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Finally got the crew to Kenya. After hearing about Kenya for a few years now, I finally had the chance to go myself with the whole family. Getting there and back is an experience all to itself, and not in such a good way. It takes forever to get over there as it is almost exactly half way around the world. But there were a few small mentionable things in the travel itself: The Doha Qatar airport was awesome Got to see Mt Kilimanjaro from the window of our last flight to Mombasa Heard a prayer in Arabic while in Doha Barely made our last connection from Nairobi to Mombasa I will say though, once we got there, it was all worth it and I would 100% recommend anyone from any developed country in the world to visit a place like Kenya. When we finally landed in Mombasa we jumped in a pro box and headed to our resort, but there was so much to see on the drive there. Seeing the way some of these people lived was extremely eye opening and also a little entertaining in some ways. The painted took-tooks and matatus were hilarious, seeing how many people and bags of things people piled on motorbikes was also a spectacle. The city itself was crazy, the trash piles, crumbling buildings and general quality of life made it very easy for me to be grateful for what we have back here at home. The food was either one of two things, fresh fruit or toxic anything else. The fruit was incredible and there were for sure safe places to eat but you had to be careful and even so I got a pretty bad bout of food poisoning. I will say though that the fresh mangos, pineapple, Kenyan oranges, passionfruit etc were incredible. It was cool to learn and use a few words in Swahili while we were there. Jambo, Asante, Karibu, Mzungu. Always enjoy hearing a different language. Even their English over there sounds different and is fun to hear.

One of the highlights of the trip was our time in Ungatni. First off it was crazy how different Kenya can be, from the amazing beaches to the African savannah Kenya is quite diverse. The lodge itself is located right off the Tsavo East National Park and is situated right by a watering hole that constantly draws in wildlife. It was really cool to see all the classic Africa animals you see while listening to David Attenborough. Elephants, Zebras, Giraffes and everything in between. Our room had a balcony overlooking the whole thing too and it made for a wild experience. We did a couple game drives everyday as well and had the chance to drive around in a safari jeep and see even more animals and get really close to a bunch of them. Such an unforgettable experience that I would hope everyone gets a change to do once in their life. I got a tonne of great pictures as well and I'll have those on my portfolio page right away. Even got to see a bunch of baby animals and see some really cool things.

On one of our days on the coast we took a day trip to an underwater national park. Around Wasini Island is a park with shallow sand bars that are uncovered at low tide as well as piles of coral reefs and thousands of fish. It was a crazy experience getting out there, the boat looked like it barley floated and I'm pretty sure it was 300 years old. When you mix that with a motor that needed its spark plugs replaces on the water and the fact that there were some pretty good waves, it made for a crazy 90 minutes. Once we were at our destination though it was quite worth it. The water was a brilliant blue and warm. There were a bunch of really cool fish and our new snorkels were awesome to have, I was able to dive pretty deep and get some good footy with my camera too that you can see on my portfolios page. There was a lunch included too which in hindsight was not worth the money, 3 of us got food poisoning from it and I would be lying if I said I didn't see it coming. For sure took an L on that aspect but the rest was great, after some classic Kenyan pole pole we finally headed back to shore and back to the beach house.

Once we made our way through the cities and villages we finally made it to our place of refuge, The Monkey Beach House on Diani Beach. I can honestly say, this was one of the coolest and nicest places I have ever stayed and one of the coolest vacation villas anyone could ask for. Huge beach house, our own pool and all on a beach that might be one of the nicest beaches in the world (and I have seen some sweet beaches). The Indian Ocean was really warm and the tide changes were cool too. The water was shallow and made for a great place to swim and play in the waves that got pretty big. There were palm trees, camels on the beach and lots of monkeys at our building which was pretty fun when they weren't stealing our food. We tried a pile of restaurants along the beach, all of which were good. My favorites being Ali Barbours Cave Restaurant and the classic Sundowner that was off the beach. My favorite as I mentioned before however was absolutely all the fresh fruit we got every morning.

This was the first where we spent the first day of our big trip to Greece. We got into Athens and immediately hit the streets after checking into our hotel. After a quick lunch of classic greek salad and pita with tzatziki we started walking around downtown Athens. The Plaka was a cool section of town with restaurants and shops all over the place, with ruins and churches sprinkled in here and there. On the outskirts of this section was a tiny neighborhood right at the foot of the Acropolis called Anafiotika. These housed have tiny unnamed streets and are built right into the rock, it was a cool spot just to walk around in. After Anafiotika we walked over to the Panathenaic Stadium of Athens, where the first modern olympics were held. That was a really cool spot with a lot of history and a massive stadium. After all our adventures were done for the day, we went to our favorite dining experience yet. We were on a rooftop terrace looking up at the Acropolis. This Michelin star restaurant gave us the most wonderful experience and the food was exquisite. So many new flavors and great combinations with all kinds of fresh ingredients. Absolutely our favorite place we have ever eaten. 10/10 would recommend The Zillers if you are in Athens.

