Tour & Travel Location: June 2014

Saturday, 14 June 2014

22 Photos from 22 Days in the Balkans

I AM BACK! After a 22-day break from the site — my first non-working vacation in years — I’m ready to share my adventures from Croatia, Bosnia, and Montenegro with all of you.
It was SUCH a good trip. I’ve been yearning to visit this region for years, and the Balkans didn’t disappoint whatsoever. I’m convinced that these are some of the most beautiful (and most fun) countries in the world!

For now, a picture from each of the 22 days I was away:

Day 1: Pula, Croatia

How’s this for an airport arrival? Dave and I later learned that we happened to be on Jet2′s inaugural flight from Manchester to Pula, and they welcomed us with wine, pastries, and lavender sachets.

13 Reasons to Fall in Love with Costa Brava, Spain

Costa Brava may very well be the best kept secret in Spain. This September, I spent time in this region of Catalonia for the first time ever, and I was blown away by its sheer beauty, the variety of things to do, and its warm hospitality.
From beaches to cities, from jamon to tomatoes, Costa Brava is filled with so many treasures — and if you’re anything like me, you’ll fall in love with Costa Brava quickly.

Here are 13 reasons to fall in love with Costa Brava:

Wild Coastline

I’ve seen the coasts of California, Croatia, and the Faroe Islands, and Costa Brava’s dramatic coast blows all of them away. Pounding surf, wild rocks and stunning beaches dot the landscape — it’s impossible to not want to photograph them all!

I have been to the end of the Earth — and it is GLORIOUS.

My time in the Faroe Islands was absolutely enchanting. These are some of the most beautiful islands I HAVE EVER SEEN. That’s not something to say casually! I mean it.

Maybe the most beautiful islands in the world aren’t filled with palm trees and sunshine — but instead cliffs and cloud-encircled islands and waterfalls tumbling into teal seas.

Where I’m Going This Spring and Summer

It’s been three and a half weeks since I returned to my home in Chester, England, after my month in Spain and Portugal.
And those three and a half weeks have been far from relaxing — Dave and I just finished moving into a new house with our friend Collette. A word to the wise: if there’s a gap in between your leases, pay more to stay longer. Moving twice is not fun.

The house is just a block away from our old place in Chester, but it’s SO much nicer – it’s filled with beautiful decor and looks like a French country home, complete with a working fireplace, hardwood floors, a washer/dryer, and a dishwasher.

A DISHWASHER!! I’ve never had a dishwasher in my adult life!
But I digress. While this is a lovely place to spend my time, I have some exciting travel plans for this spring and summer.
April through July is going to be one of my busiest stretches ever as a travel blogger. Am I overdoing it? Indeed I am! We’ll see how long it takes for me to burn out.
Here are the destinations of my upcoming travels:

Umbria, Italy

My travels begin this Thursday – I’m heading to Assisi in the region of Umbria, Italy, for the Travel Bloggers Unite conference! TBU Innsbruck was such a blast, and I’m looking forward to seeing my travel blogger friends, meeting new ones, networking like crazy, and learning more about our ever-growing

It was several years ago when I first began reading about the Balkans. I immediately became a Balkans junkie, dreaming of sailing Croatia’s islands, hiking Slovenia’s Julian Alps, partying on Belgrade’s river barges.

But the place that captured my imagination the most was a little island off the coast of Montenegro called Sveti Stefan.

Look at that island. How could you not be captivated by it? But it was also its history that charmed me — it had been a chi-chi resort from the 1950s through the 80s, hosting stars like Elizabeth Taylor. But like many other places in the Balkans, it fell into disrepair during the war and remained shuttered for a very long time.
I dreamed of visiting Sveti Stefan for years, and it had always been lurking in the corner of my mind of the places in the world I wanted to visit the most. When Dave and I added Montenegro to our Balkans itinerary, I hoped that we would make it there after all.

The Travel Olympics: Who Gets the Gold?

Happy Olympics Opening Day! I’m super-excited for the London 2012 Games, wondering what the iconic moments will be this time around. I’ll never forget what it was like back in 2008, screaming my head off as Michael Phelps and his teammates beat the French in that one swim relay they weren’t expected to win.
So to celebrate, I decided to do my own personal round of the Olympics, giving out medals to the 33 countries that I have visited so far!

