What’s one piece of travel advice you always follow?

✈️🌎 CHRISTY, UNFILTERED: JUST DO IT! BUT FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE, USE YOUR NOODLE! 🤣🍷🧳

What’s ONE piece of travel advice I ALWAYS follow?

Well, HEAVENS TO BETSY ROSS! Do you really think I could narrow my travel advice down to ONE little piece?! Have we met?! 😂

But if I absolutely HAD to choose just one, it would be…

JUST DO IT! HAVE FUN! LIVE A LITTLE! AND FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE, MARK THAT BUCKET LIST OFF! ✈️🌴🍷

Why not?! What are you waiting for?! A personal invitation from the Pope? A handwritten letter from the Queen of England? Elon Musk to invent a flying car to take you there?!

GOOD GRIEF, CHARLIE BROWN! JUST GO! 🤣

You only live ONCE! And I don’t know about y’all, but I plan on squeezing every last drop of adventure out of this life before somebody puts me in a box and sends me to the great beyond! And if there’s a beach, an ocean, and a vineyard in the afterlife, somebody better have my reservation ready! 🍷😂

I’m a firm believer that some of the BEST memories come from the things you almost talked yourself out of doing!

Take the excursion! Explore the island! Try the strange food you can’t pronounce! Order the cocktail with ingredients you’ve never heard of! Dance like nobody’s watching! Get on that boat! Climb that mountain! Jump out of that airplane!

Well, maybe check the parachute FIRST! I’m adventurous, not completely INSANE! 🤣

And if something doesn’t go exactly as planned?

WHO CARES?!

Sometimes the mistakes make the BEST stories!

You know, those stories that start with, “Well, you’re NEVER going to believe what happened to us…” and end with everybody laughing so hard they’re crying, somebody nearly choking on their wine, and at least one person saying, “WE ARE NEVER DOING THAT AGAIN!”

Which, of course, means we’re probably doing it again next year! 😂🍷

I even have a hoodie with a saying about mistakes making good memories and conversations! So, obviously, if it’s printed on a hoodie, it MUST be legitimate life advice! I mean, who am I to argue with fashion AND wisdom?! 🤷‍♀️🤣

BUT HOLD ON JUST ONE COTTON-PICKING MINUTE! 🚨

There’s a BIG difference between being adventurous and being a complete IDIOT!

For example…

If you’re traveling in another country and some random man approaches you on the street whispering, “Hey, lady! Designer handbags! Rolex watches! Gucci! Louis Vuitton! Come with me!”

And then proceeds to lead you down a dark alley, through a mysterious doorway, up three flights of stairs, and into a room with no windows…

WHAT IN THE INTERNATIONAL HEAVENS TO BETSY ROSS ARE YOU THINKING?! 😳🤣

Are we shopping for a purse or auditioning for the next episode of Dateline NBC?!

Because I can assure you, that $40 Louis Vuitton is NOT worth having your face plastered on a missing-person poster in a foreign country!

And this whole situation reminds me of Sex and the City 2 when the girls go to Abu Dhabi and get themselves into all kinds of shopping and cultural chaos!

Except, honey, I’m not Carrie Bradshaw, I don’t have Mr. Big’s bank account, and I’m certainly not getting kidnapped over a knockoff handbag! 🤣👜

I LOVE a bargain, but I also LOVE remaining ALIVE!

USE YOUR NOODLE, PEOPLE! 🧠

Now, don’t misunderstand me. I’m all about exploring new places, experiencing different cultures, meeting new people, and having adventures that make my family question whether I should be allowed to travel without adult supervision.

But there is such a thing as COMMON SENSE!

Travel with family or friends when you can. Watch out for each other. Know where you’re going. Be aware of your surroundings. And for the love of all things holy, don’t wander off with a complete stranger because he promises you a Chanel bag for the price of a cheeseburger!

And here’s another little piece of travel wisdom…

USE THE BUDDY SYSTEM! 👯‍♀️

Remember that from summer camp or Girl Scouts?!

You had a buddy! You went everywhere with your buddy! You kept up with your buddy! If your buddy disappeared, somebody was going to have to explain it to the camp counselor!

WELL, GUESS WHAT?!

THE BUDDY SYSTEM STILL WORKS WHEN YOU’RE 54 YEARS OLD! 🤣

Except now, instead of checking on your buddy at the swimming pool or the campfire, you’re checking to make sure she didn’t wander off into a jewelry store, get distracted by a handsome bartender, or decide to follow a man named Ricardo into a back room to look at designer sunglasses!

And if your buddy has had a few cocktails, you might need to upgrade from the buddy system to the FULL-BLOWN GIRL SCOUT SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM! 🚨🍹🤣

And let’s not even discuss what happens when my alter ego, SPIRIT WATER, decides she wants to join the vacation festivities!

That’s when somebody needs to take attendance, count heads, check balconies, and make sure everybody has their shoes, passports, and at least a LITTLE dignity left! 😂

But seriously, y’all…

DON’T LET FEAR KEEP YOU FROM LIVING!

There’s a whole beautiful world out there waiting to be explored. Oceans to swim in, mountains to climb, castles to visit, vineyards to taste, islands to discover, and memories to make with the people you love.

And sometimes, you just need to pack your suitcase, grab your passport, throw caution to the wind—well, SOME caution—and GO!

Life is too short to spend it sitting around saying, “I wish I had…”

I’d much rather be sitting on a balcony overlooking the ocean with a glass of Cabernet, laughing with my family and friends about something ridiculous we did on vacation!

Because one day, those crazy adventures become the stories we tell over and over again.

And THOSE are the memories that make life worth living! ❤️

So, here’s my official CHRISTY TRAVEL ADVICE:

BE BRAVE! BE ADVENTUROUS! HAVE FUN! MAKE MEMORIES! CHECK OFF THAT BUCKET LIST!

But PLEASE…

Don’t follow strangers down dark alleys.

Don’t get kidnapped over a fake Gucci.

Don’t lose your buddy.

Don’t forget your passport.

And if something sounds too good to be true, it probably comes with a police report and an international phone call to your parents! 🤣

LIVE LIKE THERE’S NO TOMORROW… BUT USE ENOUGH COMMON SENSE TO MAKE SURE THERE IS ONE! 😂✈️🌎

And remember, if your vacation goes completely sideways, at least you’ll have one HECK of a story to tell!

Just make sure you survive to tell it!

YOLO! CARPE DIEM! AND FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE, USE YOUR NOODLE! 🍷🌴🤣

Love, Christy — Your adventurous, passport-carrying, wine-sipping, bucket-list-checking travel enthusiast who believes in living life to the fullest… preferably without ending up on an episode of Dateline! 😂❤️✈️

#ChristyUnfiltered #TravelWithChristy #YOLO #CarpeDiem #BucketListAdventures #UseYourNoodle #TravelHumor #GirlsWhoTravel #MakingMemories #JustDoIt