July 23, 2025 – Day Trip to Kangaroo Valley (Author: J) P’s one request for this trip was to see “kangaroos and wombats,” but not koalas. (“Over-rated, lazy, and smooth-brained.”) Downtown Sydney is conspicuously devoid of wild kangaroos and wombats, so I planned a day trip to the aptly named Kangaroo Valley. If, like us,Continue reading “Australia Trip Report: Day 7”
Author Archives: jessms59
Australia Trip Report: Day 6
July 22, 2025: Sydney On our first full day in Sydney, I woke up at 6 am – a normal time for me to be awake. I was pleased that my plan to recover from jetlag in Singapore had apparently been a success. P and D are much better sleepers than I am, so IContinue reading “Australia Trip Report: Day 6”
Australia Trip Report: Day 5
July 21, 2025: Singapore to Sydney After 3 nights in Singapore, it was time to head to our next destination – Sydney. We were travelling on a Scoot flight that departed at 9:55 am, so I prebooked an airport transfer via Grab the night before our flight. This was our first experience using the bookContinue reading “Australia Trip Report: Day 5”
Australia Trip Report: Day 4
July 20, 2025: Singapore (Author: J) When we last left off, we had finished a wonderful dinner at the top of Marina Bay Sands and settled in for a good night’s sleep at the Pan Pacific. The following day, a Sunday, was our last in Singapore. Our plan was to visit River Wonders and theContinue reading “Australia Trip Report: Day 4”
Australia 2025 Trip Report: Day 3
July 19, 2025: Singapore (Author: J) On our last trip to Singapore, we were fairly successful at defeating jet lag within the first few days of our trip. So, we revived our jet lag playbook on this trip. On our first evening, we stocked our room with some snack cakes from 7-11 in case anyoneContinue reading “Australia 2025 Trip Report: Day 3”
Australia 2025 Trip Report: Days 0-2
July 16-18, 2025: Travel to and Arrival in Singapore (Author: J) The pre-trip logistics for this trip were somewhat more complicated than usual. In addition to our flights on Singapore Airlines, we had two flights on budget airlines. Those airlines, JetStar and Scoot, both have combined weight limits for your carryon bag and personal item.Continue reading “Australia 2025 Trip Report: Days 0-2”
Australia 2025 Trip Report
July 17-August 6, 2025 Earlier this month, we returned from a 20-night trip to Australia via Singapore. As in my previous trip reports, “we” is me, a 40-something professor; my husband, D, a 40-something teacher/pet sitter; and P, our 12-year-old son. It tends to take me a while to finish these trip reports, so IContinue reading “Australia 2025 Trip Report”
Southeast National Parks Road Trip
As is probably apparent from my long hiatus, I decided to stop blogging about our US National Parks road trip. I write this blog because it’s fun for me and hopefully helps other travelers from time to time. Given the recent cuts to funding for our National Park Service and efforts to censor the historyContinue reading “Southeast National Parks Road Trip”
Southeast National Parks Road Trip 2024 – Day 6
Charlotte, NC to Columbia, SC – Monday, July 28, 2024 (Author: J) Several of the major attractions in Columbia are closed on Mondays. I didn’t anticipate this being a problem because we planned to visit Congaree on our only full day in Columbia. But as I mentioned in Day 5 of the trip report, weContinue reading “Southeast National Parks Road Trip 2024 – Day 6”
Southeast National Parks Road Trip 2024 – Day 5
Charlotte, NC to Columbia, SC – Sunday, July 27, 2024 (Author: J) I was up before the rest of my family as usual, so I used the opportunity to visit the Ballantyne’s fitness center for a short workout. By the time I had finished my workout and gotten ready for the day, D and PContinue reading “Southeast National Parks Road Trip 2024 – Day 5”
Travel Monkeys 