Thank you to Famous Footwear for kindly sponsoring this post. All opinions are 100% honest and completely my own.
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It's the holiday season and that means parties, events, family gatherings, tons of cooking, plenty of desserts, and lots of fun times are about to commence. There is just so much that happens in this one month that it's easy to feel a bit overwhelmed when you start to schedule and prepare for everything. Don't get me wrong, I love this time of year, but before the festivities and family gatherings begin I try to fit in some "me" time.

I feel lucky that I live close to Balboa Park as it’s been my go-to park when I want to explore and spend some time alone. Balboa Park is huge and every time I visit, I always find something new. Last time I stumbled upon The Spanish Village Art Center and this time I came across the 1935 Old Cactus Garden.

This historic garden was directed by Kate Sessions for the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition. I had no idea what the California Pacific International Exposition was and found out that it was held to help promote San Diego since its economy, at the time, was in decline after the Great Depression. There were various exhibits that were held within Balboa Park and the Cactus Garden was one of them.

It doesn’t seem like this garden is attended to regularly, so I can only imagine how beautiful it must have been during the exposition. Not to say that it’s not worth visiting now, but it can definitely be spruced up a bit.

The garden is located behind the Balboa Park Club and it’s very quiet back there. I went on a weekday afternoon and while the rest of the park was bustling with locals and tourists, I had this cactus garden all to myself, which makes it the perfect place to pause, reflect, and restore.

Like me, Famous Footwear believes that one of the most important steps forward you can make this holiday is taking a moment for yourself. I’ve teamed up with Famous Footwear to give one lucky person a chance to win a $100 gift card. They've got a variety of shoes on their site from boots to athletic wear, so there is definitely something for everyone. To enter, head over to Travel Pockets' Instagram page for your chance to win. The giveaway starts today (11/20/17), so don't wait to enter!

Happy Holidays!!!

P.S. The booties I'm wearing are called the Coconuts La Brea Bootie. It's a fun trendy style that can easily be dressed up or down.

1935 OLD CACTUS GARDEN
ADDRESS: 2144 Pan American Road W., San Diego, CA 92101 (Located behind the Balboa Park Club)
HOURS: 24 hours 365 days a year.
ADMISSION: Free

Camera equipment used: Canon EOS M3 Mirrorless Camera, Canon EF-M 22mm f2 STM Compact System Fixed Lens. We subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud to edit photos and videos using Lightroom, Premiere Pro, and Photoshop.