What made this trip to Japan special is the fact that I was able to dig deeper into Japanese culture and history which has always kept my interest piqued since I was younger. But it wasn't until my very first trip to Japan when I was truly captivated by it all; I immediately fell in love. But the fact that I have family in Tokyo is what truly makes this country special and paying a visit as often I can is a definite must.

It was a beautiful trip overall spending time with my family partaking in sakura hanami; the word hanami means "the viewing of flowers". My brother happened to be in Japan at the time traveling through as well and we met with him in Kyoto. I even had the chance to meet with fellow travelers from the Girls Love Travel Facebook group in Yoyogi Park in Shibuya, Tokyo to engage in sakura hanami. They were some of the most amazing women I've ever met and I had a wonderful time with my new set of traveling friends from all across the globe.

It was a dream come true exploring different parts of Japan as the sakura were blooming. Absolutely breathtaking! It was the most beautiful sight I've ever seen seeing Japan this way. This definitely made this ultimate dream of mine of seeing Japan during sakura season an unforgettable one.

Now I can't wait to come back to Japan and explore further. I'm definitely thinking about making my way up to Hokkaido during the winter months to experience the Snow Festival in Sapporo. Either way, I wouldn't mind where I end up in Japan given that I love that country so much. I mean it when I say that Japan is my happy place and, once again, it was extremely difficult for me leave. It always is.

The more I visit Japan the harder it gets for me to part ways and return home. But I know for a fact that I will always make my way back to to create more memories and reasons to make it difficult for me to leave my happy place.



As soon as I returned home to California from Japan on April 4th, I immediately had to return to work. I was on reserve for April which means that I'm basically on-call. I fly wherever scheduling needs me to go and I had to fly a few trips in these next two weeks while I battled with jet lag. It sure wasn't easy, but us flight attendants tend to get used to it. Better yet, we tend to just deal with it.

Reserve trip after reserve trip and never quite readjusting back to Pacific Standard Time, two weeks zoomed by closing in on April 17th. This day meant vacation time again, but this time around I was headed south east towards Miami to sail away on a cruise to the Bahamas with my boyfriend, Arren, only to join his best friend, Ricky, and his family to celebrate Ricky's father's 50th birthday.

It was a 5 day cruise on the Royal Caribbean: Majesty of the Seas with ports in Nassau, Bahamas, Coco Cay, Bahamas, and Key West, Florida. This was my first time sailing into the Atlantic. I knew we were in for a grand time. The opportunity to spend quality time with my boyfriend on our first official vacation together, bonded with good friends, and spent 5 days with an amazing family. What more could you ask for?

I've been on a cruise to Mexico years ago on Carnival with my family and I remember having so much fun. It was nice to cruise again. The fact that it's mainly all-inclusive is awesome. Granted that you have to pay for service fees, excursions, wifi, and the drink package; I highly encourage getting the premium drink package and sharing amongst two people. If you want more bang for your buck then that's how you do it. I, myself, did't get the drink package. I honestly didn't see the point. However, my boyfriend did and he just got drinks for me whenever I wanted one. I think that's winning if you ask me.

Each day was so much fun. We stayed up late, woke up early, explored each port, engaged in excursions, drank LOTS of alcohol, laughed so hard, ate TONS of food and I mean TONS of food. Even when you're not hungry you eat anyways. It's highly likely that you'll gain weight on a cruise. But you're on vacation. Who cares about calories? Eat Away! Enjoy and have fun! You can always hit the gym later. 

But alas, all good things must come to an end and I had to come back to reality. Once again, I had a hard time coming back home after yet another amazing vacation. Once again, I had the sudden urge to plan my next adventure. I would have to say that all throughout April from the end of March was simply epic. I had so much fun traveling through Japan seeing sakura in bloom to swimming in the warms waters of the Bahamas, and work a little bit in between. I honestly wouldn't of had it any other way.

So, you see, that's what I've been up during the month of April. I've honestly been relishing in the memories and experiences of one of the best months I've ever had. It wasn't that I didn't know what to say or did not want to share. I knew exactly what to say and I couldn't honestly wait to start writing about my experiences. To tell you the truth, I actually have a couple of blog entries sitting and waiting to be published for over a few weeks now. I just wanted to hold on to the memories to myself for a little while longer.