Thai Farm Cooking School was one of our favorite experiences while visiting Chiang Mai and a definite must do if you are visiting Thailand for the first time. Scott was able to fly into Thailand in Business class for FREE, see how here.  Scott and I both LOVE Thai food but never fully understood all the unique ingredients that give Thai food SO much flavor until this Thai cooking class. We cooked all of our favorite dishes including Pad Thai, Tom Yum soup, sticky rice and much more. See my post on all my favorite dishes in Thailand coming soon. Now where the heck do we find fish sauce, galangal, Thai basil, kaffir lime, and tamarind in Dallas, Texas?! We will definitely be on a search so we can cook some of this delicious food when we get back. Read on to learn about our day cooking at the organic family farm!

Continue reading →

If you are planning a trip to Vietnam, a cruise through Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a definite must to add to your bucket list! Cruising through this bay with Paradise Luxury Cruises was an unforgettable experience. With 1,969 rainforest topped limestone islets jetting up out of the sea at every turn, this is a one of a kind cruise.

Booking the right cruise

There are day tours from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay, but the ride itself just to the bay is a 4 hour drive. We thought the best way to relax and get the most out of our experience would be to book a 2 night/3 day cruise. There are also 1 night/2 day cruises available, but we figured a 2 night would be more enjoyable. We were very glad we opted for the 2 day cruise! Another perk of booking a cruise are the planned excursions and kayaking, as well as the delicious food. We thought the money was well worth it.

There are a TON of cruise lines to choose from when booking a Ha Long Bay Tour. Be very careful when selecting your cruise as we learned that pictures can be VERY misleading after reading some of the reviews. Another tip would be to read reviews from multiple sources and as many as possible. I read reviews from Google, Trip Advisor, Expedia, and Booking etc.

Continue reading →

UPDATE: The 60,000 point offers for the plus and premier cards have ended.  Currently, Southwest is offering 40,000 points for these cards.  Or, you can get 50,000 points on the plus and premier cards by using special referral links, see this post for info and links.

It’s finally here: The absolute best time to get the Southwest Companion pass and keep it for a full two years!  By applying for two Southwest credit cards you can quickly get 120,000 Southwest points and earn the Southwest Companion Pass.

Previously, I’ve posted about why the Southwest Companion Pass is the best tool for free travel.

In addition, I laid out why the next 4 days are the prime time to score the pass.

The extremely generous offers of 60,000 Southwest Points on the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus, Premier and Business Premier cards end on October 4th 2017 so this strategy to get the Companion Pass won’t last long.

Continue reading →