Yellow Rain Jacket (on sale)! || Skirt from Talbots || Shirt from Talbots || Sneakers || Bag || Camera

The way I plan most of my trips now, since blogging full-time, is through story telling. That might sound weird but I always think of TCC readers and what they’d like to see and what stories they would like to hear; before finalizing any details of my trip.

Just like if you were to sit down with your friend and chat about your most recent vacation, I want to bring you guys along for the best moments and stories of our trip. So when planning I knew I wanted to bring the very British storyline of Falconry to TCC Readers. It’s something that’s always interested me, and the whole experience felt very much like a moment from the Netflix show ‘The Crown’. 

Let’s just say once again I felt like I was in my element. I was lucky enough to be traveling with my family whom I knew had no fears of birds, as we’d be getting up close and personal with these amazing Falcons. I feel confident in saying this activity of our trip was probably the most memorable and enjoyed. 

It was actually our final day in Ireland and it started off at Ashford Castle, specifically the Lodge at Ashford Castle. I actually really loved staying at the Lodge and if I could do the whole trip over again I would 100% stay there longer. 

Tessie, my Mom and I all woke up at 7 AM and got ready for an early breakfast, before heading straight out the door; as we had a traditional boat ride planned for 9 AM. The boat ride was in a small four person handcrafted boat, crafted and driven by Frank as he taught us all about the history of the castle and the Guinness Family Curse.

Once again, I’m a huge history buff, so you bet I had to hear about Ireland’s most prominent family’s curse. You’ll have to google it, because it really is quite interesting and this historic family once owned the beautiful Ashford Castle that you can stay at today. 

Whenever I travel to an area I’m unfamiliar with, I’m huge on booking tours with local residents as it really is the only way to effectively learn and remember the history of the land. & if a tour isn’t available I’ll usually turn towards Youtube before or after my travels to learn about it. Overall, if you visit the castle I highly recommend hiring Frank, for a boat tour. 

Next up we met up with the boys after their epic round of rifle shooting. I only say it’s epic because they had been looking forward to it the entire vacation. To be honest, I think their aim was less than epic but I’ll keep that between us. While they were shooting Tessie and I headed back to the room to shoot some videos and edit pictures. 

It’s really important for me to balance work while traveling. Since our crew is so small, I really don’t have the luxury of checking out during vacations. I’m the first to admit, that being on 24/7 is one of the things I love about my job. It’s a go, go, kind of industry and I wouldn’t want it any other way. 

If you’d like me to do a post on how I manage my blog while traveling…let me know below! 

Anyway at 1 PM we all embarked on our last journey of the vacation…Falconry. We took out two birds with a guide and flew these majestic animals around the castle premises. It was so exciting getting to work one on one with a real falcon and learn more about their talents and skills. 

Animals never cease to surprise me, and I was lucky enough to have both Matt and Tessie around to capture my time with the falcons. Oh and of course, I had to dress the part, I went with a tweed skirt from Talbots and my yellow rain jacket. I was trying to channel Katie Middleton style, did it work? 

After falconry we headed back to our rooms, squeezed in a few emails and packed up for Dublin! We flew out the following day, and I must say, thank goodness. After a week of jam packed sightseeing, photo taking and video recording we were all spent. 

While there are still a few more things on my Ireland bucket list, I’m feeling pretty grateful for all that I was able to see and accomplish with my family in this short time period. 

& don’t worry we’ll be bringing you our full travel guide on Monday. xx Aubrey

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