[youtube id=”mAIdmyE5TEs” width=”70%” height=”40%”]
My makeup tutorial on how to get a rested and refreshed look…
even after a long flight!
For complete details on products used, check out “What’s in my travel makeup bag?”
Popular travel and lifestyle blog featuring travel tips, fashion, food and photography from around the world. Follow Kiersten on her adventures!
Spending a year abroad sounds exciting… until you see the planning involved.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Flights, edits, contracts, itineraries — not to mention the admin of being a mom. I’m usually running everything at once, so having a laptop that can keep up makes a huge difference.
I’ve been using an AMD Ryzen AI–powered laptop to keep everything organized, run AI tools even when WiFi isn’t available, and work from wherever we happen to be in the world.
So I can finish what I need to do… and get back to what’s most important ❤️
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
#AMDPartner #AMDRyzenAIPower #ad
@AMD
Some places are worth coming back to 🐧
Boulders Beach, Cape Town with Oliver
9 months → 21 months → 3.5 years
I blinked and my baby become a toddler…
and my toddler become a little boy. 😭
January Wrapped 🗓️
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
We landed in Cape Town mid-January and hit the ground running.
Oliver and I packed up our life and moved abroad for a year — chasing a simple question: what’s the best that could happen?
My parents joined us for the first month — which meant extra hands, loving support, and the sweetest way to begin this chapter.
Between toddler sickness (IYKYK) and playing full-time tour guide, we somehow managed to squeeze in so much life.
A long weekend in Paternoster.
Glamping under the stars at Camp Canoe.
Summertime in the city.
Oliver starting at his new preschool.
Adventures through the Cape Winelands.
Slow weekends at the farmer’s market.
Afternoons stretched long at the beach.
It’s been messy and magical.
Exhausting and energizing.
Somewhere between pharmacy runs and beach swims, it started to feel less like a move…
and more like the start of our biggest adventure yet! 🌍
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
#capetown
Sun-drenched mornings, salty air, and the kind of place that makes you instantly exhale @waldorfastoriacostarica ✌️
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Our stay at this brand-new property was truly a dream — sweeping ocean views, elevated design, and more pools than I’ve ever seen at a hotel in my entire life.
From award-winning wellness to coconuts by the pool, every detail felt thoughtful and intentional.
🧖♀️ The Spa
Recently named Costa Rica’s Best Resort Spa, this sanctuary blends modern wellness with local healing traditions — volcanic mud rituals, rainforest-inspired therapies, and grounding treatments that leave you floating.
🛎️ Amenities
World-class service, beachfront access, a stunning collection of pools (truly — endless), curated experiences, and those sweet elevated touches everywhere you turn. Newly opened, yet already operating like a seasoned 5-star icon.
💦 Kids’ Club
One of the coolest spaces for littles — crafts, games, toys, and outdoor play areas that made traveling with Oliver feel easy (and fun for him, too).
🥥 The Food & Coffee
Fresh, locally sourced Costa Rican flavors with elevated execution. Oceanfront bites, poolside snacks, handcrafted coffee experiences, and yes… plenty of coconuts.
🌿 Sustainability
Proud holders of the Bandera Azul Ecológica for conservation and environmental efforts — luxury and responsibility beautifully intertwined.
We truly cannot wait to come back. ✨
If you’re looking for a luxury, family-friendly escape in Costa Rica — this is your spot.
A huge thank you to @waldorfastoriacostarica for hosting us on this sunshine-soaked getaway.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
#costarica #waldorfastoria #luxuryfamilytravel #familytravel
A little late sharing this — but I needed time to sit with 2025. It was so much more than what made it to Instagram.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
This was the year I stopped measuring life in miles traveled… and started measuring it in the days we weren’t promised.
Not in passport stamps.
Not in hotel check-ins.
Not in how far we could go.
But in the quiet relief of “clear.”
In small hands squeezing mine tighter.
In birthday candles and quiet camping mornings.
In laughter that came back after fear.
2025 was the plot twist year.
The year I learned strength doesn’t look like control —
it looks like surrender.
It looks like showing up anyway.
It looks like choosing joy even when you know how fragile it is.
And it looks like being surrounded by the people who love us most.
We traveled the world.
But more importantly —
we celebrated what we almost lost.
And at the end of it all?
We packed up our life and chose a new continent. 🇿🇦
2025, you were heavy.
You were also beautiful.
You changed me.
2026 — I’m ready.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
#2025wrapped
Footer
I’m on hostelbookers mailing list, and just checked their travel blogger awards post and i’ve been quickly going through the list, looking for some awesome bloggers. Made my way to yours, saw this video, and got inspired!
Don’t you just hate those super long flights (24hrs or more), or the brutal long haul, bus rides (19hrs or more), and at the end of those trips, you now resemble a zombie, clothes all tattered and dirty, you’re missing flesh around the face, a few front teeth and even an eye ball, perhaps. Well folks, to get that rested look, I’d like to share with you my one and only travel make up tip that’ll you’ll ever need:
step 1 – take a big, as wide as you can bite on the passenger directly next to you. within seconds, this person will turn into a zombie and begin infecting the next person. the process will continue to repeat itself, until all passengers are now zombies. screw, looking rested. be a zombie.
adios.
Hi Lovely, where can I buy the HD makeup forever make up ? I want to try it. 🙂
Hey Kendra! You can get it at Sephora 🙂 http://www.sephora.com/hd-invisible-cover-foundation-P217905?SKUID=1097013&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=1097013&om_mmc=ppc-gg-pla