Review: Avanti West Coast Train from London to Liverpool, England

by A Purple Life, posted in Reviews, Spending, Travel, Travel Reviews

Like I mentioned in my National Express Bus review, before I reserve travel with a new company to trek across a country, state or city, I always look for detailed reviews of a travel company’s service to know what I’m getting into and set expectations. However,  I often find that these kinds of detailed reviews don’t exist.

There are general travel reviews, but I prefer to know the nitty gritty so I can mentally prepare for what I’m about to do and hopefully not make additional mistakes that traveling in another country can easily result in.

So this was my experience riding an Avanti West Coast train for the first time to travel from London to Liverpool, England in the summer of 2025. Let’s see how it went 🙂 . Continue reading “Review: Avanti West Coast Train from London to Liverpool, England” →

Dashing Diva Magic Press On Nails Changed My Life

by A Purple Life, posted in Hobbies, Reviews, Travel

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you might have realized that I’ve become obsessed with nail stickers. But before I discovered those, I always loved having beautiful nails, but could never achieve them.

Even if I went to the salon, I would immediately somehow mess up my manicure because I’m a clumsy disaster 🙂 . Enter: Dashing Diva Gloss Nail Stickers – I first tried them about two years ago and I’ve been obsessed ever since. 

An easy to apply, affordable way to let me have gorgeous nails year-round? I’m sold 🙂 . And I’ve had a rotating collection of Dashing Diva Gloss nail stickers on my nails for the last two years. 

However, I have now discovered that my assumptions about press on nails in general and Dashing Diva’s Magic Press Nails specifically were completely wrong and I’m here to talk about it.

Continue reading “Dashing Diva Magic Press On Nails Changed My Life” →

Review: National Express Bus from Bath to London Heathrow

by A Purple Life, posted in Reviews, Travel, Travel Reviews

Before I reserve travel with a new company to trek across a country, state or city, I always look for detailed reviews of their service to know what I’m getting into and set expectations. However,  I often find that these kinds of detailed reviews don’t exist.

There are general travel reviews, but I prefer to know the nitty gritty so I can mentally prepare for what I’m about to do and hopefully not make additional mistakes that traveling in another country can easily result in.

So this was my experience using a National Express Bus to travel from Bath to London Heathrow in the summer of 2025. Let’s see how it went 🙂 . 

Continue reading “Review: National Express Bus from Bath to London Heathrow” →

Slow Travel Review: Iceland – The Land Of Fire And Ice

by A Purple Life, posted in Budget Check-In, Finance, Food, Reviews, Slow Travel Reviews, Spending, Travel, Travel Reviews

So I don’t usually write a Slow Travel Review unless I’ve lived in a place for at least a month (hence the “slow” part”), but I’ve now visited Iceland for a total of two weeks across 2024 and 2025 and I have to talk about it. I love Iceland so much that I gush about it to anyone who will listen and today I’ll do a deep dive into why. 

Continue reading “Slow Travel Review: Iceland – The Land Of Fire And Ice” →

The Best Carry-On Luggage: The Travelpro Platinum Elite Collection

by A Purple Life, posted in Reviews, Spending, Travel

I’m about to wax poetic about a piece of luggage of all things, but that’s what I want to do today so strap in! After 5 years of using a $21 40L Foldable Backpack and a free Vanguard Tote, I upgraded my travel luggage. Why? Several not fun reasons 🙂 – basically: Old age, injuries and jealously🤣. Continue reading “The Best Carry-On Luggage: The Travelpro Platinum Elite Collection” →

Medical Tourism: A $69 Dental Cleaning In La Paz, México

by A Purple Life, posted in Reviews, Travel, Travel Reviews

As I’ve mentioned, I’m in the ACA Marketplace and have dental insurance in the US. However, the fact that US medical care can be straight up garbage continues to lead me to often using medical tourism and paying out of pocket instead. Here’s my latest adventure wading through medical care.

Continue reading “Medical Tourism: A $69 Dental Cleaning In La Paz, México” →

The Month Of México: January 2026 Recap

by A Purple Life, posted in Blogging, Early Retirement, Early Retirement Updates, Film, Finance, Fitness, Food, Hobbies, Keto, Net Worth Update, Travel

Damn Time – can you slow down for a hot second 🙂 ? I’d appreciate it.

Somehow the first month of 2026 is over before I’ve gotten used to writing 2026. I spent the month living up to my new Snowbird status and heading to the sunny beaches of México and escaping the snowstorms of the northeast US. 

I’m currently writing this while watching dolphins frolic off the coast of La Paz in Baja California Sur. I think snowbirds might be on to something 😉 . So let’s see what I got up to in January!

Continue reading “The Month Of México: January 2026 Recap” →