Here’s how I would award my medals:

Best Beaches

Gold — Thailand
Silver — Croatia
Bronze — Indonesia
Thailand is an obvious gold winner in this category, being home to countless incredible beaches, both famous and obscure. So many of these beaches are icons, with the limestone cliffs of the Andaman Coast and the gentle beaches of the Gulf Coast. Thailand is also home to my favorite beach in the world: Koh Chang’s Lonely Beach!

Ah, Montenegro. I knew I’d love it. I knew it would be beautiful. But I had no idea that it would have the kind of beauty to knock me off my feet and render me speechless!

The scenery in Montenegro was tantalizing: the Bay of Kotor from every direction, storybook-perfect walled towns, mystical islands, a mountain-edged coastline, Tara Canyon, and especially the fjords throughout the country.

With only just a taste of Montenegro, I’m ready to declare it the most naturally beautiful country in Europe. Here’s what it has going for it:

One of the unexpected highlights of our three weeks in the Balkans was lovely Istria — the heart-shaped, Italian-flavored peninsula of western Croatia.

Dave and I ended up here on a bit of a whim. We were deciding whether it would be best to fly into Zagreb, Split, or somewhere else entirely — and it was cheapest to fly into Pula.

Pula? We can work with that, I thought. I’d read a bit about Istria, and I know that both Mike of Go, See, Write and Akila of The Road Forks were fans. So Pula it was.

Early this year, I visited Spain for the first time and quickly declared it one of my favorite countries. The culture, the architecture, the food, the beautiful men — how could I not fall for Spain? Of all the cities, I found myself falling for Granada and Sevilla the most.

But my new favorite? I think it might be Girona!

When I added Évora to my Iberian itinerary, I didn’t have many expectations. I heard it was a lovely town, but my main goal was to see the Capela dos Ossos, the bone chapel. Anything else would be a fringe benefit.

Sometimes, going into a place without expectations is best — because I was absolutely bowled over by the beauty of Évora!

This past summer, I visited Liechtenstein and declared it one of the weirdest places I’ve ever been. But after visiting Shetland, I chucked that theory out the window.
Liechtenstein is delightfully quirky — the Zooey Deschanel of principalities. Shetland, by comparison, is Bjork laying an egg on the red carpet.
I had the time of my life visiting Shetland for the first time this winter with Haggis Adventures, and I quickly fell under the islands’ spell. Shetland was raw and remote and absolutely beautiful — and also, really

Bologna, Italy: the Sexy, the Delicious, the Untouristed.

Sometimes, you walk into a place and feel an immediate revelation — this is what I’ve been searching for, and I didn’t know it until now.

That’s how I felt about Bologna — la grassa, la dotta, la rossa — my new favorite city in Italy.

I’ve been no stranger to falling in love with Italy — I was hooked immediately from the moment that I arrived for my semester abroad in Florence in 2004. Italy is one of my favorite places to travel solo — I love walking the streets alone, taking pictures, drinking caffe while standing up at bars, getting catcalled by men, window-shopping for fabulous items I can’t afford.

So…I ended up in Liechtenstein.

Yes, it’s a country — the sixth smallest country in the world. Liechtenstein is a mountainous principality sandwiched between Switzerland and Austria.

Oh, Innsbruck. Just thinking about you now gives me such happiness.

I’ve said it before and it needs repeating: I never had any desire to visit Innsbruck because I thought it was just for skiiers, snowboarders and winter sports enthusiasts, and I’m pretty winter-phobic.

I have fallen in love with the riverside town of Kampot, Cambodia.

What is it about this place? Is it the crumbling architecture? Is it the French influence, from the lampposts to the baguette carts? Is it the peaceful riverfront and the walkability? Is it the fact that everywhere has free WiFi?

Seriously, though, more than anything, I think it was the architecture. I’m a big architecture fan, and I was crazy about the crumbling French colonial villas that line Kampot’s streets. I don’t think I would have liked them as much if they were pristine.

I’m at a tiny gas station in the Bolaven Plateau of Southern Laos, trying to explain to the woman how much of the magenta liquid I need. I point to my nearly-empty fuel gauge; she hands me the hose to hold while she cranks the manual pump.

And then I have to figure out how much I owe her. Neither of us speaks more than two words of the other’s language, and nodding and smiling doesn’t get you far when dealing with numbers.

