Get To Know Your Travel Agent - Carol's 2025 Part 1

It's time to continue getting to know your travel agent! Carol's Greenland adventure and an amazing concert in Vegas are in part two of her 2025 update.

Carol in Greenland with Aurora Expeditions

The second half of 2025 gave us two completely different kinds of “wow.” One was the kind you feel in your chest when you’re standing in front of a glacier and everything goes quiet. The other was the kind you feel when the first note hits and you realize you’re about to hear your favorite songs in the best venue you’ve ever seen. I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to share about both of these experiences with you.

August 2025: Greenland Expedition Cruise

We joined Aurora Expeditions for an expedition cruise along Greenland’s west coast, and what stood out most was how starkly beautiful it is. This was not a “spot the wildlife” style trip for us. It was a landscape-first journey: wide-open spaces, dramatic mountains, miles wide glaciers that look almost unreal, and challenging hikes that made you feel like you’d stepped into a place that still runs on nature’s terms.

A few moments I keep replaying:

• Hiking in raw, wild terrain where the scenery changes every time you round a bend.

• Glaciers up close: the color, the scale, the sound, and the reminder that the planet is always moving.

• History you can feel in the places where people have lived and endured for generations.

And then there were the people of Greenland. Everyone we met was friendly, but there was also a clear sense of fierce independence, the kind that makes perfect sense when you live in a place this powerful and this remote. It’s not performative. It’s earned.

If you’re someone who loves nature but doesn’t want a far away expedition such as Antarctica, this style of trip can be a sweet spot: active, immersive, and grounded in learning, with a strong expedition guiding team and a comfortable place to return to at the end of the day.

November 2025: The Eagles in Las Vegas 

Fast forward to November and we traded glaciers for neon.

We saw the Eagles at the Sphere, and I’m going to say it plainly: Best.Concert.Ever. The sound was incredible, the visuals were on another level, and the whole experience felt like the future of live shows. And even though the band is “vintage” they still sounded amazing.

While we were there, we also saw the new Wizard of Oz at the Sphere. It was good, and I’m glad we did it, but it didn’t hit the same peak as the concert. If you’re choosing just one Sphere experience, the Eagles would be my first pick without hesitation.

If Las Vegas is on your calendar, it’s worth thinking about it the way we do: not just as a “Vegas trip,” but as a very specific experience trip. Shows, dining, timing, and where you stay matters more than people expect. We stayed at the Fountainbleu and it has become my favorite hotel in the area.

Looking ahead: A quieter season starting in 2026

After a full travel year, we’re stepping into a different season now. Heading into 2026, we’re intentionally ramping down travel as we focus on building a house in Matthews NC, a project we’ve been working toward for almost 20 years. We’re hopeful this is the year it finally comes together.

So for the first half of the year, we’ll be closer to home, with one very important exception: we’ll still be making time to visit our son David in the DC area. We travel up that way about once a month.

It’s a good reminder that travel comes in seasons. Sometimes the big adventures are the priority. Sometimes the bigger project is waiting at home, and travel becomes simpler, more intentional, and (honestly) just as meaningful.

A quick question for you...

Are you in a “big trip season” right now, or a “close to home season”? Hit reply and tell me what you’re planning, even if it’s just a long weekend.

AND if Greenland and the Arctic has been on your list, or if you’re curious about expedition cruising that’s more hiking-and-landscape than wildlife, I’m always happy to talk through what that could look like and whether it fits your travel style.