About me

Hi, I’m Kristen

I live in North Carolina and I love finding unique travel adventures in the Carolinas and beyond.

Kristen riding the foldable fat tire ebike Jaguarundi at the beach
Exploring Topsail Island in NC with my Magicycle Fat Tire Ebike .

Some of my favorite topics to write about include:

Shelling:

Nature Guides:

 Quaint Towns:

Outdoor Adventures:

I’ve been featured in Phanganist with this article titled, “This Trippy Life Encouraging Eco Tourism To Embrace Cultures, Environment, and Diversity”.

I’ve also had my article on Camping Sites in South Carolina published in TravelDudes.

I love finding quaint towns to share with my readers like the artsy town of Abingdon, VA.

Kristen Allred in Abingdon, VA
I loved exploring the beautiful town of Abingdon, VA. The food and art scene here is amazing!

Lakehouse Rental

My husband and I own a successful lakehouse rental on Mayo Lake in Roxboro, NC. It’s one of our favorite places to be. I love the Roxboro area and have explored all of the fantastic dining options and fun things to do there.

Because of the success of our Airbnb/VRBO rental, I was recently asked to contribute Airbnb advice to the website Porch.com. You can read my advise HERE!

Or jump to my blog posts about how to run a successful Airbnb, or all the items you will need to run a successful vacation rental.

One of our favorite things to do on Mayo Lake is enjoy the local wildlife. Here is a post I wrote on coastal birds of North & South Carolina. We see many of these birds at our lakehouse.

What I love Most About starting The Trippy Life

I love finding new places for my readers to visit. I especially enjoy meeting business owners and helping promote their restaurants and stores. 

One favorite memory was being hired by Lenovo to gift a Lenovo ThinkBook to a deserving, small Raleigh business owner. I chose a charity in Raleigh called The Hope Center At Pullen. They help youth who are aging out of foster care become successful adults.

I also love helping others enjoy nature. After publishing my ultimate seashell identification guide, I’ve heard from people all over the world about their shelling adventures.

When I’m Not Traveling

I’m a mom of three great kids, a wife of one fantastic hubby, and a published composer and piano teacher.

I’m also the accompanist for an excellent choir called the Northeast Piedmont Chorale. Here is a Christmas piece the choir sang where I was fortunate enough to have the famous Sally Albrecht play the duet accompaniment with me.

My family enjoys supporting local animal shelters. We have volunteered for and fostered many dogs and cats through our local shelter. 

Below is one of the cats we fostered for the SPCA.

Sweet cat we fostered for the local animal shelter.

Feel free to reach out to me at kristen@thetrippylife.com

Here are some pictures from my family’s adventures.

Man with monkey on shoulders

This is my husband, Gary.  He is a huge animal lover, so he was glad that this monkey named “Sweetie” wanted to climb on his shoulders. We were at Osa Wildlife Sanctuary in Costa Rica.

Boy with Macaw on Shoulder

My son, Jacob, with a Hyacinth Macaw on his shoulder.  This was taken at Ave Azul De La Osa Bird Sanctuary in Costa Rica.

Kassidy at Duke Lemur Center

My daughter, Kassidy, being a “Lemur Keeper For a Day” at the Duke Lemur Center.

Kristen Allred feeding baby tiger

Here I am at Zootastic in North Carolina feeding a baby tiger.

Beagle and Shorkie snuggling

Cookie & Biscuit

Here are my two sweet dogs. Cookie is a Shorkie, and Biscuit is a beagle mix.

I love taking them along on adventures whenever I can!

Update: Biscuit has since passed away. He lived a long, happy life and we felt blessed to have him be a part of our family.

I love playing piano, teaching piano and composing.  I have several published works.

In this video below, I’m playing my piano arrangement of Amazing Grace.

I believe there are amazing things to experience and learn wherever you are, and I can’t wait to share my journey with you.  I hope I can inspire you to cherish the adventures you find in your life!

-Kristen

Hi! I'm Kristen

I'm based in North Carolina, and love finding the hidden gems of the Carolinas and beyond! I explore quaint towns, adventurous outdoor activities, and fantastic food to help my readers plan their own unforgettable travels.

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