Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere // BFF Visit, Alone Time, & Tourist Tuesday

Last week, my BFF Hannah came to Wisconsin to visit! It was SO much fun but if I start going into details about what we did and how fun it was this post will literally turn into a dissertation because it was THE BEST! Before she came to visit, I was thinking of things to do with her. My initial response was 'there's nothing to do here' which is ridiculous but its still the thought I had. Milwaukee is a big city but it's not New York or Seattle or Denver, places that tourists flock to visit. But after thinking about it more, I realized there were so many things big and small that I could take her to do. I think that wherever you grow you, or maybe it's just me, you become a little desensitized to your surroundings and take for granted the uniqueness around you. I know I definitely did!

UK Recs Fit For a Queen // Favorite Places

In case you don't follow me on social media, Hannah and I are currently traveling around the UK! We both wanted to commemorate our adventure on our blogs and what better way than to talk about all the different facets of the UK and why we love it. We'll be talking about our favorite books set in the UK, movies, and what initially drew us to our love of this place.

Today, we're talking about what we love about the UK and favorite parts about actually being there. I have an obsession with traveling and while I want to see so much of this world, my heart is always in the UK. It will always be my first choice destination no matter how many times I've been there and so this doesn't turn into a dissertation about my love, Hannah and I decided to prompt ourselves with these four questions:

1. When/How did your love for the UK begin?
2. What is your favorite thing you've done there?

3. What is your favorite place there?

4. What is one thing you're most looking forward to on this trip?

Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere // Vancouver, British Columbia

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of visiting Vancouver, British Columbia! I've been to Canada before, Toronto, Quebec City, and Montreal, and loved it! (Minus Montreal but that's another post and story). I fell in love with Vancouver! I love when cities have the juxtaposition of urban downtown style AND nature; Vancouver has this and so much more. Canada is so incredibly beautiful and I could spend months wandering around this gorgeous --and massive!--country! But alas, I only had 4 days. These were my favorite parts.

Travel Woes // Lost Luggage

Travel Woes is a serial within my travel posts where I talk about when things go wrong aka what the fancy travel blogs won't talk about. Enjoy!

Ah, the most dreaded moment in anybody flying's life. You're waiting for your precious suitcase to appear on the luggage corral...and it never does. Cue. Panic. Except don't. The odds are in your favor that at some point your luggage will not arrive contigo. When I flew to London in 2015, the day after Boxing Day so my bad really, the inevitable happened. My luggage did not arrive. To say I was pissed would be the understatement of the century. Please see the screenshot below. My lovely friends were convinced this was the moment I would get arrested abroad never to be seen again. Alas, that didn't happen but we had a few close calls. Let me tell you what helped me in case it happens to you.

1. Don't Get Pissed
Listen. As somebody with an infamous temper and whose own immediate family members avoid me going nuclear at all costs, I know this statement is rich coming from me but I'm serious. There are certain moments in life we have to put on our manipulative caps and play nice to our advantage. The customer service people at the airport will be more accommodating if you're friendly and they want to help you.

Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere // Favorite Travel Photos of June 2017

June was a great month of traveling to Canada and appreciating the beauty around me at home, even literally right out side my window! I love the big things but sometimes it's the little things that count just as much if not more. Here are my favorite travel and photos of June! Don't forget to check out my Instagram for even more photos!

Ready to leave for Vancouver with a great book!

Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere // Favorite Travel Photos of May 2017

It's no secret that I LOVE taking photos! I invested in a new Sony a6000 prior to my last trip and I'm obsessed with it! I also love taking photos with my iPhone 7+ which also gives me amazing quality. I thought it would be a fun idea for my Adventures post to do a Favorite Travel Photos of the Month post and just include my favorite photos I took. This month will be a little long with a lot of photos because I spent an amazing week in Denver so I have a few favorites from there. I also went up to Appleton, WI which is about a 2 hour drive away to watch my cousin play in the Division III College World Series which was SO fun! I hope you enjoy my favorite photos of the month, let me know what you think below!

Flight to Denver well-spent

Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere // Short Flights vs Long Flights

Last week when I was flying to Denver I read my book the whole time. Not something unusual. But for whatever reason it made me realize that I have different habits when I take a short flight vs when I'm on a longer flight. Of course, I took that thinking opportunity and turned it into a post because the more I think about it the more curious I am if other people are the same way.

Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere // Best of Mt. Kilimanjaro

After recapping my experience on climbing Mt Kilimanjaro last week, I wanted to highlight my favorite photos from my trip. It's no secret I love taking photos. I love Instagram. I love grabbing good angles, experimenting with selfie angles, and shamelessly asking people to take photos of me from behind. What can I say? I love that look! It's definitely an amateur hobby but I love taking and sharing photos so I hope you enjoy some of my favorites from my eight days on the mountain. Definitely leave some love down below if you enjoy them!

