TRVL by Val

30/03/2020

Taking a Break amid the COVID-19 Crisis.

06/03/2020

Photos from our Room Live Aqua Boutique Resort Playa del Carmen // 🇲🇽 ✨

20/02/2020

Next destinations on the horizon:

Where are you going in 2020?

16/02/2020

14/02/2020

No Passport? No problem. Here are all the tropical places you can go in the U.S. without one.

And some may surprise you // ✈️

Forgot to renew your old passport? Don't you worry.

10/02/2020

41% of Millennials are making travel reservations through Travel Agents // ✈️ 🚢 🏨

08/02/2020

On Tuesday we spent the day at Casa Malca. Formerly the mansion belonging to Pablo Escobar, the space is now an upscale hotel with amazing views, art and food.

Here are some photos from the day 💫🏝

07/02/2020

*** INFO ON GLOBAL ENTRY *** INTERVIEW WHEN RE-Entering the USA.

As many of you may have heard, Global Entry applications are suspended for New York residents. They can only get TSA pre.

I’m a New Yorker who now resides in LA and got my Global Entry today in Florida when re-entering the country.

I thought I’d share my experience. It was pretty simple.

After going through customs, I requested to do my global entry interview. They brought me to a large room to wait for an officer. It took all of 15mins. They asked standard questions like if I had anything to declare. They also took my finger prints and photo. I’m sure I look terrible in it! Lol

I’ll get my card in 2 weeks vs having to wait until April to do the interview at LaX. In the mean time, New York residents can only get TSA pre according to the officer who helped me today and no word on getting your $ back for the global entry price.

If you want to do the interview upon entering the USA, make sure the airport you are flying into is a participating airport for the interview process.

I hope this is helpful! 🙂 any questions, let me know.

How does the suspension affect those currently enrolled, those who have applied and those who want to apply in the future?

05/02/2020

Ensueño Tulum // ✨🐠🏝💕

04/02/2020

Dreams are made in Isla Holbox // 🏝🐠

04/02/2020

While you were in the office, we spent Monday on Isla Holbox // 🏝✨

02/02/2020

I’m headed to Mexico 🇲🇽 and this is what I’m packing 🧳- PSA, It did NOT all fit in that tiny bag. 🤷🏻‍♀️ - technically it could have but, I wouldn’t have had room for souvineers 🙃

31/01/2020

Ever lose your luggage and wonder where it went? If you didn’t get it back, it may have ended up Alabama // 🧳 ✈️

Unclaimed Baggage might be the world's best thrift store. Here's the inside scoop on how to shop there and what you might find.

29/01/2020

Yesterday was National Plan Your Vacation Day. In 2019, 768 Million Vacation Days went unused in the USA.

Let’s lower that number.

Where are you going in 2020?

US workers left a record number of vacation days, 768 million, on the table last year. That equates to billions in lost benefits, according to research from the U.S. Travel Association, Oxford Economics and Ipsos.

29/01/2020

Beach please 🏝 - 4 more days until we start sharing our trip from the tropical oasis is of Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. Check out the video below for a sneak peak into the beauty the Yucatán has to offer.

24/01/2020

Ok 👌 who’s coming with? // 🐘 ✨

Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort in Thailand is gaining major buzz, thanks to its Jungle Bubbles. That's because these luxury bubble suites happen to be located in an area heavily trafficked by local elephants.

22/01/2020

Road Trip anyone? // 🚗 💨

Summer plans?

20/01/2020

Traveling to Portugal 🇵🇹 can feel like traveling back in history but it’s their food that stays with you well beyond the trip. Pastel de Nata has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid and now they are more popular than ever!

The centuries-old Portuguese treat has become a global brand, and a very modern marketing machine is pushing it.

15/01/2020

One thing I love is a good deal. Especially when it involves travel. Check out the cheapest weekends to travel in 2020// ✈️🏜🏝

Weekend trips are fun, but they can also wind up being pretty expensive. Hotwire recently took a look at historical booking data for hotels to determine when the most affordable weekends are to travel in 2020, and released a list of the most affordable weekends, hotel-wise, for each month.

12/01/2020

Ever had the pleasure of meeting a whale shark? // 🐳 🦈

These gentile giants are the largest fish on earth and have no relation to whales at all. They can reach up to lengths of 40+ feet and use their teeth to filter their food.

11/01/2020

You may have already donated or are planning to but, traveling to Australia could also be a big help. // 🇦🇺 🐨 💕

The size and scale of Australia’s bushfires are hard to comprehend. As of this week, more than 20.5 million acres have burned. That’s more than 10 times the number of acres burned in California’s 2018 and 2019 wildfire seasons combined, and larger than last year’s Amazon fires. As the bushfi...

10/01/2020

If you LOVE cheese, you may want to check out this cheese-themed hotel in London // 🧀

The cheesy hotel is located in Camden and you can enter to win a free one-night stay there by sending an email.

10/01/2020

Looking to get TSA Pre or Global Entry this year? I recommend you apply ASAP if you're in a big city. I just went to schedule my appointment and the earliest appointment I can get is in April! Many offices are booked fully until Spring.

For more info on how to apply, and the differences between each type of verification you can visit the TSA website.

TSA Pre✓® provides expedited security screening benefits for flights departing from U.S. Airports. Global Entry provides the TSA Pre✓® benefit plus expedited US customs screening for international air travelers when entering the United States. TSA Pre✓® costs $85 and Global Entr...

07/01/2020

One of my all-time favorite things to do when I travel is going to the grocery store!

Depending on the country — or even in areas of the US. You’ll find localized versions of products you know and plenty you don’t.

It’s a great window into a culture to experience a local supermarket. And best of all, it can be totally free — if you don’t buy anything of course 🙂.

Even if you don’t have a kitchen.

06/01/2020

You’ve got 10 months to update your license to a Real ID. It will be required for domestic air travel. (Passports are still okay too). Put it on your to-do list! // ✈️📂

If your license or ID doesn't have the gold star in the corner, it will no longer be valid for air travel later this year.

06/01/2020

I’ve been fortunate enough to have been traveling since I was very young. I took my first international trip to France when I was 11. We lived in Paris for 6 weeks and toured the south of France and Spain for another month.

I am fortunate enough to have been traveling since so was young and am grateful for these experiences. It’s helped shape me.

I hope to expose my child to them one day// ✈️👶🏻

Until then, I’d like share why it’s so important for kids to travel, experience other languages, cultures and elements out of their comfort zones with this article from Travel and Leisure.

Experts say traveling with children can boost development, making them more empathetic and helping them adapt to changing situations.