Adventure of the month

When you take the speed dating approach to travel, you can't allow yourself to get too bogged down in the details. Take for example, my latest adventure. I landed in Vientiane at midnight and had an entire twelve hours before I had to catch a flight to Guam. The sensible thing to do would have been to get some sleep, maybe a quick breakfast and start the new day refreshed (or as close to it as possible when whizzing through time zones). Problem is Vientiane is the capital of Laos, a new country for me and I was determined to see... something, which is more or less how I phrased it when I checked into my hotel at 1am.  I explained to the front desk clerk that I wanted to set up a driver to show me the sights. When asked what precisely I wanted to see, my response was "Uh, I don't know. Anything specific to Laos. Temples, maybe. That monument that shows up in all the Google searches. Anything interesting. No shopping."

I feel like so many of my blog posts begin in one of two ways. Either there is somewhere I've always wanted to go to and Woo-Hoo, I finally did it. Or I kind of stumbled into something not knowing what to expect and found it to be way cooler than anticipated. Then we have my latest adventure, which is a combination of the two. Anyone who knows me is aware of my love of all things Halloween. I begin preparing my costumes months in advance and insist on dressing up, no matter where I am. This can result in some awkward situations, such as the time I was the only person in all of Leipzig, Germany dressed up for the occasion (as a Gothic Barbie Doll no less) but I don't care. It is a holiday dedicated to fun and candy and I am on board 100%. Lately, there feels like there has been a conflation of Halloween and Mexico's Day of the Dead celebration. Both fall roughly around the same time, involve costumes and prominently feature skulls and other "spooky" symbols. Al

October was coming to an end and with it, so was my four month workation in Rotterdam. With just one break and diminishing funds remaining, I left the final destination up to chance. Whatever flight was cheapest on my days off, that's where I was going. A couple of searches via cheapoair, skyscanner, momondo and finally Kayak later, fate determined that I was going to Bergerac, France. With that decided, I had a new, more pressing question. What was I going to do in Bergerac for five days? The town is best known for two things: wine and a large-schnozzed romantic. I like wine. I vaguely remember Steve Martin playing this guy, Cyrano de Bergerac in a movie a million years but nothing about this combo sounded interesting enough for five days.  I expanded my search a bit and saw that Bordeaux was less than a two hour train ride away. C'est le done. This was going to be a wing it (and wine it) kinda trip.

1. The architecture. A beguiling mix of Moorish and Gothic, it gives the city a wonderfully mysterious air and encourages the visitor to walk around taking it all in even if the temperature is slightly less than that of the sun. Without question, the most recognizable building is the Seu Cathedral, sitting on the water's edge. Built upon the site of a Moorish mosque, it was first consecrated in 1230 but was not completed until 1601. After an earthquake in 1851 destroyed a portion of the cathedral, Antonin Gaudi was brought in for the redo to work mainly on the interior portion. After a couple of years, he got into a fight with the contractor and did his best 'take this job and shove it'.

There is a lot to see in Lebanon. Like almost too much, really. Particularly if you only have a couple of days to see and do it all. But as they say, the struggle is real and sleep is for suckers. In order to cover as much as possible, I decided to sign up for two day trips, both which started much too early in the morning. Day one, I headed north. As with all things in life, the tours would be a mixed bag. There would be would be some really great stops and then there were would be some that were just "eh". After reading the description, I mentally placed the first stop firmly in the 'eh' category. It would be a stop at the Jeita grotto. I have nothing against grottos, per se, it is just that I have been to so many that after a while all those stalactites and stalagmites start to blend together. That is probably why after taking a cable car up to the upper grotto, I was completely ok with their rule that you put all phones, cameras, etc into a locker. Less to

Me (dealing with some issues with my condo): "Hey, I am going on vacation for the next five days and I don't know what the phone situation is going to be so if you need to get a hold of me, just email me and I'll get back to you when I can." My lawyer: "Sure, no problem. I think we've got everything under control. Where are you going?" Me: "Beirut" Lawyer: (silence) Me: "In Lebanon" Lawyer: (silence) Me: "You see, I'm trying to get to all the countries and I am fascinated with Middle Eastern culture... Lawyer: "You're insane. You are going to Lebanon! For vacation!! Isn't it super dangerous?" Me: "Something, something...Paris of the East"

