cb Cubicle Boycott
Travel journal

Every entry, by country.

In the order we travelled.

New Zealand

  • Auckland, New Zealand — We have landed

    Today we landed in Auckland around 12:00 after what was a 14 hour flight. After getting through customs without any incidents we found a city shuttle and were on the way to stay at our first ever hostel. Initially is... read →

  • Auckland — A short walk that turned into miles

    Today we made our way into Auckland on foot to explore the city. What started out as a harmless idea ended up being somewhere close to 10 miles worth of huffing it. Nevertheless we ended up seeing a great deal of the... read →

  • Auckland to the Coromandel Peninsula — Look kids, it's Big Ben

    Today is the day we got our first set of wheels. Craig was voted first driver and did a great job. It was very weird at first but I made sure I kept him on the left hand side of the road. Finally a country I can get on... read →

  • Coromandel to Fletcher's Bay — Fletcher's Bay

    We hit the road early today in hopes that we could get in a hike around the peninsula. The drive was another excellent one and the views were spectacular. We couldn't find the hiking trail so we decided to continue to... read →

  • Coromandel to Mt. Maunganui — Visiting friends!

    On the road again. We woke up to our first rain since we arrived but it quickly let up. Today consisted of stopping through Hahei to see Cathedral Cove and Hot Beach. After we found Mt. Maunganui we walked around the... read →

  • Rotorua — Zorbing

    Today we ZORB'd and it rocked. We took off from Mt. Maunganui and traveled to Rotorua so we can ZORB. For those of you who do not know what ZORBing is, it's where you get inside the middle of a big plastic ball and roll... read →

  • Kaiate Falls and the Mount — Hiking and Kaiate Falls

    Today we went to Kaiate Falls to do a quick hike. Kaiate Falls was only 20 minutes outside of Mt. Maunganui. It was nice little hike and we took some pictures of the Falls. Not getting enough exercise we decided to head... read →

  • Gisborne — Driving to Gisborne

    We woke up early today and said goodbye to Andrea. JT left work too early for us so we said goodbye to him the night before. The entire day was spent driving from Mt. Maunganui to Gisborne where we plan to meet JT's... read →

  • Te Karaka and Napier — Kia Ora & Happy Birthday Barb

    This morning we looked around town so I could call Mom and wish her a happy birthday. Her birthday is the 3rd, but it was the 4th for us here in New Zealand. After finding a pay phone and talking to mum we headed to the... read →

  • Napier & Hastings — Wine Tasting

    On Saturday we decided to do a wine tasting tour and off we went by 10:00. Now some of the wineries open at 10 and others at 11. The first winery we hit we were the only people there and we definitely felt a bit zippy... read →

  • Napier — Burning off the wine tasting

    After all of the indulgences we took part in on Saturday we decided Sunday would be an active day. We decided to walk into town and get a better feel of the Art Deco vibe and take in the ocean view for a bit. We also... read →

  • Napier to Wellington — Driving down to Wellington

    Today we left the Napier and Hastings area for Wellington. I was super psyched to find that most of the trip was straight highways so it seemed to go faster than the windy roads. We got into Wellington and immediately I... read →

  • Upper Hutt — Hiking in Rivendell

    Woke up to a bright and shining day. We've been so lucky with the weather and have been in heaven with the mild days. We decided to take advantage of the weather and went into the Upper Hutt area to do some hikes. Our... read →

  • Wellington — Checking out the city

    Hung around the city both days. Nothing too spectacular or noteworthly about either. We did go to the Te Papa Museum on the 9th which was a nice museum and free no less. On the 10th we toured the Botanic Gardens which... read →

  • Wellington to Picton — Heading to the South Island

    Up early to make our 9:30 ferry. We are on the way to Picton, NZ today. The ferry will take 3 hours and it's looking like a great day is forming... Well we are in the South Island now. The ferry ride was spectacular to... read →

  • Picton — Hiking the Queen Charlotte Track

    Today was another day for a hike. We decided to go a part of the Queen Charlotte Track. At the beginning we decided we'd do about a 2-4 hour hike but we decided to make it closer to 6 hours. We started in Anakiwa and... read →

  • Picton, NZ — My birthday spent at the police station

    Today Craig and I had planned to drive from Picton to Nelson. We were all ready to go and just got done filling the car up with gas and getting ice for our cooler. On our way out of town we took one last picture of... read →

  • Queenstown — Bungy Jumping Today

    Ahh today was a great day! We slept in 'til 9:15 and did our bungy jump by 11:00. We did our bungy jump just outside of Queenstown at the Kawarau bridge over the Kawarau River. Tina was lucky enough to go first and I... read →

  • Christchurch — Our last day in New Zealand

    Today is our last full day in New Zealand and it has consisted of checking out Christchurch and getting some souvenirs. Christchurch itself is a cool town with a lot of nice architecture and seems to have an artsy feel... read →

Australia

  • Melbourne — G'Day from Melbourne

    We're currently in Melbourne and made it to Australia with no problems. We left NZ on Wednesday and we were in quite a mood after being told we wouldn't be refunded our money for the damage done to our rental car. The... read →

  • Melbourne — Touring the city

    Today is Good Friday and we decided to check out the city and do some general sightseeing. What we didn't realize is that the city shuts down on Good Friday. It was like a ghost town, but we didn't have to fight the... read →

  • Melbourne to Eden — Hitting the road

    The weather is great today in Melbourne. After two days of mid 50s and clouds it is in the 70s with sun! It's a fine day! We decided we've seen what we'd like in Melbourne and got our bus tickets squared away to head... read →

  • Eden — Our first Kangaroo sighting

    We got into Eden on Sunday morning at 6:00 am after a 6 hour bus ride. We didn't get too much sleep but we saved on one night's accomodations. Every $ counts! While checking into our hotel the owner told us to watch for... read →

  • Batemans Bay to Wollongong — Heading up the east coast of Australia

    After spending a couple of days in Batemans Bay we got into Wollongong today. Batemans Bay was a nice area to relax but was lacking in activities we could do on foot. Unfortunately most of the beaches could only be... read →

  • Wollongong to Sydney — We're in Sydney

    Today we took the bus from Wollongong to Sydney. It was only 2 hour ride. Once we got off the bus in Sydney we headed directly to the harbor to take ferry to the town of Manly where we had reservations for the night... read →

  • Sydney — Tour of Sydney

    Today we toured Sydney on foot. We started our trip with a ferry ride from Manly to Sydney. Our first stop was the Chinese Friendship Garden. I think both sets of parents would enjoy this place. Next, we walked to... read →

  • Katoomba — Blue Mountains

    Today we took a 2 hour train ride from Sydney to Katoomba which is located in the Blue Mountains. We got into town around 1:00 pm, checked into our hostel and headed directly to the Blue Mountains for a 2 hour hike... read →

  • Byron Bay — 2 years and going strong

    We are currently in Byron Bay after taking a 14 hour bus ride from Sydney. The bus ride was brutal with the stinky bum riding next to us. I got about 3 hours of sleep and about the same for Tina. We spent our first day... read →

  • Fraser Island — Worlds Largest Sand Island

    Today we toured the Fraser Island which is the largest sand island in the world. To get on the island we traveled in a 4X4 bus. To get the bus to the island they had to load it on a barge. It only took 10 minutes for... read →

  • Great Barrier Reef — Snorkeling

    Today was another one of those great memorable days of our trip. We started the day by taking a boat ride through the Whitsundays' and stopping at Hamilton Island to pick up some more passengers for the trip to the... read →

  • Cairns — Eco Rainforest Tour

    Today we decided to get out of the city and do a Rainforest and Waterfall Tour. Initially we had wanted to do another snorkeling trip but the winds were too much for our boat so we decided to try some different. We... read →

  • Brisbane — Final thoughts on Australia

    Goodbye Australia. Tomorrow is our last day in Australia. We've been here for 5 weeks and here are our thoughts on the country. Since we traveled by bus we were somewhat limited to what we were able to see but overall... read →

Thailand

  • Bangkok — One Night in Bangkok

    We landed in Bangkok at 5:00 am yesterday. It was so hot this early in the morning. We walked around Bangkok yesterday and sweated the entire time. We sweat more just walking around yesterday than we did on our 1/2 hour... read →

  • Bangkok — Wat Tour

    Today we toured around smog filled Bangkok. The pollution here is really bad and the city really smells. We started our tour today by taking the sky train to the Chao Phata river. Figuring out the train was a little... read →

  • Bangkok to Chiang Mai — Take that United Airlines!

