We spend 3 days exploring beautiful Panama City, Panama before our Panama Canal cruise — and it completely exceeded our expectations! From incredible local Panamanian food to walking the historic streets of Casco Viejo, this trip gave us a deeper appreciation for the culture, history, and flavors of Panama. One of the biggest highlights was trying the legendary Panama Geisha Coffee, considered by many to be the best (and most expensive!) coffee in the world. Some batches have sold for more than $13,000 per pound! We also spent a full day touring the city and visiting some of Panama’s most iconic attractions including the famous Panama Canal locks, the Amador Causeway, the Bridge of the Americas, and the fascinating Panama Viejo Museum. Watching massive ships transiting the canal was an unforgettable experience. And yes… the food was AMAZING. From authentic Panamanian dishes to incredible fish tacos at Maa Goo, this trip was packed with delicious surprises. If you’re planning a Panama Canal cruise, we highly recommend arriving a few days early to explore Panama City. It turned out to be one of the highlights of our entire trip. In this video:
We LOVE our Dynamax Europa 34SS, but before heading out on our HUGE Alaska RV adventure, there was one major thing we knew needed improvement… the water system.
In today’s video, Mike completely rebuilds the RV wet bay using premium Blu Technology water products to create a cleaner, safer, and easier-to-use setup for life on the road. Our goal? PURE drinking water at every faucet in the motorhome.
We install:
✔ .2-micron triple water filtration system
✔ hose reel
✔ Water flow meter
✔ Pressure regulator
✔ Black Tank Flush Valve
✔ Improved sewer hose routing outside the wet bay
Not only should this make RV life easier, but it also gives us much more confidence as we prepare for months of travel through Alaska and beyond.
If you enjoy RV upgrades, motorhome modifications, RV maintenance, and real-world travel prep videos, this one is packed with useful ideas and inspiration. As mentioned here is the link to Blu Tech: https://goblutech.com/LivingPhase2
What would YOU do if your RV’s front tire suddenly blew out at highway speed?
After leaving Roosevelt State Park in Mississippi, we head to Georgia—not for vacation, but for something far more important… safety.
Large motorhomes (Class A, Class C, and Super C) can become nearly impossible to control during a front steering tire blowout. That’s why we made the decision to install the Safe-T-Plus Safe Steering System on our Super C motorhome.
• Honest thoughts (we paid full price—NOT sponsored)
• Real-world driving test over 15+ hours
• Does it actually make a difference?
But it’s not all wrenching and testing… While in Georgia, we also enjoy an incredible southern comfort meal and visit a beautiful veterans memorial park before wrapping up our journey with a peaceful overnight stay at a Harvest Hosts farm.
If you own a motorhome—or plan to—this is one upgrade you NEED to understand. It could genuinely save your life.
After leaving our daughter’s farm in Texas, we head east through Louisiana and into Mississippi… and stumble upon one of the most beautiful and affordable RV parks we’ve ever stayed at.
For 3 days, we camp at Roosevelt State Park—and honestly, this place blew us away.
Our campsite?
✔️ Right on the lake
✔️ Newly refurbished
✔️ Full hookups with 50 amp service + sewer
✔️ Only $47 per night.
But what really made this stop special wasn’t just the view… Nancy is still recovering from TWO knee replacement surgeries just weeks apart—and during this stay, she pushed herself to hike over 7 miles total. Watching her progress in such a peaceful, scenic place made this stop unforgettable.
In this video, we: • Take you on a full tour of Roosevelt State Park • Show you the campsites and amenities • Hike the beautiful wooded trails • Share why this park is a MUST-VISIT for RVers If you’re traveling through Mississippi, don’t skip this hidden gem.
We’re getting ready for our biggest adventure yet—a 3-month RV trip to Alaska. But before we go, we needed to answer one big question… Can we actually survive off-grid in our motorhome?
So we put it to the test. In this video, we unplug completely—no shore power, no water hookups—and push our RV to the limit during a stretch of cloudy, rainy weather (aka worst-case conditions for solar).
Here’s what we tested: • How long our batteries last with little to no solar charging • Living without a water connection or dumping tanks • Managing power, water, and waste in real-world conditions • And the BIG electrical problem we discovered that could’ve ruined our Alaska trip This was a true reality check for boondocking—and what we learned might surprise you.
If you’re planning RV life, boondocking, or a trip to Alaska, this is a test you don’t want to skip.
So… did we make it? Or did everything fall apart? Watch to find out.
Today we are in Cozumel Mexico, and we did some barefoot cooking on our beach excursion. It was a great time! We had margaritas while prepping and then sharing a meal while barefoot on a beautiful Cozumel beach. We highly recommend this excursion if you are in Cozumel.
After our fun on the beach, we went to the wonderful restaurant on Allure of the Seas, “150”. It did NOT disappoint!
Then after our amazing dinner we had some drinks and competed in the game “The Prefect Couple”. It was some real ‘adult’ fun.
As mentioned, before the barefoot beach cookout was announced, we were originally going to go on the Cozumel Bar Hop which is an excursion to book on your own. It is not available through Royal Caribbean or other tour group. We had planned this until this special President’s Cruise Excursion came available. Here is the link to the Cozumel Bar Hop: https://cozumelbarhop.com/
Welcome to Day 5 of our Royal Caribbean President’s Cruise.
