Today is the day I leave for Paris, France. In a few short days I will be home, but in the meantime please enjoy my second guest post.

1. Introduce yourself please
Hello, Wastemytime readers! I’m Stephanie. I’m twenty-three, married, and living in Kentucky. I also run a personal style blog over at Take-Hart.com!

2. How long have you been blogging for? Why do you blog?
Oh my gosh- I have been blogging for a very, very long time! It’s honestly kind of insane to think about it, but I started when I was 14. Fourteen! I originally started on free sites like Expage, Geocities, etc. I believe I had my first domain by age 16. Blogging has changed quite a lot since then, but it’s pretty neat to say that I was part of a much smaller population that brought it on and helped shape it into something as common as it is today!

I started blogging because I’ve always had a lot of thoughts and I’ve always been quite fascinated with the idea of the documentation of life. I wrote in journals and diaries literally from the time that I could write and I would just write about my day and what I felt. Pretty funny to read some of those now! When I was introduced to a home personal computer (Windows95, baby!) I was obsessed with typing all of those thoughts out in Wordpad, and then I moved on to blogging. I blog today for the same reasons that I started- thought overload. But also for the sense of community. Over the years my blog has evolved into more targeted interests in which I enjoy writing about to an audience, rather than just putting my diary thoughts out on the web for no real reason. This type of blogging is much more rewarding for me, and I’ve met so many great people!

3. Where have you traveled/gone on a vacation? why? Did you go with anyone?
When I lived in Florida, I vacationed in Florida. I lived inland and my Mom & I would just take our vacation about two hours over to the Gulf of Mexico. That was mostly the extent of my travels until I moved to Kentucky in 2006. My two favorite trips have been to Hawaii and Chicago. Nate and I took our honeymoon in Hawaii and if we had not had a brand new house to look forward to coming back to, I probably would’ve refused to come home. Ha! Chicago was a mini vacation and my first experience of a truly large city. I loved it! These have both been “married” trips- the best kind!

4. Are you planning to travel/go on a vacation this summer? Why/why not? where? with who?
I will hopefully be able to go home (to Florida) toward the end of the Summer, but I will most likely be going alone. Nothing is for sure yet! I haven’t been home in over a year, so I’m starting to get pretty antsy!

5. Where in the future would you like to travel/go on a vacation? Why?
Oh wow, I want to go so many places! I definitely want to travel out of the country. Italy, France, England, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia! I’m ready to go. But seriously? I would go back to Hawaii in a heartbeat. I’m a creature of habit. I also want to visit all 50 states, eventually!

6. One thing you learned about yourself while traveling or while on a vacation?

I learned that I can be independent when I need to be, which is something I’ve always struggled with. My first real “traveling” experience was to Kentucky to stay with a friend for the Summer. I rode up from Florida vacation with she and her family and when it was time to go home I had to fly for the first time all by myself! I’ve always had trouble doing things alone or by myself (and still do!). I realized on that trip that I can do whatever I want to do if I want it badly enough- and that has definitely lead me to where I am today!

7. Best travel/vacation memory?
I have so many. It really depends on which portion of my life we’re talking about, but I’ll go with the current. One of my greatest memories of our honeymoon in Hawaii was during our stay in Maui. It’s so simple, but so clear in my mind- and I remember thinking in that moment, “I’m going to remember this forever.” We had a huge bay window in our living room that stretched along the entire condo- it’s the most gorgeous view I’ve ever had the pleasure of witnessing. One afternoon we came back after a long morning of snorkeling and traveling the island. We opened the sliding glass doors and I curled up in a comfy chair by the window in the sun, read a book, and listened to the waves crashing while Nate napped. I’ve never been more at peace than I was in that moment.

8. Worst travel/vacation memory?
Probably the time my Mom, Dad, and I traveled to Alabama to visit my Dad’s brother/my uncle who had just had a stroke. I was about 8 or 9. Our car broke down, everyone was grouchy, we were traveling for crappy reasons, and we were stuck at a hotel for about a week while our car was being fixed.. right next to a Cracker Barrel .. where we ate three meals a day for a week! Can we say, TIRED OF CRACKER BARREL?

9. Do you use a budget when traveling or while on vacation? why/why not?
Luckily, by the time I needed to be doing that- I got married. There goes that independence thing right out the window, huh? Nate always has an idea of what we’re going to spend, but I don’t think he makes a strict budget. Vacation is supposed to be fun and carefree, so we don’t go crazy but we also make sure we don’t have to worry much about it.

10. Best travel tip you’ve ever received?
Always put the things that you can’t live without in your carry on. My bag has never been lost, but if it ever happens I will be prepared! Contacts, retainers- things that can’t be replaced- always go in the carry on. Also, don’t be a travel diva. It’s not necessary. Look cute, sure, but don’t wear your stilettos and your lace bodycon dress with loads of accessories on a 9 hour flight. I will judge you, hard.

Thanks so much Stephanie.