    Today we took a hour long flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. The flight only cost us 3120 baht ($78) for the both of us. It was about half the rate to take a 10 hour train ride 2nd class. For $78 how could we not fly?... read →

  • Chiang Mai — Did a tornado come through here?

    The first few days here have been kind of lazy. The weather is little bit cooler here compared to Bangkok. The higher elevation helps, especially at night. We've been walking around town and checking out a few of the... read →

  • Chiang Mai — 3 weeks in Chiang Mai

    We woke up with no electricity this morning which also meant no shower. For some reason the shower in our room doesn't work without electricity. I guess it needs an electric pump or something. We checked out of our... read →

  • Chiang Mai — Iron Chef Thailand

    Today we tried our hand at a Thai cooking class. The class had 8 people registered which was the perfect number to get enough attention, but not too much. Our class consisted of Mark and Sally from England, Yost and... read →

  • Chiang Mai — The Black Crowes are back together

    Yaroo has just informed the Black Crowes are back together again and touring the U.S. The rest of our trip is canceled and we are returning back to the states to follow the band. Ha, just kidding. We had tickets to see... read →

  • Doi Pui — Tour de Thailand

    Today we went for a mountain biking adventure on the Doi Pui mountain, which is the 3rd highest mountain peak in Thailand. After a quick 30 minute ride out of Chiang Mai we were given a basic lesson on mountain biking... read →

  • Chiang Mai — International Mini-Golf Tour

    The 2nd and 3rd round of the Cubicle Boycott International Mini-Golf Tour commenced today in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Tina came in to todays first round with her 1st place ranking after beating the crap out of Craig two... read →

  • Chiang Mai — Thai Massage

    Today we had a traditional Thai massage. Kate, the lady we met from Vail the night of the big storm, recommended a place to us. She is taking classes on traditional Thai massage and has been getting several herself... read →

  • Chiang Mai — Thailand Part 1 Recap

    After almost 1 month in Thailand we are moving on to Laos tomorrow morning. We've spent the month between Bangkok and Chiang Mai. As we mentioned earlier Bangkok was a very stimulating city. The heat, traffic, tourists... read →

  • Chiang Mai to Huay Xai — Off to Laos

    Today we woke up early, 8:00 am, this is early for us at these days. We've been having trouble falling asleep here in Chiang Mai. Sometimes not falling asleep until 3 or 4 in the morning. We got up early to catch a... read →

  • Koh Phangan — Full Moon Party

    The party was wild. We were mostly spectators and not participants. At the end of the night, 5 am for us, we had to walk over bodies passed out on the beach. The party was still going strong and most people we talked to... read →

  • Koh Tao — Tina's first day of school

    Tina is currently in her first PADI open water scuba diving class. It will take her four days to get her certification. I'm going to take a refresher course and maybe do one or two dives without her while she completes... read →

  • Koh Tao — Coconut Tossing

    Tina is still taking her PADI classes, so I decided to do a hike by myself and take some pictures. I ended up at this nice secluded area and found a pile of old coconut shells lying around. I threw one off the cliff to... read →

  • Koh Tao — Holy Shark Sighting Batman!

    Holy Shark Sighting Batman! Today was an up and down day that finished with a bang. I began the day by waking up at 7:45 am to the sun shining. I relaxed for a while on the deck of our bungalow looking out to the sea... read →

  • Bangkok — Travel update

    Hi all, We just wanted to add a quick note regarding the next leg of our trip. We are flying to Athens tonight at 12:30 am and from Athens we plan to make our way to Turkey for about 11 days and then back to Greece. We... read →

Laos

  • Huay Xai to some Village — Amazing 48 hours - Part I

    **Heads up-this travelogue is really long. So if you want to look busy at work copy it into a Word document and you'll get out of real work for about 30 minutes!!! We woke up at 7:15 AM to begin an amazing day. We... read →

  • Nam Tha — Amazing 48 hours Part II

    The driver snored all night, the 20 year old rolled his legs on to mine at one point and roosters started their wakeup call at 4:15 AM. It started getting light at 5:00 AM and the village was slowly starting their day... read →

  • Luang Namtha to Muang Sing — Chinese Border

    We took a sawngthaew from Luang Namtha to Muang Sing today. At the bus station we me a couple from France who recommended a placed called Adima 8 km outside of Muang Sing. They just came from there. During the... read →

  • Muang Sing — Sizzle

    We walked ten minutes away from guest house today with Roy and Ellen into a local village. All the adults were gone for some reason and we only saw children who begged for pens and candy as we walked by. The children... read →

  • Muang Sing — Lazy Day

    It rained off and on all day today plus we were not feeling well. We laid around all day reading and writing in our journals. We spent most of the day in our little mosquito net fort because the bugs were insane around... read →

  • Muang Sing to Oudomxay — Luang Prabang today?

    Today we hoped to make it to Luang Prabang. We started the day by waking up at 6:00 AM so the guest house could take us into to town at 7:00 AM. Their white board reads, Rides to Muang Sing at 7AM and 11AM 5000 Kip all... read →

  • Oudomxay to Luang Prabang — Aonther scary bus ride

    The 8:00 AM bus finally took off about 8:35 AM to Luang Prabang. The driver drove way too fast for these mountain roads. Our bus broke down five times. Here is me waiting while they fixed the bus the first time. We... read →

  • Vang Vieng — Spelunking

    Today we decided to tour some of the countryside around Vang Vieng. As we discovered when we arrived the area surrounding the town is quite gorgeous and is surrounded by limestone cliffs and caves. After renting some... read →

  • Vientiane — City Tour

    Today the rain eased up so we decided to tour Vientiane's sites for the day. We started out walking to the Patuxai- Victory Monument which resembles Paris' Arc de Triomphe. The area was nicely landscaped and actually... read →

  • Phonsavan — Plain of Jars

    We took our last long distance bus ride today to reach Phonsavan to tour the Plain of Jars. The 9 hour bus ride passed through some striking scenery but the music they were playing on board almost made us want to jump... read →

Vietnam

  • Hell — Laos to Vietnam border crossing

    Warning-this travelogue may cause heart palpitations in our parents. Best read while sitting down or while consuming mass quantities of booze. Very long post.** Today we make the trip to cross the Laos/Vietnam border... read →

  • Quan Son — Getting out of dodge

    After about 4 hours of interrupted sleep we woke up at 3:30 am to catch the first bus out of this sketchy town. There wasn't a single person up at this hour and since there were only a couple street lights in the whole... read →

  • Hanoi — Relaxing in Hanoi

    Today we took it easy exploring the Old Quarter area of Hanoi. We walked several laps around Hoan Kiem Lake to get some exercise. We talked with several other Westerners who complained of all the scames they've... read →

  • Hanoi — Temple of Literature

    Today we explored Hanoi some more which included a tour of the Temple of Literature. We also our train tickets for Sapa. read →

  • Hanoi to Sapa — Train ride to Sapa

    Today we had to check out of our guest house in Hanoi by noon. As we checked out the guy decided to slap on a 10% tax on our bill. We knew this tax was going directly in his pocket, but we didn’t complain since we... read →

