A business trip to DC is always welcome. It gives me a good excuse to visit friends in DC--i.e. friends at the Travel Channel like Anthony Bourdain! :P Just kidding.
Had a blast visiting Arthur during the holiday season...diving straight into the deep end in the world of Scotch--becoming properly initiated among these seasoned Scotch connoisseurs. These guys seriously know what they're doing, and I'm so lucky to learn from the best! What a brilliant party....complete with a fresh mozzarella salad and home cured salmon. Mmm. Great company, great food, and great petty, smokey, strong Scotch.
I also got to see my one of my besties from college, Jordan, is my go to gal / stylist / publicist extraordinaire! In addition to showing me how to wear my belts the DC way, she reminded me how to chill out and enjoy the beauty of making queso dip and just gabbing like girls do. We also did a little moonlight monument tour, which was wonderful to experience at our own slow pace. That, paired with a delicious spin around the city made DC a surprisingly charming place to be. It's too bad we don't live closer together--she's so much fun!
Back in Denver, I found myself jumping into a number of projects...
Hanging with the gals from the Colorado Tourism office--Holla!
And taking charge of a few shoots:
But life's not all work, and no play.
There's always time to go out with friends, stay out late, and act like you're 22!
Sometimes you gotta seize the moment. Like if it's November and you feel like hanging out on the rooftop in a bikini. Why not? And have some yogurt while you're at it!
I love to try new restaurants. Sometimes the budget is tight, but you gotta do it, once in a while. You feel like you're on vacation in your own town.
Speaking of trying new things...how's this for a new do? Same same, but different.
With the holidays coming up, it's important to spend time with the ones you care about. I'm lucky to still be in contact with my friends from high school! These ladies have known me forever, and it's wonderful.
Tripfilms has an impressive video library and large travel community. Click on "Editor's Pick"when browsing to find the best of the best for your travel lusting and travel planning.
...and I thank you for all your support! Many of you know that this summer, I was selected for an amazing position that involved two of my biggest passions, travel and filmmaking! I was selected among hundreds of candidates for a job aptly titled the Dream Travel Job! Viator, the leading booking and researching online travel site for 'things to do', sent myself and fun Canadian guy named Brock on a mission to explore North America. It was our job to experience the best tours each city had to offer, and get it all on tape.
We had an incredible summer traveling to 20+ cities visiting famous landmarks, food tours, and experiences insane adrenaline rushes. This video represents my whole summer traveling around North America. In less than three months, we produced over a hundred travel videos (which are starting to roll out day by day):
After our grand trip, we were tasked to create a 5-minute wrap-up video about our North American adventure, and, rivaling our friends from Team Europe, we battled to win $10,000. The catch? The winner was was based entirely on VOTES!!!
And man, we put in a good fight. We promoted on Facebook and Twitter, we spammed our friends, and we campaigned our pants off, winning handfuls of votes day by day for THREE WEEKS! But day by day, the competition was neck and neck. But with the help of our friends, we got votes! Lots of them. Five thousand and sixty three votes to be exact! I never imagined we would have so much support. Five thousand times my friends said, "I support you", and five thousand times, I said, "thank you, I love you"! I was absolutely amazed at the support, and touched to see how many people cared!
It was a very close race, down to the very last minute. A very controversial minute, but nonetheless, a minute: Dear friends, words can't express how happy I am to have great people in my life like you...friends who stand by me through and through. Even when I spam you with FB posts and ask you to vote every 24 hours, you come through. Even in the final hour, when it looks like we're down by 50 votes, and then just in time, we win by one, you come through! We tallied up over 5,000 votes in the past three weeks! I'm so overwhelmed by all of your support. ;) Unfortunately, Brock & I did not win this battle. Viator cut the voting off at 11:59pm PST on Tuesday night, so despite the screenshots you've seen, the votes that put us over were not counted. In the end, we lost by a mere 4 votes. Team Europe = 5,067 = Team North America = 5,063. It was a very close game--every single vote really did count! So, I just wanted to say THANK YOU for all of your support. I am so touched by your response. You played well, and you played nicely, and I am really proud of that. Great game, everyone! Thank you for coming along on this adventure with me, and thank you for celebrating the even greater adventure I had this summer. The videos are turning out beautifully (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiheGfSy3neH8tHr0MBLQaFabL8E5WgJW), and I am very proud of our work. I absolutely walk away a winner. Huge congrat's to my friends, Duzer and Asha for winning the $10K. They are just as hard working and deserving of this prize, and I know they will put the money to good use. ;) Feel free to "LIKE" TravelingJules to keep in touch with my next adventures! There's always something awesome in store. LOVE YOU! I just wanted to say, from the bottom of my heart, how touched I am that all of you supported me through this incredible opportunity, from the beginning to the very end. I am so blessed to have such great people in my life. Thanks for getting excited with me about my trip. Thanks for following along the adventure. Thanks for remembering to vote everyday during the contest period. Thanks for enjoying the amazing videos we created. It means the world. I also want to say THANK YOU to VIATOR for this incredible opportunity to travel all around North America and experience some of the best 'things to do' in over 20 cities! Words cannot express how grateful I am to have had this chance to be creative, see the world, and do what I love! We worked hard, we played well, and we have lots to be proud of. I absolutely walk away a winner. I can only hope that the adventure will continue in 2013...my bags are packed, let's go!
