Nicki's Travel Newsletter
Welcome to Nicki’s travel newsletter where I share travel deals, stories, current blogs – that will be more in depth of some of my travel videos you see online, travel finds I love, and more! (Follow me on Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook,, and Instagram)!
Hello!
Happy New Year! I hope everyone is off to a great start this year. I just realized I have not written a newsletter since early September, and I apologize.
I ended up spending a month in French Polynesia island hopping after my last newsletter went out. Unbelievable trip. If you have been around for a while, you know my love for that region of the world is endless.
I have now stayed at all the resorts in Bora Bora (there are seven). I plan to write about them soon and do a comparison to help you for planning.
On this trip, I did a two week island hopping cruise that went to the Society Islands, Marquesas Islands and the Tuamotus. I am so happy I did this trip because it allowed me a deeper exploration into the islands and gave me inspiration for places to return to.
If you want to read about that trip, which was one of my favorites for the year, I wrote a blog about Island Hopping in French Polynesia on a cruise.
After French Polynesia, I took my family on a vacation to Sedona, Arizona. I had not been back since early 2017, and it really is beautiful. I’m glad we got have that shared experience.
We ate at a lot of great restaurants, had some fun activities and stayed at a beautiful resort. I wrote a blog on that trip, here is my Sedona Guide!
In October, I went to Qatar for work. I went once before in 2021 with my best friend on vacation, loved it then. Love it more now! This trip was a deeper exploration of Doha and getting out to the desert.
Every single night, the sunset was a kaleidoscope of colors sinking into the horizon.
Qatar is an amazing standalone destination - but if you are planning to visit the Maldives or any destination that Qatar Airways flies, they have an amazing stopover program where you can get hotels at steep discounts, allowing you to get two trips instead of one.
I promise to write a guide for this trip soon.
After Qatar, I went to Europe for a couple weeks on a Christmas Market Cruise! Wow, is all I can say. I went with Scenic on a two week trip from Budapest to Amsterdam. My friend and I were able to get to 16 Christmas markets!!
Arguably, the best way to see Christmas Markets in Europe without having to figure out the logistics of moving constantly. The river cruise was very calm, all-inclusive (including drinks and excursions) and just an overall fantastic experience.
Here is the company I went with: Scenic They were generous enough to give me a discount code for anyone who wants it: NICKI24 - you can stack this with all other offers they have. It gives you an additional $100 off per guest!
I promise to write about this cruise as well and pack it with tons of information. It was a big trip. Scenic offers shorter cruises as well - you don’t have to do two weeks if you can’t get away for that period of time.
After Europe, I came home and it was my birthday! I didn’t do anything because I had just come off a huge trip and I was preparing for oral surgery. I took the rest of the year off from work.
My brother and I went to California the week of Christmas. We stayed right outside of San Diego in Coronado at the Hotel del Coronado! This was an excellent getaway. Unfortunately, I didn’t take many photos or videos (sorry), but if you are looking for a Christmas escape this year or any other year, this hotel has it all: ice skating rink, igloo’s on the beach, Christmas décor galore, gingerbread house classes, afternoon tea, and so much more.
We dined at a lot of great restaurants, which there is no shortage of in the area, visited a lot of bars (love the Holiday themed ones) and caught an amazing sunset every single night!
10/10 recommend this destination for a holiday getaway!
Right after Christmas, I went to Banff, Canada for a cold end of the year!
I had always imagined visiting Banff when it was not snowing, say July. However, a snowy escape just sounded appealing to wrap the year up.
I stayed at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. Amazing hotel. Zero complaints. The downtown area is cute with a lot of shops and restaurants.
I did quite a few things while visiting, but I think my personal favorite was Johnston Canyon. It is a mile hike in the ice and snow, but absolutely beautiful. You can do the lower or upper canyon. The upper canyon is about three miles.
Anyway, absolutely stunning!
They do not do fireworks or anything for New Years Eve .. there was a gala at the hotel and of course, the bars were open. Kind of a lowkey NYE, but that is how I like it.
I will also write about this trip soon as well! I am a little behind since I have been on the road a lot.
That catches us up to now, January 2025! I only really know what I am doing the next few weeks, but I know this year is going to be full of adventures. Where? I have no idea - that is the beauty of it all.
Travel Deals:
I started updating my blog weekly with all the best travel deals I can find, making it easy for you to scroll and see if anything piques your interest!
Here are this weeks travel deals: ACCESS THE TRAVEL DEALS
Popular articles on the blog:
Best overwater bungalows by the USA
Maximizing time off in 2025 - get 49 days off for 15 days of PTO
Travel Hacking - how to get free hotels and flights
Best Places to Visit in March with Great Weather!
Best Places to Visit in March in the USA
Digital products:
If you want to get into my line of work (AKA getting paid to travel) I recommend my ebook “get paid to travel”.”
Get Paid to Travel - if you are ready to leave the 9-5 and live a life of travel, my comprehensive e-book teaches everything to get into the business I am in! You will need to put in the work, but it has been the most rewarding career and business. I earn multiple 6 figures doing this as a career! If you buy this guide, it already has the Instagram Reels for travel creators as a bonus (which is the e-book below).
Pitch email templates - this is for creators who already have a brand and are ready to get work from hotels, tourism boards and cruise lines. (Please do not buy this if you have my other e-book - get paid to travel - as it is in there!)
Instagram Reels for travel creators – this is my e-book I created teaching travel creators how to have success with reels, which is what Instagram is prioritizing now over in feed photos. I grew my own account to almost 900K in well under three years and a new account over 120K in 30 days - same methods. I grew a client in the travel space to over 260,000 in a year and two months (said client is now over 360k+ in 1 year and 7 months)! (Please do not buy this if you have my other e-book - get paid to travel - as it is in there!)
Edit your photos AND videos like me - I created presets awhile back and you can edit your photos and now videos. with easy 1 step presets. Super easy to download and use. Please note - Lightroom mobile now charges a fee to edit videos in their app.