Travel Blog
Here are the latest Cajun Explorers travel blog posts from Tommy & Danny. We wanted a creative way to stay in touch with friends and family while traveling. So, we started this travel blog to share our retirement adventures. We always enjoy our vacations near and far and want to take you along. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy sharing the fun activities and sights we experience on our trips.
I’ll mention now that I’m not a professional writer. Nor am I a seasoned blogger. Actually, I’ve never even had a social media account before I created this site in 2022. Therefore, forgive my mistakes in advance as I’m learning as I go.
I’ve always enjoyed taking lots of photos during our trips. However, all of the photos that I personally take for use on this site and in my photo books at home are taken with my iPhone. I don’t use a digital camera or any other equipment. There’s just not enough space to pack those things. Since we fly standby, thanks to Danny’s airline retirement benefits, we travel only with a carryon and never check luggage.
Bon Voyage…Tommy
Cajun Explorers Travel Blog – Fun Adventures & Travel Planning
- A One Week Getaway to Melbourne Australia
After returning the rental car from our Grand Pacific Drive road trip, we flew to Melbourne, Australia for a week. It’s a quick flight, just over an hour. We checked into our 40th floor apartment in a downtown high rise.… Read more: A One Week Getaway to Melbourne Australia - Costco food court Australia and the special menu optionsWe love shopping at Costco, especially when traveling. Recently, we visited several Costco food court Australia locations. We wanted to discover if there are any regional food court menu options and products in the store. While traveling, we always search… Read more: Costco food court Australia and the special menu options
- Australia’s Grand Pacific Drive in a 10 Day Road TripThere are 87 scenic coastal miles in Australia’s Grand Pacific Drive in New South Wales (NSW). You can certainly drive it nonstop. But, you wouldn’t really see much while behind the wheel. Although I won’t be the one driving. I’ll… Read more: Australia’s Grand Pacific Drive in a 10 Day Road Trip
- A One Week Exploration Of Spectacular Sydney AustraliaSaying goodbye to the Crown Princess and “G’day Mate” to Sydney Australia Our arrival in Sydney by cruise ship gave us a unique view of the city, Opera House and Harbour Bridge. The captain delayed our arrival until 7:00 a.m.,… Read more: A One Week Exploration Of Spectacular Sydney Australia
- Costco food court Honolulu and the special menu optionsAll of our friends know we love shopping at Costco, especially when traveling. Recently we stopped at the Costco food court in Honolulu, Hawaii while on our South Pacific Cruise. While planning our trips both in the US and in… Read more: Costco food court Honolulu and the special menu options
- Amazing 31-day Cruise in the South Pacific—3 (New Zealand)Welcome to part three and the final post of our 31 day South Pacific cruise. We left Tahiti and we are now sailing 5 days toward New Zealand. Here are the links if you missed the first two posts: Amazing… Read more: Amazing 31-day Cruise in the South Pacific—3 (New Zealand)
- Amazing 31-day Cruise in the South Pacific—2 (French Polynesia)Welcome to part two of our 31 day South Pacific cruise. We will visit Moorea and Papeete, Tahiti in French Polynesia. Click here to read my Part 1 post covering Hawaii. It’s another 5 relaxing days at sea before we… Read more: Amazing 31-day Cruise in the South Pacific—2 (French Polynesia)
- Amazing 31-day Cruise in the South Pacific to Australia—1 (Hawaii)We arrived early to board the Crown Princess for our South Pacific cruise and were on the ship within 30 minutes. Great job Princess! I’ll share just a few Crown Princess facts: capacity is 3,080 guests and there are 1,200… Read more: Amazing 31-day Cruise in the South Pacific to Australia—1 (Hawaii)
- Exploring Hearst Castle and the Beautiful Paso Robles VineyardsWe are celebrating my 65th birthday with a 65 day vacation adventure. I know, it’s not a coincidence with the matching numbers. We’re both retired now and since I planned the details for this trip, then why not travel for… Read more: Exploring Hearst Castle and the Beautiful Paso Robles Vineyards
- A beautiful wedding weekend in Scottsdale, ArizonaWe enjoyed a wonderful weekend of fun and cooler weather in Scottsdale, Arizona on a trip with our friends Cary, Tom and Autumn. Danny & I had never visited Scottsdale before. So, it was time for a new adventure. First… Read more: A beautiful wedding weekend in Scottsdale, Arizona
- Fun New Year’s Eve Cruise on Harmony of the Seas
We celebrated the arrival of 2024 with a one-week New Year’s Eve cruise on Harmony of the Seas. There were 10 of us who departed Galveston, Texas to visit Costa Maya, Roatán and Cozumel. This is our first time to… Read more: Fun New Year’s Eve Cruise on Harmony of the Seas - Parades, Music and Fun at the 80th annual Sugar Cane Festival in New Iberia, LA
Last weekend we drove to my hometown of New Iberia to attend the 80th annual Sugar Cane Festival (and to celebrate my birthday too 😉). It’s probably been 25 years since we’ve been to this festival and who doesn’t like… Read more: Parades, Music and Fun at the 80th annual Sugar Cane Festival in New Iberia, LA - Stress free roadtrip to Oklahoma City and Wichita FallsSeptember has arrived and it’s time for my birthday get away. We enjoyed our amazing adventure in France this year, but now we’re looking forward to a relaxing and stress free roadtrip closer to home. So, we decided to drive… Read more: Stress free roadtrip to Oklahoma City and Wichita Falls
- The 3 best flea markets for antiquing in Paris-2023 update
