Shalee Wanders Travel Blog
Solo Female Travel Hawaii
Solo Female Travel Hawaii In October, a fellow blogger asked me if I had ever been to Hawaii. My response: “No, and I’m not sure if I ever will. It’s just so expensive to fly to such a small island.” Fast forward two weeks and I was clicking submit on skyscanner.com for a three week…
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14 Things You Learn When Traveling With Your Best Friends
Traveling with your best friends will cause some of the most memorable moments of your life. These travels don’t mean ocean jumping or plane hopping, it can simply be a weekend on the road discovering new places. Not only will the experience be down right amaze-balls, but it will also help you all discover yourselves…
Read MoreLet's look at the rest of 2014…
As the end of 2014 quickly approaches, I think it’s important to connect with you and share where I will be for the remainder of the year and what website plans I have for the rest of this month.
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The 7 Best Sites for Budget Travelers
THE SEVEN BEST SITES FOR BUDGET TRAVELERS I often get questions from readers (and friends) asking what sites I use to find the best deals for budget travel. I have many favorites and it’s hard to narrow down to just 7. These are the sites that have been my life and money savor when…
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Budget Weekend Getaway: Michigan’s Thumb
BUDGET WEEKEND GETAWAY: MICHIGAN’S THUMB I’ve lived in Michigan my entire life. How many times do you think I’ve been to Michigan’s thumb before September? If you guessed none you’re correct and I’m ashamed. I’m not sure why I had never made my way there. Maybe because every time I thought of getting away…
Read MoreHow to Spend New Years in NYC for No More than $550
For those of you who have been here since the very beginning, this will be a repeat post. For everyone else, this is the first piece I ever wrote on an account I had on a blogging site last year. Since New Years will be here before we know it, I decided it would be…
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The Michigan Bucket List
The Michigan Bucket List November 15, 2014 THE ORIGINAL MICHIGAN BUCKET LIST | AS Shared Over 200,000 Times on Facebook Thank you for supporting! Michigan is perhaps the most underrated state in the United States. For those that live here, we know how special it is. I’m just going to get straight to the…
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How To Travel to Italy on A Budget ($1000 or Less!)
How to Travel to Italy on A Budget ($1000 or Less!) February 02, 2021 It surprises a lot of people when I say Italy is one of the most budget-friendly countries I have been to. With that being said, I’ve also met people who have spent $10,000+ dollars in a single week traveling Italy. I’m…
Read MoreThe College Student Travel Bible
Sweet baby Jesus. Traveling as a college student is not a fairy tale. Holy poop on a stick. You know what? I love that we live in a society where everyone has hammered the idea into the brains of young adults that traveling is for the rich, the famous and the retired. BLARGH. I hate…
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10 Essential Items for a Road Trip
10 ESSENTIAL ITEMS FOR A ROAD TRIP Road-tripping is one of the best feelings. It doesn’t matter where you are going, or how long you plan on staying, the journey to your destination is part of the adventure. When taking off for a road trip I never leave without these essentials in my car (some…
Read MoreThe Thrills of Roller-Coasters and Zombies
So this one time I was on a trip where I dropped my phone flat on cement, shattered my screen and laughed about it. I think it was because I was at Cedar Point and it’s impossible to be mad in such a happy place. Even though summer is over and the Midwest seems too…
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An Hour of Darkness
AN HOUR OF DARKNESS I am lucky enough to see the world. All of us are not that lucky. This time, I don’t mean see the world through travel. I mean really see. I get to see the mountain which towers above me and visualize the deep blue ocean I was once at. Sometimes I…
Read MoreThe Truth About Language Barriers
When traveling, it is common to find yourself in a situation where you have no idea what anyone around you is talking about. Not because they are crazy, but because the words they are speaking have no meaning to you. Have you ever tried communicating with someone who couldn’t understand you or you were unable to…
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Why to Travel When You’re Young
WHY TO TRAVEL WHEN YOU’RE YOUNG You know what I hate? When people tell me traveling is for retirement. HA! HA HA! pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. (cue big eye roll) Right after “you can’t travel because you have no money”, this issue is the next pet peeve that I call major B.S. too. Traveling when you’re young…
Read MoreSummer Wanderlust #2: Punching Fear in the Face
This summer, stop being worried about the ‘what ifs’ and start enjoying what comes. If you have an opportunity to go cliff jumping into freezing waters…you should try it! We regret what we don’t do more than what we try. Sometimes it takes a rush of energy to make one feel alive again. It reminds…
Read More6 Rules for an Epic Summer
I love when people complain about winter for months and months, and then when summer finally comes around they still sit inside and watch the sun go down. Just kidding…I think that’s my biggest pet peeve. Constantly, I get bombarded with questions regarding how I am always in a different place. when the reality is…
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What To Do in Put-in-Bay Ohio: Best Places to Sleep, Eat, Drink & Explore
What To Do in Put-in-Bay Ohio: Best Places to Sleep, Eat, Drink & Explore Updated: January 25, 2020 Someone once told me Ohio was boring and for a long time, I believe them. In all my travels, you’d think I would have made it to Ohio by now. I mean its Ohio; it literally borders…
Read MoreSummer Wanderlust: Try Something New
Here’s your weekly dose of Wanderlust! Coming too you from an 80ft cliff in the Appalachian Mountains. This was my first time rappelling and I can honestly say I’m not used to hanging off the side of cliffs. However, it was a blast! I love trying new things. What new activity have you tried…
Read MoreThe Toronto Diaries
Well, with less than 48 hours to spend in Toronto I decided it would be a perfect time to take a whack at my first vlog. Woohoo! Don’t know the girl with me? Check out the “Meet Kalee” tab!
