Magical Waterfalls

Summer is the best time to see Riviera Nayarit’s breathtaking waterfalls. Surrounded by dense greenery, the waterfall Salto del Cora is a great attraction located less than an hour away from San Blas in the small town of Tecuitata. The village is known for its eco ventures, birdwatching, and ideal microclimate environment for organically grown coffee, fruits, and endemic trees. Here, visitors can splash in the waters while admiring the natural wonders around them.

The hike to the waterfall provides undisrupted views of the mountain ranges, lush greenery, and singing birds along the forested trails. Activities such as cliff diving, kayaking, canyoning, and rappelling are available, offering a fun way to connect with the region’s beautiful environment. Another spectacular waterfall to explore is El Salto de Jumatán, Nayarit’s largest waterfall with water plunging from more than 360 feet high. Here, visitors are encouraged to partake in one of the many tours offered to experience most of the areas’ exotic flora and fauna.

Impeccable Surfing
Considered one of the best spots in Mexico for surfers of every level, Riviera Nayarit’s long stretches of beach and surf breaks provides numerous spots to paddle out from. Tranquil waves for beginners to intermediate levels are most found in places such as El Anclote, Punta Burros, Sayulita, and Veneros. More experienced surfers will enjoy the bigger waves along the beaches of Santa Cruz de Miramar, Las Islitas, and Matanchen Bay. Seasoned surfers can look forward to the August opening of Dreams Bahia Mita Surf & Spa resort, featuring an extensive surfing program steps away from the regions’ top surfing location. For those who want to take it a step further, Riviera Nayarit also offers spectacular scuba diving at places such as Marietas Islands, El Morro, Los Anegados, Isla Isabel, and Islas Marias.

Special Conservation & Wildlife Experiences
An ideal destination for animal lovers, Riviera Nayarit offers plenty opportunities to observe and engage with the area’s vast wildlife. Visitors can partake in the special turtle programs during the summer months as turtles arrive at the coastlines to nest. These programs protect the turtles’ harvesting, hatching, and final release processes. Visitors interested in participating in these efforts can do so through local hotels such as Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit and Four Seasons Punta Mita, which offer liberation ceremonies for the baby turtles – a wonderful activity for families to experience together. For those that adore whale and bird watching, Riviera Nayarit will feel like paradise, as it is home to hundreds of whales and over 250 bird species.

Visitors may participate in bird watching activities in various areas including San Blas, Tecuitata, Singayta, and Isla Isabel, all with unique ecosystems surrounded by rainforests, beaches, mountains, and mangroves. Some unique birds to spot during the summer include Belted Kingfishers, Bronzed Cowbirds, Mexican Wood Nymphs, and White-collared Seedeaters, among many others. In the winter, travelers can watch hundreds of whales gather or swim with Whale sharks along the estuaries between Platanitos and El Sesteo Beach. With plenty of food in the rivers to attract the gentle giants, visitors are encouraged to dive in for an up-close view as they swim peacefully along the coastlines.

Presenting the perfect meld of nature, luxury and authentic eco experiences, Riviera Nayarit is more accessible than ever with several direct flights to Puerto Vallarta International Airport (PVR) from Mexico City or via the U.S. through Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta, in additional to many major cities in Central and South America.

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1. Become an Online Trader
Trading in shares, Forex, commodities or even cryptocurrencies can be a savvy way to grow your capital and even generate a regular income. First you’ll need to sign up with a reputable broker; easyMarkets is one example of a beginner-orientated platform. Then, you can learn how to play the markets and make trades from anywhere in the world. What’s more – the markets are open around the clock, so changing time zones won’t hold you back. You could find that travelling is the perfect time to trade, as you’ll be able to earn around the clock.

2. Start a Travel Blog
Blogging can be a lucrative side hustle or a business in its own right, and travel blogs are particularly popular. Sharing your trip with strangers allows you to showcase your global adventures and even provide tips and inspiration to future travelers. When you monetise your blog, you can generate income from advertisements and placements, so making money could be easier than you think.

3. Get a Remote Job
As many businesses are transitioning to remote work, you could remain an employee and hold down a part-time or full-time job while travelling the world. Although this might not give you as much flexibility as launching your own venture, it can provide a regular salary and job security. Furthermore, you’ll be able to continue climbing the career ladder as you travel from one continent to another.

