We get so many beautiful people emailing us through our blog and asking us how we are able to travel so much so I thought I’d answer it here as well.
My husband loves traveling. He always has. That was his priority and if you make anything a priority you will make it happen. When we first got married we flew more often and traveled outside of the United States (New Zealand, Cancun, Belize, Jamaica, and Guatemala). But we didn’t travel for three months in a year. As we had more children flying became more expensive for us. With time our interest changed as well: we loved hiking and doing more outdoor activities.
My husband works for himself. He has two partners who both love to travel. As their business grew they got more flexibility and are now able to travel way more often. They get paid while they travel. God has really blessed us.
Being your own boss and homeschooling gives us the freedom to travel as much as we do.
If you want to travel start small. Go on road trips or weekend getaways. That is what we did for many years. As of now we go on two week vacations every other month and go somewhere just about every weekend. Make it your priority if you think it is important. We have had the same furniture since we have gotten married (except for our dining room table which we exchanged ours for our dear friends table because they needed a smaller table and we needed a bigger one). We also own older cars and don’t change our cars often.
Plus we started blogging about our travel adventures and now we get covered for majority of our activities and hotel stays. Big blessing but takes a lot of time and work. See what I mean : We make traveling our priority !!! I hope that helped answer some of your questions.
Verde Canyon Railroad
Verde Canyon Railroad was built in 1912 with the purpose of bringing copper from the mines to a copper smelter. It continued to do so until 1988 and was soon bought for the purpose of the lovely tour we enjoyed which began its run in 1990. The ride will take you 20 miles to the Perkinsville house which was filmed in the 1962 American film named How the West Was Won and 20 miles back to where you started. In total this ride will take 4 hours but that time passes quickly because there are 2 national forests you will pass on your ride, a bridge, tunnel, and canyons. On your ride the employees will point out rock formations that have been popular since the early years of the train. Do not worry about food or water on this ride because it is complimentary. Overall this is a great experience and they surely follow their motto ” It is not the destination that matters but the journey.”
Located at Clarke, N Broadway.
Lost Dutchman State Park
Lost Dutchman State Park is named after the rumor called Lost Dutchmans Gold Mine which is thought to be in this area. While you may not find gold here you will find plenty of desert scenery and hiking trails. Originally this was a simple day use area but in 1977 it became a state park and today this park has 320 acres of land. Some of the trails lead into Tonto National Forest which is where Superstition Mountain is located. This mountain is one of the main attractions of Lost Dutchman State Park because it is the easiest place to access it from. There are so many picnic tables near the parking lot with one of the most beautiful views.
Located at 6109 N Apache Trail, Apache Junction, AZ 85119.
Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch
Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch is a very impressive community park. And not because of events or attractions like most good community park are good at but because of the life here. There are 298 different species of birds, reptiles, insects, and more. The species here are fairly comfortable to humans so there are plenty of photo opportunities. The main reason for so much wildlife is because there are 7 lakes here which provide water for the species here. You can also fish from some of the lakes because there are fish in the water. The lakes also help the plants in the gardens grow and you should definitely walk through the gardens if you would like to see bird nests. This is one of the most life filled parks we have ever seen that is near a large population of people.
Located at 2757 E Guadalupe Rd, Gilbert, AZ 85234.
South Mountain Park
South Mountain Park is the best place to View Phoenix, Arizona and its surrounding scenery. The parks peak in 1000 feet above the desert which allows you to see Phoenix and the surrounding cities and towns. There are 25 square miles worth of native vegetation in this park which is one of its most beautiful features. There are plenty of lookouts here and if you would like to have a good view of the Valley of the Sun than there is no better place to go.
Located at 10919 S Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85042.
Staybridge Suites Gilbert-East Mesa
Staybridge Suites are the best and I’m not just saying that. They are very clean and comfortable for big families. We love to stay in places where we don’t feel like we have to wear shoes or worry about having our bags zipped up the entire time. We had a kitchen which was great because we could save money on our dinners by eating in. They also had a big swimming pool and jacuzzi here. A laundry room is great for those like us who travel for a week or more. The breakfast here was great. They really tried. They had biscuits and gravy and lots of seasonal fruit.
Located at 5275 East Baseline Road Gilbert, AZ 85234.
Thank you Discover Gilbert for hosting our stay.
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