Although this summer has been going wonderfully, there is something missing. I may be traveling, meeting some amazing people and finding that the Netherlands has seriously stepped up their vegetarian game.  However, there is also a distinct lack of blue-eyed zombies, dragons and little blond badasses in my life. In other words, I want my Game of Thrones back. Seeing as George R. R. Martin is not taking my calls and I inadvertently cancelled my HBO subscription (but not before the finale of Westworld), this situation called for drastic measures. If the seven kingdoms would not come to me, then clearly I must go to the seven kingdoms.  I've already been to King's Landing (aka Dubrovnik) and Braavos (aka Girona), so maybe it was time to check out the Iron Islands, the wall and pretty much everything else in between. In order to do this, a trip to Belfast was in order.

I know what you are saying, dear fictional nitpicking reader. Is Kosovo actually a country? Like, for real? Well, they did declare their independence on 2/17/08. Out of the 193 UN member states, 111 recognize this declaration. The other 82, namely Russia and China, still see it is as a province of Serbia. The fact of the matter is that while crossing the border from Macedonia, it is a Kosovo stamp that I got in my passport. I did not actually want this stamp, as it may cause problems if I ever want to enter into actual Serbia in the future, but I had taken a crowded jitney-type bus from Skopje and the customs official had us all pass up our passports and off he went. I had no chance to make my "no stamp" plea.  While this stamp business may cause me some headaches in the future, I was glad that the customs process was relatively speedy since it was getting late and I had to be at the National Theater at 11am for a free walking tour of Prishtina . As it was, I kept sending

Have you ever been so pleasantly surprised by something that it made you angry? Or maybe just slightly annoyed? I know this sounds weird but hear me out. As part of my quest to hit all the countries, I'd booked a flight to Skopje, Macedonia. This in itself was a kind of consolation prize because I actually wanted to go to Ohrid for some sunning and funning. Those flights, in the middle of July were way too expensive so I'd settled on the larger, less water-adjacent city. After checking into the wonderful  Lounge Hostel , I'd realized that I had left my European power-adaptor plugged into the wall of the Belgrade airport and had to rush out to replace it before the stores closed. It's possible that this situation had put me into a disgruntled state of mind. How else explain my reaction when I first saw a massive Alexander the Great presiding over this very imposing square.  As I gaped at all the perfectly restored neo-classical architecture around me, my first thou

You know how you can tell that you have waited way too long to post a trip on your reportedly monthly travel blog? For me, it is generally when I have a hard time remembering all the details of the trip itself.  I'm terrible with numbers so I never have any expectation of recalling significant dates but when I have to run to google for the most basic details- names of museums, why I found it important to photograph a certain monument, who is that in the photo with me? This is when I know I might be a procrastinator.  At this very moment, it is December 2018. This is going to show up as a June entry bc that's the premise here but know that it's a lie.  It is the end of the year and I am doing last minute blog housekeeping lest I have to change the title to Adventure of the Year. So, back in June, I was kicking off my latest undertaking. Specifically, I am now the proud owner of a National Parks Passport and intend on getting as many stamps as possible. My unlikel

Traveling is all about learning. Sometimes it is something as lofty as learning about yourself when you are presented with different perspectives. Other times, the questions are much simpler. Questions such as: "What the hell am I going to do with all this time in Tulsa, St. Louis and Omaha?" Turns out the answer is: a lot. Like going non-stop and still not covering everything I wanted to do kind of busy. Let's start with the first stop, Tulsa. I kicked off my midwestern outing with a visit to the Woody Guthrie Museum, not mind you because I am a huge Woody head. I actually just wanted one of the "This Machine Kills Fascists" t-shirts I had seen on their website. I could have just grabbed one at the entrance which doubles as the gift shop and ran but since I had come this far, I figured I might as well see what this guy was all about.

Lately, I've been lucky enough to have a couple of chances to stay in Athens. Usually, it is not for very long but when you adopt my "I'll sleep when I'm dead" world view to traveling, you can usually get in a couple of sites, which is important in a city that has so very much to see. Last month, that meant that I got to visit the National Archeological Museum and stumble across a cool hipster neighborhood. This month, I was back and staying within plate-smashing distance of the Acropolis. This was my chance to check out the highly-recommended Acropolis museum, which is a relatively recent project, having only opened in 2009 after a lengthy search for the perfect location. I would argue that they found it.