  • Sapa — Arrival to Sapa

    Our train arrived in Lao Cai at 7:00 in the morning. The two guys in our cabin disappeared too quickly for us to even say goodbye. They booked a 3 day trekking tour and had transportation waiting for them. We still had... read →

  • Sapa — Relaxing in Sapa

    We spent the next couple days just relaxing and walking around this beautiful area. It rained almost everyday so we spent a lot of time watching really bad movies in our hotel room. On the 22nd, our last full day in... read →

  • Sapa to Hanoi — Hard Seat on the Train to Hanoi

    Today we woke up early to catch the 9:00 am train back to Hanoi. The day trains didn’t include a soft sleeper initially so we bought the hard seat for the 10 hour trip back to Hanoi. We bordered and were the only... read →

  • Halong Bay — Cruising the high seas

    After hearing rave reviews of a boat tour to Halong Bay we decided to book a 3 day/2 night tour. We left Hanoi around 8:00 am and while we were picking up the others we saw our buddies Dan and Paul from our Sapa train... read →

  • Hoi An — Arriving in Hoi An

    We arrived in Hoi An on the 30th after a 15 hour train ride. We accidental booked a hard sleeper but it truly wasn't that bad. The beds all come with comforters so we used that for extra padding and then just slept in... read →

  • Hoi An — Shopper's paradise

    Today we were in heaven. As you may already know Hoi An is renowned for its tailors and they are everywhere. For pennies you can have an entire wardrobe made which is customized to fit your body. Craig and I were... read →

  • Hoi An — More shopping

    Today we got our first round of clothes back and we were pleased overall. There were only a few slight alterations that needed to be fixed but our suits and my wool coat turned out smashingly. We decided to order just a... read →

  • Hoi An — Chillin at the beach

    We started our day today meeting Danny outside our tailor shop so I could help him pick out a couple of shirt ideas for his 18 year old sister. What a nice guy. After deciding we headed over to Treat's for some lunch... read →

  • Hoi An — Happy Fourth of July

    Happy 4th everyone!!! Today we got our first and second round of clothes and headed off to meet Selena and Cory at their tailors. After trying a couple of tailors out each Selena and Cory found a great shop which had... read →

  • Hoi An — Hells Angels Vietnam style

    Today we all got together and rented some motorbikes to visit China Beach and the area around Danang. After checking on the progress of our clothes we all grabbed a motorbike and a quick lesson and were off on our way... read →

  • Nha Trang — Little Vegas

    Today we arrived in Nha Trang and were amazed at the development here. Neon lights and karaoke bars were predominant. Usually this would put us off a bit but it was actually refreshing to be in an area with landscaped... read →

  • Nha Trang — Booze cruise

    Today we woke up around 7:00 so we could grab a quick breakfast before the van picked us up to take us to our boat. We are finding that when they say 8:00 pickup they mean 7:45 so fortunately we didn't miss our ride... read →

  • Mui Ne — Paradise found

    Today we took a 4 hour bus ride from Nha Trang to Mui Ne. Upon entering the town the landscape got very dry and resembled Mexico in many ways. We noticed the sand dunes as well which are some of the areas main tourist... read →

  • Mui Ne to Saigon — Leaving Mui Ne

    Today we woke up around 9:00 am to the sounds of the waves crashing on the beach. Of course our last day here the sun decided to shine. We took off right away for a nice hour long walk down the beach collecting sea... read →

  • Saigon — Saigon Tour

    Today we did our small tour of Saigon. This included a trip to the American War Museum. First thing we did was call our parents about 9:00 am our time, 9:00 pm their time using an Internet phone. The last time Tina was... read →

Cambodia

  • Saigon to Phnom Penh — Saigon to Phnom Penh

    We woke up around 7:45 am this morning to get our free breakfast from our guest house. After stuffing our food in our mouth as fast as we could to catch our 9:00 am bus we checked out of our guest house and headed to... read →

  • Phnom Penh to Siem Reap — First Full Day in Cambodia

    We woke up at 6:45 am this morning, had a quick breakfast and got on the 7:15 am bus to Siem Reap. The bus ride took six hours and was about the same quality of bus as the one we took from the border to Phnom Penh. The... read →

  • Siem Reap — Tour of Angkor Wat

    We started today by having our tuk tuk driver pick us up from our guest house at 7:00 am. As entered the Angkor Temples we first had to buy our passes. The one day pass was $20 per person while the three day pass was... read →

  • Siem Reap — Sunrise tour of Angkor Wat

    We began our day today by waking up at 4:45 am to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat. Whose bright idea was this? Neither one of us are morning people. Definitely no shower today. A shot of deodorant, we threw on our... read →

  • Siem Reap to Bangkok — Roller Coaster Ride

    We checked out of our room at 8:30 AM and waited for our taxi driver to show. By 9 AM he was still not there and we began to wonder if he was going to show up. By 9:30 AM we went looking for him or another taxi driver... read →

Greece

  • Athens-Kalambaka — It's Greek to Me

    We arrived in Athens this morning after a 9 hour flight from Bangkok. We left at 12:30 am so we were served dinner at 2:00 am. It reminded us of our college days where we'd eat after the bars closed at the local... read →

  • Kalambaka — Meteora Monasteries

    Today we woke up after one of the best nights rest we've had in a long time. The town of Kalambaka is so utterly quiet and peaceful we almost forgot what it was like waking up at 5:00 am to motorbike horns and roosters... read →

  • Samos — Ferry from Turkey to Samos, Greece

    Up early today to catch our ferry to Samos, Greece. There were a couple of girls staying at our guesthouse who were also heading that way so we grabbed a ride together to Kusadasi which is the main port for the Samos... read →

  • Naxos — Dena arrives and it's Christmas in August

    Today we woke up as giddy as two kids on Christmas morning. We were planning on meeting Dena at the Naxos airport for her 1:30pm arrival and couldn't wait! Once we got up we got the room in order and went out to the... read →

  • Naxos — First Full day with Furst

    Today we decided to explore the town of Naxos with Dena. To begin our exploration we walked out to the airport to get the box of goodies Dena packed. The box made it day later than her original flight. To get to the... read →

  • Naxos — Head Stands

    Today we really wanted to explore the island. We decided to find some trails and hike around for the day and hopefully end up on the beach. Our journey began on a similar route to yesterday but we continued along the... read →

  • Naxos — Dumb and Dumber

    Today we decided to rent some mopeds and tour the island. After we got our bikes squared away we were off to see what the island had to offer. We drove through many small villages and the scenery was great. Water... read →

  • Naxos to Santorini — Beautiful Santorini

    Since our ferry ride to Santorini was at noon today we decided to sleep in. Well Tina and I slept in. Dena woke up early and did some exploring on her own. After traveling for 6 months Tina and I may have become a... read →

  • Santorini — Hiking to Oia

    We moved into our new room at grandmas today which has an amazing sunset view from the caldera side of Santorini. Once we were settled we got our hiking clothes on and started the 16km round trip hike to Oia which is a... read →

  • Santorini — Santorini-the island of fabulous views, expensive breakfasts and long and winding stairs

    We woke up sore and a bit stiff today after our hike but Dena and I had agreed to run the Santorini stairs the night before and we kept good on our deal. Rubbing our eyes and getting our shoes on we were out the door by... read →

  • Santorini to Athens — How far to Athens?

