Why are you doing a 2025 year-in-review when January is almost over? Well, I have been in India with my family and refused to acknowledge the new year until I returned. So yes, this is later than usual, but I wasn’t going to miss a year just because I was away connecting with my family. 2025 was a bit of a bumpy year with kids growing, working having its ups and downs, travel that didn’t always go as expected, and the US just generally in chaos. But through it all, we managed to continue to have adventures, grow as individuals, and have some surprising adventures and wins that were unexpected. Check out 2025 and what’s in store for 2026.
A Year of Travel
January
I started the year with a solo weekend, something that I did more of this year. I would take a weekend trip not too far from home, all by myself. Stay in a hotel, and I would work on my book and blog, as well as take time just to get some breath and space from the responsibilities of home. It’s a wonderful way to get rejuvenated throughout the year. I was able to do three of them this year.
February
A year in the making, we were able to take our Girl Scout troop to Disneyland and had an absolute blast! We drove down in a caravan and had a blast with a car full of Girl Scouts, excited to be heading down to LA. We stayed in two two-bedroom suites nearby and spent two full days exploring Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. The girls planned the whole trip and filled every minute with fun.
March
In March, I had a collaboration with US Ghost Tour and took an evening with my oldest in San Francisco, doing a Ghost Tour of San Francisco. It was a fun way to see the city and learn about the legends I never knew.
April
We had two big trips in April. We started the beginning of the month in Hawaii on the Big Island. This was my oldest choice for their Quince trip. We spent a week enjoying the beach, the resort, and touring the island. Then we spent a weekend in Honolulu, enjoying the Hilton resort. During the trip, we got to snorkel with manta rays, one of the most memorable experiences.
Just about a week and a half later, my dad flew in, and my husband and I went off to celebrate our 20th anniversary. It was my first cruise in 30 years, and my husband’s first cruise ever. The cruise took us to the Bahamas, Half Moon Cay, the private island, and Grand Turk. It was a fantastic way to reconnect and travel to a number of places, but staying in one place. I foresee more cruises in our future.
June
June I headed to Chicago for my annual trek to the Latino Travel Fest where I got to reconnect with my fellow Latina travelers and travel creators, check out the unique Mexican neighborhoods in the city, and learn more to hone my skill while making new friends. I also got to stay with familia and reconnect with them. It was a career highlight as I was awarded the Content Creator Contest for my video on the Travel Fest.
July/August
The end of July/beginning of August was surprisingly busy. It started with a surprise visit, my niece from India came to the United States for the first time! She was on a work trip, but it took her to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and New York, and we tried to join her for most of it! My husband flew into LA for the day to pick her up and take her around to some key spots. When she came to San Francisco, we dedicated the weekend to taking her around the city and wine country. Then the following weekend, my husband and daughter flew to New York and spent a weekend in the city, showing her all New York had to offer.
Why didn’t my oldest and I join them in New Jersey? That’s because we had other plans already that weekend, Comic Con! We did a long-awaited Mother/Child trip to San Diego and enjoyed two days in the famous convention hall. We saw some great panels, learned to draw with the creators of Phineas and Ferb, and had the most fun checking out all the booths and cosplayers in the convention. We went home exhausted but happy every night.
After Comic Con, my oldest flew to New Jersey and joined their sister, who stayed there after her trip to New York City. They had two weeks solo with their grandfather and great-grandmother, enjoying a pool every day, making trips to the beach, and generally having their annual East Coast summer. I joined them for a few days at the end and then came home with them to start the school year.
Fall
The fall was set to be a calm time (travel-wise), but we ended up having two local adventures. We made a spur-of-the-moment day trip to Yosemite, where we got to see fall colors, and the National Park we had somehow not yet seen in our twenty years in California.
Then in November, we checked out a new (to us) local art park, Albany Bulb, for my husband’s birthday. We did a photography scavenger hunt game, and it managed to keep the teenagers engaged in walking and enjoying the park.
December/January
And finally, why this wrap-up is so late, our end of the year trip to India! Due to some issues with Indigo, we ended up leaving for our trip to India two days late and landed on Christmas Day! We enjoyed time with our family in Mumbai, Chennai, Coimbatore, and finally Delhi for three weeks before we headed back home. The kids got to enjoy the Taj Mahal, Elephanta Island, High Tea at the Taj Hotel, and many, many, many temples and family visits. We ended up cutting off from home, concentrating on our family and time together, and we were all tired when we came home. It was nice to enjoy the time and come back fresh and ready for 2026 (even if we entered the year two weeks later).
