the apple never falls far from the tree.

I know where I got my love of travel from. My parents have always enjoyed seeing the world, going on vacations, and exploring new places. This started out because of my dad's job. It required him to do a fair bit of travelling around the country. As the years went on, that travel became international. My mom, my siblings, and I would tag along on some of his business trips - turning them into full-fledged vacations. This is something I have always loved. Thanks to my parents travel bug, I have been able to visit some of the places on my bucket list - more than once. While there are still many places I want to see, I feel very blessed that travel has always been a big part of my life.

While we often travel together, we don't always. Recently, my parents took a couple of trips without me or my siblings in tow. Despite the fact that we weren't there to see the sights, hear the sounds, and enjoy all of the delicious food....they were nice enough to bring us each some souvenirs and trinkets back. So, I suppose this post is a haul of sorts. An international version, though!

These first items come from London, England. This is by far my favourite place in the world. I love it there more than I can describe. Unfortunately, due to certain circumstances (aka a wedding in less than a year) I wasn't able to take the trip this time. But my parents were nice enough to bring home some of the things that I asked for. And even a few that I didn't!

This London haul includes: a heart print top (featured in a recent OOTD post), a pair of glitter flats (that I wear literally all the time now), a One Direction shirt (love!), a pair of England themed socks (super cute), a purse that looks like a cassette tape (my 80s loving heart), a magazine (complete with a pair of glasses and mascara), and two books (representing my love for Geordie Shore). There were a few things that I actually did ask them to bring back - like books from the cast of TOWIE - but they couldn't manage to track them down. I am very happy with everything here though. I felt very spoiled.

The second part of this international haul comes from New Orleans. I have never been there before and this was actually my parents first visit there. It is somewhere I would absolutely love to go, though! The culture and history....yes please! They brought back some really cool souvenir items for me and my brother. This is what they included:

These items included: a Mardi Gras necklace with hand painted faces (so pretty!), a voodoo doll (for good luck), a nutcracker jester (for my nutcracker collection), a painted porcelain mask (how pretty is that?), and a pair of earrings (they look like bird cages. Absolutely adorable). Since I have never been there before, I was so excited to get a better idea of what things are like in the city. They showed me pictures, told me how beautiful everything was, and how wonderful the people were.

Travel is a big part of my life. While I don't get to do it as often as I would like - it would pretty much be all the time if I had my way - it is always nice to see somewhere new. Thankfully, even when I can't travel, someone in my family does! And sometimes, they even bring back pieces of the cities they go to.....

Do you love to travel? What is your favourite place to visit?

xo Shannon