Practical Wanderlust

Off-Beat Couple's Travel Blog

Privacy Policy

Oh, hello there! Somehow you’ve found yourself on our Privacy Page. Is that … is that like, what you wanted to do? Because I can assure you that this is by far the most boring page on our entire site.

…. Really?

Well, go on then. This page will give you a clear understanding of how we collect, use, protect or otherwise handle your Personally Identifiable Information. Spoilers: we don’t do anything with it. Who has the time for evil, nefarious data harvesting schemes? Not us. We’re way more interested in harvesting your love and affection.

Still keen to read our privacy policy? It’s … very, very dry. Enjoy, I guess.

What personal information do we collect from the people that visit our blog, website or app?

We do not collect information from visitors of our site unless you opt-in to receive an email subscription for new posts, comment replies, or any of our free downloadable content.
When visitors leave comments on our posts or submit a request through our contact forms, we collect the data shown in the form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.
And like, if you’re a dick, we might block your IP address from commenting.

When do we collect information?
We collect information from you only when you subscribe to a newsletter, fill out a form or enter information on our site. This information is used to provide us with feedback on our products or services or, if you consent, to occasionally send emails which can be unsubscribed from at any time.

How do we use your information?

We may use the information we collect from you when you make a comment, sign up for our newsletter, respond to a survey or marketing communication, surf the website, or use certain other site features. We use this information to improve our website in order to better serve you.
How do we protect your information?

We do not use vulnerability scanning and/or scanning to PCI standards. We only provide articles and information. We never ask for credit card numbers. We use regular Malware Scanning. We never ask for personal or private information like a mailing address or credit card number.

Do we use ‘cookies’?

Yes. Cookies are small files that a site or its service provider transfers to your computer’s hard drive through your Web browser (if you allow) that enables the site’s or service provider’s systems to recognize your browser and capture and remember certain information.

We use cookies to help us compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interaction so that we can offer better site experiences and tools in the future. We also allow a small handful of trusted third parties to insert their own cookies, such as our advertising and affiliate partners.

We use cookies to:

Compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interactions in order to offer better site experiences and tools in the future. We may also use trusted third-party services that track this information on our behalf.

How to Opt-Out of Cookies:

If you’re on a no-cookie kinda diet, you can choose to have your computer warn you each time a cookie is being sent, or you can choose to turn off all cookies. You do this through your browser settings. Since browser is a little different, look at your browser’s Help Menu to learn the correct way to modify your cookies.

If you turn cookies off, some features will be disabled. It won’t affect the user’s experience that make your site experience more efficient and may not function properly.

Third-party disclosure

We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to outside parties your Personally Identifiable Information unless we provide users with advance notice. This does not include website hosting partners and other parties who assist us in operating our website, conducting our business, or serving our users, so long as those parties agree to keep this information confidential.

We may also release information when it’s release is appropriate to comply with the law, enforce our site policies, or protect ours or others’ rights, property or safety.
However, non-personally identifiable visitor information may be provided to other parties for marketing, advertising, or other uses.

Third-party links

Occasionally, at our discretion, we may include or offer third-party products or services on our website. We sometimes use affiliate links which provide us with a small monetary compensation that is used to help maintain the site.

These third-party sites have separate and independent privacy policies. We therefore have no responsibility or liability for the content and activities of these linked sites. Nonetheless, we seek to protect the integrity of our site and welcome any feedback about these sites.

Display Ads

Mediavine, as a third-party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on our site. You can view Mediavine’s Privacy Policy here. 

We, along with third-party vendors such as Google use first-party cookies (such as the Google Analytics cookies) and third-party cookies (such as the DoubleClick cookie) or other third-party identifiers together to compile data regarding user interactions with ad impressions and other ad service functions as they relate to our website.

Google’s advertising requirements can be summed up by Google’s Advertising Principles. They are put in place to provide a positive experience for users. View Google’s Advertising Principles here.

Opting out:
Users can set preferences for how Google advertises to you using the Google Ad Settings page. Alternatively, you can opt out by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative Opt Out page or by using the Google Analytics Opt Out Browser add on.

California Online Privacy Protection Act

Users can visit our site anonymously. Our Privacy Policy is linked to from every page on our website and includes the word ‘Privacy.’  You can change your personal information by emailing us.

