Mind Over Matter Travel

18/04/2025

📣 Cruise Deal 📣

As travel agents, we are always the first to know about cruise deals, and we want to start sharing them with you! This month, Princess Cruises is running great deals with up to $500 in instant savings, up to 50% off, $99 deposits, a free room upgrade, and free 3rd & 4th guests. There’s never been a better time to book!

Book with us by 4/30 to lock in these limited-time offers. DM us or complete our trip inquiry form at https://mindovermattertravel.com/plan-your-trip/ to get the deal.

09/04/2025

Thinking of booking a cruise? Let us help! 🛳️

Last month, I took a one-week Caribbean cruise on one of Princess' newest ships, Sun Princess ☀️ I caught the tail end of their inaugural season and visited the ports of the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico!

Cruises are becoming a crowd-favorite way to travel, and they're quickly becoming one of our top trips to book.

If you want to go on a cruise, we'd be happy to help! We can book on most major cruise lines and specialize in Royal Caribbean, Princess, Celebrity, and Carnival.

If you have questions about the best cruises or want to book one for yourself, message us or complete our trip inquiry form: https://mindovermattertravel.com/plan-your-trip/

02/04/2025

Our April newsletter is out! Read it here and subscribe to our mailing list to receive it monthly. We always share travel tips, must-haves, and giveaways!

Want to go on a Cruise? + 9 Travel Giveaways

04/01/2025

Why we decided to stop traveling full-time after 3.5 years and what that means for Mind Over Matter Travel

In our last post, we shared that we’re getting a home base in our hometown in 2025! We’ll be moving in February and couldn’t be more excited. But everything happened so quickly that it seems like we decided out of the blue. Here’s what led to our decision…

Our main goal for 2025 (and future years) is balance. When we started traveling, we went all in, and it didn’t allow for the proper balance in other aspects of our lives. We loved it, and our whole lives revolving around travel was good for a while, but now we are ready to spread our focus more evenly among these areas:

✨Family: We have loved constantly being on the road, but every few months over the past 3.5 years, we found ourselves ready to go back home to spend time with family. We missed several holidays and birthdays with our family, which sometimes made us sad. 

✨Friends: We have made so many incredible friends while traveling, but we’ve also missed out on the opportunity to foster our friendships back home.

✨Health: While we try to stay healthy while traveling, the lack of a consistent schedule and the inability to cook meals sometimes make it difficult. In our first year of traveling full-time around the U.S. in our van, we both reached our unhealthiest point despite staying active and going on hikes often. While traveling internationally for the past 2.5 years, we have both been ill several times (not just a small cold, but a sickness that knocks us down for a solid 2 weeks). 

✨Business: We started our business and traveling full-time simultaneously in June 2021. We love what we have built so far, and the finances have kept us afloat while traveling. Yet, we have so many ideas and high aspirations for our business that we haven’t been able to see them to their fullest potential because of the lack of stability and routine we had while traveling. 

All of this is not to say that it’s impossible to find balance within these areas while traveling full-time, but for us, we feel that it’s the right decision to switch to part-time travel.

So what does that mean? (read in comments)

02/01/2025

Goodbye 2024 👋 Hello 2025 🎉We’ve had so many amazing experiences and memories from 2024 (the last one is our favorite) 🤗 looking forward to all the adventures in 2025!

31/12/2024

We celebrated 10 years of love (actually longer if you know our story) by getting engaged 💍 Here’s a little synopsis of our love (and travel) story 👇

We met 15 years ago (at the ages of 12 and 13) in our 8th grade math class. We quickly became friends with the friendship carrying into high school. We were “high school sweethearts” for some time but went our separate ways before college. Halfway through our first year of college, on December 20, 2014, we decided to rekindle our relationship and see where it went.

We spent most of college in a long-distance relationship except for an amazing 9 months in 2017 studying abroad and traveling around Europe ✈️ That’s when we fell in love with travel. It was a year that set the course for the rest of our lives.

After college, we moved to our hometown together with the goal of saving money to travel for a year. In June 2021, we started our own travel business and set off to travel full-time indefinitely. We started with a year of vanlife around the U.S. then left to travel internationally 🗺️

Now, we have explored all 50 states and over 50 countries together!

December has always been a special month for us since it’s the month of both our birthdays and our anniversary.

December 2024 was even more special because we celebrated our birthdays and 10 year anniversary in the country that we first traveled together - Italy. On my birthday, Zac took us to a viewpoint over Florence that we visited together back in 2017 (last picture) to propose. On Zac’s birthday, I proposed to him (because, you know, equality) 😁

This month, we also solidified plans to getting a “home-base” in 2025 with the goal of finding a better balance between travel, family, health, business, relationships, etc. 🎉

2025 will be a year of major progress, but we couldn’t be happier with the direction we’re headed ❤️

📸

28/12/2024

Everything to know about wine-tasting in Tuscany (the last one is most important!) 👇

🍷When to visit: Spring (April-June) and Fall (September-October) for ideal weather and harvest season. We went in December, and it was a bit cold/rainy.
🍷Wine regions: Chianti, Montalcino (home of Brunello), Montepulciano, and Bolgheri.
🍷Language: Most wineries speak English, but basic Italian phrases may be helpful.
🍷Reservations: Reserve tours, tastings, and vineyard visits in advance, especially during peak seasons.
🍷Tasting fees: Expect to pay for tastings, but fees are sometimes waived if you purchase wine.
🍷Wine shipping: Many wineries offer shipping services for international visitors.

