Snake charmers, storytellers, leather water bags, lanterns, tea trays, brass cups, traditional clothing, spices, magicians and peddlers all make Morocco a place I can’t wait to get immersed in when I get lost in the souqs of Marrakech.

In January 2012, Mr. Wonderful and I took off for the British Virgin Islands and spent a week sailing on a 37.2’ Beneteau we rented from Moorings. It was one of the best weeks of my life and I reminisce about it quite often. As an homage to that awesome week, I thought I’d share with you 8 Reasons We Love Sailing the BVIs.

Inspired by my love of travel and my current quest to find travel-themed cupcakes in every city that The Passport Party Project visits, I thought it would be fun to create a photo gallery of some super creative travel-themed sweets.

Free flights and accommodations are great, but everyone knows that writers (no matter the genre) don’t get paid very much unless they are in the top .999999 percent – of which I am not.

Eating French cuisine is TheBomb.com, there's no doubt...but if you have fantasies of becoming a chef or love experimenting in the kitchen, then you'll want to get your hands dirty in a French kitchen, take a culinary tour, and/or go to the open air French markets and shop for seasonal veggies, meat, poultry and cheeses with an expert. There's nothing like it.

I love my family. I really do. I love my husband's family too. We're are all one big happy unit. Besides, families are fun. They put the fun in dysfunctional, right? *Smiling*

There is this unconscious thing that just happens everywhere I go in the world whether I’m in Paris, Barbados or Texas: There is a slight change in my West Coast American accent…and I don’t sound so Tracey anymore. Sounds weird, I know but I promise you that it’s true. #nojudging Of course I thought I was the only one who ever experienced this slight change in accent and didn’t want to be accused of having airs, so I’ve never talked about It much. But then I met Andrea Poe on a press trip to Antigua. Andrea is a travel writer that lives between Maryland and New York. I overheard Andrea tell someone that she had It too. That after spending time with someone, she would be likely to start using that person’s accent to communicate. And no one laughed.

In honor of the Brown Girls who travel and then write about it, I'd like to dedicate this post to them (keeping in mind that my definition of Brown is about cultural diversity, identity and pride and not merely skin color). And in honor of the first travel panel that has ever been held at Blogalicious Weekend -- American Airlines BlackAtlas.com presents Go Global! Taking Your Blog Around the World -- I am also dedicating this post to the Brown Girl Travelistas on this panel: Johnica Reed, Julia Coney, Kiratiana Freelon and yours truly. (Am I allowed to dedicate something to myself? *Insert sheepish grin here*) So here's the deal.

I have always been extremely aware that there aren't very many people of color that travel. In my personal bubble of friends and colleagues, that might not be so true but my bubble only represents a miniscule part of the population. So I'm guessing that it might not surprise you to learn that I count Brown people when I'm at the airport. (And I bet some of you do too.) Not for any particular reason, mind you. Just because.

A few weeks ago, Gadling writer Melanie Renzulli tweeted a link to her post called "Why I Hate The Amazing Race" that immediately got my attention. You see, I luuuuuh-vuh The Amazing Race and I'm prepared to tell you why. [Insert millions of little hearts here.]