    We caught the 10:00 am ferry to Athens today and thought the ferry was only going to be an 8 hour trip. Once we got on the ferry we were forced to go to the upper deck since we bought the cheapest tickets. We sat down... read →

  • Athens — Touring the Acropolis

    First things first-Happy Birthday Chad!!! After our cramped sleeping quarters the night before we decided to move to another pension for more space and a homier environment. We decided that The Marble House Pension fit... read →

  • Athens — The National Gardens and The Body Shop hunt

    Day two in Athens and I was on a mission. I was jones'n for some girly products so we went on a wild goose chase to find a Body Shop store. Once we found the shopping area around the Parliament Dena noticed a girl with... read →

  • Athens — That's a 6.4 from the US judge

    Day 3 of our tour of Athens. Dena got up early today for a run and to check out the farmer's market which wasn't quite what she had in mind. It turned out to be more in line with a flea market so she only returned with... read →

  • Athens — Last Day with Dena

    Our lovely Marble House Pension could no longer handle us. Actually our room was already booked for today before we even checked in. Tina & Dena spent the morning searching for a new place to stay while I did some... read →

  • Greece to Bulgaria to Romania — Riding the rails

    On three hours of sleep we woke up this morning and helped Dena to the airport. It was hard to say goodbye but we know we'll see her again in about 3 months so that made it better. After we got back from the airport we... read →

Turkey

  • Istanbul — 3 buses and 1 train

    After 5 hours on 3 buses and 9 hours on a train we made it to Instanbul the morning of the 9th. We checked into our hotel for 8 euros a night or so we thought. We showered and were escorted to one of the many travel... read →

  • Istanbul — Tourist day in Istanbul

    We went to some of the tourist sights today which included the Blue Mosque and the Turkish and Islamic Arts Musuem. This was another full day of walking around. Today we also tried to get our bus ticket to our next stop... read →

  • Istanbul — Turkish Travel Lesson 1: Rate quoted is per person

    We woke up around 9 this morning to get ready for our 10 am checkout time. As we checked out the guy said 32 euros for the room. What, the room is suppose to be 8 euros a night for 2 nights. I explained to him we only... read →

  • Goreme — Fairy chimneys and Star Wars connection

    Today we arrived in Goreme after an overnight bus ride from Istanbul. They played the movie Troy during the trip but unfortunately it was in Turkish so we weren't able to follow too closely. I don't think the dialogue... read →

  • Cappadocia — Underground city and Ihlara Gorge tour

    Today is tour day. After much consideration and deliberation we decided to book a group tour which included the most popular sites of the area. We are finding along the way that we really aren't big tour people but... read →

  • Kas — Diving in Kas

    Today we took a quick 4 hour bus ride from Goreme to Kas. Kas is a quaint coastal town and even with the tourists it has kept its small town charms. The first day we arrived we found a nice pension for 30 lira a night... read →

  • Kas to Fethiye — Weird Old Man

    Today we took a 6 hour bus trip from Kas to Fethiye. We found a cheap pension with an amazing view over the bay and free breakfast included. After checking into our pension we decided to take a walk and check out the... read →

  • Fethiye — Where's the beach?

    Today was boring, but we got some exercise. An employee of our pension said we could walk to a beach just over the other side of town. We walked for 2 1/2 hours in the hot hot sun to a private beach where obviously they... read →

  • Fethiye — Secluded Beach

    Tina was reading the guest book to our pension and came across an entry where they drew a map of nice hike that supposedly led to a secluded beach. This is right up our alley. A good hike and finish it off with some... read →

  • Fethiye to Selcuk — Fethiye to Selcuk

    Today we took a nine hour bus ride from Fethiye to Selcuk. Once we arrived in Selcuk we checked into our guest house and took advantage of our free half hour of internet. Next we walked around town looking for a place... read →

  • Selcuk — Ephesus

    Today we went to the ancient city of Ephesus. Our gracious hosts at ANZ Guesthouse gave us a free ride out to the city and back so that saved on transportation costs. We initially thought the site would be fairly low... read →

Romania

  • Sofia, Bulgaria to Bucharest — Can I see your reservation?

    Got a good night's sleep and woke up to catch the next train from Sofia, Bulgaria to Bucharest. As we watched the world pass by our car window we noticed a disconcerning sight-dew on the grass. We both thought we might... read →

  • Bucharest — Touring Bucharest

    We decided to stay a couple days in Bucharest to plan the rest of our time in Romania. Henri and Alis at Butterfly gave us some great tips and hints on places to visit in Romania as well as fellow travelers at the... read →

  • Sinaia — Saturday Night Live

    We left Bucharest on the 12:00 Intercity train to Sinaia today. Note to travelers: the Intercity trains are the nicest and most expensive in Romania, however the other trains really aren't that bad but of course we just... read →

  • Sinaia — Hike in Sinaia and the Peles castle

    We woke up this morning with the intent of hiking a trail near the cable car to the top of the mountain. We began by heading to the a couple travel agencies looking for trail maps but didn't have any luck. We walked... read →

  • Brasov — Hollywood in Romania

    Today we arrived in Brasov after taking the slow train from Sinaia. We learned very quickly that the slow train is the cheapest, but is does stop at every village/town along the way and the trains are pretty old. The... read →

  • Bran — Dracula's Castle

    Today was our official tourist trap day. Our Lonely Planet sang the praises of the famous Bran Castle, aka Dracula's Castle, as one of the sights no one should miss while visiting the area. The guidebook also noted that... read →

  • Brasov to Sibiui — We do not take a trip; A TRIP TAKES US

    Today was suppose to be a simple day. A four hour train ride from Brasov to Sibiu, find a place to stay, get some food and maybe look around the town a bit. Not the case. After checking out of our hostel at 11:00 am we... read →

  • Sibiu — Personal tour of Sibiu

    We woke up this morning feeling a little heavy from the fire water and beer. Maria made me eggs while Tina enjoyed some local cheese and tomatoes. Mike told us he had a friend who speaks English and a car who should be... read →

  • Sighisoara — Dracula, werewolves and vampires

    We arrived into Sighisoara early this morning and since we were going on little sleep we found the nearest hostel available and relaxed for a bit. The weather was a bit dreary but after a quick shower we ventured out to... read →

  • Sighisoara — Bright sunshiny day

    Woke up to a beautiful day and we took full advantage by touring the city and taking tons of pictures of the city's houses, pretty flowers and the local residents. Got another great show later on with the moon lighting... read →

  • Sighisoara to Cluj-Napoca — The lessons we are learning

    Today was a cold one. We quickly at the breakfast our hostel provided and went to purchase our train tickets to Cluj-Napoca. When we arrived in Cluj a couple hours later is was really chilly and were were ready to find... read →

  • Cluj Napoca — Rain, rain go away

    Woke up to the sound of rain and struggled to get out of bed. Evidently everyone else felt the same was as I was the first one up in the entire hostel. That will most likely be the one and only time I will accomplish... read →

  • Cluj to Budapest — Bus to Hungary

    More rain. We were up early to catch our bus to Budapest. Our hostel told us the bus was a cheaper option over the train and together we saved about $30 taking the bus. During the trip we met a guy who was from Romania... read →

Hungary

  • Budapest — Tour day in Budapest

    We toured most of the major tourist sites in Budapest today and being cheap we did it all on foot. This made for an eight hour day of walking around town. Our day started by walking through City Park where we saw the... read →

  • Szentendre — Lovely day trip, ugly return

    Today we took a daytrip north to the town of Szentendre. The town is about 45 minutes north of Budapest via commuter train. The town is set along the Danube River bend so once we got into town we enjoyed a picnic... read →

  • Budapest to Keszthely — Leaving Budapest

    On the move today. Caterina was full today due to some pre bookings so instead of moving to yet another hostel we decided to catch the train southwest to our next destination. We've found that being flexible is a key... read →

  • Keszthely — Touring Keszthely

    Woke up to a gorgeous fall day. We decided to start the day off with a run along the lake. The lake was filled with pretty sailboats and along the path were groups of fishermen trying to catch their dinner. After our... read →