Personal
While this year saw smaller travel adventures, we had a lot of personal growth and adventures that the family went through.
Both kids ended up getting into musical theater. While I was not surprised by my daughter, it was a natural evolution from dance; I was surprised by my oldest. They have always been the shy one who doesn’t like to draw attention to themselves. So when they asked to join, I had my doubts. In the two productions they have been in, I have been thoroughly impressed with how much they have grown, and their confidence has grown. Both continue to participate and will be in a full-length production of Into the Woods at the beginning of the year.
The kids once again embraced independent travel. My daughter went on numerous trips with the Girl Scouts without me and was perfectly fine, much to my happiness (and chagrin). Much too late, I realized that my kids followed me in the airport and generally didn’t know how to navigate one on their own. I started asking them to “drive” (directing us through TSA and carrying their own boarding passes). My oldest did their first solo flight to New Jersey, and while they were nervous during the turbulence, they handled it well and are starting to get ready to be able to do it on their own in the future.
We also hit a huge milestone this year: my oldest started driving! It opens us to an additional driver on road trips, and I’m excited for all the adventures and independence it will bring them.
In 2023, we had a summer of travel, so this year we switched to a summer of classes. Both kids wanted a more normal summer schedule, and so we enrolled them in classes at UC Berkeley, where they took advanced courses. Both worked really hard on their classes, and while they both did well, they decided they wanted something a little easier next summer. Maybe I can convince them to go on another summer of travel?
Finally, I had more solo weekends this year. I discovered in 2023 that when I go away and stay at a hotel for the weekend, it helps reset my brain and lets me be creative once again. This year, I tried to do it every 2-3 months, and it worked. I was able to concentrate on writing, editing my book, and creating what I needed. I was also able to reset. I walked, I sat in the hot tub, and I watched some bad TV and movies. I was able to come back to my family and home with my cup refilled.
Professional
I had some great professional developments with my blog this year. I was a guest on the Bon Voyage Besties podcast this year and had a fun conversation with Rosa and Rachel on family travel. They are a fun podcast, make sure to add them to your list!
This summer, I was invited to be on KPIX to interview with Gianna Franco and discuss summer travel tips for families. It was my literal “5 minutes of fame”, and it was so fun and exciting.
I spoke as an expert for the Latino Travel Community, a paid private community, where I discussed planning multi-generational travel, something that is huge in the Latino community. It was a fun, interactive experience, and the recording is available to paid members of the group.
I (finally) started a newsletter! I worked to make a template and started on a monthly newsletter to share the latest blog posts, news in the travel community, and other fun tidbits. You can sign up for my newsletter here and get it in your mailbox every month as well (yes, I know I missed December, remember that was because of India).
My hard work has been paying off. I’ve had a 350% increase in viewership in my blog over the last year, and ~15% increase in followers on my social media channels. Seeing the growth gives me the encouragement I need to continue the work I am doing.
Book
People around know that in 2022, I wrote and finished the first draft of a manuscript for my book on family travel, a memoir on our travels. I spent 2023 and 2024 heavily editing the book, working with a developmental editor, and finally finished and got it down to a 60K word manuscript. This quarter, it is going to a copy editor, and I am starting the self-publishing process. Watch out for more announcements coming soon!
2026 Plans
After 2025, what do we have planned for 2026? Honestly not as much as expected. We are still in the planning stages but so far, we have planned:
- A couple’s trip to Vegas in January
- Spring Break in Seattle and Vancouver
- Kids want to do another summer break trip to NJ.
- I want to take a trip with Latina Travel Club
- ???? (Any ideas for the end of the year, let me know!)
I also plan to use the first quarter to get my book out and work on developing more products and content for my blog, as well as putting more structure around my finance consulting business, since I have a little break.
This year had its ups and downs like all years, but I am glad to have the supportive family and community I have to get me through it. Working on this blog has always been a passion project, a light that keeps me going. Thank you for following along and always being there. Cheers to 2026.
* Starred Photos taken by Atma Photography
Edited by SKS
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