Today we are in Costa Maya Mexico on Allure of the Seas. Being on the President’s Cruise we got to swap cruise ships and tour our home for the world cruise, Serenade of the Seas.
There was even a Costa Maya Port takeover! Royal took control of the entire port, and we had a great time with free food, drinks and activities.
Upon returning to the ship, we enjoyed some great food at Chops grill and amazing entertainment from MO5AIC. They were incredible. Here’s a link to find where they are performing. http://www.mo5aic.com/
Continuing enjoying these adventures on the 2023 Allure of the Seas President’s Cruise.
Today we partied with Michael Bayley the President and CEO of Royal Caribbean as Royal Caribbean hosted a beach party in Roatan Honduras. It was an amazing day!!! There was delicious wide variety of food with open bar and a beautiful beach! We had such a fun time. After our day on the beach the delicious food didn’t end there as we ate at Chops, the steakhouse on board Allure of the Seas. This was followed by a great show in the ice rink, Blades. The skating performers were amazing! We hope you enjoy this overview of our day 4 on the Royal Caribbean President’s Cruise. Here is a link to Turquoise Bay Resort where the party was held: https://www.turquoisebayresort.com/Please leave a comment. We’d love to hear from you.Have a beautiful day,Mike and Nancy
Today is day 3 of our Royal Caribbean Presidents Cruise. We enjoyed a fun and relaxing sea day on Allure of the Seas before our 3 port days in a row. Time was spent relaxing by the pool and we had NO issue getting a chair, even with a full cruise. Our day getting some exercise with aqua aerobics and fun in the pool. After that we enjoyed the excellent piano player at the Schooner Bar, followed by dinner at Sabor. After dinner and a little dancing we went to the Aqua Show which featured special guest Victor Kee from the Ukraine. Watch for more from Victor on Icon of the Seas in the near future as he will be involved with the entertainment on Royal Caribbean’s newest ship. We LOVE the aqua shows on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis Class Ships. They never disappoint. Here’s a link to Viktor Kee: https://viktorkee.com/If you enjoyed the video, please leave a comment. We’d love to hear from you.Have a beautiful day!Mike and Nancy
Today we fought off a pirate attack on Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas! Well not really, we enjoyed a great parade down the promenade. It would rival anything Disney would do on their ships. It was a ton of fun for all ages. Today was day 2 of our amazing Royal Caribbean President’s Cruise our of Galveston Texas on Allure of the Seas. We enjoyed a relaxing day by the pool, some great food and excellent entertainment. Come along with us to see Day 2 on the 2023 Allure of the Seas Royal Caribbean President’s Cruise and all the fun activities.
Join us on our Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas President Cruise adventure. Today we cruise with Royal Caribbean’s President Michael Bayley on the Oasis Class Ship Allure of the Seas. We will show you our boarding and all the first day events and how we almost over did it with everything going on. Come tour with us and see our crazy first day on Allure of the Seas President Cruise 2023.
Today we go cave tubing on of the best Belize cruise excursions we’ve tried. After attaching our headgear with lighting and our life jackets, we headed intothe dark cave tunnel. It was a great time and an amazing experience which we highly recommend.
So come into the caves of belize with us and enjoy the natural beauty below the ground.
Today we are talking about what electrical items you can bring and plug into your cruse ship cabin electrical outlets. What is allowed and what is not? Many cruise ships ban certain electrical items. The biggest reason for banning items is a concern over causing a fire. We’ll not only help you to learn what you can and cannot bring, but WHY.
Lets help keep ourselves and everyone else safe on our cruise ships.
Today we travel to Franklin BBQ. This is said to be one of world’s best barbeque restaurants and we let you know if it truly is. Is travel to this BBQ restaurant and waiting in line for 3 hours worth it? Or is this just another Texas BBQ joint?
Come on our excursion to see the monkey and sloth sanctuary in Roatan, Honduras. The sloths and monkeys excursion was one of Nancy’s favorite, ever! Friends, we cannot stress how fun this was. We booked this tour through Shore Excursions Group, however you can get a similar tour through you cruise line or directly with Daniel Johnson’s Monkey & Sloth Hangout. Enjoy traveling virtually on this tour with us.
We recently tried the Cozumel, Mexico Bar Hop excursion and it was GREAT!
We hopped between 4 bars on the back side of Cozumel where it is much more quiet and unspoiled. Our hopping guide was excellent, and we had an amazing time. You might think this was an all-out party, but it wasn’t. It was all people about our age, having a great time. We met some wonderful people from a Carnival Ship as well as some form our Royal Caribbean Ship.
We are comparing Cruising on Carnival Cruise Lines with Royal Caribbean. Is Carnival the Walmart of the Seas? How does it compare to Royal Caribbean. We just got back from our first Carnival Cruise and (Spoiler Alert!) it was great! We will compare 10 areas between Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean to see how they stack up. You might be surprised!