As most outdoor enthusiasts know, Zion National Park is home to some amazing sights and backcountry hikes. Unfortunately though they are very popular and permits are required for lots of the best ones. The Subway is one hike that requires a permit and after a few years of trying I finally got a permit through the lottery. The stars aligned just enough for me to be on a business trip in Vegas the same time so it was easy to get out to! Because I was working all day of the hike I got a very late start for this 10 mile hike up the canyon. I almost didnt do this one due to the time crunch I was in but I am so glad I did it. After getting the run-around at the visitor center I decided to start the hike without the printed paper at around 4:30. I am not exaggerating at all when I say I had the trail all to myself. Aside from a few people at the very start and a group of "swimmers" a few miles in, I saw no one. The trail itself was beautiful. The steep bright red cliffs on either side of the running creek mixed with the green trees was something else. The Subway itself was unlike anything I've seen before, just a truly unique landscape. The emerald pools on the red slick-rock was cool, it really did look like a subway tunnel.

Now not only was I lucky enough to draw for the Subway but I got a permit for Angels Landing for the next day as well. Now the view on this hike was amazing but that is not why there are so many people who are trying to do it. Angels Landing gives truth to the saying "Life is about the journey and not the destination."Don't get me wrong, the landing and view of all of Zion Canyon was a great spot for a snack. The real beauty of this hike in my opinion was the trail, the life support of chain handrails down the skinny trails with thousand foot drops on either side made this trail exhilarating. It is not an east hike either as there are many switchbacks and a lot of elevation gain for a measly 5 miles in distance. Saw a couple condors flying around the area which is apparently rare, was cool to see them and see how huge they are. A bucket-list hike that did not disappoint. I wish maybe I could have taken more time up there as I was a bit rushed, I did the whole thing in under 2.5 hours though. I hope everyone who wants to can do this hike.

I am not a big museum person. Usually I want to be out on the town, sight seeing or out in nature instead of inside a museum. However... the museums in Athens were so incredibly cool to see. Some of the statues and remnants from the Acropolis or any of the thousands of pieces of pottery or other archeological findings. Both of the museums we went to were very worth it. We spent a few hours in each of them and it was time well spent.

Our last port of call on our trip was Mykonos, even though all the ports we went to were fantastic, this one was one of our favorites. The narrow streets with white painted cobble ground and multicolored doors, roofs, railings and windows were something very unique to this island. The famous windmills on the coast were also really cool to see. Little Venice was impressive, the churches had red domes instead of the blue and the beaches were beautiful. Spend most of the day here walking down side roads and sitting on the beach. Even got to swim and snorkel a bit.

The 3rd different country we visited was Turkey. I was a little skeptical coming into this port but it was a pleasant surprise. The weather here was great and the coast was beautiful. The water was just as or more clear and blue than it was on any island in Greece. It was really cool to see how many flags were around the cities. I went over to Ephesus by myself to see all the ruins and buildings of the ancient city there and that was really cool. One of my favorites sights from the whole trip was the library of Celsus.

Probably the most anticipated stop of the trip was Santorini and it did not disappoint at all starting on the water below the cliffs the view from the bottom was a great way to start. We then took a fun cable car ride up the steep cliff wall to get to the top of the island. Once we got to the top and got 3 minutes into walking around the streets we were already loving it. The super narrow streets and white washed buildings were very unique and were really special when you were immersed in them. We saw multiple lookout points for the blue domed buildings. Those were so classic and were great to see, especially with the Caldera in the background. Get ready for a photo dump... We/I had lunch at a cool little place that was tucked away on a secluded and almost secret street. The vibes there were great and the food was really good too. My appy was a banging smoked salmon with a creamy dill sauce and was really good. Allie made an executive decision to get some Greek version of Doughnuts and they were delicious too.

After a long day at see, we had our next stop on the island and country of Cyprus. This stop is very underrated, we didnt hear a whole lot about this place before going but it was a great place to stop! Birthplace of Aphrodite was the first thing we saw. This gorgeous beach is said to be the place where Aphrodite was born. The mythology of it was really cool but the beauty of the beach, water and coast were probably more impressive. After a few minutes at the overlook we continued on to the old city of Paphos. While we were here we saw a bunch of different things, the pillar of St Paul, multiple churches , harbors, and a local candy making shop. Our last stop on the tour and where we spent most of our time was at the Archaeological Site of Neo Paphos. There were some old ruins but the most impressive part of it was all the ancient mosaics made from tiny, multicolored stones from all over the country and region. After getting back from our tour, we had a few minutes to walk around and see the town of Limassol. Here are a few random shots from around town.