I couldn’t wait to spend three days on a luxury train in Canada from the Rainforest to Gold Rush. Rocky Mountaineer is an experience that rivals no other in Western Canada and the USA. This tourist train travels by daylight only, allowing us not to miss anything! On this journey, we began in British Columbia, in Vancouver, stayed overnight in hotels in both Whistler and Quesnel, and finished in Jasper, Alberta.

I sailed on a 10-day cruise on Viking's newest ocean ship, the Viking Saturn, on the Empires of the Mediterranean itinerary from Venice to Athens. After a hectic year, this was a much-needed getaway and a wonderful experience visiting new countries in style!

Ever since I did my first river cruise with Viking from Paris to Zürich, it's been my favourite way of vacationing, and then sailing on the Rhine at Christmastime with Avalon sealed the deal for me!

I recently read that river cruises are extremely popular right now, and availability is limited, even for a year or two in advance. If you're interested in doing one, keep reading and I'll tell you why it's my favourite way to vacation.

I was invited by Viking Cruises to experience the first half of the Viking Homelands cruise on the Baltic Sea aboard the ship Viking Star. I can’t even begin to describe how amazing this luxury cruise experience was for me…but I’ll do my best! I may have included too many photos, but I want to show you as much of the full experience as possible.