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Honest reviews of real experiences: cruises, concerts, and more

Hi, I’m Stori. My husband Steve and I love to travel and just experience the fun things in life. We’ll tell you what was worth it: the cruise, the concert, the hotel, the gadget. Honest reviews from the over-55 seat, useful at any age.

Start with the cruise tips
Watch the trips on YouTube
Stori smiling in a white cap and sunglasses on a boat, with blue ocean behind her

Start here

Three places to begin, depending on what you’re deciding. If you’re planning a cruise, start with the first card. If you’re wondering whether something is worth it, the second one is for you. And if you just want to know what we actually pack, skip to the third.

A tidewater glacier face with blue icebergs floating in an Alaska fjord

Cruises, honestly

Alaska on three different lines, five Caribbean sailings, and the port rule we use every time. So you’ll know which line we’d book again, and which we wouldn’t.

Read the cruise posts →

Stori in a Chicago Cubs jersey and cap with a young fan at a baseball game

Was it worth it?

Concert nights, ballgames, hotels, and the day a company decided it no longer needed our business. The experience versus the price, decided honestly.

Start with value versus cost →

An open suitcase on a bed packed with rolled clothes in packing cubes, a folded dress, a lanyard, and sunglasses

Gear that comes along

The things that have earned a permanent spot on our trips, because they keep proving themselves: the 12-item packing list and the makeup that survives a sea day.

See the gear →

Watch: 7 cruise lessons for over 55s

The companion video to our most-read post. Every trip gets a video on the channel, so subscribe there to follow along.

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Stori and Steve in helmets and life vests waving at the Damajagua waterfalls in the Dominican Republic

Meet Stori (and Steve)

By day I’m a customer-experience executive. I’ve spent my career figuring out what separates a great experience from a forgettable one, and I can’t switch that off on vacation, at a concert, or in a checkout line. Three Alaska cruises on three lines, five Caribbean sailings, Diamond status on Royal Caribbean, and a $125 balcony we still can’t believe. Between trips we’re at concerts, at ballgames, and in the hotels and restaurants I’ve been rating for years as a Level 5 Google Local Guide. Everything we do gets the same two questions: would we do it again, and would we tell a friend to?

First, we go. Then I write it up the way I’d tell a friend over coffee. So if an excursion was a dud, you’ll read that here before you book it, because that’s the whole point of this site.

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