I originally published this post in 2022 based on our pre-COVID visit to what I think are the 3 best Paris flea markets for antiquing. I promised to update the information and photos below from our recent 2023 vacation. After… Read more: The 3 best flea markets for antiquing in Paris-2023 update - Costco France food court and the special menu optionsThe Costco France food court has a few menu items that we don’t have in the US. We just returned from France in June 2023, after spending almost three months vacationing there. Our typical routine at home is a weekly… Read more: Costco France food court and the special menu options
- Car-2-Europe experience for vacation in France. How to find the cheapest price (Results-Part 2)
This post is the update to our original post Car Rental vs Lease Part 1. Part 1 outlined how the Car-2-Europe short-term lease program saved us $1,000-$1,600 off the cost of a 45-day car rental to drive around Europe. Part… Read more: Car-2-Europe experience for vacation in France. How to find the cheapest price (Results-Part 2) - A Summer in France: Paris, Week 4–Our First Bucket ListWelcome to chapter 16 of our travel adventures— A Summer in France: Paris, Week 4. This is the final post in our Summer in France series. We are flying home tomorrow. Air Balloon Flight Since we arrived in Paris, I’ve… Read more: A Summer in France: Paris, Week 4–Our First Bucket List
- A Summer in France: Paris, Week 3–Our First Bucket ListThanks for coming back to read our travel adventures— A Summer in France: Paris, Week 3. We kicked off the weekend going to flea markets. I’ve posted before about my 3 best flea markets for antiquing in Paris. So I… Read more: A Summer in France: Paris, Week 3–Our First Bucket List
- A Summer in France: Paris, Week 2—Our First Bucket ListThanks for joining us again for chapter 14 of A Summer in France: Paris, Week 2. This is part two of our month in Paris, the final leg of our journey. This week is another busy week of fun with… Read more: A Summer in France: Paris, Week 2—Our First Bucket List
- A Summer in France: Paris, Week 1—Our First Bucket ListThanks for joining us again for chapter 13 of A Summer in France: Paris, Week 1. This is part one of our month in Paris, the final leg of our journey. The weekend before we arrived in Paris, we spent… Read more: A Summer in France: Paris, Week 1—Our First Bucket List
- A Summer in France: Provence Villages—Our First Bucket list ContinuesWelcome to chapter 12–A Summer in France: Provence Villages. In my last post, we stayed in L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue to use as a base to explore several towns and villages in Provence. If you’re not familiar with the Provence-Alpes-Côté-d’Azur area of southern… Read more: A Summer in France: Provence Villages—Our First Bucket list Continues
- A Summer in France: L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue — Our First Bucket List ContinuesA Summer in France: L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is chapter 11 of our trip. This small town is famous for its many antique shops and hosts antique markets on Sundays which takes over the entire town center. If you’ve parked inside the old center, there’s… Read more: A Summer in France: L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue — Our First Bucket List Continues
- A Summer in France: Montpellier—Our First Bucket List Continues
This is chapter 10 of Summer in France: Montpellier. We arrived from Barcelona a couple of days ago, but our first stop was Les Grands Buffets that I recently posted about. So, we’ve now had some time to recover and… Read more: A Summer in France: Montpellier—Our First Bucket List Continues - A Summer In France: Les Grands Buffets — A Spectacular FeastWelcome to chapter 9, Summer In France: Les Grands Buffets. This is a special post about our experience at an all-you-can-eat gourmet buffet in Narbonne, France called Les Grands Buffets. We enjoy most buffet restaurants back home, but they are… Read more: A Summer In France: Les Grands Buffets — A Spectacular Feast
- A Summer in France: Barcelona – Our First Bucket List ContinuesWelcome to chapter 8 – A Summer in France: Barcelona. We’ve arrived in Spain for a few days after leaving Andorra. Neither of us have ever been to Barcelona, so we’re looking forward to our stay. Barcelona has a city… Read more: A Summer in France: Barcelona – Our First Bucket List Continues
- A Summer in France: Andorra – Our First Bucket List ContinuesOk, I’ll admit the title Summer in France: Andorra is a little misleading. Andorra is not in France. Landlocked between France and Spain, Andorra is a small country, a principality, outside of the European Union. Many people have never even… Read more: A Summer in France: Andorra – Our First Bucket List Continues
- A Summer in France: Albi – Our First Bucket List ContinuesWelcome to chapter six, Summer in France: Albi. Albi is an UNESCO World Heritage Site and is less than an hour from Toulouse. First settled during the Bronze Age (3000-600 BC), the crusades (1209-1229) virtually destroyed this city. Here’s a short video clip… Read more: A Summer in France: Albi – Our First Bucket List Continues
- A Summer in France: Our First Bucket List Continues (Toulouse)Welcome to chapter five of our trip Summer in France: Toulouse. Toulouse is the fourth largest city in France with a population of approximately one million people. It’s located in the south of France about 75 miles from Spain. Like… Read more: A Summer in France: Our First Bucket List Continues (Toulouse)
- A Summer in France: Our First Bucket List Continues (Vineyards)Welcome to part four of a Summer in France (Vineyards). This is a shorter post to share with you a couple of quick day trips out in the countryside in the wine regions of Blaye, Pauillac & Saint-Émilion. Blaye The… Read more: A Summer in France: Our First Bucket List Continues (Vineyards)
- A Summer in France: Our First Bucket List Continues (Bordeaux)The third installment of a Summer in France (Bordeaux) begins as we leave Poitiers to visit the small village of Chauvigny. We visited on Good Friday, so many of the shops and restaurants were closed for the Easter holiday. We… Read more: A Summer in France: Our First Bucket List Continues (Bordeaux)
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