4. Deliver Customer Service
In a global marketplace, companies need to be able to deliver customer service 24/7/365. To do this, they rely on agents all over the world to represent their brand, either on the phone or via online chat messaging systems. As a remote customer service representative, you can often choose the hours you want to work and either use a headset and VoIP system to provide phone support or log on to an online system to deliver assistance via live chat.

5. Offer Digital Marketing Services
Every brand needs a digital strategy to succeed, which means there are plenty of opportunities for digital marketers. Whether you focus on a particular specialty, like social media, or you offer a variety of marketing services, you can work from anywhere in the world and secure clients in any country.

Planning Your Travels
If you’re heading off for a long-haul adventure, it’s advisable to plan. By establishing a freelance profile, side hustle or start-up business before you leave, for example, you’ll be able to begin earning money straight away and use it to fund your trip. With so many ways to earn money while you travel, now could be the perfect time to plan your next adventure and see the world.

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Traveling is a pastime enjoyed by millions all over the world. While it was largely put on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic, things are slowly but surely opening back up and worldwide travel will eventually be a completely safe option again.

When many people travel, especially for long periods of time, many feel that their career may take a hit. Whether you are traveling and taking a break from work, or have a job that allows you to travel, this is a common worry.

However, that doesn’t need to be the case. It is still possible to travel, while actually helping keep your career on the right track. With that in mind, this blog post is going to go over some tips to keep growing in your career while traveling.

Use the Internet
Of course, the best way to keep your career on track during travel is to use the internet. It is full of a ton of helpful information on just about every topic under the sun, and can keep your career growing, no matter where you are.

For example, if you are (or want to be) a registered nurse, there are several online training courses and resources to help brush up on your skills when you’re away. If you are a traveling nurse, the internet can help keep you connected and up to date on everything you need to know, as well.

Simply put, there are a ton of helpful resources online to help you grow your career, even when you’re on the go. Whether it be ebooks, online courses, videos, blog posts or anything in between, the internet can certainly ensure you don’t fall behind when it comes to your career aspirations.

Build Your Communication Skills
No matter where you work, the importance of communication cannot be overstated. Working on these skills while traveling is easy as you will be forced to communicate to a variety of different people in different settings. The more varied people you interact with, the better you will be at both listening and communicating yourself.

Having to adapt to different communication styles and different people is also a valuable thing to learn. Being able to adapt is crucial when traveling, and can directly translate to the business setting, as well. Depending on where you go, you may also learn another language, which can be very helpful at some companies.

Take a Lot of Notes

During your travels, it is important to take a lot of notes. A lot happens during travel, and plenty of it could actually have value that transfers to business. Maybe travel helped out your planning skills, challenged your problem-solving skills or forced you to multitask. By keeping track of the things you learn and any important experiences you go through, you can make yourself a more well-rounded and versatile person.

These notes could help you answer an interview question such as “how did the experience traveling to X prepare you for this position”, or simply help you see things from a different perspective. If you don’t take notes, you could forget things that may have had some significance to your career growth.

Never Turn Down a Networking Opportunity
In business, it is often more about who you know more than what you know. When you think of networking, you may think of a conference with people handing out cards and toasting glasses of champagne. But technically, any sort of communication with another person can be seen as networking.

You never know who you may meet during your travels, so always put yourself out there and put your best foot forward during conversations. Also, with social media, it is easier than ever to foster relationships that you have begun while on your travels, as well.

In conclusion, we hope that this blog post and the information inside of it has been able to help you keep growing in your career, even when you’re traveling.

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The Hofsas House Hotel welcomed us back with open (safely distanced) arms.  Right off the bat, the signage at the hotel promotes mask wearing and the staff was clad in face coverings.  Their check-in process was the same only with gestures like sanitizer on the desk and the mention that housekeeping will be by with towels as needed, but a full room cleaning doesn’t happen. Perks of the continental breakfast and delightful pastries are still available just with a few simple modifications.

With the health protocol learned, we were off to enjoy our stay in room 36.  Our large balcony looked out over the property, the pool, a new gorgeous mural, and on a clear day a peek at the Pacific.  The room’s door and headboard (and the aforementioned mural) is newly beautified by Marie-Clare Treseder Gorham, the artist-in-residence who has also updated the original mural of Maxine Albro in all of it’s Bavarian-styled glory.