  • Keszthely to Sopron — Hungarian Hospitality

    With a 10:00 am checkout and a 4:20 pm bus to Sopron, we had to pack up our bags, but leave them at the pension. Days like this are always interesting. You have to find something to do without have a home base. We... read →

  • Sopron — Lazy rainy day

    Today we we woke up early and went on a 1/2 hour run before the rain started coming down. The rest of the day we spent at our hostel reading. read →

  • Sopron — Sopron tour

    Today we toured around the town of Sopron which only took a few hours. This is a nice little town, but not a whole lot to see here. We did treat ourselves to a langoush in the evening which is a hungarian bread fried in... read →

Austria

  • Sopron to Vienna — Music in Vienna

    Today we took the 1.5 hour bus ride from Sopron, Hungary to Vienna, Austria. It still continued to rain today, but we decided a museum would be a good thing to do while it rained. We chose the Haus der musik museum... read →

  • Vienna — Somebody turn on the heat

    Today it didn't rain, but it was really cold outside and inside. Our hostel doesn't have any heat and we heard they are usually shut down this time of year, but they've had such a demand that they've decided to stay... read →

  • Vienna — To the Opera for Craig's Birthday

    I had a great birthday! The weather had cleared up and the sun was shining and it was considerably warmer. We checked out of our hostel early in the morning and we splurged a little on a pension where we had a private... read →

Slovakia

  • Bratislava — On the road to Slovakia

    Today we left Vienna for Bratislava, Slovakia. The border crossing was easy and went quickly but I was bummed as the guard just came on the bus, looked at our passports and got off. That meant we didn't get a Slovakia... read →

  • Bratislava — Touring Bratislava

    Woke up to a cold and dreary day but we had decided to stay only a couple of nights in town so we went out to tour the town regardless. We had wanted to see the local hockey team play while we were here but they were... read →

  • Bratislava to Banska Stiavncia — How do you pronounce the name of this town?

    Today we travevled by bus from Bratislava to Banska Stiavncia. Try saying the name of that town aloud. I still don't know how it's pronounced and somehow I got through to the lady at the bus depot that we wanted tickets... read →

  • Banska Stiavncia to Terchova — 3 buses

    After 3 different buses we made it to Terchova where we found a nice pension from a couple who spoke absolutely no English. We're getting pretty good at using the calculator, hand gestures, and grunts for negotiating... read →

  • Terchova — The Perfect Hike

    With an extended trip like this you can't visit each country at its optimal time, however we timed it perfectly for Slovakia. At least today was a perfect day for hiking in Slovakia. Not too hot, not too cold, just a... read →

  • Stary' Smokovec — Hiking in the High Tatras

    Today we woke up to a gorgeous day unfolding. We made a quick breakfast and got out the door by 8:00 as we were planning for an 8 hour hike. Since it was a Sunday it seemed as though the entire town had the same... read →

Poland

  • Zakopane — Catching some air

    Our plans for the day were to enjoy a bit more of the town and then grab the 12:00 bus to Krakow. The temperature outside was a chilly 37 when we woke up so we dressed in layers and took to the streets. The night before... read →

  • Krakow — Krakow Old Square

    Today we did a small tour of Krakow which included a visit to the Cloth Hall Sukiennice, the Wawel castle, the Japanese art museum and just walking around the old square. Our stop at the 14th-Century Gothic building... read →

  • Krakow — Another Rainy Autumn Day

    Today was cold and drizzly, a perfect day to spend time in a museum. We decided to go back to the Japanese museum and visit the National Geographic photo exhibit. Well, the exhibit was a little disappointing. It only... read →

  • Auschwitz — Auschwitz

    Today we visited the concentration camps in Auschwitz. The main feelings we had while walking around the camp were of horror and awe that any human could inflict so much pain and suffering on another. Everyone should... read →

  • Wroclaw — The Claw

    We grabbed the 11:30 am train out of Krakow today to head to Wroclaw. This towns pronunciation was really throwing us off because it seems easy but it's really pronounced like Vrots wahf. We decided to just say it was... read →

  • Wroclaw — Oh the weather outside is frightful

    Today is a chilly one. I have two shirts on, a thick wool sweater and my fleece and I'm still chilled to the bone. Fortunately we didn't have lots we wanted to see so we wouldn't be outside all day. To warm up we... read →

Czech Republic

  • Olomouc — Country #14

    We arrived in Olomouc (Ollo moats) last night and decided to take advantage of the hostel's cozy living room to read and have a relaxing night. We are staying at the Poets' Corner Hostel which is fabulous! Anyone... read →

  • Olomouc — Deep Tissue Massage

    I was speaking with Francie, one of the owners of our hostel, last night after she returned from a deep tissue massage and found out it was really cheap to get a massage here. 300 Krown ($12) for a hour long massage... read →

  • Olomouc to Prague — Ceske Blues

    Today we made the journey from Olomouc to Prague by train. The trip brought us into to town mid-afternoon. We checked into our hostel and settled in. We decided Prague has so much to offer that we should start seeing it... read →

  • Prague — Touring Prague Day 1

    Today was an all out touring day of Prague. We began the tour with a 45 minute walk into the town center. We walked around all day and also made the 45 minute walk back to our hostel. We spent time at the famous Charles... read →

  • Prague — Touring Prague Day 2

    We spent most of the day today walking around the grounds of the Prague castle. This is truly an amazing area up close and from afar. Among the amazing sites is the Gothic Cathedral of St Vitus which has some... read →

  • Prague — Sparta Hockey

    After many walks to the town center we took the metro in today. The purchase of a metro ticket on the weekends gives you 90 minutes of unlimited travel. We just wanted to pick up some postcards and maybe a couple... read →

  • Cesky Krumlov — Wegetarianski

    Today we said goodbye to Prague and headed south to Bohemian region. We took the bus to Tabor and then grabbed the next one to Cesky Krumlov. The bus ride proved to be relaxing and we drove past some gorgeous rolling... read →

  • Cesky Krumlov — More of the town

    Today was another general "tour the town" day. We headed to the tourist information center for the train schedules to Ljubljana to get that squared away and to grab a couple of postcards. After getting the "work" done... read →

  • Cesky Krumlov — Hiking to Klet

    After a couple of relaxing days we decided to get a nice hike in today. Our hostel recommended a couple so we chose the 14km round trip hike to Klet which is the highest peak in the Blansky Forest. At first the hike... read →

  • Cesky Krumlov to Ljubljana — 1 bus, 2 beds, 3 trains and 3 countries

    Today we woke up in Cesky Krumlov, Czech Repbublic and went to bed in Ljubljana, Slovenia. To get to Ljubljana, Slovenia we had to take a hour long bus ride to Cesky Budejovice. From Cesky Budejovice we took a train to... read →

Slovenia

  • Ljubljana — Meandering Around Ljubljana

    Sleeping in until 9 am today we woke up, showered and went across the street to pick up some muesli and yogurt for breakfast. After breakfast the owner of our hostel drove us to the town center with a quick tour of the... read →

  • Ljubljana — A trip back through the years

    We woke up on the wrong side of the bunk bed today. There was a group of 7 young travelers staying in the same side of the hostel as us who checked in last night. As Craig updated the website I read up on Slovenia and... read →

  • Lake Bohinj — Ida the tour guide

    This travelogue covers the period of 10/31-11/3. After spending a three nice days in Ljubljana we chose to head up to the Lake Bohinj area for a couple of days. There are two lakes in the area, one being Bohinj and the... read →

  • Lake Bohinj to Piran — No Direct routes in Slovenia

    We left Lake Bohinj with the hopes of getting a direct bus or train to Piran. No luck. All transportation in Slovenia travels in and out of the capital Ljubljana. So we had to take a bus back to Ljubljana, a train to... read →

