Instagram story viewer> @wayfaringmandy> Posts

Mandy Jones • Adventure & Ocean Travel

@wayfaringmandy

6.5K

followers

3266

following

🧜🏻‍♀️ Scuba Diver 🤿 Ocean Lover 🐠
✈️ Helping Adventurous Families
Plan Trips with Limited PTO & Budget 🪸
📍Free Guides ⬇️ Forever on a side quest 🗺️

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

I just booked another trip. Should I replace the windows in my house? Probably. Maybe save for a rainy day? Sure, I could. But darling, there is a whole big world to see, and it’s not waiting for anyone.

This is your sign to book the trip. Make the reservation. Secure the flights. Get that new bathing suit and head out.

Make sure to follow @wayfaringmandy for ideas, itineraries, and more travel goodness. I can usually be found near water! 🧜🏻‍♀️ I hope to see you out there!

#wayfaringmandy #scubadiverlife #traveling #getaway #wanderlust by @wayfaringmandy

481

119

9 months ago

This little mini adventure was so much fun. I googled water buffalo in Hoi An. 🐃 Traveling for me means trying to witness living things that make the place home. I took a motorcycle 🏍️ to a rice paddy and found Saiy, an eight year old water buffalo who I instantly fell in love with.

Historically, rice paddies were tended by farmers and water buffalo. With modern farming innovations, this method is largely obsolete. 🌾 The farmers thought I was a little crazy, asking if I could get in the mud and do all the things! Anyone who knows me is unsurprised reading this.

✨ Best day ever!!! 🙌🏼

While I’m not a fan of riding wild animals, in the case of a domestic farm animal, I equated this to a horse. I’m sure someone will still take umbrage with this, but my intentions of communing with one of these big lugs was so earnest. 💗

#Vietnam | travel abroad | water buffalo | solo travel | Hoi An | mud treatment | living history | #wayfaringmandy taken in Hoi An, Vietnam by @wayfaringmandy

236

45

5 months ago

Everyone loves a good tip for saving money on eating out, right!? 🍚 🍱

And for the BEST foodie spots in Hanoi, check out @secretfoodtours in Hanoi and book with Jenny! 🍲

For more financially irresponsible tips and light-hearted travel goodness, follow along @wayfaringmandy

#vietnam #hanoi #vietnamfood #travelmath by @wayfaringmandy

945

53

3 months ago

The ocean is such a good teacher. Always a force I can count on for quiet lessons, or more obvious ones, if I’m being obtuse. Watching a green sea turtle munch along the sea grass beds while floating with the boys from above was the perfect way to realize the simple joy in a moment. I’m so glad we made the extra effort to find this magical place and went out into the sea to find what treasures were there for those who take the time to float quietly and just exist with nature.

🐢 🌊 ☀️

#wayfaringmandy #oceanvibes #insta360 by @wayfaringmandy

19

1

9 hours ago

Being his biggest fan will always be my favorite thing. 🏈 🧡 #boymom #footballmom by @wayfaringmandy

106

7

11 days ago

I need these reminders when life gets away a little.

Maybe it’s been the changing of the seasons. Maybe it’s because I realized I can now measure time with my oldest in months or even days before he’s on to his own adventure. Maybe it’s that I spent 6 weeks on the road for wildfire response.

Regardless, I read this a while ago and decided I needed an in your face reminder. Work will always be there. Schedule the fun. 💕 by @wayfaringmandy

70

0

12 days ago

Want to see how your family can fit into the new all-inclusive voco Sandpiper in Port St. Lucie? Here is a walk through of one of the most common room types they offer. 👀

📍 @vocosandpiper

There is plenty of room for a small family — and let’s be real, at an all-inclusive resort, you’re rarely in your room! But, it’s nice to know what you’re working with before you arrive! 🌴

The walk in closet is so nice for being able to keep the space clean and orderly!!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask below! For more hotel show-me tours, all-inclusive BTS moments, and travel inspo, follow @wayfaringmandy for more! ✈️ by @wayfaringmandy

72

3

19 days ago

A family resort where you don’t have to spend a small fortune feeding everyone? 👀 Florida’s new all-inclusive is perfect for a family getaway that won’t break the bank! (We didn’t leave the property for 3 days.)