Today we are sharing the latest on selecting reef safe sunscreens that are best for you and for the environment. Don’t get burned when going to your long-awaited tropical vacation destination with banned sunscreen! Did you know your sunscreens may now be illegal in many areas you may be visiting? More and more places around the world that are implementing more and more strict regulations on sunscreen. Banning certain ingredients and only allowing certain formulations.
Sun protection is absolutely critical for your health and safety. How do you navigate the changing rules while still protecting yourself? We have dug in and reviewed all the latest regulations and also investigated what sunscreens are safe, effective, won’t break the bank, and you can use at that tropical paradise you are visiting!
Let’s go over each ingredient and are they reef safe or not:
Para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA): This was an effective UV blocker, however there are some people that have allergic reactions to PABA, so most sunscreens have gone away from this ingredient.
Oxybenzone: Again, this was a safe and effective UV blocker, however this is the first ingredient identified in some reports to have possible reef issues. Therefore, it’s the first ingredient been banned by some locations. Most “Reef Safe” sunscreens label themselves that way by not using oxybenzone.
Octinoxate: This was the next chemical UV blocker used, but again, there were concerns raised this may also impact reefs, so this was the next ingredient banned by some locations.
Now most “Reef Safe” labeled sunscreens will not have these three ingredients: parabens, oxybenzone, or octinoxate. Most will now use octocrylene.
Here is a list where certain sunscreens are banned, so you can prepare and purchase them in advance, where you can get the best price and availability.
Hawaii: Hawaii enacted a sunscreen ban on the over-the-counter sale of those containing oxybenzone and octinoxate. The state also has more legislation pending to broaden the list of banned sunscreen ingredients. So check before you go to see the latest regulations.
S. Virgin Islands: has outright banned sunscreens containing oxybenzone, octoerylene, and octinoxate. The island chain does not permit the sale or use of sunscreens containing any of those three ingredients. This basically dictates mineral sunscreens.
Aruba: Aruba has outlawed sunscreens containing oxybenzone since July 2020 and are contiplanting additional bans.
Bonaire: The island, which already charges steep environmental fees to divers in an effort to conserve its colorful reefs, now allows only reef-friendly sunscreen to be sold on the island. However, this is poorly defined and the guidance is that tourists only bring biodegradable sunscreens, which is best translated to mineral sunscreens.
Ecoparks in Mexico: Natural water parks like Xcaret, Xel-Ha and Cozumel’s Chankanaab Beach Adventure Park, require visitors to use only “biodegradable” sunscreens. Unfortunately, “biodegradable” is not well defined, however mineral sunscreens are approved. When entering these parks they will check and if you have any chemical sunscreens they will be confiscated.
Palau: The sunscreen banapplies to the sale and use of sunscreens containing 10 chemicals, including oxybenzone, octinoxate, octocrylene, and certain parabens (or preservatives). Again, only mineral sunscreens.
Key West: banned the sale and purchase of sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate. However, being a local jurisdiction, this has currently been blocked by the state of FL.
Australia, When you visit Australia it’s a whole different world when it comes to sunscreen. The short version is: In Australia any sunscreen listed with an SPF over 15 is considered a medical product and regulated as such. Therefore, all you find are SPF 15 or lower on the shelves. Since no manufacture wants have it regulated as medicine. It would be WAY to costly. Therefore, you have to actually compare ingredient concentrations to get an idea of what would be an SPF 50 everywhere else. Our recommendation here is bring a good mineral sunscreen from home, so know what you are using.
Our #1 pick for a chemical sunscreen that don’t contain Oxybenzone and Octinoxate
Walmart Equate Ultra Sunscreens. These are very affordable, highly available and are considered reef safe in most places
$5 for 5.5 oz. this is the best buy out there for spray sunscreen
NOTE: the Equate SPF 70 Ultra has Oxybenzone, so it wouldn’t be considered reef friendly, so stick with the other 2 that are SPF 50
We also recommend
Alba Botanica Hawaiian
Trader Joe’s Spray SPF 50+
These have the same formulations as the Walmart Equate Ultra products but are more expensive.
It’s important to note all these all still have Octocrylene which is soon being banned in many places. That brings us to mineral sunscreens.
Our pick for mineral safe sunscreens
If you are looking to go the mineral route, which is considered the most reef safe and are not currently banned anywhere. Here are our recommendations:
Coppertone Pure & Simple SPF 50 mineral sunscreen
This is nanoparticle zinc oxide based product that is water resistant to 80 minutes and goes on almost clear.
This is currently legal around the world
You can get this on amazon and some retailers
Here’s a link to the lotion which was about $10 for the 6 oz.
This is microparticle, not nanoparticle, zinc oxide product which is water resistant for 80 minutes. This is one of the latest and greatest meeting all the new theories on being a healthy and reef safe sunscreen.
We found on this was on Costco.com for about $10 at tube, in a 2 pack. This makes it about the same cost as the Coppertone Free & Simple
Here is your Coco Cay Beach Club review. Today we show you around Royal Caribbean’s Beach Club at their private island Perfect Day at Coco Cay. Is it worth the extra cost? How’s the food and the atmosphere and is it a perfect day? Come with us and see if this makes for the perfect shore excursion.