  • Piran — Škocjan Caves

    Today we decided to partake in the Škocjan Caves, one of the star attractions for anyone visiting Slovenia. At least that's what our guide book said. After you've seen one hole in the ground could another one be much... read →

  • Piran to Pula — Rain Rain Go Away

    We’ve been really lucky on this trip as far as not having too many days of rain. However, today was not one of those lucky days. We woke up to it raining. Actually, it was raining at 3 am last night when I was up taking... read →

Bosnia-Hercegovina

  • Sarajevo — Busking

    Sleeping is impossible when staying in the dorms. Once the first person gets up, others slowly begin to rise and within a half hour the entire room is up. This is how our rainy cold day in Sarajevo began. A short... read →

  • Sarajevo — Touring Sarajevo in the Rain

    Early morning risers, cold weather and the sound of rain was our alarm cock today. There is no way I'm using the dirty cold shower again today. Might as well enjoy breakfast in the filthy kitchen and chat with the... read →

  • Sarajevo to Mostar — Our First Snow

    Bright light. "What's your email?" "C-A-M-B-E-L-L...@yahoo.com" "How do you spell Yahoo?" "Y-A-H double O" "Ah, I messed up. Can you repeat that?" And this went on for several minutes by two of our drunk dorm mates... read →

  • Mostar — Mostar to Dubrovnik

    We woke up early today so we could visit a museum we missed the day before. Our bus left town for Dubrovnik, Croatia at 10am and the museum opened at 9, or so we thought. We arrived at the museum minutes after 9 to find... read →

Croatia

  • Pula — Tourning Pula

    After a good nights sleep we woke up to a rainy day. Since we were only in town for 1 day we grabbed our raincoats and umbrella and headed into town. We took the long way to the Roman amphitheater to get a better view... read →

  • Pula to Rakovica — Cross your fingers

    Blue skies have returned just in time for us to leave Pula and head to the Plitvice Lakes area. Since we are now in the low season we both weren't 100% sure we'd find transportation or accommodations around the park so... read →

  • Plitvice Lakes — What time is it?

    Today we were planning on visiting the Plitvice Lakes National Park. The owner of our room gave us the local bus schedule so we decided to grab the 10:00 am bus so we'd have plenty of time to tour the park. I had set my... read →

  • Rakovica to Split — Hello Sunshine

    With Tina's watch set correctly, we woke up at 7 am. We had a quick breakfast of bananas and corn flakes in yogurt before catching our 8 am bus to Zadar. The sign on the front of the bused read 'Zagreb to Split' and I... read →

  • Split — Split Tour

    We began today with a 45 minute run through Marjan park. What a great place to run with the majestic view of the Adriatic Sea. After a shower and a quick bite to eat we went out exploring the town and the many narrow... read →

  • Split to Vis — We split Split

    The weather in Split is fantastic! We woke up with the sun streaming through our window which is always a great sign. We made arrangements with the owner of our room to leave our bags in her storage unit until our ferry... read →

  • Vis — Vis Vino

    Where is the Advil? Cheap wine might be easy on the wallet but it leaves a deep impression in the head. It wasn't easy for either of us to get motivated today, but eventually we talked ourselves into getting outside... read →

  • Vis — Dumb and Dumber 2

    With a vino free night last night we were able to wake up fresh to start exploring the island today. The island is not very big so we thought we would explore it by renting some bicycles. However, that didn't happen as... read →

  • Vis to Sarajevo — One long day

    Starting the morning off with a 7 am catamaran trip back to Split began our long day of traveling to Sarajevo today. It only took 1.5 hours to get to Split on the catamaran compared to the 2.5 our trip on the ferry... read →

  • Dubrovnik — Old Dubrovnik Walls

    We heard the wind howling through our windows as we woke up but it was a sunny day nevertheless. Our first stop, and main focus of the day was the old city walls. Last night we walked down to the old town and the walls... read →

  • Dubrovnik — Just a little off the top

    Today was a big day. We both got haircuts!! This was the third for Craig and my first since we began our trip. Both of us decided that we needed to bite the bullet and clean our hair up a bit. Time and the sun had taken... read →

  • Dubrovnik — If the Boat is a Rockin'

    One long day today. We had an overnight ferry to Italy booked that didn't leave until 11:00pm so we had a long day ahead of us. The wind was really strong and at around noon the clouds rolled in making for a very chilly... read →

Italy

  • The farm — Thankgiving Italian Style

    Today we were due at the olive farm. We took a train to Grosseto and checked out the city before getting picked up by the owners friend Barbara. As we made our way through the Tuscan countryside my stomach had... read →

  • The olive farm — Week One on the farm

    We know a lot of you are interested in hearing more about our time working on the farm so I'll try to give you a glimpse into our days. The farm is located just below the village of Giuncarico, located in the Tuscan... read →

  • The olive farm — Weeks Two and Three

    Our second week on the farm began with us having the day off which we took advantage of and headed north to Sienna. We started our tour around the old city and quickly came up to Piazza Del Campo which was a great place... read →

  • The olive farm — All Good Things...

    After three weeks we decided it was time to move on and start traveling again. With hesitation we packed up our room and made sure we grabbed our stuff which inevitably got strewn all over the house which began to feel... read →

  • Florence — David looks cold

    Today we toured Florence. The first stop was the Galleria dell Accademia to view Michelangelo's David. We worried that the line might be long but to our surprise we walked right in an within minutes were looking at... read →

  • Florence — Uffizi Museum and shopping

    Another long day of touring Florence. We visited the Uffizi museum which was again simple to get into as we had again heard the lines could be from 2-4 hours long at times. Although the gallery did have some spectacular... read →

  • Florence to Venice — The streak has been broken

    We arrived at the train station minutes after 9:00 to catch the 9:30 train to Venice. We decided to buy our tickets using a kiosk instead of the teller with the tickets in our hand we looked to find which platform our... read →

  • Venice — Somewhat lost

    After talking to several people about Venice they told us that we were guaranteed to get lost while visiting the town. With our quick tour last night we noticed how true this could be. So we decided not to take a map... read →

  • Venice — Venice day two

    Last night we looked over our map to see what places we missed on our map less journey yesterday to see what places we should visit today. With a mental image of the map we journeyed out again to see the rest of Venice... read →

  • Venice to Rome — Train tips

    After spending too much money traveling by train the last week we finally figured out the train system of Italy and took 3 different Regionale trains today. Venice to Bologna, Bologna to Florence, and Florence to Rome... read →

  • rome — 10 months

    We've hit our 10 month mark. To celebrate we grabbed a delicious slice of pizza. Since Rome has such a vast array of sights to see we tried to split them up to a manageable list each day. Today we visited the Roman... read →

  • Rome — Vatican City

    After seeing many of the sties on the east side of the Tiber river yesterday we decided to crossed over to the west side today to see the Vatican City. Our walk cross town took us around an hour arriving in front of the... read →

  • Naples — The Sistine Chapel and a culture shock

    Our second trip to Vatican City today. Since we didn't' make the 12:20 pm cutoff for the Vatican museums yesterday we made sure we didn't make the same mistake today. This was the only sight were the crowds were a bit... read →

  • Naples — Happy Birthday Dad

    First off. Happy Birthday Dad. Today we visited the Naples Archaeological Museum which contained many artifacts from Pompeii and Herculaneum. Of the artifacts on display, the mosaics impressed us the most. The mosaic of... read →

  • Naples — Buon Natale!

    Merry Christmas!! This was our first Christmas abroad and it was definitely different. The weather was sunny and in the low 60's, so no white Christmas this year. We also found the atmosphere in town much more alive... read →

  • Naples — Pompeii

    After seeing the artifacts from Pompeii at the Archaeological Museum and getting a brief history lesson from our mp3 audio guide we were ready to see the real thing. Today we visited the ancient ruins of Pompeii... read →

  • Rome — Back to Rome

    Nothing much to write about today. After the train ride from Naples to Rome we checked into a hostel and hit the internet. Since we're in to the holiday season right now travel is expensive and booked pretty solid. We... read →

  • Rome to Barcelona — Arrivederci Italia

    Today was a housekeeping day. We shipped what we think will be our last package home and then caught up on our travelogues a bit. On a side note; Rome is crazy with tourists right now, much more then last week. So note... read →

Spain

  • Barcelona — Backpacker Blues

    Since we got to our hostel at around 2 am last night we were pretty wiped. As we walked from the bus stop to the hostel on Las Ramblas there were guys selling cans of beer throughout the entire ped mall. We've had a lot... read →

  • Barcelona — Olympic Stadium and Montjuic Park

    We began our tour today in the Barri Gotic and La Ribera districts. Along the way we came upon the Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar so we popped our heads in. We were pleasantly surprised to find an orchestra practicing... read →

  • Barcelona — Happy New Year!

    Today started with a walk to the train station. We've read that booking your train travel 1 day ahead is vital in Spain so we though we'd get that done and see more of the city in the process. Compared to other European... read →

  • Barcelona — New Years Resolution: Keep Traveling

    Wow, where did 2005 go? It feels like we just started this trip, but our one year mark is approaching soon. We don't even have a clue as to the top headlines, movies, or songs for the year. Oh well, the headlines are... read →

  • Granada — Ningún Sueño Ayer Por La Noche

    As budget travelers we opted for the standard seats for our overnight train last night instead of a sleeper. As expected, we didn't get any sleep last night. The crying baby, the mother who kept putting her feet up on... read →

  • Granada — Alhambra

    The main tourist attraction in Granada is the Alhambra and this was our destination today. The Alhambra is an area of outstanding Islamic art and architecture. The palace, patios and gardens are surrounded by its... read →

  • Ronda — El Tajo

    The train ride to Ronda got us into town mid afternoon. We followed the Centro Ciudad signs hesitantly but made it to the town center in 10 minutes. We started looking for a room right away and I was hoping I could use... read →

  • Ronda — Día De Tres Reyes

    First off: Happy Birthday Jason Our day began today with a visit to the Museo Taurino (bullfighting museum) which is inside the Plaza de Toros. The Plaza de Toros was built in 1785 and is considered the home of... read →

  • Seville — touring Seville

    Tina felt sort of sick so we sat at the Plaza de Espana among the tiled fountains and canals and soaked up the sun. We continued to walk around the city taking in the Cathedral area and the Archives de las Indias which... read →

  • Seville — Flamenco and Tapas

    We climbed the 33 flights in the cathedral for a fantastic view of the city. We also took advantage of a great day and walked along the river and watched kayakers and rowers sail by. Later we watched our first Flamenco... read →

  • Sevilla to Merida — When does the sunrise here?

    Off to Merida today to visit the largest city in Roman Spain and the ruins that were left behind. As our bus pulled away at 8 am the sun still hadn´t risen and didn´t until close to 8:30. Needless to say that wouldn´t... read →

  • Merida — The Roman Ruin Tour

    We started our tour at the Roman Theater and Amphitheater on this brisk morning. The theater was built in 15 BC and the amphitheater followed 7 years later. Both were great to look at but we´ve visited others with... read →

  • Salamanca — Día Pausado

    Today was a nice leisurely day walking through this university town. The town has some great architecture including two Cathedrals, the old one and the new one. The new one was built around 1780 right next to the old... read →

  • Salamanca-Avila — Rolling on to Avila

    We made our way via the bus from Salamanca to Avila today. There was a definite nip in the air and it looked like snow was on the way. Since we were only in town for one day we took off early to see what the city had to... read →

  • Avila-Segovia — Football madness

    It's football madness today. Not only is it Super Bowl Sunday back home but there is also a big football, aka soccer, game in Segovia. We don't know anything about the teams but the team in red had a huge fan base which... read →

  • Segovia — Roman aqueducts

    Today we woke up to a sunny, but brisk, morning. Since Segovia isn't that large of a city we decided to have a leisurely breakfast and then headed out to view the Roman aqueducts. Let me just tell you how amazing these... read →

  • Madrid — Viva Madrid!!

    We arrived in Madrid after a really quick bus ride from Segovia. A lot of people add Segovia as a day trip from Madrid because it's so easy to reach. After figuring out where we were dropped off at we jumped on the... read →

  • Madrid — Thyssen Bornemisza Museum visit

    Today we began our art tour. Madrid is known for its art museums so we were excited to see what they had to offer visitors. The top three are the Thyssen Bornemisza, El Prado and Reina Sofia. From our hotel it was a... read →

  • Madrid — El Prado museum

    Day two of our three day museum tour. Today we started off by taking a walk in the Noviciado neighborhood and then back over to the Retiro park for a picnic lunch. The day was warm and sunny and we weren't going to pass... read →

Morocco

  • Ronda to Tangier — Long Travel Day

    We took the first train from Ronda to Algeciras today which left at 9:30am. As we walked to the station the city seem deserted We thought everyone might have a sugar hangover from last night, but in reality it was a... read →

  • Casablanca — Meeting new friends

    Started another long travel day with a 9am train to Casablanca. The train was packed so we had to stand near the bathroom and doorway for three out of the 5 hour ride. At least we were by the window so we could enjoy... read →

  • Casablanca — Generous Moroccan hosts

    As planned we met Mohamed and Brahim at 10:30 this morning. The skies were nothing but blue and we were excited to see what the day would bring. After hopping on the local bus we made our way to Mohamed and Brahim's... read →

  • Casablanca — Hassan II Mosque

    Today we visited the the third largest mosque in the world. The Hassan II Mosque which was built in 1984. We could only go inside with a tour, but we felt viewing the outside was enough for us. We were able to take a... read →

  • Casablanca to Essaouira — Another Stink'n Holiday

    We woke up at 6:15 am today and walked to the bus station where we arrived at 7:00 am to catch the 7:30 am bus to Essaouira. No luck, the bus was full and the next available was not until 6:00 pm . Plan B, off to the... read →

  • Essaouria — The Great Feast

    Today is the Islamic Easter Holiday and the reason we had so much trouble traveling yesterday. The holiday is also referred to as the Great Feast because each family buys a whole lamb which they sacrifice to eat. The... read →

  • Essaouira — The waiting game

    We made our way to the bus station to make the 9:30 am bus this morning. At 12:30 pm we took off. It took 3 hours for them to fill the bus to capacity and we tried to relax and not go completely berserk waiting. Based... read →

  • Agadir — Watch out for Jason

    Hopefully everyone is safe and sound as it's Friday the 13th. We are in paradise right now and thought we'd rub it in. The weather is in the mid 70's and sunny. We haven't been this warm since Greece and don't want it... read →

  • Agadir — Bright sunshiny day

    Another beautiful day!! I went for a run along the beach while Craig put together a picnic lunch for later. Back at the beach we enjoyed our picnic while watching the waves roll in. The wind started to pick up by mid... read →

  • Agradir — One more day in Geriatrica

    Today was just another relaxing day in Geriatrica, as Ronaldo put it. All the German and French retirees vacation down here in there RV's. We are definetley in the minority as far as age goes here. We woke up not so... read →

  • Agadir to Marrakech — Off to Marrakech

    Another long travel day. Our bus left on time but due to consistent rain we got into Marrakech about 1 1/2 hours later than we planned. We walked towards the medina and splurged on a room with a space heater. We're... read →

  • Marrakech — Lively Marrakech

    The rain stopped today but it was still really brisk outside as we headed to the patio for the breakfast our hotel provided. The dining room was decked out with wall to wall cushioned benches and Berber rugs which made... read →

  • Marrakech to Meknes — We have seats

    Today was just a long travel day today and not much happened. We caught the 11:00 am train to Meknes and arrived in Meknes at 6:00 pm. Our butts hurt from sitting all day, but hey, at least we had seats this time. We... read →

  • Meknes — Cheap Souvenirs

    It was our last full day in Morocco today, so we made sure to finish our shopping for cheap souvenirs today. The morning was rainy and we had no desire to get out of bed, so we didn't. How are we ever going to have 8-5... read →

  • Meknes to Seville — 1 train, 1 ferry and 1 bus

    First of all, Happy 90th birthday Grandma Annie We started the day today with hopes of making it to Cordoba, Spain but had our doubts. All our connections needed to be on time. Our journey began with a 7:45 am train... read →

Portugal

  • Evora — Moving on to Portugal

    The plan for today was to catch the Madrid to Lisbon bus which stopped in Evora, Portugal. Unfortunately there was only one bus a day and when we went to buy our tickets they told us the bus was full. Part of us thought... read →

  • Lisboa — Welcome to Lisboa

    We started off the day with a nice breakfast provided by our pension which kept us full through the bus ride to Lisbon and then some. Since we took the express bus the ride only took us 2 hours which left the entire... read →

  • Sintra — Daytrip to Sintra

    Our plan for today was a visit to the hilltop town of Sintra. The town is about 45 minutes west of Lisbon via the train and was worth the trip. Pulling into the station we caught a glimpse of the Sintra Castle and Pena... read →

  • Belem — Pasteis de nata=new addiction!!!

    The rain stopped this morning and made way for a sunny, but windy day. We planned on spending the day in the Belem district. There was a nice walkway along the river so we could enjoy the walk amongst the locals. After... read →

  • Lisbon — 50 year snowfall

    We woke up to pouring rain which confirmed it would be a museum day today. One of the great things about Portugal is most of the museums are free on Sundays. Once the rain turned to a sprinkle we hit the streets to walk... read →

  • Lisbon to Porto — Lisbon - Coimbra - Porto

    In Lisbon we asked three separate people which town should we visit on our way to Porto. All three said Coimbra, so we decided we would stop for one night in Coimbra. We caught the 10 am train and arrived in Coimbra at... read →

  • Porto — Porto Vinho

    Tina wasn't feeling well today so we kept it simple today. We started off by touring the free wine museum which was very educational. We learned about the history and development of the port wines. After the museum... read →

  • Porto — Porto Vinho II

    After running errands, such as mailing postcards and buying bus tickets for tomorrow, we walked through the Palacio park which overlooks the Douro river. In the park there was a small castle which had two teenagers... read →

  • Porto to Salamanca — Back to Spain Once Again

    Today was just a long day on the bus, 6 1/2 hours total. The mountainous countryside of NE Portugal was beautiful. This changed into the flat plains and mucho toros as we arrived in Spain. One interesting moment in the... read →

Ireland

  • Madrid to Dublin — Off to find our pot of gold

    With a long day of traveling we landed in Dublin at 10:00 pm. At the airport Tina was given a warning by passport control about needing more pages in her passport soon. This is probably because the stamp for Ireland... read →

  • Dublin — Sláinte - Sruab

    Today was your typical overcast day in Ireland and we hit the streets to check out the city, with the camera close by, of course. The journey took us through the grounds of Trinity College where I’ve never seen grass so... read →

  • Dublin to Kilkenny — Time to Splurge

    Today we took a 2 ½ hour bus ride to the town of Kilkenny. On our bus ride we met nice couple from Indiana. They were both 80 years old and their kids bought them a trip to Ireland for their 50th wedding anniversary... read →

  • Kilkenny — Valentine’s in Kilkenny

    Today we visited the Kilkenny Castle and to our surprise almost everyone there from the States. This was quite unusual for us since we hadn’t been around too many Americans for the last 12 months. After the tour of the... read →

  • Kilkenny to Dublin — Back to Dublin

    This morning we had a wonderful breakfast by Josephine and talked to a couple from England. They were intrigued by our trip and we talked most of the morning with them. We had to leave our wonderful B&B for our last day... read →

  • Dublin to Chicago — One Step Closer to Home

    We woke up to our last hostel bed today and had our last hostel breakfast, which I might add is quite wonderful in Ireland. The traditional Irish breakfast can keep you full for an entire day. Next, we hopped on the... read →

USA

  • Chicago — Clean Up You Bums

    Today was the day to remove the backpacker look. We’ve been looking forward to this for a while. We both treated ourselves to a day at the spa. We both got haircuts, facials and a back massage, but we still felt grungy... read →

  • Chicago — Our Big Night Out

    Tina, Dena and Becca spent had a girls day today shopping and going out to lunch while Erin and I sat around the house watching movies and catching up some more. Later in the night all of us went over to Becca and... read →

  • Chicago to Ames — Home Sweet Home

    After the long night out we woke up later than anticipated, but we still got on the road a little after noon for the 5 ½ hour drive to Ames. Somehow I was elected to drive while Tina and Dena slept most of the way. When... read →

  • Ames — Welcome back to the harsh reality

    The first couple of weeks back we went into hermit mode. There were a couple reasons why. First and foremost we were still planning on surprising Craig's mom for her birthday party so we needed to keep a low profile. We... read →

  • Waterloo — Surprise Mom

    While in Morocco we started planning a surprise 55th birthday party for my mom. The planning continued throughout our trip. I made calls back to the States from Spain and had the help of some family members. Thanks Jen... read →

  • Waterloo & Ames — Post trip blues

    Remember the Backpacker Blues Craig sang when I had holes in every article of clothing I was wearing?? Well that just scratches the surface compared to how we are feeling now that we are back home. While we sat in... read →

  • Ames to Greensboro — Moving On

    With the acceptance of my job and our trip to Mexico we didn’t have much time to visit the people we wanted to while in Iowa. We had hoped to make a trip out to Denver to see our friends that we miss there too, but the... read →

Mexico

Hong Kong

  • Greensboro, NC — Leaving for Hong Kong on Sept. 15th, 2007

    We will be taking off for a trip to Hong Kong on Sept. 15th, 2007 and the thought of it makes us all giddy! read →

  • Lantau — Arriving in Hong Kong

    Why can't we be millionaires? That was our thought during our 15 hour flight to Hong Kong. To roll up to the airport, board a plane and be served mouthwatering meals and champagne would be the life. But alas, we are... read →

  • Kowloon — Tina's first impressions of Kowloon

    Since Craig was officially in Hong Kong for work I knew I'd be on my own for the first five days or so. When we arrived on Sunday we thought it would be best to clean up and get our internal clocks situated. So after a... read →

  • Kowloon — Breaking in the traveling legs again

    Craig was anxious to get ready for work early so we both got up and chatted a bit about the plans for the day. My plan was to wander around the area, check out a few markets and get some exercise. My first stop was the... read →

  • Kowloon — All I need is some food, a beer and this lamp

    The agenda for today consisted of walking to the harbour and lunch at a recommended vegetarian restaurant. Instead of taking the easy, but frustrating, route of Nathan Road I decided to weave throughout the side streets... read →

  • Kowloon — Free museum day

    All things considered from my foot fiasco yesterday I decided to take it easy today. Since most of the museums are free on Wednesday I thought it made perfect sense to check out the Hong Kong Museum of Art. The Chinese... read →

  • Kowloon — Crossing the harbour

    I decided to give my plan of finding a good veggie restaurant another shot today. Our Fodor's guidebook mentioned the restaurant I wanted to eat at a few days earlier and they listed a completely different address so I... read →

  • Kowloon — We've got visitors!

    As many of you have probably figured out by now we love to travel and share our experiences with the ones we love. For part of this trip we were lucky enough to recruit some family along with us for the journey. Since I... read →