How does our site handle Do Not Track signals?

We honor Do Not Track signals and Do Not Track, plant cookies, or use advertising when a Do Not Track (DNT) browser mechanism is in place.

Does our site allow third-party behavioral tracking?

We do allow third-party behavioral tracking

COPPA (Children Online Privacy Protection Act)

When it comes to the collection of personal information from children under the age of 13 years old, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) puts parents in control. The Federal Trade Commission, United States’ consumer protection agency, enforces the COPPA Rule, which spells out what operators of websites and online services must do to protect children’s privacy and safety online.

We do not specifically market to children under the age of 13 years old.

Fair Information Practices

The Fair Information Practices Principles form the backbone of privacy law in the United States and the concepts they include have played a significant role in the development of data protection laws around the globe. Understanding the Fair Information Practice Principles and how they should be implemented is critical to comply with the various privacy laws that protect personal information.

In order to be in line with Fair Information Practices we will take the following responsive action, should a data breach occur:

We will notify our email subscribers via email within 7 business days.

We will notify the users via in-site notification within 7 business days.

We also agree to the Individual Redress Principle which requires that individuals have the right to legally pursue enforceable rights against data collectors and processors who fail to adhere to the law. This principle requires not only that individuals have enforceable rights against data users, but also that individuals have recourse to courts or government agencies to investigate and/or prosecute non-compliance by data processors.