At Voco Sandpiper in Port St. Lucie, the oceanfront setting is only part of the appeal. Here’s how we handled meals for a family stay without turning every meal into a $100+ affair:

🌴 Grab breakfast at the resort after waking up leisurely (convenience wins)

🌮 lunchtime tacos on-site (My absolute favorite!!)

🍹 Drinks (alcoholic and NA) all day long (which means letting them chug Shirley Temples) — saying Yes! instead of worrying about the check

Because traveling with kids is way more fun when you can enjoy the resort without watching the food bill climb every time someone says, “I’m hungry.” 😂

📍Voco Sandpiper, Port St. Lucie, Florida

#vocoSandpiper #PortStLucie #FloridaFamilyTravel #FloridaTravel by @wayfaringmandy

44

5

19 days ago

Most of you know me from dive adventures or random side quests like kissing a water buffalo in Vietnam. 🐃

🤿 Normally, summer in my world means fish and freshwater diving and taking in the few short months in Minnesota between the snow melt and the first snowfall.

✈️ This summer, I have been quiet on IG, mostly due to working wildfire response and being super busy. I’ve been running most of June and July with no end in sight for things quieting down in August.

I am no stranger to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. And, they are no strangers to summer fires here. I spent nearly every birthday in my 20s out in the wilderness, camped out fighting fire and listening to bullfrogs here on the Superior National Forest. 🔥

💗 The community has been SO supportive and welcoming to the firefighters, pilots, and support personnel who have descended on this little tourist town. All of the signs have been so encouraging and fun to see, and there is no shortage of heart or creativity here. 🤗

This juxtaposition of loving my wildfire life and also knowing my heart belongs to the sea is wild in the way it contrasts. It’s been great to see friends from the early years of my career and meet new ones with each assignment. Rest assured, there are dive adventures in the near future for me. I just wanted to stop by and say hello and give a little update. 🫐 🔥 ✈️ #wayfaringmandy #minnesotasummer #onlyinmn by @wayfaringmandy

145

19

3 months ago

So many wonderful, beautiful happy moments these past weeks! When I was still a teenager, I fell in love with Southeast Alaska. I was fledging then, and thankfully I landed with some patient and kind humans here in Alaska. I learned so much, and grew. 🪻

Then, I returned in another phase of life. I was tested but still felt the pang of love for this part of the planet. With some challenges, I grew again, all the while feeling grateful to have made this place my home again. 🪴

Visiting as a grown adult is a trip. All of the memories from those younger years don’t feel so distant. I have carried the lessons and memories with me and know they’ve shaped me even as I moved away, move on. 🐌

This is such a special place. To me and in general. I am so recharged by the micro adventures I’m able to squeeze in while I’m here. I feel so fortunate that the universe keeps placing me back in this squishy plot of muskeg next to the sea. 🌊 🩵

#southeastalaska #wayfaringmandy #alaska #grounding taken in Alaska by @wayfaringmandy

111

15

3 months ago

I got to one of my favorites sites for marmots and heard several other visitors exclaiming and commenting on the fuzzy faced marmots. Apparently, they were too loud and active for the little rodents’ liking. Or maybe it was the turbo winds that kicked up. Either way, no marmots in their usual hiding places for me! 😂

#wildamerica #southeastalaska #wayfaringmandy #thingsidoafterwork Mandy at the beachside home of marmots looking cold and making a displeased facial expression taken in Alaska by @wayfaringmandy

99

13

3 months ago

Can anyone explain to me why we’re not doing this outdoors now? Sunshine, gulls squawking, sea breeze (or lake breeze!) ☀️ resort bed rotting 😎 you can do it in your backyard, too!

#bigideas #traveltuesdays #wayfaringmandy #ocean by @wayfaringmandy

53

7

4 months ago