I have fallen in madly in love with an island: Koh Lanta.

After three party-heavy nights in Koh Phi Phi, I needed a place where I could chill out, relax, and enjoy the peace and quiet — but also get some work done. Koh Lanta seemed like a good choice.

It was beyond perfect.
Of all the places I’ve been in Thailand so far, Koh Lanta is my favorite destination so far. I can’t describe how much I love this island.
Here’s why you should visit Lanta:

A Glorious Day on the Cape Peninsula

Cape Town, as I’ve said time and time again, is one of the world’s most beautiful cities. But to really appreciate that beauty, you need to go beyond the city limits — out to the Cape Peninsula, which is home to plenty of beautiful attractions.

We spent our second full day in Cape Town tooling around the top sites of this fantastic region — and I was blown away by just how incredible it was.

Best Photos of 2012

Happy New Year, everyone! As you read this, I’m participating in Blogmanay up in Edinburgh. I wanted to close out the year with a bang, so I decided to share my favorite photos from the year.
You know your photography skills are improving when you regularly cringe at shots you took six months ago. That said, I’m really happy with my photos from this year — they cover 14 countries, 9 of them new.

When putting together my favorite photos of the past year, I narrowed it down to 28 that I REALLY loved. Maybe you can even see a stylistic evolution!

Here are my favorite photos from this year, in chronological order:

Royal Mile, Edinburgh

One of my favorite cities in the world — and I love how the cobblestones turn blue here.

Double Beach, Shetland

Edinburgh is famous for its wild and unpredictable weather, categorized by frequent rain showers, fog, and chilly winds — the kind of weather that makes you want to bundle up with a tartan scarf and wile away the day in glorious cafes.

Well, most of the time, that is. I happen to have incredible luck with Edinburgh weather, timing my visits perfectly for sunshine. The first time I came here, it was late September and the temperature was 30 degrees (86 fahrenheit). That is UNHEARD OF in Edinburgh. People were lying out on the grass, actually sunbathing!

So yesterday, when my friend Kash invited me to walk around the Water of Leith, one of his favorite places in Edinburgh, I didn’t bring an umbrella. It looked nice out.
Ha. That was a mistake. Not only did it start raining within 20 minutes, it began pouring buckets! We got absolutely soaked.

If I had only known that as we sailed into Pučišća on the island of Brač in Croatia, that we would be seeing the single most beautiful village I had ever seen, I would have taken time to savor it.

IF ONLY I HAD KNOWN!

Pučišca was an all-too-brief stop on our trip between Omiš and Makarska. It was only the second day of our sail. We had lucked out, majorly, because the captain was responsible for all navigation decisions and decided that this would be a better place for a swim stop than out in the middle of the ocean.
As we came into, Pučiśća, I admired the scene before me with my jaw scraping the deck — I mean, who wouldn’t?

Lush waterfalls, verdant greenery, and pools that change from turquoise to teal to aquamarine — the Plitivice Lakes are one of the most famous sights in Croatia. As soon as Dave and I started planning our Croatia itinerary, we knew we had to visit the Plitivice Lakes — so we decided to fit our visit in between our Istria road trip and our Dalmatian Coast cruise.

After arriving and checking into our guesthouse, we found out that rain was forecast for the afternoon, to my great disappointment. I could take rain anywhere, but please, NOT AT THE PLITIVICE LAKES! Anywhere but there!

So we made sure to get there in the morning so as to maximize our time in the sun.

I have been to the end of the Earth — and it is GLORIOUS.

My time in the Faroe Islands was absolutely enchanting. These are some of the most beautiful islands I HAVE EVER SEEN. That’s not something to say casually! I mean it.

Maybe the most beautiful islands in the world aren’t filled with palm trees and sunshine — but instead cliffs and cloud-encircled islands and waterfalls tumbling into teal seas.

Koh Lanta Sunsets

Is there any place better to watch a sunset than Koh Lanta? If there is, I haven’t found it yet. The island is skinny and long, with nearly all of the beaches on the west coast. Because of that, Koh Lanta sunsets are glorious almost every night — even when it’s overcast!

The first Lanta sunset. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that this is the best photo I will take, ever.