Read MoreAdventuring Like a Local
The reason we travel is to create experiences. These experiences help broaden our knowledge, create bonds and receive insight to another world. Being a traveler, there is no better way to accomplish these goals than to put the tour book aside and live less like a tourist and more like a local. One may think…
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How to Get a Free Flight to Europe
HOW TO GET A FREE FLIGHT TO EUROPE Americans have two favorite words. The first being bacon, and the close second is the word ‘free’. If you have been dreaming of visiting the castles of Germany or the Alps of Switzerland, getting over there without spending thousands of dollars is entirely possible. Actually, getting…
Read MoreHow to Handle Travel Annoyance
This picture was taken in Times Square, you’d think we’d be thrilled… After a major case of writers block this past week, I decided on a post that revolves around the annoyance of traveling. Because nothing ever goes as planned and a bad mood can ruin an entire trip, I’m looking at helping travelers get…
Read MoreA Birthday Thought
Today I turned 21. It’s 12:05am on the day of my birthday, and instead of pouring shots of tequila down my throat or out on some random/exciting adventure like normal, I’m typing to all of you. Since I’m not celebrating my birthday until tonight, I enjoyed relaxation by looking at the stars and listening to…
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An Amateurs Guide to Hiking the Half Dome
An Amateurs Guide to Hiking The Half Dome The iconic symbol of the Half Dome dominated the photo, dwarfing the surrounding peaks. From the moment I saw it, my Midwest heart yearned to discover everything about the iconic granite face. It took all of 10 minutes to discover it was climbable and devise a plan…
Read MoreWhy Adventure Travel is Worth it
Over the years adventure travel has skyrocketed, capturing me and every other soul who is enticed by this way of life. We, the people under the wanderlust spell, have decided that fear will be the last thing holding us back. We have learned that travel is not about the landmarks, the money or the souvenirs.…
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Ice Caves in Michigan: Where to See Them & How to Get There
Ice Caves in Michigan: Where to See Them & How to Get There Updated: January 30, 2022 The harsh winters in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula create some of the most spectacular natural ice caves in the United States. There are two main ice caves in Michigan: Eben Ice Caves Grand Island Ice Caves Eben Ice…
Read More5 List-Worthy Coastal Adventures
The coast is where two worlds collide: land & water. How they meet was never determined by us, we do not choose where the sandy beach lies or where the white cliffs of Dover fall. Instead it is decided for us; the beauty that rises from the depths of the underworld is indescribable by photos…
Read MoreLiving in the Moment
My toes curled in the warm sand of a hot January summer day. The beach was crowded, the surfers plentiful and the accents so incredibly hot. I had dreamed all my life of sitting on beach like this. My eyes openly wondered the surrounding scenes, however my brain could not seem to comprehend that this…
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Michigan: 7 Affordable Summer Adventures
MICHIGAN: 7 AFFORDABLE SUMMER ADVENTURES Dwindling snow and warm temperatures mean one thing here in the Midwest: SUMMER. The trees are beginning to blossom, I can take a walk without the possibility of frostbite and I woke up to the whimsical sound of birds chirping at dawn. People are slowly beginning to move…
Read MoreThe Ins and Outs of Travel Transportation
Have you missed me? Because I know I’ve missed all of you! After disappearing from the blogging world for the past couple weeks I knew it was time to get my poop in a group and connect with you all again. I’ve been up to a bit of exploring and a lot of relaxing. After…
Read More10 Tips for Travel Preparation
Anyone who has ever stepped outside their house knows what it is like to feel as if you have forgotten something important; and having things go wrong before even getting to your destination can set the whole mood for what the rest of the time is going to be like. Especially when it’s something huge.…
Read MoreInspiration From the Inspired
It’s not uncommon for people to hide their true dreams in fear of disapproval or risk. No matter who you are, if you are following your heart you received a motivational push along the way. Something that told you to take the leap, that in the end it will all be okay. Because in the…
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Ice Caves- A Polar Vortex Road Trip
ICE CAVES: A POLAR VORTEX ROAD TRIP While a majority of people in the northern United States are hunkered down in their cozy homes to escape the chilling winter, I decided to take a different approach. With over 90% of the Great Lakes frozen and the tales of awesome ice caves, it was time…
Read MoreThe Soul of Wanderlust
Deep, somewhere inside of me there are raging neurons that only come alive when I’m heading into the abyss of something new, something exciting. I patiently save a wait until I set my mind on an adventure that I suddenly can’t keep my mind off. My mind races at a million miles an hour and…
Read MoreMoonlight Skiing and Burning Hearts
With everyone around me receiving bears, flowers and chocolates I want to dedicate this post to all the single folks out there. Valentines day is not a day to sit inside and cry about your love life; if you are single, there are plenty of ways to celebrate. Celebrate the fact that you left your…
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