If you have any questions you can contact us at contact@practicalwanderlust.com

ABOUT

Meet Lia & Jeremy

Recent Posts

  • This photo was a VICTORY. You see, we'd forgotten to bring our tripod to Lake Arrowhead. Depending on who you ask, it was definitely one of our faults, but we disagree on exactly whose.⁠ .⁠ Why did a missing tripod matter? Well, I had a Job to do on this trip. It wasn't a work trip, it was a family weekend, but I had a few specific things to photograph on this trip, including this adorable, comfy wool dress gifted by @wool.and. The idea was we'd dress up, take a little walk together, find somewhere to set up our tripod, take a few quick shots, and go back to hanging with the 'fam. Supes chill. NBD. Right?! ⁠ .⁠ If you've been following us for more than 5 minutes, you know by now that we are NEVER supes chill. We're more like totes anxsch. (Yes, I just coined anxsch. It's a thing.)⁠ .⁠ Anyway, so we forgot our tripod. And we've learned - after lots of trial and error - that asking other people to take our photo makes us feel awkward and anxious and rushed. Plus the photos always seem to end up oddly lit and weirdly angled. Long story short, our tripod takes all of our photos now. And we didn't have it.⁠ 🤦‍♀️ .⁠ So we spent our walk snipping at each other (lovingly) and looking for places on which to rest our Very Expensive Camera, like the ground, and on a trashcan. And then we definitely may have but absolutely did trespass onto somebody's dock - and lo and behold: a BENCH! . With some careful rigging, and the use of his wallet, Jeremy managed to balance the camera just so. We started the self-timer and did like, this awkward shuffle-step so as not to rock the dock and tumble the whole setup into the water. (I'm not holding Jeremy's hand just because I love him. It's actually because I'm trying not to fall into Lake Arrowhead.) . But all things considered, I think this photo came out looking pretty good! We even found a conveniently placed stump for a few more photos afterwards. And it all reminded me: the most fun part of my weird job? It's not the ~creativity of crafting a narrative or staging a photo bla bla bla. It's just hanging out with Jeremy and exploring places, together. 📸 . Have you ever turned a f**k up into like... a fun-up? Drop us a comment!
  • Where in the world is Lia Garcia? 🎶⁠ .⁠ In Episode 1 of "Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego," Carmen flies to Amsterdam, eats some Stroopwafel, admires some canals, and then casually steals the famous portrait of Vincent Van Gogh, that handsome ginger with a missing ear (this is where the couple's costume part comes in - just go with it, y'all). Then she hops from city to city, mixing sightseeing with stealing famous paintings from museums - all with one dastardly goal in mind: to cut them up turn them into a portrait of herself!⁠ 😱 .⁠ Which like ... that's a fantastic idea. I want to host a craft night and do exactly that. Where my crafty criminals at??⁠🎨✂️ .⁠ I was never clear on whether Carmen Sandiego was supposed to be the hero or the villain, because like ... come on. She's AWESOME. She is clearly the most bada$$, most fabulous, absolute coolest world-traveling criminal mastermind of all time. Don't @ me. You know she's amazing and like, a total role model.⁠ .⁠ I mean, she taught us GEOGRAPHY. She taught us HISTORY. She taught us how to rock a red hat and trenchcoat and look AMAZING. She taught us how to be a fabulous take-no-BS-from-nobody SHTAR. And she taught us that sometimes, the fun of a heist is just the challenge of the heist itself.⁠ 🧘🏽‍♀️ .⁠ I may not personally be a criminal, but I am a world traveler who looks fabulous in red. And while having a fun rhyming name post-marriage wasn't immediately appealing to me, I grew to love it once a friend pointed out that Lia Garcia has a similar ring to it as Carmen Sandiego, and therefore is the perfect travel blogger ~~nom de plume~~. And Carmen has been my patron saint ever since!⁠ 💄✈ .⁠ What did you dress up as for Halloween this year? Tell us all about your costume in the comments!! ⁠ .⁠ .⁠ .⁠ #femaletravelbloggers #halloween2019 #girlslovetravel #shewhowanders #ladiesgoneglobal #travelwriter #trickortreat #happyhalloween #globecouples #marriedtomybestfriend
  • You know that moment when the weather turns? When there's a certain chill in the air, that crispness creeping in, and leaves begin turning overnight as if a clock has struck. The exciting promise of holidays to come, of impending coziness. I love that feeling. And I miss it like crazy. . Here in the Bay Area, at least for the past few years, fall starts when the leaves change and the weather heats up to 85 and winds come rushing down at 90mph through canyons lined with dry brush. Fires spring up late at night as we're asleep. The air fills with smoke. Rolling blackouts blanket Northern Califirnia. And we all retreat indoors to our darkened, non-air-conditioned houses, stuffing rags under the cracks in our doors and wearing masks to keep from damaging our lungs in the sweltering air. It's not great, honestly. . When I think about our future, I don't like to imagine boiling hot fall weather, seasonal fires and blackouts. But that's the California of today and, more than ever, the future. Climate change is a terrifying reality that hangs over us, even as we do our best to mitigate our impact by going zero waste at home, reducing our meat intake to special occasions, and use our car infrequently. I miss changing seasons, but what I really miss is reliable weather and a future that looks bright and optimistic rather than depressing and morbid. . This was supposed to be a post about how much I love fall, but I guess these days it just makes me sort of sad to think about it. Maybe our time in California will be coming to an end in the next few years... . If you or anyone you know is currently affected by the fires, our hearts are with you all. . Have you noticed a change in the seasons over the past few years? Does it fill you with existential dread like it does for us? . #fallvibes #glaciermt #fallishere #montanalife #montanagram #montanamoment #visitmontana #lastbestplace⁠ #fallcolors⁠ #montanacolors #nationalparks #montanafwp #lovemontana #fallleaves #GetOutside #wildernessculture #REI1440Project⁠ #stayandwander #liveoutdoors #folkscenery #UnitedStories #OutdoorsUSA #ilovefallmostofall #allthingsfall #fallyall #changingleaves #naturesgifts #leaves🍁 #livesimple