A highlight of our visit was meeting up with owner, Carrie Theis about running a hotel in one of the biggest tourism areas of California during a pandemic.  We’ve met Carrie before and she’s like one of the family.  She was adamant to say that the business had to keep going this past year especially for her employees, as they’ve always been loyal to her.  My eyes stung and I became misty-eyed as this only made me love this precious pink gem of a hotel even more!

Don’t forget to take a walk around the front of the hotel, their flowers are blossoming and just add to the charm!

During our stay, we explored Carmel by the Sea on foot.  Signs along Ocean Avenue will keep visitors aware that masking is required throughout the town, in stores, and restaurants while you’re not eating or drinking.  Sidewalks were busy even during the middle of the week, and distanced lines were marked outside of many shops.  We grabbed some cocktails at one of our favorites, Vesuvio Carmel, here we could head to the rooftop with lots of open space and be warmed by standing heaters.

My husband recommends the Old Fashioned, and if you haven’t tried their meatball lollipops, Sgt. Pepe’s 1944 lasagne, veggie-risotto arancini, or San Vito pizza, get over there as soon as possible you won’t be disappointed!

We visited Cafe Carmel for lunch during our stay and lo and behold, another gorgeous mural by Marie-Clare graces the wall inside!

Their glass partitions, use of distancing markers, sanitizer, and indoor and outdoor seating make it easy to feel comfortable at meal time.  We opted to sit outside in their parklet and enjoy their roast beef sandwich and Primavera panini, both were flavorful and filling, we’d have to come back for their many desserts and coffee!

We belong to two wine clubs in Carmel by the Sea, and one close to the Hofsas is DeTierra Vineyards.  Along with our quarterly wine shipments, my husband and I ordered DeTierra wine regularly to our home.  In a normal year, we’d drive the 40 minutes to pick up our favorite bottles, but we kept a strict close-to-home routine.  This outing was 14 months in the making and we were thrilled at their partial indoor seating arrangement.  One of our favorite things about their tasting room is the two spots near the windows.  Even on cooler days, you can sit by them and they are wide open.  In pre-covid times, a blanket was offered, but now a floor heater can help keep you warm but also let in that fresh sea air we all crave. Servers were masked, tastings were offered in a fun, “scientific” sort of style, and again you see sanitizer and distancing in place.

Our stay in Carmel by the Sea and at the Hofsas House Hotel was incredible and it just gave us that itch to travel again.  The care and mutual respect everyone is paying to the area has us feeling so safe and confident of a wonderful experience. Since that trip, we’ve already returned to the seaside town for a Mother’s Day outing with lunch at the Hog’s Breath.  Next on our list will be dinner at the Baja Cantina and wine tasting at Scheid Vineyards….I really have missed these beloved places!

This post is 100% my honest opinion, we traveled as guests of the Hofsas House Hotel and were hosted at Cafe Carmel, all other expenditures were our own. 

The post Safe Travels 2021: Carmel by the Sea appeared first on Jen is on a Journey.

We learned about our son’s needle anxiety when he was 10 years old. After months of seasonal medicine and eye drops, our doctor finally prescribed allergy shots every 3 months. Quick and easy, we thought! The first shot came into his gluteus maximus, he laughed a nervous giggle, and it was over. Sitting back up, legs dangling over the table, he looked down at his feet and then went head first onto the floor! 71 pounds of dead weight landing right on his forehead, his eyes wide with shock as he came to. We learned this vasovagal syncope response was normal and it, unfortunately, would continue through childhood through his allergy shots, vaccines, and even dentist visits.

My son is now 20 years old, in college in Hawaii, and had an appointment for his first Covid-19 vaccine a week ago. He was hesitant, the thought of needles or even talking about them frustrates him. It’s something he feels is out of his control. In May, he’ll return to California for the first time since August 2020, and he knew this was the best thing to do so he could be safe for our family. This was the text I received from him following his appointment, and I cried with happiness:

It’s important to know that needle anxiety is real, but it shouldn’t embarrass you because there are simple solutions. The Meg Foundation’s Hack the Vax website is a great place to go for techniques, skills, and support so your next vaccine experience is a positive one! Action is the enemy of anxiety, and having a plan can be life-changing. By making a plan using the techniques, you can push through needle fears. The more concrete your plan; the better you’ll feel.

