Cambria is a charming coastal town off California's beautiful Highway 1. It's a wonderful destination for those looking for a relaxing getaway. During our recent trip to Cambria, we stayed one night at the White Water Cambria hotel; which was the perfect stop on our way back from Santa Barbara to San Francisco.

The Maldives is one of those few places that blow your expectations out of the water.  One couldn't possibly dream up a paradise as gorgeous as these 1,100+ islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The amazing teal colored water, palm trees perfectly placed on gorgeous islands, fresh fish caught daily, and sunshine 365 days of the year -- it's pure bliss.

When I booked our stay at the Royal Palms Resort & Spa through AMEX Travels I had somewhat high expectations but if I’m being honest I thought the property was going to be a tad outdated. I’m usually a mid-century modern, clean white space kind of gal, and from the online photos, Royal Palm Springs looked like the opposite of my aesthetic. And I was right — the aesthetic was totally different than what I’m typically drawn to but wow, it was absolutely stunning in its own way!

We spent ten days in Mallorca in late July after traveling to the Netherlands and Germany. After a busy work season, it was so nice to unplug and relax finally with zero agenda besides drinking good wine, eating paella, and jumping in the ocean. It had been over ten years since we last visited Spain, and somehow it was even more gorgeous than when we spent time here in 2012.

Paros Palace set the bar high (like really, really high) for the rest of our trip in Greece. Just a 15 minute walk or 5 minute taxi ride from the Paros Port, Paros Palace sits on the side of a hill overlooking the ocean and the mountains nearby.  The views are absolutely breathtaking as you can see in the photos above and that's just one of the many perks of this little oasis overlooking the Aegean Sea.