  • This month we carved out time together to do stereotypical fall things, like get lost in a giant corn maze, eat apple pie at an apple farm, step on some crunchy AF leaves, take this dorky AF picture, and make a lame fall pun that I really hope y'all caught 🎃 We also managed to lose Jeremy's glasses at a pumpkin farm and found them smashed to smithereens in the middle of the road, which isn't fall-like but is very much us in a nutshell (a vlog of that fun little incident is in the works! Yes, y'all, we ~vlog now. Follow our new bebe YouTube channel!).⁠ .⁠ Even though we haven't been very active on IG, we've been having a lot of fun in real life. And like, I hope y'all understand that sometimes we're doing awesome things in Actual Life and not sharing it on IG not because we don't want to share it with you, but because it's important for us to just be together without stepping out of that moment to document it for online consumption. (And also because stories take hours and hours for me to post and I find them overwhelming this month for whatever reason.)⁠ .⁠ I love you guys, but boundaries are important, and keeping our relationship healthy & fun isn't just something we do for the 'gram, the blog, the podcast, the YouTubes, the 'book, or the, like, email newsletter. Or for anyone else other than us.⁠ .⁠ For nearly 6 years, we've been the kind of mushy, annoying couple that gets the same song stuck in our collective head, finds the same dumb joke funny to the point that one of us references it WAY too much (usually me, I have no sense of overkill), has the same "omg a cute animal!" voice (with different voices for different sized animals) and sings along in the car to the same songs on road trips. For nearly 6 years, our relationship has been a source of comfort, joy, and stability. And that is truly something precious.⁠ .⁠ Do you have a relationship that's a source of joy & comfort to you? (Is it a fur friend?! Can we see pictures?!) Drop us a comment and tell us all about your special loved ones! ⁠ .⁠ #couplesofig #colorsofautumn #couplesthattravel #travellustcouples #marriedtomybestfriend #marriedaf #couplestuff #fallfestivities #fallfeels #bayareablogger
  • What happens when you drop the ball? When you were supposed to do a thing, and you MEANT to do the thing, but then you just ...don't do the thing? . Sometimes, people get really mad. You let them down. You let YOURSELF down. Everything is horrible and everybody feels terrible. That's the worst, and it sucks. . But sometimes nothing happens. Nobody cares, really. It was a self-imposed deadline. The only person upset is yourself. And when you DO do the thing - or a small portion of the thing, or maybe just let everyone know "hey, I can't do that thing, and here's why," everything is actually OK. And that gnawing feeling of dread and guilt you've been holding inside for weeks? That was worse than just admitting your ball-drop. . I drop the ball a lot. For example, this month I'm dropping the ball on blog posts and Instagram Stories. I have like, 912689 stories I've recorded that I was so excited to share with you, but when it came down to it, I couldn't make myself sit down and spend the several hours I'll eventually need to catch you up. Whoops. My b, y'all. . And like, yeah, it makes me feel like sh*t and like I'm a bad blogger, which is my job, so therefore I feel like I'm bad at my job. But I'm not seeking validation. I've made my peace. I know it's really (probably) just me who's legitimately upset about all of my ball-dropping, and the rest of you likely haven't noticed or don't really care. So I'm forgiving myself. I'm accepting my shortcomings. And I'm practicing gratitude for the things I AM accomplishing (cuz actually, I'm kinda killing it if you look at the bigger picture). . We are all constantly juggling so many things: work, life, mental health, keeping the house clean, etc. And you know what? Everything can't be perfect all the time. It just cannot. It's OK. You're fine. We are fine. Take a deep breath. Close your eyes. Listen to some waterfall noises. Pretend you hiked to that waterfall with a llama (which I did!!!!). Relax. It's OK. . Where are you dropping the ball? Have you been beating yourself up about it? Is it time to forgive yourself? Drop me a comment below! #sheisnotlost #girlslovetravel #wanderlustvibes #girltraveller #glaciermt
