still pretty cool to see as I'm just a very curious person who wants to see just about everything in the world even though it's not that exciting. It looks like a ring which is basically what an atoll is - a ring shape reef formed of coral.

I apologize that you can't see much from the photos, but thought I would share.  I truly didn't know what an atoll was.  Too bad we didn't get to go on shore, but this situation seems to happen to me a lot on cruises.  Have a great week everyone! 

~Michelle

On my 12 day cruise from Tahiti to San Diego we stopped on the island of Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas Islands.  I think visiting the Marquesas Islands on a cruise is a good way to see them.  We were told on the cruise not to swim in the water because it's dark and that means there is a risk of sharks. The children seemed to be enjoying themselves playing in the water, but I have to say I was a little worried about them. 

The Marquesas Islands are incredibly beautiful, a good place to go for hiking, and like most islands in French Polynesia there is not a lot to do.  It is a good way to relax and get away from it all.  There are about 9,000 people on all these islands total.  Nuku Hiva is the most populous with ~2700 people.

As you can see from my photos, there was a storm brewing.  When the cruise ship sailed away that night, it was quite a rocky ride.  I felt intoxicated walking around and hadn't drank a drop of alcohol!

 






Thank you so much for stopping by.  I hope you are all having a wonderful week.  Take care my friends.

~Michelle

 When I arrived in Bora-Bora, French Polynesia, I was given a welcome drink.   There is no alcohol in this drink.   There is a photo of me drinking the drink which makes it look like it has alcohol in it, but I was just very jet lagged after being on a plane for 20 hours!  When you land at Bora-Bora airport you must take a water taxi as you can see below to your hotel.  

I was struck by the beauty of the turquoise water.  The photo above was taken from my airplane window so it's not great, but the water truly is that blue!

The "water taxis":

Born-Bora's little airport:

My non-alcoholic Mai-Tai:
Not so great photo of me after traveling for what felt like FOREVER!
Walking to my neighborhood of bungalows:

As you can see my bungalow had quite a view including a glass bottom floor :!

It was nice once I could finally relax on my deck or dock!  Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

~Michelle

 I really enjoyed just hanging at Matira Beach on Bora-Bora.  As you can see many of the locals and tourists were having a great time!  The sunsets were incredible as well.  I'm very shy about asking people if I can take their photo, but I got some good practice here!

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you all have a wonderful week.  Take care my friends!

~  Michelle