The Queen of Trips

11/03/2026

I enjoyed the last hour of The Grand Ofrenda in Times Square last night. The theme was around musicians we honor. Does your country celebrate Dia de Los Mu***os? In Colombia it is called el Día de los Fieles Difuntos or the Day of the Faithful Departed or All Souls’ Day.

This was a free event open to the public. There were so many culturally rich to see, experience and learn about this beautiful tradition which honors deceased loved ones.

Save this video if you plan to visit NYC next year.

11/01/2026

New York City was just named the best city in the United States for Halloween, and honestly, the stoops alone could have won it.

I got my steps in this week by walking NYC’s streets trying to find decorated stoops and homes.

Chelsea on Thursday night, when the street was still empty.

The Upper East Side on Friday night, where a mansion was throwing a skeleton ball for Titanic’s passengers.

These are all private homes and apartment buildings and I love that this is a great free activity.

Save this for next October.
Send it to someone who would walk it with you.

🇨🇴
A la ciudad de Nueva York la acaban de nombrar la mejor ciudad de Estados Unidos para Halloween, y la verdad, solo con las escaleras decoradas ya habría ganado.

Esta semana caminé las calles de Nueva York buscando escaleras y casas decoradas.

Chelsea fue el Jueves por la noche, cuando la calle todavía estaba vacía.

El Upper East Side el Viernes por la noche, donde una mansión estaba tenía un baile de esqueletos para los pasajeros del Titanic.

Todas son casas de familia y edificios de apartamentos, y me encanta que sea un plan buenísimo y gratis.

Guárdalo para el próximo Octubre si vas a venir a NY.
Mándaselo a alguien que lo caminaría contigo.

10/31/2026

Did you know Halloweentown is a real place? The Disney Channel movie was filmed in St. Helens, Oregon, and the town still turns into Halloweentown every fall.

It's one of the 13 places I'd send you instead of Salem, along with a New Orleans cemetery that just reopened after seven years:

Salem too crowded? 13 Halloween destinations with the haunted feeling and none of the lines: Sleepy Hollow, Savannah, Pátzcuaro and more. Updated for 2026.

10/05/2026

Did you know Chattanooga used to be called Ross's Landing, after John Ross, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation?

The day after WITS, took a group of us to the three Trail of Tears sites you can see in one day from Chattanooga. Red Clay State Historic Park, where the Cherokee held their last councils on their own land. The Hiwassee River Heritage Center in Charleston, where the Army ran the removal camps. And the new Cherokee Trail of Tears State Park at Blythe Ferry, where about 10,000 people were ferried across the river in 1838. All three are free, and they're 30 to 50 minutes from the aquarium.

What I'll remember most is the riders. Every June, Cherokee Nation and Eastern Band citizens bike the whole route, close to 950 miles, starting in Georgia and ending in Oklahoma. We were at the Charleston museum when they rode in and we ate lunch with them. A couple of them speak Spanish.

I wrote about what it's like to experience and learn this piece of history as a Latina in rural Tennessee.

The post has all the details, like where to eat, and even a reading list a librarian in Cleveland gave me.

Come join me on a trip through a small part of what was the Cherokee Nation, in Tennessee.
Click here:
https://www.thequeenoftrips.com/trail-of-tears-tennessee-day-trip-chattanooga/

Hosted by Visit Cleveland TN and the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce. Opinions are mine.

07/24/2026

A work call ate part of my day off, so I took my bad mood to a pottery wheel in Chattanooga during my visit for WITS Travel Creator Summit by Wanderful.

Scenic City Clay Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that hands clay to anyone. Classes for every age and skill level, studio memberships, and outreach programs across southeast Tennessee and north Georgia. Most classes need zero experience, which is good, because I had exactly that.

The wheel does not care about your deadlines. You either slow down or the clay goes sideways. I slowed down.

I made a jewelry / trinket dish. It’s crooked. I love it. You can judge… I don’t care

07/17/2026

I was not originally sold on a weekend in Chattanooga. 
It was nothing personal, I just could not picture it after having been twice before for work. 

WITS, the Women in Travel Summit moves to a new city every year, and honestly when I started to plan the tours I would take and saw the range of activities, I got excited about this conference.

Whitewater rafting on the Ocoee. An entire cave system hiding inside Raccoon mountain. Murals, rooftop views, speakeasies and a downtown area to explore on foot.

I came for the yearly reunion with my friends Taima Ramsey✨Affordable Luxury Travel & Lifestyle for 9-5ers D I A N A | LATINA TRAVEL CONTENT CREATOR ✈️ Avagail 🇵🇭🇺🇸 Travel & San Francisco Bay Area and I left thinking of the trip back to Chattanooga. 

Which city won you over after you had already decided it would not? 
I want to hear it.

The full guide, including how to do every bit of this without a car, is on the blog: thequeenoftrips.com/weekend-in-chattanooga/

Chao and Happy Travels 💋

WITS Travel Creator Summit by Wanderful
Visit Chattanooga

07/09/2026

I went to Chattanooga for a travel conference and ended up staying 9 days. I never rented a car.

I had been to Chattanooga before, but always for work, so my experience with this city was going straight from hotel to offices and not much else.

When it was announced as this year's host city for WITS, I side-eyed the choice. BUT then the city showed me a great time.

There is a free downtown shuttle that took me to many points of interest, a train that climbs the side of Lookout Mountain, a haunted hotel that has been running since 1872, and a few great rooftop bars I enjoyed making memories with friends I see once a year, things I had never seen when I visited for work

My new guide covers the whole thing: where I stayed, what a mostly car-free weekend actually looks like, what things cost, and what I would skip. Written for women solo travelers but useful for anybody. Make sure to read it and share with a friend and maybe consider visiting Chattanooga on your next trip to Tennessee. It will be worth it.

Is Chattanooga worth visiting? A car-free solo weekend guide after 9 days: itinerary, safety, where to stay, and a night in a train car. Plan yours here.

06/18/2026

My sister and I have dreamt of going to a World Cup at least once in our lives. But we’ve been doing this since we were kids. The jerseys, the tailgates, the yelling at the screen when Colombia scores and the silence when they don’t. Two girls from Miami and Medellín que se ponen la camiseta con mucho orgullo ❤️.

Colombia is playing right now and you already know we’ll both be watching, screaming at the TV in two languages. Haciendole fuerza al equipo.

2030 is in Spain, Portugal and Morocco. I dream that the next one will be the two of us in the stands instead.

Who are you rooting for in this World Cup?

06/12/2026

My next newsletter "World Cup tickets with your Airbnb stay, surge prices everywhere, and a city I didn't see coming" is coming today. Subscribe to get it and stay in the loop on everything I'm creating.

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Featured PostHappy Valentine's Day 💖Hola Reader, Welcome to The Globetrotter's Gazette: The Queen's Edition, your passport to the world's wonders! Valentine's Day is here, but who says romance is reserved for couples? You don't have to have a plus-one to celebrate. Go solo on an adventure. Grab y...