Museum of Wine, Bordeaux, France

It’s (Not) All About the Wine: Bordeaux, France

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Bordeaux in a Day: Wine, Culture, and Sights

A trip to France wouldn’t be complete without exploring its many wine regions and options. Bordeaux is at the top of that list! Beyond its wines, the city offers ornate Baroque and Rococo 18th century buildings, Neoclassical and Gothic 19th century architecture, views of Garonne River which flows from Spain’s Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary in Bordeaux, botanical gardens, art museums, and of course many cafés.

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Baguette and croissants

The Joy of Discovering France Beyond Paris

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A one-and-a-half month journey through France exploring Bordeaux, Aix-en-Provence, and the French Riviera

During our month and a half trip, we visited with friends, made new ones, shopped fabulous fresh markets, picked mushrooms, indulged in way too much cheese, moules marinières, and wine, and explored the sunny Mediterranean coast.

Our journey started in Angoulême, then took us to Bordeaux, Royan, Talmont-sur-Gironde, Mortagne-sur-Gironde, Brantôme, Saint-Émillion, Cognac, Carcassonne, Montpellier, Aix-en-Provence, Avignon, Caumont-sur-Durance, Gordes, Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, Saint-Remy-de-Provence, Baux-de-Provence, Arles and Salin de Giraud, Lyon, Bedoin & Foret Domaniale de Vantouret, L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, La Ciotat, Antibes, Eze, Monte Carlo – Monaco, Menton, Nice, Cassis, and Marseille.

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Belize 2025, view of water from Secret Beach, with coconut

Fun in the Caribbean sun: Ambergris Caye, Belize

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Coffee cup in hand, I step on the patio and take in the view of the emerald ocean. Palm trees sway in the breeze and the sunshine is already abundant even if it’s only 7 am. Normally, I’m not a morning person, but this is a great incentive! Belize knows how to welcome me to my first Caribbean vacation!

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Red buds in bloom in Tennessee, spring 2025

A Quick Visit To Knoxville: A Blooming Spring Paradise

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We had one week of spring bliss in Tennessee. Knoxville’s flora was in its full glory and the temperatures soared into the 80s. This is one of my two favorite times of the year in the area, the other one being Fall.

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Bird on cactus

Exploring the Vibrant Life of America’s Deserts in the Spring

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Blooms, Birdsong, and Blue Waters—A Springtime Road Trip through the Southwest

By Oana Harrison

PUBLISHED in ROVA Magazine, March/April 2025 issue

The desert: dust, death, and desolation. Or at least that’s how I used to think about it before our springtime road trip to the Southwest. Eight months into a full-time RV year that my husband, David, and I had embarked upon, we headed west through Texas to New Mexico, Arizona, the California coast and back. Along the way, we discovered unique places in the Chihuahua, Sonora, Mojave, and Colorado Deserts. The Southwest offered incredible natural nuances, from shifting sand dunes to endless canyons, to lush oases and blue lakes. This landscape I’d once viewed as dead and quiet, the desert was teeming with life. And nothing prepared me for the intense orange-purple sunsets or the Technicolor desert in bloom.

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