Go on the site to plot out your plan of action so you can #ThinkPlanGo. THINK about someone you know who may secretly be scared of needles, help them make a PLAN for which technique will work best from the Hack the Vax site, then encourage them to get a vaccine appointment and GO use their getting-over-needle-fears plan. My son can attest to the fear, but ultimately he wants to get back to his family safely and that’s the drive he needed to overcome it! I’m eager to get that “no pass out” text for his second shot, so he’ll be making his plan.

This pandemic has shown us that we have to work together for a common goal. We are all in this together and getting our communities safe is the task at hand. Think, plan, and go get your shot without fear, and pass on these techniques, because you never know when someone else is feeling nervous.

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Pinch O’ Luck
Stella Rosa St. Patrick’s Day Cocktail using the brand-new Stella Rosa Golden Honey Peach

Ingredients:
5 oz. Stella Rosa Golden Honey Peach
1  1/2 oz. vodka
2 oz. lemon lime soda
1/2 oz. lemon juice
lemon zest
gold and green edible glitter

Instructions:
Use lemon to rim glass and roll in gold glitter. In a cocktail shaker, combine all ingredients over ice and shake well. Pour into glasses with ice and stir in green glitter!

On a scale from 1-10, one being dry and ten being sweet, Stella Rosa Golden Honey Peach is a six.  Just enough sweetness to counter a spicy chicken tacos at my house, or simply to complement a fruit and cheese platter, this wine hits the mark.  I love anything peach and the kiss of honey flavor makes this one a winner in a cocktail or by itself!

Stella Rosa is created by the Riboli Family of San Antonio Winery, a Los Angeles establishment since 1917. For more information, visit www.stellarosawines.com.

I received Stella Rosa wine to sample, all opinions are 100% my own.

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The truth is that when you work as a freelancer, numerous distractions are surrounding you, all the time. Whether it’s family at home, co-workers in a shared office space or the pull of YouTube and social media, being able to manage your time effectively requires dedication and perseverance.

Many freelancers rely on the following advice to streamline their working day and smash those deadlines. Want to know more? Read on for how to work effectively as a freelancer.

Streamline your billing process
As a freelancer, getting paid on time is essential, and the last thing you want is to have discrepancies within your invoices or create problems with clients overpayment. This is why more freelancers than ever are turning to FreshBooks – their innovative invoice software provides customizable templates to help you create professional and accurate documents every time. Not only can you personalize the thousands of templates designs available, but you can also automate monthly invoices and payment reminders. By simplifying the billing process, you’ll have more time to focus on your latest project and push your business forward.

Never underestimate a to-do list
The humble to-do list might seem like a trivial attempt at organization, but that couldn’t be further from the truth! By making a simple list of each day’s tasks and deadlines, and keeping yourself familiar with your itinerary, you’ll be able to stay focused and prioritize your tasks better. Overlooking this kind of organization can lead to other important tasks or responsibilities being neglected.

Track your time – every time
Time tracking software is a helpful addition to your freelancing toolkit. This clever software can establish how long particular tasks are taking, and where you can make improvements to your productivity. Using this collective data, you’ll also be able to make better time estimates, so you can relay to your client how long you think a particular assignment will take you and when they can expect their project to be completed.

Tracking your time won’t just help you stay productive and highlight your most productive hours, as a freelancer, if you’re being paid by the hour, then this is an accurate way of determining your fee. Leaving no room for error or misunderstanding with your client.

And finally, turn off your distractions
Procrastination and distractions are two of the biggest challenges facing freelancers. It’s not easy to exceed your clients’ expectations if you’re shifting your focus between your work and your social media newsfeed.

Distractions can also manifest in other ways. Unexpected phone calls, emails and communication requests can also throw your focus. When these things happen, re-schedule a time to address them fully. It’s the best way to avoid overlooking potential opportunities and neglecting the clients you already have.

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This post is made possible with support from the Center for Parent and Teen Communication, part of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. All opinions are my own.

Are you raising a teenager like I am right now?  Now, more than ever, families are searching for the best way to navigate the world safely and lovingly with our children, especially our teens.  The Center for Parent & Teen Communication website (CPTC) provides science-based strategies to support healthy family relationships. The Center is made up of doctors, researchers, and advisors bringing years of knowledge and expertise on youth to today’s parents. I have been reading and watching their 1-Minute Parenting Tips, easy to implement tips and practical advice. I am not too proud to say that I need help with my teen these days, I’m taking notes!

