Year: 2019

Why I Skipped the Full Moon Party in Koh Phangan, Thailand

If we had to speculate on what the biggest beach party in the world is, we would quickly say the Full Moon Party. Koh Phangan Thailand is known for this celebration that occurs when the moon is at its brightest, and there is are some pretty wild stories that have come out of it.

As the celebration only occurs once per month, I never thought that my travel schedule would line up in order to make it. 

As luck would have it, I arrived on a gorgeous Koh Samui beach just before the party was about to take place and was all set to head to Koh Phangan to attend. 

But in a stroke of randomness at the last second I changed my mind– I decided to skip the Koh Phangan Full Moon Party.

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Things to Do in Fredericksburg, VA – Your Ticket to History Pass

Looking for things to do in Fredericksburg, VA, and don’t know where to start? You’re in luck!

The tourist office has something I wish all cities would offer, a museum pass called Your Ticket to History which offers admission into roughly 10 great museums in the region.

I received one of these passes courtesy of Fredericksburg tourism during my visit and wanted to share a bit more about what all it entails in this one as you really could miss out without it!

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Is The MATPRA Marketplace Worth It For Travel Bloggers?

In the past, I’ve written reviews of travel conferences and networking events like TBEX, Travelcon, NATJA, and IMM- a few of which I’ve had in regular rotation for a while. As it has been my goal to broaden my networking horizons, I’m starting to attend more conferences/events beyond these as well.

One of my recent additions was MATPRA (the Mid-Atlantic Tourism Public Relations Alliance) Media Marketplace. MATPRA is a consortium of tourist boards from the mid-Atlantic, namely within Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington DC, and West Virginia, that comes together for a networking opportunity (the Media Marketplace) for writers and CVBs to meet and discuss publication opportunities.

So, is this one worth it? My short answer is yes. But my long answer would be with a caveat that it depends on where you are coming from and what you want to get out of it.

*Note: Unlike other event reviews, I forgot to take photos at the Marketplace proper (I was too busy networking, whoops). Instead, photos of this one come from the FAM experiences that coincide with MATPRA Media Marketplace.

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Visiting an 18th Century Doctor at the Hugh Mercer Apothecary

Imagine you are transported back to the 18th century, colonial Virginia, in the town of Fredericksburg. You have come down with a sickness. What do you do?

If you’re like most people, you’re going to head to your local apothecary to speak to a doctor and get one of his modern medicines to cure what ails you. This will take you to the Hugh Mercer Apothecary, and your experience could go any manner of direction from there.

Thankfully, we are not alive in the 18th century and do not have to endure what comes next. But at the Hugh Mercer Apothecary Museum in Fredericksburg, you can get a glimpse as to what medicine was like well over 200 years ago to see what may have been your future for curing your ailment.

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