Apologies for the long lapse in blogging. I’ve mostly been revisiting favorite places this year, and the 5,000 photos that I sorted and organized into tidy albums for my road trip from Seattle to San Diego disappeared in a laptop crash. I can’t even think about rebuilding it at the moment. I made a little side trip to Las Vegas for my grandmother’s 80th birthday with my mom and her siblings, so that seems like a good place to re-start.

I can’t believe this crazy full time life as a wanderwoman kicked off two years ago in Seattle. It’s still a top contender for my next chapter, so I booked a 2 month sit to see if I could survive a rainy winter. I stayed in Kirkland, an affluent suburb across the lake from the city in an incredible house with two adorable cats. Public transit was easy to grab into town, and a friend from high school lives nearby and took me out for some fun adventures further afield. I’ve highlighted Seattle sightseeing, Seattle Food, and daytrips from Seattle in previous blogs, but I discovered some new fabulous things that fit all three categories. So here’s a quick little Seattle Supplement from my late winter/early spring adventure.

America’s true Museum Mecca is Washington, D.C., as the 68 square mile district is home to 70 museums, most of which are free. My last trip to Washington, D.C. was in 1999 on a cross-country Girl Scout trip the summer before I started high school. I absolutely loved touring the federal buildings and exploring historic sites, but I never got my fill of the museums. I kept trying to time my return trip for the famous cherry blossoms festival, but after years of thwarted plans, I decided I just needed to go whether or not the monuments were draped in fragrant blooms.

Somehow, despite being born and raised in Michigan, a big fan of museums and Motown, I have never spent any real time in Detroit. Lucky for me, my little sister Cindy lives in Ann Arbor while attending University of Michigan, and it is just a quick hop away from Motor City. There is so much to see and do in this revitalized city, it’d be a shame to wait as long as I did to go spend some quality time there.

Sydney was spectacular, but some of my favorite and most fabulous adventures happened outside of the city. Fantastic ferry field trips, coastal walks between beautiful beaches, and a big excursion to see mountains/waterfalls/and wildlife… oh my! You should plan to spend at least a couple of days outside the city limits because there is far more to see on side trips when you’re in the area.

I’ve been enamored with the Sydney Opera house since I was a little girl. I’ve always loved clouds, sails on the water, art, live performances and beautiful buildings- so telling me there was a place in a faraway land that combined all of those things made it a frequent star of my daydreams. Bonus points for crazy animals you don’t see anywhere else in the world. When I went on this Soul Sabbatical of mine, Australia was near the top of my international wishlist.

When my first Sydney sit canceled, it was a mad scramble to line up sits after my kick off 3 weeks in Melbourne. I filled the 2 week gap between my Melbourne and Brisbane sits with a second Melbourne sit, a quick Cairns Great Barrier Reef birthday excursion, and a few days on the Gold Coast. Despite having listened to Matthew McConaughey’s Greenlights tale of a Sydney Bait & Switch exchange experience, I too found myself a lot further from the destination I was pitched when I signed on. My host was AMAZING, and I don’t have any crazy tales like Mr. Alright Alright about my time spent in the home, but I still found myself 2 hours and a couple transfers away from any Gold Coast sightseeing. Tweed Heads is on the river, not the ocean, and the public transit from there was pretty limited. I had two dogs to look after and not a lot of time in town, but I still managed to sneak out to Surfer’s Paradise, Coolangatta, and Kirra Beach to get a feel for the beautiful beaches the area is known for.

I can’t say that I ever expected to see 2 of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World in the same summer, but I’m thrilled to have visited the Grand Canyon and the Great Barrier Reef on this glorious adventure. Somehow I was able to sneak a quick trip up to Cairns, a couple snorkle stops on the reef, and a wander around this charming beach town.

Despite my past life producing events at all inclusive resorts, I’m honestly not much of a beach person. I love to see, hear, and smell the ocean, but sand and OCD are not friends. I’m usually pretty ready to go after an hour, so I don’t plan much by way of beach trips. Most of the main Australian attractions are on the coast and a big part of the beauty down under. It was a little surprising that all of my top wishlist stops in a metropolitan city like Melbourne involved the beach, but they were all beyond beautiful and amazing adventures. Brighton Beach, Luna Park at St Kilda Beach, the 12 Apostles, and Great Ocean Road are mandatory Melbourne field trips.

When I daydreamed about coming to Australia, I always pictured the Opera House and gorgeous bridges in Sydney. Everyone that found out I was coming to Australia told me that Melbourne was going to be my kind of town. I picked up a Melbourne sit en route to a Sydney sit (that was later canceled) and it was honestly entirely worth the flight. They weren’t kidding! Brimming with museums, botanical gardens, parks, street art, insanely diverse food options, gorgeous architecture, excellent shopping, and natural wonders… there’s so much to love! I was instantly smitten, and I think you will be too.

After a lovely long layover in LA, I took a fun field trip to Fiji en route to Melbourne. I figured if I had to book on Fiji Airways, I was going to make the most of it and got the longest layover possible. Research said I could stow my bag at the airport and book a tour upon arrival. So I did a little digging on what I could possibly see near the Nadi airport, hit the road and hoped for the best.

I’m still hoping to spend a significant amount of time in Southern California, but so far on the #spoiledspinster #soulsabbatical, it’s just been quick stopovers. I gave you a rapid fire hit list of LA’s happiest places here, but I found some new fabulous gems on my weekend layover between Colorado and Australia. I got to see some old friends, visit some incredible architectural marvels, ate at iconic spots, and saw the best improv show.

The city of Brotherly Love seemed like a great second stop on the sister field trip. It’s another museum mecca with no shortage of fun, food, and fabulous art. We rented a car and headed down to taste test cheesesteaks, check out murals, and meander around the historical streets of Philadelphia.

My sweet sister graduated college, I finally caught COVID, had to self isolate for a week in a hotel in Indianapolis, and cancel my Brooklyn Housesit, but we still made it to NYC for an epic grad trip. The week went by in a blink, but we made the absolute most of it and packed it full of old favorites, a few new discoveries, tons of shows, piano bars, art museums, and fantastic meals.

I didn’t think I’d find myself back in the Bay so soon. I was just here in February, but 3 weeks just outside of San Francisco sounded like a great way to ring in spring. Novato’s nice, but like Flagstaff, it’s just a nice home base for all of the other areas to explore. I made a few revisits and chartered some new territory around the bay. I love that there are so many wildly different adventures you can take within a couple hours drive in this part of California. I went back to Point Reyes, San Francisco, Napa/Sonoma, Berkeley, explored Petaluma, Santa Cruz, and Richmond, and loved every single stop.

The Pacific Coast Highway changes names several times, and becomes Highway 1 and Highway 101 as you work your way up the coast. No matter what you call it, meandering along the splendid stretch of road from San Diego to Seattle is sheer perfection, and you won’t regret a single mile. I’ve made the trek up and down between LA and San Francisco a couple times now, but it’s never ever enough. I revisited old favorites and discovered new gems and I hope beyond all hope that you find yourself meandering up the coast sometime very soon.

I honestly thought the top contenders for my next hometown would be NY or LA, but the contenders multiply with every stop along the journey. With that said, I’m always going to be drawn to cities of dreams, and you really can’t beat Hollyweird. I was only in town for a few hours this year, just long enough to get a $500 parking ticket (that I’m contesting) and to share an epic meal with a dear friend. I’ve put together some favorite things from past visits, because there is so much to love about Los Angeles.