One tip that struck a chord is called “Self-Interested Teens.” My 15-year old spends many hours on her phone taking selfies, posting them online, and the same amount of time in the bathroom mirror. Chores are put-off, doors are slammed, simple questions are replied to defensively, and my husband and I sigh in despair. I’ve cried myself to sleep many nights praying that tomorrow she will be happier and offer concern for others than herself. The video turned the light bulb on for me. Of course, it’s self-interest! They are finding themselves; looking for their place in this big world. Happy tears fell this time because I’m not raising an uncaring child—it’s quite the opposite.

These thoughtfully stated parent tips are concise, to-the-point explanations of valid concerns we have with our teens. They make you think of things in a different way, perfect for me as I often over-analyze my methods of parenting. I’ve signed up for the CPTC 100-word, daily parenting tip newsletter, you should check it out too. Watch the six animations, http://bit.ly/2Z9bqXa, and let me know in the comments which one you can relate to the most.  I know they all have some truth in them and hit some nerves for me, especially this past year. 

The post Raising a Teenager with 1 Minute Parenting Tips appeared first on Jen is on a Journey.

Learn to manage your multimedia content
Some freelance travel bloggers always seem to produce consistent blogs that look great and deliver a natural feel. Want to know their secret? The answer is creative automation (see creative automation guidance here).

But let’s start at the beginning…It can be all too tempting to throw caution to the wind and begin your travel blog without having all the right checks in place in terms of whether you’re set up to handle your multimedia content. The reason for this is that at the outset you will have no content to manage. But what about when the images and videos start to mount?

Creative automation gives you the tools you need to store, edit, and share personalized content across all of your channels. Take control over file sizes and file formats. Don’t leave anything to chance. If you want to be held in the same esteem as some of the more competitive bloggers in your niche, you need creative automation on your side.

Stick to themed groups of blogs
Sticking to themed blogs sounds like you’re being told to travel to one destination and produce blogs solely on that one localized area of the world. Not so. So, what’s going on? The thing is that your blog has the potential to read like a travel book. Otherwise, individual posts will link to other posts with little or no relevance. Your work will all be in stand-alone format. There are two ways to combat this.

First, you could treat each trip like a mini-tour. Visit different areas of the same city on different days and divide your blogs up accordingly. One day could be dedicated to culture. The next entertainment. You could do a blog on local cuisine. And a final blog on accommodation and transport. See? Now you have a well-thought-out story worth reading.

Without grouping your blogs into themed brackets, you run the risk of writing randomly about random places and hoping your audience is going to care.

Go old-school and take a notepad
How many times have you thought, “No need to write that down, I’ll remember it”? Speaking from experience, a chance second meeting with fellow travelers in two different parts of the world within days of having met the first time would have been forgotten and omitted from that day’s writing if it weren’t for keeping notes. Small quick things can slip your memory over time, but they can help add color and flavor to your writing.

Take a notepad. Write everything down over lunch and during your taxi ride back to the hotel each night. You won’t regret it.

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My former director at the preschool introduced me to the book YES DAY by Amy Krouse Rosenthal a few years ago, one of her absolute favorites, and I am so surprised I’d never read it.  It’s such a great book and so real when you think about it, being a teacher and a mom, there are lots of no’s throughout every day.  When I saw the news that YES DAY was going to be a movie, I immediately thought of my director and had to send her a message!

Here’s the synopsis:

Always feeling like they have to say NO to their kids and co-workers, Allison and Carlos decide to give their three kids a YES DAY — where for 24 hours the kids make the rules. Little did they know that they’d be going on a whirlwind adventure around Los Angeles, that would bring the family closer to each other than ever before. Directed by Miguel Arteta and written by Justin Malen, the movie casts some greats like Jennifer Garner, Molly Sims, Édgar Ramírez, Jenna Ortega, Julian Lerner, Everly Carganilla, H.E.R., Nat Faxon,  Fortune Feimster, and Arturo Castro.

Check out the trailer!

You have to watch this movie, the book is really cute and I know Jen Garner is great in everything she does!  I can’t wait to tune in with my family, the movie premieres on Netflix, March 12!

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