Bahamas!

Map of the Islands
Courtesy of antiguaobserver.com

Being that my passport came in today, I thought it would be fun to blog about a vacation destination outside the United States. Keeping with the warm theme, a fun place to explore would be the Bahamas!

First, stop everything racing in your mind and try to relax. Now, imagine the warm sun on your skin and your toes in the whitest sand possible. You look out and see the bluest waters splashing against the shore. The green landscape is wild yet so beautiful in its nature with colors that are pure and rich. You have no where to be. There is no schedule that you have to follow. You are simply living in the moment. A moment with no worries or any form of technology. There is an ice cold beverage in your hand, and your loved ones by your side. 

Bahamas
Courtesy of travel.nationalgeographic.com

Bahamas offer this and so much more! They have an amazing culture with awesome traditions. Bahamian cuisine is going to be more on the spicy side. Being that the Bahamas are made up of a bunch of small islands seafood is a big part of the diet. Something unique is the “rock lobster.” Typically served with rice, spices, and other crisp vegetables it will have your taste buds wanting more. For those who do not enjoy seafood not to worry. They offer many other types of foods. For more check out: Frommers.

Junkanoo Dancer
Courtesy bahamas.com

If your looking for something unique to the Bahamas check out Junkanoo. It is an awesome energetic, colorful parade with unique Bahamian costumes and dance to cowbells, drums, whistles, and horns. It is said to have been started by a man named, John Canoe, who was a slave from the west indies. Wanting to be able to celebrate with his people he created this parade in the 16th century. Today it has grown into a national tradition and offers year-round shows for guest.

The Bahamas offer so much to explore! This is one vacation destination you will not be disappointed in!

Blogging

When a person mentions blogging my mind immediately thinks of long documents that are all opinionated. While this may be true majority of the time, if you know how to properly use a blog and specifically search for the information you are wanting to find, blogs can be a great thing. Blogs offer resources that can take you to credible sites and offer great information. They can be a way for people to share photos of places they have been and what they have seen. Blogs are a great way of sharing your ideas and messages for people all over the world to see.

One of the websites I found to be very helpful on the basics of blogging was WebSEO. Here they even list the definitions of the words blog and blogging. Not only this but they truly show you ways to optimize your search experience.

As blogging has become more and more popular over the years it has also become a great way for companies to communicate with their clients. Thanks to social media I was able to find this great article by Maddie Russell on the website, SocialMediaExplorer, which is very beneficial for people starting there own companies to look over. This article offered advice on ways to increases the traffic of your blog site by talking about specific steps you can take. For instance, posting the right kind of content, how long your post need to be, and even how often you should post. 

If you need more basic steps to blogging or do not have a company blog maybe take a look at this article by AndrewHutchinson. In this article he does a great job breaking down exactly what words you should be using and what words to leave out. Blogging gets your opinion out there and is important so if you want your voice to be heard taking these appropriate steps can make a difference.

Hawaii

Being that it is so brutally cold this winter, I thought a great vacation destination to kick-off my blog would be the beautiful islands of Hawaii. What is there not to love about Hawaii. Located in the middle of the pacific oceans these eight islands offer breathtaking ocean views as well as amazing landscapes. According to 50 States, Hawaii became part of the United States of America on August 21, 1959. The state capital, Honolulu, is located on the largest of the islands. For people who want the option to explore or relax on vacation Hawaii offers both opportunities.

A couple of years ago I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to travel to Maui, Hawaii. One of the things that I enjoyed most about this place was the rainforest. While the beaches are stunning and the water is an amazing color of blue, the rainforest was such a unique experience. It is not everyday you go somewhere on vacation and get an opportunity like that. In Maui a great way to truly explore the island is by traveling the road to Hana. 

Hana is small town outside Maui. The “Road to Hana” is a common tourist attraction and great way to explore the island. Along the journey you will have the opportunity to swim under natural waterfalls and see the most dense rainforests. For the beach lovers you will have the chance to see a black sand beaches and the seven sacred pools. Movie buffs can see the park where parts of the first Jurassic Park movie was filmed. The road to Hana is a great all day trip of your vacation in Maui that is well worth it. 

Besides the dense rainforest another attraction of Hawaii is the beautiful beaches. While there are places that have sandy beaches and are very nice most of the water from the ocean collides with the lava rock. It is very neat seeing the bluest of water smash up against these dark black rock that was created from a volcanic explosion many years ago. 

Not only will you experience neat landscapes but animals as well. There are many opportunities to go snorkeling in the reefs off the island. Here you will see all types of creatures from huge humpback whales to tropical fish and sea turtles. The iguanas and animals you find on the island are just as unique as what you may experience in the water.

If your looking for your next laid back destination Hawaii is the place for you. With great people, food, and vegetation you will have the time of your life in one of the most beautiful state the U.S. has to offer. For more information about Hawaii here is a great website to check out: GoHawaii

What Is Social Media?

To me social media is a combination of communicating with people and sharing who you are and what you represent in the process, as well as a place where people can research and discover things currently happening or that have already happened in society. Social media is what connects us to the world around us. 

Think of all the social media platforms right now. Majority of them if not all of them allow people to communicate their own individual beliefs and ideas. This is one of the cool things that social media has to offer. 

You can learn so much about people based on their personal beliefs that are posted to social media. On the downside to this, you have to be aware if the story has any credibility or not as well. Everyone needs to be careful not to believe everything they read on the internet until they do more research and investigate the situation.

One of the neat things that social media platforms like Facebook, and Twitter have allowed us to do is keep in contact with people as we journey through life. We are able to see photos and read comments that people share of big events and celebrate moments. This all happens in real time. We can snap and post a photo in seconds and other people are able to comment and like something that we have shared.

This is another reason why we need to be aware of our social media reputation. Once something is available or uploaded online it is never taken away. Even though we make think we have deleted or erased something, someone else could have already had the quote or photo saved. 

I am very cautious about what is represented about me through social media. I have always been afraid of even creating accounts and belonging to websites just because I did not like the idea of people knowing things about my personal life. However, you can have a presence in social media and not be afraid about what people can find out about your life.

Every social media site offers privacy settings. These settings are there for you to take advantage of. By keeping privacy settings on your sites in control you not only block people you do not want finding you from finding you, but also show potential employers that you are aware of your social media presence and know how to maintain it.