‼️Getting around: It is extremely difficult/lengthy, if not impossible, to visit most wineries by public transportation. You can rent a car if you want flexibility but only do so if you have a designated driver. There are strict blood alcohol limits in Italy, and staying safe is important. That’s why we recommend booking a guided tour!

We booked a tour with that took us from Florence into the Chianti region in the Tuscan countryside. On the tour, we visited two wineries, tasted delicious wine/food, learned about the wine-making process, and had a guide to turn to if we had any questions along the way!

Save this post to book this tour when you visit Italy (or DM us for the direct link)!

 

17/12/2024

But was this ACTUALLY Juliet’s House?

Considering that Juliet is a fictional character, the short answer is no.

Some people say that Shakespeare’s Capulet family from Romeo and Juliet was based on the real Capello family, who once owned the home that is now considered Juliet’s House.

The reality is that the only connection between the families is that their names sound slightly similar. It is thought that Shakespeare had never visited Italy. Rather, Juliet’s House simply acts as a symbol, giving tourists a place to live in the fantasy of the iconic love story.

Some things to note when visiting the attraction:

✨Balcony: The famous balcony was added in the 20th century simply to enhance the connection to the Romeo and Juliet story.

✨Statue of Juliet: Many tourists pose for photos with the bronze Juliet statue in the courtyard. They say touching her right breast brings good luck with love.

✨Love Lock Wall: Couples write their initials or names on a padlock, attach it to the wall, and then toss the key to symbolize eternal love.

✨Love Letters: Visitors often leave love notes or letters on the courtyard walls or in the designated mailboxes. Letters to Juliet actually get read and replied to by a group of volunteers called “The Juliet Club”

✨Graffiti Wall: As you walk into the courtyard of Juliet’s House, you’ll see graffiti covering the walls of people’s names in hearts. It was common for tourists to add their names, but it is not allowed anymore.

While this is super touristy and nowhere close to the best thing to do in the city, it’s a quirky attraction to stop by while in Verona.

We’d recommend popping into the courtyard to see it and maybe take part in some of the fun love traditions (free), but we wouldn’t necessarily recommend paying to go inside the house!

12/12/2024

Interesting facts about Verona, Italy 👇

✨Verona is known for being the setting of Romeo and Juliet, but it is thought that Shakespeare never actually visited Italy, let alone Verona
✨One of the key tourist attractions in Verona is Juliet’s House, which locals created as an answer to constant queries of where Juliet’s house is from Shakespeare fans
✨The Verona Arena is older than the Colosseum
✨The Verona Arena is still used as a performance venue and has seen the likes of Kendrick Lamar and Adele
✨Verona hosts one of the most popular opera festivals in the world

Have you thought about visiting Verona?

10/12/2024

Our honest thoughts on Milan 👇

We’ll preface this by saying that Milan is a beautiful city! BUT it wasn’t our favorite. We won’t ever tell people not to visit a place or if it’s worth it because that’s a matter of opinion.

But as travel agents who book many client trips to Italy, it hasn’t been and will continue not to be a place we recommend for people’s first visit to Italy. To us, Milan falls a little flat compared to cities like Rome and Florence.

What we didn’t like:
✨Although Milan doesn’t have as popular of attractions as, say, the Colosseum or Vatican, it still felt incredibly overcrowded (even in the off-season)
✨While the city is known for fashion, the streets with designer stores are swarming with tourists, which we’d imagine would make shopping less enjoyable.
✨We don’t know if it was just our experience, but the tram system proved unreliable, which could be a pain (but the metro system was good)

What we did like:
✨The food and their regional dishes are delicious (but arguably food is good anywhere in Italy)
✨The architecture is incredible; no arguing that
✨Easy access to Lake Como (if you want to take a day trip there)

Have you been to Milan? What did you think of it? Is it on your list?

07/12/2024

📸 Snapshots of Milan

Top places to see in Milan:
✨ Duomo di Milano: the iconic Gothic cathedral that is a highlight of the city
✨ Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II: an elegant glass-domed arcade that is one of the world’s oldest shopping malls
✨ Santa Maria delle Grazie: A UNESCO World Heritage Site that houses Leonardo da Vinci’s famous mural, The Last Supper
✨ Sforza Castle: A historic fortress featuring museums and art collections, including Michelangelo’s unfinished Rondanini Pietà
✨ Teatro alla Scala: Milan’s world-renowned opera house
✨ Navigli District: A vibrant area along the canal with lively bars and trendy restaurants

Bonus (2 of our personal favorites):
✨L.O.V.E.: A sculpture depicting a hand with its middle finger up facing the Milan Stock Exchange. L.O.V.E. stands for Libertà, Odio, Vendetta, Eternità (Freedom, Hate, Vengeance, Eternity)
✨Mad Machines Escape Rooms: their room, “Birth Machine,” ranked as the 15th best escape room in the world on the TERPECA 2023 top 100 escape room list

Save this post for your future trip to Milan!