  • CHEERS! We're celebrating, y'all! 🥂Wait, what are we celebrating?? Is that a baby bump??! 😱 (Ahem: NO!, just a cheese bump. Sorry y'all, we're not quite there yet.) We actually have a LOT to celebrate this month! I know its still October, so we won't dip into being thankful just yet - let's just say its spooky how much we have to celebrate these days:⁠ .⁠ 🍷We're celebrating our new home! After spending most of this year applying to Oakland rentals only to be denied over and over again for BS reasons like "actually somebody offered to just buy the entire building in cash within 30 seconds of the posting going live" (I'm exaggerating, but just barely - the Bay Area rental market is nuts, y'all) we FINALLY found a place, got approved, and then beat out all the other thirsty MFers trying to slide in and take it from us. It is CUTTHROAT 🔪But we love our new place! It's a standalone house rather than an apartment, with 400 extra feet, an actual upstairs (!!!!), a bigger backyard, and a real room for my office rather than just squeezing behind the couch in the living room. No dishwasher, because that's a level of luxury we may never experience. BUT! They allow PETS!!! Which is a Bay Area jackpot 🐕🐺 what should we get first? Cat or dog? Llama, maybe?⁠ 🦙 .⁠ 🎙We're also celebrating the launch of our new Podcast! We're working on finishing up editing the first few episodes and will be launching in just a couple of weeks. Ahh! More on that very soon!!⁠ .⁠ 🎂We're also celebrating the birthdays of 2 of Lia's best friends! One from afar and one in New Orleans next week for Halloween 🎃🎭⁠ .⁠ 🍁And finally, we're celebrating fall, of course! It's the best season of the year and we've been all over California this month in search of fall foliage (plus we got like 28762867 leaf garlands to cover every surface of our apartment with, so it's leafy inside, too).⁠ .⁠ What are you celebrating this month? Drop us a comment & let's celebrate together!⁠ 🍾 .⁠ .⁠ .⁠ #travelcouplelife #globecouples #youcansipwithus #inspiredtravelcouples #ilovefall⁠
  • California was made for road trips.⁠ 🛣️🚙There's nothing more quintessentially Californian than hopping in a car, throwing on your coolest shades, rolling down the window, turning on some music about California (yes, we've got a whole Spotify Playlist just for this purpose), and heading off on a road trip - to somewhere else within California.⁠ .⁠ In a few hours, at any time of the year, you could be anywhere. Lying on a sunny beach with palm trees waving overhead. Sledding soft, powdery snow. Lighting a fire in your A-frame cabin deep in a pine forest. Sipping wine amongst rolling vineyards. Dune-buggying through an otherworldly desert. Hiking through a lush, humid forest filled with ferns and towering redwoods. Befriending otters in a foggy coastal town. You might be driving for 4 hours or 8 hours, but you won't ever need to leave the state: California truly has it all.⁠ .⁠ By far the most popular California road trip is along Highway One, for good reason - it's one of the most scenic drives in the world! But there is no shortage of scenic highways and byways in California. This stunning view is on Route 158 in the Eastern Sierras, near the June Lake Loop. We've got a complete guide to the area (and all of its gorgeous fall foliage) on the blog - link in bio.⁠ .⁠ We think the best time of year for a California road trip is in February & March. When the rest of the country is limping through the last slushy remnants of winter, California is thriving from the rainy season, vibrant green hills bursting with colorful wildflowers. Right now, those same hills are bright gold and dry as a bone (also, it's fire season). But we've been hitting the road anyway to head to pumpkin patches, apple farms, and the parts of the state that actually get a bit of fall foliage (yes, it exists)! ⁠ .⁠ Have you ever taken a California road trip? Where'd ya go? And if not, what is your ideal California road trip destination? Drop us a comment below!⁠
  • It almost felt like cheating: exploring Glacier National Park, ooh-ing and ahh-ing over its peaks and valleys... all the while knowing that back home, Yosemite was waiting. Tantalizingly close and soul-quenchingly beautiful.⁠ .⁠ Some consider Yosemite to be the first US National Park, because it inspired John Muir to lobby Congress to create federally protected parks. But it took almost 20 years for California to hand control over Yosemite to the federal government, so Yellowstone - not Yosemite - is the nation's oldest National Park.⁠ .⁠ Today, the National Park Service does many amazing things: protecting natural wonders, conserving wildlife, serving as stewards of the environment and defenders of wilderness. They preserve uninhabited land and protect it from human harm.⁠ .⁠ But we also should consider this: before the National Parks were federally protected, uninhabited lots of gorgeous wilderness, they were being protected already... by people who lived there for thousands of years.⁠ .⁠ Google "Ahwanee" or "Tenaya" and you'll find plenty of resources about Yosemite's two lodges. What's harder to find is information about the Ahwahneechee people, who lived in the Valley of Ahwahnee - now known as Yosemite Valley - and their last chief, Chief Tenaya. But their story is also the story of Yosemite. And that story goes much as you'd expect: a bunch of enterprising white men eager to make their fortunes showed up out of f*cking nowhere, pushed the Indian communities out of their homes, and forced them onto reservations. From nps.gov: "By 1910, over 90% of the original Ahwahneeche inhabitants were dead or missing." . Today, there are 7 American Indian tribes with ancestral connections to Yosemite National Park: the American Indian Council of Mariposa County (aka Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation), Bishop Paiute Tribe, Bridgeport Indian Colony, Mono Lake Kutzadikaa, North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians of California, Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians, and the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians.⁠ .⁠ The park today is as stunning and majestic as ever, but next time you visit a National Park, ask yourself: who was here first? And what's their story?⁠

Follow Us @practicalwanderlust

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.