Day 1

Rainforest climate

Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere // Climbing Mt Kilimanjaro

If you've been following me on Instagram you'll have already seen some of my Mt Kilimanjaro photos and--spoiler alert--I made it to the top! It was without a doubt, the most incredible experience of my life. I have been thinking about climbing Kili for my 30th birthday for almost 5 years. Ever since reading Me Before You where the main character, Will, says that's what he did for his 30th birthday, I've been inspired to do something epic when I reached that milestone. When I first read it, I thought to myself, 'Yes, I'll do something really exciting but I could never do that.' And after thinking about it a few weeks, I couldn't get it out of my mind and my stubborn streak reared its ugly head and finally said, 'Why CAN'T you climb Mt Kilimanjaro? What's stopping you?'...and from there the dream was born.

Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere // Why I Love Traveling {1}

This is a serial post I've been wanting to do for awhile. I love to talk about travel--obviously--and I'd love to be able to expand and talk a bit more in-depth of what it is about traveling that speaks to me on a deeper level. So I thought the perfect first topic would the reason I keep booking plane ticket after plane ticket. That reason? The feeling.

Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere // Travel Trinkets

One of the questions I got while doing my Q&A was what do I do with all the trinkets and ticket stubs I keep. There's a few things I've done with them so far, I'm sure there are a lot more creative ideas but I haven't delved into the Pinterest world to see what other people, this is what I've come up with so far.

Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere // Make Travel Dreams a Reality

With the New Year a few days behind us and 2017 a beautiful, blank sheet of paper in front of us, the optimistic resolutions people make sometimes seem overwhelming in the beginning. Especially if they've been longterm goals that have seemed unattainable in past years, it's hard to decide where to start. Travel more always seem to be on people's lists and Hannah gave me the great idea to make my first post of the new year about a few key tips in how to make travel a reality. I've come up with 3 simple things you can do today that can help you achieve your resolution and make your dreams of travel a reality.

Best of Travel {2016}

Today I'm talking about my favorite travel moments of 2016! Oh, my gosh where has the year gone!? I know I and everybody says this every year but it's so true! I remember this time last year I was preparing for my trip to the UK and Spain and ah! I cant believe that was already a year ago! I have been fortunate enough to have made a lot of fantastic travel moments this year. This was one of my favorite years of travel to date, probably because I got to go to the countries of my soul twice this year! I have been to grateful for the time I've been able to spend traveling so before I wax poetic for an hour, here are my favorite travel moments of 2016!

I flew to London on December 27th of last year but I'm still counting this because it was one of my favorite travel memories to date. Lost luggage, no sleep, and only 36 hours in my favorite city but it was worth every annoyance. It was the shortest amount of time I've ever been in London but it made it all the more sweeter. The atmosphere of Christmastime in this city was tangible to me. There was a different kind of energy in the air and when I think back on my time there it truly feels magical. Favorite, favorite, favorite moment of travel. 

Recap and Favorite London Spots

Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere // From Page to Plane

After recently reading Who's That Girl by Mhairi McFarlane, I came up with an idea to introduce a another kind of feature within Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere. That being when I read a certain book that inspires me to travel to a new place or think fondly on a place I've been I will feature my review and emphasize the setting and why it makes me want to travel to said location! This week I'm talking about Who's That Girl and Nottingham, or to me, any small English countryside town.

Hever, England & Who's That Girl

Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere // Travel Woes and Getting Lost

If you've been here before then you know I'm a fan of being brutally honest and keeping it real. Which is why I knew when I started writing more about my travels I wanted to include what I like to call, the stuff you won't see on other travel blogs aka when shit goes wrong. It's all well and good to post beautiful pictures and talk about the amazing time you had. I do this. But it's not always all sunshine and rainbows and beautiful sites. Shit goes wrong...a lot. And it's not all glamourous. So welcome to my first post of Travel Woes. This post will talk about my real one and only gut check, holy fuck what am I gonna do, panic moment of traveling. Thank God and baby Jesus that I've really only had one, maybe two, moments of panic. Here's one...

Excited and Instagram'ing pre shit hitting the fan

Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere // Travel by Page to Scotland

 Back again, for quite possibly my second most read country! It's no surprise that I went back--yes, again--for the second time this year alone to England and Scotland. Sue me, they're my favorites. If I could have gone to Ireland too I would have had a trifecta of love but I digress. Today I'm talking Scottish books. These are my favorites and have grown my heart about 10 sizes just from reading them. When I was in Scotland earlier this year I didn't get to go to the Highlands so you can imagine how absolutely fucking mind-numbingly excited I was to be able to go this last time around! But before I knew if and when I'd ever get to see this magical place in person, I read about it...extensively.

