Hello and welcome to AXW Travels!

I created this site to share my traveling adventures with family and friends who like to live vicariously through me through my adventures. I hope to inspire everyone to travel the world and experience new sites and cultures! To date, I’ve traveled to 68 countries (according to the Traveler's Century Club), and my goal is to be able to join that club with 100 countries! While I still have a ways to go, it’s a lot of fun writing about the adventures I’ve had so far.

On this site, you can find stories of my adventures I’ve written so far, recipes from some of my favorite dishes I’ve experienced while traveling, and tips I use when planning or traveling.

AXW Travels

7 Reasons Why I Won’t Travel in Idaho Again During COVID-19

In September 2020, my husband and I decided to visit three national parks in the western United States – Glacier, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton. Each park was amazing and gorgeous, but a few areas raised some concerns about our health and safety related to COVID-19.

axwestlake

Nov 26, 20203 min read

South Carolina – Escaping the Snow

Sometimes, when the weather is bad and flights are delayed and canceled, things seem to work out. I was at a customer site in Columbia, SC for a few days. On the third day, there was snow in the forecast. As you can probably guess, Columbia doesn’t get much snow so they don’t handle it very well. Around noon, the customer told me we should cancel the class for the rest of the day and I should try to get out of town asap.

axwestlake

Jan 1, 20103 min read

Ohio – Traveling with Cats

When I moved from Seattle to Cleveland in November 2003, I was very clever (or thought I was!) by donating all of my furnishings and shipping about 30 boxes to Ohio with all of my personal stuff. I didn’t have a place to live yet so I shipped all 30 boxes to my friend’s home. I think I still owe her a good dinner since the boxes showed up on her doorstep on a snowy, cold evening and she moved them all into her dining room that night.

axwestlake

Sep 30, 20055 min read

Utah – Canyon Hiking

In the summer of 2003, I flew to St George, UT for a short hiking trip with some friends. I didn’t know what to expect but the area was stunning. The pictures don’t do it justice. This post has no story… just pictures of my experience.

axwestlake

Jun 30, 20031 min read

Washington – National Parks

In the summer of 2002, I took a few weekends to visit various parts in Washington. This post just has some pictures from this trip around Washington.

axwestlake

Jun 30, 20021 min read

Hawaii – Kona with Colleagues

In 2002, a couple of colleagues and I wanted to escape from work so we decided on a long weekend trip to Kona, Hawaii.

axwestlake

Jan 31, 20023 min read

Alabama – Out in the Boonies

At a previous company, we had customers in some pretty remote locations across the United States. One that sticks out in my mind is Troy, Alabama. Troy is about an hour south of Montgomery and feels like a world away.

axwestlake

May 30, 20003 min read

South Dakota – Lost Luggage

This story is from one of my business trips. It was early on in my traveling career when I still checked luggage rather than carried it on. This trip to South Dakota changed my mind and I started carrying my bags on.

axwestlake

Jun 29, 19993 min read

Texas – Staying at a Roadside Motel

I’ve learned a lot about traveling over the past 20 years of business travel. One that sticks out in my mind is the difference between “hotel” and “motel.”

axwestlake

May 30, 19993 min read

Mexico – Kayaking in Baja California

Do you remember the first time you realized that the job you had would pay you to go on vacation? For me, it was 1997. I worked at a local university, and it was my first “real” job. Around June of that year, I looked at my first paystub and saw my vacation balance for the first time. How amazing is that? This employer will pay me not to work! I began planning my first vacation as an adult.

axwestlake

Dec 31, 199710 min read