Photo > Playa del Carmen, Mexico

Aerial view of Playa del Carmen, Mexico (click photo to view larger)

This travel photo is an aerial view of Playa del Carmen, Mexico. 

Photo > Cenote in Mexico

Cenote near Tulum, Mexico (click photo to view larger)

This travel photo is of a cenote at Hidden Worlds Cenote Park near Tulum, Mexico.

Photo > Lighthouse in Hawaii

Lighthouse in Hawaii (click photo to view larger)

This travel photo is of a lighthouse on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The photo was taken from Diamond Head State Monument. The hike up to the summit takes about 1.5 to 2 hours.

Christmas decorations in Bellagio

Back in 2010, I wrote an entire post about vacationing in Las Vegas and seeing the Bellagio Garden area decorated for the holidays.

Every week on Twitter, @EpsteinTravels announces and then hosts a different photo theme.  People from all around the world post photos (via Twitter or blogs) that match that theme.  This week's theme is #Festive, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to join in.

Photo > Mayan ruins in Tulum

Tulum Ruins in Mexico (click photo to view larger)

This travel photo is of the Mayan ruins of Tulum near the city of Tulum, Mexico. This site is considered the 3rd most visited archeological site in Mexico (according to Wikipedia).

Photo > Mokolii Island, Hawaii

Mokolii Island (click photo to view larger)

This travel photo is of Mokolii Island, just off the coast of the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Mokolii is more commonly known as "Chinaman's Hat" because of its shape.

Panic

When I was at TBEX in vancouver in June, I met (travel) blogger Jeremy Branham from Budget Travel Adventures. In one session, Branham pointed out that he thought bloggers (or at least he, as a blogger) should show some level of vulnerability when writing for a blog.

A few days ago, I wrote about how I try to be travel savvy, but jet lag sometimes still beats me.

So...to take a cue from Branham, I have a confession.

Travel savviness

As much as I'd like to portray myself as being this savvy-know-it-all, globetrotting traveler, sometimes the savvy part goes completely out the window. (Don't worry, I'm still kind of a know-it-all.)

Photo > Cenote swimming in Mexico

Swimmers in a cenote near Tulum, Mexico (click photo to view larger)

This travel photo is of swimmers in a cenote. The cenote is at Hidden Worlds Cenote Park near Tulum, Mexico.

My 7 links

I've been writing for Travel Adventures of a Desi Blonde on this new site (dedicated to my travels!) since the beginning of 2011.  (Before that, I wrote about my travel adventures on my main site, Adventures of a Desi Blonde.)

In June, I attended TBEX '11 to learn more about travel blogging.  And while I did learn get some good insight into it, I also made a few friends in the travel blogging sphere. One of those people is Keryn from Walkingon Travels.  Keryn recently nominated this blog for Tripbase's My 7 Links blog project, and I'm super excited to participate.  

If you've never heard of the My 7 Links project, it's an effort to bring some (forgotten) blog posts back to the forefront. The My 7 Links project from Tripbase has been floating around the blogosphere for the past several months and many (many) bloggers have already done it. In addition to Keryn's, I read several others, including unbrave girl's 7 links, which I really enjoyed.)