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Valerie Stimac

Travel & Space Tourism Writer

Valerie Stimac

Travel & Space Tourism Writer

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How to Plan an Amazing Alaska Aurora Trip

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Valerie & Valise

Space Tourism Guide

Follow the Butterflies

Mark your calendars! The Great Conjunction of Jupi Mark your calendars! The Great Conjunction of Jupiter & Saturn is in FOUR days! Hit the link in my profile if you want a guide to seeing this once in a lifetime — once in a millennia! — astronomy experience. 🪐 #greatconjunction #nightsky #toyotahighlander @toyotausa #astronomy #spacetourism #astrotourism #astrophotography #night #nightscape #nightsky #nightphotography #space #stars #stargazing #jupiter #saturn
SEE THE NORTHERN LIGHTS ✔️ I was lucky to g SEE THE NORTHERN LIGHTS ✔️ I was lucky to grow up in Alaska and saw the #aurora quite often; it wasn’t til I moved away that I realized it was a unique experience people waited their whole lives to try and do — and planned really expensive trips for! We’re back in Alaska’s aurora season now, and Alaska is technically open for visitors (there are testing requirements though!). If seeing the aurora is on your bucket list, pop over to my profile and click the link for a complete guide on how to do so in #Alaska. 🌟 Pro-tip: the #northernlights are best seen in September and March, so nows a great time to start planning for March 2021! Save this post so you have it whenever you plan. 🔖 📸: @alaskaphototreks in March 2020
GET MARRIED ✔️ Long overdue, here are some GET MARRIED ✔️ Long overdue, here are some of my favorite photos from our wedding in July. While we had to make major adjustments to have a wedding of any kind happen (See that mask in my hand?! Had to buy a white one to match the day!) it’s lovely to be married and to have something truly positive to look back on from this wild and weird year. 👰🏻💙🤵🏻 Photos by @verapashphoto
DISCOVER MOJAVE SPACE PORT ✔️ That feeling DISCOVER MOJAVE SPACE PORT ✔️ That feeling when you visit somewhere and you can’t not share. Yesterday as part of our honeymoon road trip, Mr. V and I passed @mojaveairport and HAD to stop when we saw this @Nasa plane. It was used to test landing gear for the space shuttles. It made me realize I’ve been feeling stifled and uncreative because I never get many likes when I post. Then I decided I didn’t care because I probably look at my profile way more than all of you combined 🤣 So here’s to just sharing with y’all, my insta friends, exactly what I love about the world, even if it doesn’t make a pretty grid or get likes. 😘
Happy weekend! Swipe for awe 👉 You're welcome ☺️⁣ ⁣ Taken on an aurora chasing expedition with @alaskaphototreks last week. I was dead tired from lack of sleep but to see the sky dancing is totally worth it.⁣ ⁣ Photos:⁣ 1. Old railroad bridge across the Knik River⁣ 2. Reflections and fog on the river⁣ 3. A car passing⁣ 4. Columns of light within the green glow⁣ 5. Green shapes & pink clouds
As we look back on the past decade, what trips and As we look back on the past decade, what trips and experiences stick out in your mind? #ad⁣ ⁣ I'm not gonna lie – I love the end of each year, because it gives me a chance to look back on all the places I've been (figuratively and literally). I also set goals and choose a word for the new year to help me focus my energy and passion... Do you do a yearly recap or set any resolutions like me?⁣ ⁣ This year I've had the chance to partner with @expedia to share my top trips from the 2010s – to inspire your first trip of the 2020s! I reviewed their list of #2020TravelTrends and used that to help me narrow down my list, too. It was so hard to choose just 20 destinations that shaped my past decade... 😅⁣ ⁣ One of the trips is from this picture: my first #NASASocial to Orlando to see the Orion EFT-1 Launch. It was my first space tourism focused trip, and it put me on the path I'm on today! You can see the other 19 trips/destinations I picked via the link in my bio. 👆⁣ ⁣ What was one of your most impactful trips of the last decade?
Did you know I'm a woman trained in STEM? And that Did you know I'm a woman trained in STEM? And that it has played a pivotal role in my career? ⁣ ⁣ I have a Bachelors *and* a Masters in Psychology, which I used to move into Marketing, and then eventually into travel writing and entrepreneurship. Every day, I rely on my STEM background to build my career in space – even if it's an unconventional one by most standards!⁣ ⁣ I'm sharing this to encourage you to #ReachfortheStars – literally or figuratively – especially my young female friends. As women we shouldn't be afraid to chase our dreams even when we're the only ones in the room. After all, Hermione was always unapologetically top of her class!⁣ ✨🧙🏻‍♀️ ⁣ If you're curious how I've put together this interesting patchwork that turns out to be my dream career, AMA in the comments! ⁣ ⁣ Thank you @figoreilly for inviting me to the #SpaceAppsChallenge.
Happy bday @nasa! Not to choose favorites, but as Happy bday @nasa! Not to choose favorites, but as government space orgs go, you’re my fave. I hope I look as good at 61! #nasa #nasa🚀 #spaceisforeveryone #forallmankind
When was the last time you felt awe or wonder?✨⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ "When you're amazed by something, part of that experience is the rapid realization that your previous understanding of existence was too limited to accommodate this new thing you've just seen. ...⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣ It could be as large as looking up into the depths of the Milky Way one night and realizing with awe and regret that somewhere along the way your working awareness of the universe had shrunk to fit the parameters of your everyday life, that you had inflated the importance of small concerns and ignored your connection to the wider world around you.⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣ Big or small, these jolts of expanding awareness are a fundamental component of the experience of wonder." – Nate Staniforth, Here is the Real Magic⁣⁣⁣ ⁣ I've been fortunate that 2019 has thusfar been a year with many opportunities for wonder – including seeing the southern Milky Way the first time in Chile in March. I'd love to hear your stories of awe too.⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ 🗣 HT @dotravelwriting // 📸: @turismomigrantes
© 2019 Valerie Stimac
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