Hanoi is well-known for its snake restaurants — restaurants that serve every body part of the snake. If you’re lucky, the snake will be a cobra; if you’re the guest of honor, you’ll be served the heart.
I could not imagine a better adventure in Hanoi!
Hanoi Backpackers Hostel runs trips to Snake Village most nights. For $15, you get to visit a traditional snake restaurant on the outskirts of Hanoi and enjoy the full snake dining experience. There’s a snake buffet, plenty of rice wine, and since it’s organized through the hostel, you know that there will be a great group of people.

Image: BluEyedA73

Spring break for American college students is defined by the following: drink specials, beach parties, booze cruises, dancing all night long, beer bongs, random hookups, wet t-shirt contests and Joe Francis filming girls with low self-esteem, all set in beachy destinations like Cancun, Mazatlan, Jamaica and Panama City Beach.

I never had a typical American spring break. Neither did my best friend, Beth. (I went to Italy to perform with the Glee Club; she hit up the Connecticut casinos.) So when I flew down to visit her when she was living in South Texas, we decided to spend a night at South Padre Island.

When I was a freshman at Fairfield University, my friend Meredith was obsessed with Jon Stewart. Back then, in 2003, The Daily Show was nowhere near the powerhouse that it is today — it didn’t gain genuine credibility until the 2004 election. Back then, it was just a cult cable show with a handsome host.

Meredith followed her heart and scored tickets to a show in April, and the two of us, along with our friends Carolyn, EJ and Erin, made the train journey to New York City. By then, I had become quite enamored of Jon Stewart as well.

My Personal Paradise: Thailand’s Andaman Coast

This week’s #FriFotos theme is PARADISE. I’ve been fortunate to see hundreds of beautiful places around the world — but no place exemplifies “paradise” to me better than Thailand’s Andaman Coast.
Here are all the things that make the Andaman Coast my personal paradise:

The views, and the hidden beaches — like this one in Koh Lanta National Park.

When I was in high school, I was in a performance of Brigadoon. The show — cheesy, but featuring some very beautiful songs — is set in the Scottish Highlands.

Brigadoon couldn’t have painted a prettier, happier picture of life in the Highlands — weekly markets filled with cheerful merchants, beautiful fields of heather, proud Scottish sword dances, friendly townspeople with musical accents. And though the show has its share of death and destruction, life in the Highlands, overall, was good.

Is it safe for a woman to travel alone in India? Yes, it absolutely can be — but traveling in India requires special preparation and practices, especially if you’re a woman.

For this piece, I decided to bring in an expert: Mariellen Ward, a Canadian travel writer and longtime advocate for solo female travel who considers India her “soul culture.” Mariellen is the voice behind Breathe Dream Go, a travel blog focusing on India and the spiritual journey behind travel. She is also the author of Song of India, a short story collection available for free when you sign up for her newsletter.

In this interview, Mariellen reveals how women can travel India safely.

Anyone can start a travel blog — but starting a quality travel blog is a much more involved task. It involves time, it involves investment, and it involves a LOT of work.

Lots of people plan on starting a travel blog just to keep their family and friends updated on their travels. If that’s all you want, there’s nothing wrong with that! Go create a free WordPress.com blog.

BUT. If you want more people than just your friends and family to read your blog, if you want strangers to find your blog and thank you for it, and if you want the possibility of making money with your travel blog someday, this is how you want to go about starting it.
You’re ready. You’ve chosen a travel blog name, you have a few posts in mind, and you have some tantalizing travel plans on the horizon. Fantastic. Let’s put together your dream blog.

What do Luang Prabang, Barcelona, Bali, and South Korea have in common?

For me, they were victims of timing.

I visited each of these destinations at the worst time — either at the tail end of exhausting adventures, or after an incredible destination that I hadn’t wanted to leave in the first place.
As a result, I didn’t go in with the best attitude possible, and as a result, I feel like I need to revisit each of them in order to be captured by their magic.

Thoughts on Train Travel in America

I often get asked what other countries have that the U.S. doesn’t. My answer is always the same: a more comprehensive train system.

I love trains.

From the sleek bullet trains of Japan to the impossibly comfortable cars on Austria’s first-class cars to the ultimate luxury journey on rails, the Blue Train in South Africa, some of my most memorable travel experiences have taken place on trains, and watching the countryside roll by from the comfort of my seat is one of my favorite ways to relax while traveling.
Now, what does that have to do with America?