Many years ago, I was excited to find myself in Acapulco on May 5th. Surely, Cinco de Mayo in Mexico would be a tequila-fueled bacchanal for the ages. I went to the hotel's front desk to ask what I should expect. "Well, the banks will be closed. The post office too." "Uh, ok, that's fine. I'm really more interested in the parties. Is it going to be crazy?" -blank stare- As it turns out, Cinco de Mayo, which is not the Mexican day of Independence (that would be Diecisies de Septiembre) is primarily an American excuse to don sombreros, drink Coronas and eat unlimited nachos.  In Mexico itself, it is not much more than a Federal holiday commemorating an  unlikely victory over the French. Fast forward to last month, when I learned that I would be spending St Patrick's Day in Dublin. My initial thrill at this news was tempered with the sinking feeling that this could be 5 de Mayo all over again.  And technically I was not wrong. The green beer drink

Have you ever been just minutes into something and already known that you were going to love it? I have. It happened last week when my friends and I arranged a tour with MH Travel to take us from Podgorica, Montenegro into Albania. Our guide, Dean, who had designed and developed this tour himself was explaining why he felt the need to do so. It was obvious he had a passion for this off-the-radar destination and wanted to share his discoveries but what drew me in was his reasoning: "It's the most punk rock country there is. Everyone does whatever they want but it just works." I like countries. I like punk rock. And a dash of anarchy makes everything a little better. I was intrigued. The border crossing, which is the subject of the majority of complaints on the few blogs covering travel in Albania, was completely painless. We were through both border checks in less than 10 minutes. Apparently this is not the case during the summer, when waits can be hours long.

I knew my itinerary, devised to maximize my time in New Zealand, was going to be challenging. Every other day, I was jumping on a bus and going somewhere new. Days in between were jam-packed with tours, museums, hikes tramps and visits to other assorted points of interest. The goal, both here and on all my travels, is always to see as much as possible without totally running myself ragged. With that in mind, I decided to end my trip on a chill note. My last two days, before returning to Auckland to catch a flight home, were to be spent relaxing on the beach. From Rotorua, I stopped briefly in Waitomo to see some glow worms . No photos were permitted so you will have to take my word for it that they were hella-cool and reminded me of the glow in the dark stickers I had plastered all over my ceiling as a child.  From there, it was onto the Bay of Islands where I based myself out of Paihia, a laid back beach town with no shortage of bars playing Bob Marley tunes and boat trip ope

1. Walk into a travel office. Any will probably do but I found the people at Rotorua Backpackers super helpful. Figure out what you want to do- easier said than done- and have them create a combo package. This will save you a good amount of money. I opted for the Tamaki Maori Cultural Show ($130), the Wai O Tapu hot springs tour ($82) and a Zorb ($45). Had I purchased each individually, the total would have been $257. The combo price: $175. 2. Kick off your combo. In my case, the first item on the agenda was the Tamaki Cultural Show . It was precisely what I expected: a touristy show with some information about Maori culture followed by a "traditional" meal. Kinda like a luau but with more tongue.

Before going to New Zealand, I met up with my friend and former boss who grew up near Auckland. I wanted him to review my itinerary and tell me what I should add, delete or expand.  As he went down the list, his memories came flooding back. He gushed about the places I'd be visiting. I was going to love Queenstown. (Note: I did.) I shouldn't miss Rotorua and its hot springs.(I didn't) I had to make sure to do a boat trip around the Bay of Islands. (check) Wellington was ok. (Yeah..wait, come again?) It wasn't like he was completely dismissive of New Zealand's capital. After all, it still is a vibrant city with a spectacular harbor. He just didn't seem particularly enthused. Except for when I asked "Is one day enough?" That "Oh, yes!" was mighty enthusiastic. To counter his ennui, and to feel like I was doing adequate research on the topic, I watched What We Do in the Shadows , the hilarious vampire film set in Wellington. At least from

If you are going to New Zealand, you must tramp. Be you young or old, local or visitor, it would be unthinkable not to. Fortunately, the list of opportunities are as extensive as any you will ever see. You have long, short, easy, difficult and everything other kind of tramp in between. To clarify, tramping is Kiwi for hiking/ trekking/ going for long walks outside. When you have a country with such an overabundance of natural beauty and a population that perpetually looks like they just stepped out of a REI catalog, it is to be expected that this would be such a thing. And what a thing it is. From the list of Great Walks , ranging from 2-6 days and covering all kinds of terrain to thousands of shorter options, it feels like everyone is always minutes away from grabbing their walking sticks. Not wanting to feel left out, I decided to do a portion of one of the great walks. Mind you, it would not be any of the ones that involved glaciers or things like "cold weather gear"