If You Want to Travel To Scotland...

Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere // Gift Guide for the Traveler in Your Life

The holidays are approaching so I thought it would be fun to put together gift ideas for somebody who loves to travel. Everything I'm talking about or featuring are gifts I myself have received so really, all the credit goes to my amazing friends and family who have been ever so thoughtful to me over the years. I've also broken them down into fun categories (well *I* think they're fun!).

For Travel Inspiration

Notebook with a Go-Getter Quote // I love notebooks. I especially love notebooks with travel quotes on them and I use them to brainstorm and plan my trips. A travel quoted notebook and help inspire you traveler where to take their next trip! (Thanks, Steph!)

Prints with Travel-Inspired Quotes // One of my favorite gifts ever was from Ellice (featured in the middle). It's my favorite quote from Me Before You by Jojo Moyes on a vintage map. SO thoughtful and inspiring and I LOVE looking at it. I'm obsessed with it and it is one of my most treasured gifts. This gift is thoughtful, inspiring, and will help your traveler feel read to take on their next adventure.

Book 1,000 Places To See Before You Die // What better way to inspire wanderlust than with a book highlighting not one, not ten, but a THOUSAND places to travel! I keep this on my nightstand and am always reading through different countries to inspire my next adventure. (Thanks, Estelle!)

Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere // Travel Quotes

In a less than two weeks I'll be leaving for another adventure! I'm so incredibly excited to be off to London, Scotland, and Wales I could explode just thinking about it! Seriously, I cannot wait. With that said, I wanted to share my favorite travel quotes with y'all today. I think about these all the time and they are the inspiration to me for everything I do. And a fun fact is that all the photos the quotes are on are my own personal photos I've taken while traveling. I mean, I'm in a lot of them if you couldn't tell but this project is one I'm especially proud of so I hope you enjoy!

Adventures in the Great Wide Somwhere // Travel by Page to England

It's no surprise that I would try and find a way to combine reading and traveling. A huge motivator in all my travels has always been books. Guaranteed, any trip I take if you ask me why I wanted to go there it's 98% of the time going to start with this sentence, "Well I read this book..." Because I didn't start really traveling until my 20's, I still think that reading is the best and most cost effective form of travel. That feeling of being transported to another time, another place can always be found within the pages of books. That's why I wanted to start doing book recs based on countries. This first edition of this will, of course, be England. Most likely the book will take place in London but a lot of them travel throughout the country especially the historical ones.

So without further ado, here are my book recs for England. Whether you're planning a trip or looking to travel within the confines of your living room, these books will take you there. Note: I had SO many England recs that I divided them up between Setting, Historical, and Swoon. So no matter what you're looking for, I'm hoping you can find something here. Also note: No other country will be this extensive. As I've said a thousand times, London is my soul mate city. I read a lot about it.

InstaLife {2}

As I said in my recent Itinerary Update, it's been a busy few weeks and my Instagram has been busy documenting! I've really gotten into the Insta Stories, as well. I know it's super similar to Snap Chat but I missed the train on that one and I don't really get it so Insta Stories was perfect for me. I totally love it for pics I want to post that just aren't cute enough to stay on the feed permanently (LOL) and I never want my feed to be book after book I'm currently reading or hey check out my Starbucks cup...again. Anywho, this is what me and my Instagram have been up to. Would love you all to follow along @xoxokellynina :)

Row 1

I started my reread of The Queen of the Tearling series! It's amazing if you haven't read  // I went to Milwaukee's Irish Fest over the weekend to eat some great food and listen to some great music. A piece of my heart is always in Ireland // #WanderlustWednesday in Rio at Christ the Redeemer

Row 2

Finally got some blogging motivation! // My first view of Wisconsin farmland after my 22 hour road trip home *tear* // One of my new FAVORITE books EVER! Seriously! The Fantasyland series by Kristen Ashely took over my life! Read that series you guys!

Row 3

Trip to Nashville and the Country Music Hall of Fame // Meghan Trainor concert in Nashville! SO much fun! I love her and her music! // Trying to take cool pictures while stuck in the car for 8 hours :/

Row 4

Pitstop in Hershey, Pennsylvania and the Hershey Chocolate Factory. I love Reese's. Favorite candy! // My last day at Dartmouth ended with a great dinner with my two favorite friends and coworkers. Gonna seriously miss them. // Ended one of my last off days hanging out at Starbucks and planning out fun trip stuff!!

Hope y'all enjoyed my recent Instagram adventures! Make sure to follow xoxokellynina if you can :)