To say I was looking forward to Southern food would be an understatement. I literally planned the whole #SouthUSA trip around what I would be eating! Southern food is rooted in so much tradition and has so many geographic influences, from Africa to France to the Caribbean to Ireland, and I was so excited to finally try it for myself.

Traditional Southern food also has the reputation of not being so healthy. While you can eat healthy-ish in the South if you’re committed and have iron willpower, traditional food here is very heavy. Lots of butter, lots of cream, lots of fried food. If you’re trying to eat healthy, I recommend that you indulge with one traditional meal per day, ideally at lunch, and make up for it with a salad at dinner.

I’m finally able to reveal it to you all — my big summer plans involve festival-hopping all over Europe!

Must Love Festivals

Must Love Festivals is a campaign highlighting quirky, unusual, lesser-known festivals in Europe. You won’t see us running with bulls, throwing tomatoes, or hitting up the festivals that get all the attention. Instead, you’ll see a different side of Europe — a side where regions celebrate their music, their food, their arts, their culture, their sports, and much more. Festivals that are mysteriously absent from pop culture.

Must Love Festivals is the brainchild of my dear friend Kash Bhattacharya, the Budget Traveller.
Members of the team include myself, Frankie Thompson of As the Bird Flies, Michael Turtle of Time Travel Turtle, Victoria Watts and Steve of Bridges and Balloons, Bethany Salvon and Randy Kalp of Beers & Beans, Peter Parkorr of Travel Unmasked, Dylan Lowe of The Travelling Editor, Sophie Collard of Sophie on Track, Abigail King of Inside The Travel Lab, Sebastian Canaves-Börner of Off The Path, and Alex and Ben of Hejorama.

Now that I’m transitioning from SOTM Tour recaps to monthly recaps, this is the one monthly recap that will be a bit wonky — it’s just for three weeks, from May 10 to 31.

Destinations Visited

Daventry and London, England

Limerick, Ireland

If anywhere on the planet is more Catholic than the Vatican, it’s Malta.

From giant paintings of the Virgin Mary hanging in Maltese bedrooms to religious festas with saints carried through the street each summer to incredibly ornate churches thanks to generous donations from parishioners each year, Malta is a place where life revolves around the Catholic faith.

Malta is home to more than 360 churches in total — an incredible feat when you consider that the island is 122 square miles.
There’s the Church of St. Paul’s Shipwreck in Valletta, which purportedly holds the wrist bone of St. Paul. There’s St. Mary Magdalene’s Chapel, a tiny, one-room church overlooking the Dingli Cliffs. The church of Xewkija in Gozo has the second-largest church dome in Europe after St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Contest Alert: Brag Your Way To a Holiday

One of my continuous annoyances while traveling is trying to stay online. Some hotels still charge insane amounts for internet. Others make you sign in every time you pick up your phone. And more often than not, I somehow end up buying a SIM card that doesn’t even work indoors.

You know what would be easier? Just turning on your phone.

Well, now you can do that.
There is now an exciting solution from Three UK, the phone company I’ve been using since I moved to London in 2012. Three is introducing a new initiative called Feel at Home — in short, you can use your Three minutes AND data plan in several different countries at no extra charge.
Got unlimited data at home? You’ve got unlimited data on the road. This is a big deal.
There are currently 11 countries where you can use your data and minutes at no extra charge: Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Macau, Sri Lanka, Sweden, and the USA.

Starting on July 1, you can add Finland, France, Israel, Norway, and Switzerland to the list.

Finland, you say? I just so happen to be heading there in July for Must Love Festivals. I’ll be trying it out there for sure.

Finding a hidden beach in Gozo? Definitely a holiday braggie.

San Blas Bay: A Hidden Beach in Malta

In a country as tiny as Malta, there aren’t many new places to discover. Every geographic nook and cranny is well-documented — and if any two Maltese meet, I guarantee they will have at least have a few friends in common!

But if there is such thing as a secret beach in Malta, it’s San Blas Bay on the island of Gozo. It’s hidden, tough to access, sparsely visited, and breathtakingly beautiful — everything that you want a secret beach to be.

“San Blas!” I yelped out while perusing Google Maps as Mario drove up a steep hill. “One of my readers said that’s a nice beach! Let’s go there!”