When I began putting together an itinerary for New Zealand, I worried that in order to see everything, I would have to waste a lot of time just getting from one place to the next. It's wasn't that the distances were so tremendously great, it is that those pesky Southern Alps turn otherwise short trips into all day affairs. To feel better about this, whenever possible, I tried to incorporate some sightseeing into the trips themselves. For example, to get from Queenstown to Christchurch, instead of taking the regular bus, I booked a tour that went past Mt. Cook, New Zealand's highest mountain. As best I can tell, the most popular ways to explore the Mt. Cook/ Aoraki National Park are via multi-day hikes and/ or helicopter tours. I certainly didn't have the time, fitness or budget for either of these options so I figured a quick drive-by would work just as well.

Day 3 in Queenstown. I woke up sans plans. I did a quick online search through the  list of discounted activities  (Money-saving NZ tip #4 or maybe 5, I'm losing count. Check this site often, you will never know what you will find). The Million Dollar Cruise was available for that morning. I'd heard good things about this easy-going trip on Lake Wakatipu and a sunny day on the water is always good so I booked it. This would keep me busy all morning but I still had the rest of the day to fill. I'd entertained the idea of bungy jumping. Doing it here, where it was invented would be super cool, but if I was going to stick to any kind of budget, it just was not feasible. Instead, I was looking at other, more economical options (ie a 10 km hike, a kiwi sanctuary, tobogganing). At the same time, my loca friend Angela, who had been staying in my apt for Art Basel, was texting me, asking where to leave the key, where to put the recycling, etc. As we covered all the basic housek

Look up any list of New Zealand must-sees and somewhere near the top you will find Milford Sound. In the description, there will usually be someone waxing poetic about the fjord's other-worldly beauty. (ie- from the 100% Pure New Zealand site- Situated on the west coast of the South Island, Milford Sound is a fusion of spectacular natural features with amazing visual cues around every corner; From Explorer James Hingston : ;For thousands of feet upwards the eye looks upon straight cut rocky frontages, not worn smooth by time, or by wind or water, but as sharply defined and as fresh looking in all respects as if riven asunder but yesterday by the stupendous wedges of Titanic Masons. ) You will also find some barely coded language hinting at what you should expect weather-wise. Phrases such as "In any climate.." and "Wet or fine..." clue you in that the chances of you replicating all those sunny Sound pics are precariously slim. That is because Milford Sound

With only 18 days to spend in New Zealand, the sensible thing to do would have been to choose one island- either the North or South- and explore it in depth. The problem is I am not a sensible person. I am FOMO personified and I want to see it all. Therefore, on my third day, I boarded a flight from Auckland (North island) to Queenstown (South island), which made for a crammed and busy schedule. I had only 15 days to bus myself back up to Auckland for the return flight but in the words of Edith Piaf "Non, je ne regrette rien". Queenstown is the kind of place you can fall in love with at first sight. It's an outdoorsy, sun-kissed small town where everyone knows what kombucha is and all the guys wearing Jesus sandals actually look like, well, Jesus. Just walking down the street, you feel healthier for being there. Therefore it should probably come as no surprise that the denizens of this clean-living haven are constantly on the lookout for new ways to nearly off them

How to travel New Zealand on a budget tip #2: Skip the Waiheke wine tours. But-and I can't stress this enough- don't skip Waiheke and/or its wineries. Don't do that!! Really, don't. If your tastes run toward picturesque islands, chill beaches or more vineyards than you can shake a wine glass at, this is a day trip you want to take. All I'm saying is that all those wine tours that all the agencies push are totally unnecessary.  It was my second day in New Zealand and with sleep deprivation behind me and perfect weather ahead of me, I was ready to explore but at $130+ for three wineries,  the  tours seemed a bit pricey. Staying in Auckland, which I had already covered pretty well, also seemed unappealing so I went straight to the port and started asking questions.  Turns out that for $60 , you can get both a r/t trip ferry ticket for the 35 minute ride across the Gulf of Haruki and a voucher for the hop-on/ hop-off bus to get you everywhere you want to go.