In closing, I wanted to share with you some of the videos I am so proud of. These are our adventures from destinations like Las Vegas, Oahu, Vancouver, New Orleans, and New York. You'll find short videos about rafting down the Grand Canyon, exploring the Garden District in New Orleans, and seeing our Lady Liberty up close in New York!
Videos starring Juliana Broste. Filmed by Brock Groombridge.
Videos starring Brock Groombridge. Filmed by Juliana Broste.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiheGfSy3neHIH7JmF3f8sgFufny7Hmlo There are more videos on the way--including locations such as Miami, Maui, Chicago, LA, Montreal, Boston, Orlando, Washington DC, San Diego, and the Big Island of Hawaii! They are great fun for travel dreaming and travel planning. Stay tuned!
What was
your favorite tour? Everyday
was a new adventure. One of our
last tours really took my breath away.
We got to fly over an active volcano in Hawaii in an open-door
helicopter—WOW! Imagine sticking
your head out of the window, seeing bubbling hot lava beneath you, and feeling a
wave of heat on your face--it was incredible! I also had a ball on some of the adventure activities we got
up to: We went whitewater rafting at the Grand Canyon, we raced dune buggies
around the desert in Las Vegas, and we went cliff jumping in Hawaii. Yeah, I scared myself a little, but it
was totally worth it.
Any
travel tips you learned? No
matter where you go, you can never see it all—so enjoy the time you have and
save the rest for your next trip! Oh
yeah, and Brock taught me that it is possible to travel with three
t-shirts. I am impressed.
Favorite
city you visited? I
love New York for the people watching, Vancouver for the natural beauty, New
Orleans for the food, Las Vegas for the spectacle, Maui for the beaches, the
list goes on and on.
Favorite
food? I always
make an effort to try local food, and New Orleans absolutely wins the prize for
food! Between the etouffee and
gumbo, po boys and beignets—I looked forward to every single meal! The craziest thing I ate was poutine in
Montreal. It was a giant heap of
French fries, cheese curds and gravy.
It was disgusting and delicious, all at the same time. What a guilty pleasure!
Favorite
beer or alcoholic beverage? There
were lots of yummy beverages to try on our trip, but I’d have to say the wine
tour through Napa and Sonoma was at the top of my list. We got to go behind the scenes, check
out the vineyards, and taste the wine right out of the barrel. Mmmm. I also really enjoyed the pink Cosmo we had in New York City
while on the Sex and the City Tour.
I felt like one of the girls.
Most
interesting fact you learned? I learned
a lot about volcanoes and lava on the Big Island of Hawaii—it was fascinating
to discover how the lava forms, sometimes it looks like a whole tray of
brownies, while other lava flows look like Oreo cookie crumbles! We also found mysteriously deep holes
in the lava, which were created by lava that wrapped around a tree stump, and
then burned the tree into ashes, leaving a gaping hole. Very cool!
What was
your music of choice on this trip?
I always let Brock take control of the iPod, but he never failed to pick
tunes we could jam out to. Best
music memory? Rocking out to music
while driving down The Strip in a blue convertible….Classic!
What
destination would you revisit? All of
them. Just like most good trips, you never have enough time. I would love to go back to Hawaii to
lay on those beautiful white sand beaches for a few days...revisit Miami to
enjoy some more Cuban coffee and play Dominoes with the locals at Calle Ocho…return
to New Orleans to study the art of cooking…head to Vegas to have a peek inside all
of those over-the-top hotels…can we do it all again?
One word
to sum up your experience?
UNBELIEVABLE! Did that
really happen? I am still pinching
myself.
What was
your favorite way to see the Grand Canyon? We were lucky to go to the Grand Canyon
several times on our visit to Las Vegas.
At one point, I was filming Brock eating a sandwich in front of an
incredible vista, and he says, “Wow, it’s not everyday you can eat lunch and
look out at the Grand Canyon—hang on, yes you can! I’ve done it everyday this week!” That was hilarious.
I REALLY enjoyed white water rafting down the Colorado River. It was so cool to look up at the
massive canyon walls, and get out and explore some of the hidden treasures
along the way like Travertine Falls.
There, we climbed up wobbly rope ladders to find a cave with a beautiful
waterfall pouring down…you could even walk through it! That was amazing!!!
Favorite souvenir? When I first departed for my 60-day adventure, my
pink suitcase filled to the brim…so there wasn’t much room for shopping. But, that didn’t hold me back! I admit, I had a field day at Disney
World. I bought some heavy-coin
belly dancing hip scarves and a panda umbrella at Epcot’s World Showcase. I’m also excited about the spices I
bought in New Orleans so I can try making gumbo at home after seeing the pros
do it at the New Orleans Cooking School!
MMmmm!
Click here to read the Q&A with the Dream Travel Job Teams on Viator.com:
