Hello everyone! Happy Monday-Tuesday!
I would love to talk to you about one of my favorite things in the world other than food and Chester: TRAVELING :)
Disclaimer: I’m not trying to brag since I know being able to travel is a privilege and a luxury, but I like to keep track of the places I’ve been.
Another note about traveling being expensive: My most recent trip I saved up a lot to go and spent a lot, but I passed on doing a lot of fun things while I was saving up. Traveling is doable for anyone, you just have to decide what's the most important for you and stick to your budget.
Trips i’ve been on in the last 5 years
Europe August 2007:
1)Paris, Avignon, Lyon, Nice, Berlin, Frankfurt
Did this crazy whirlwind trip with Mom and Dad before going off to college.
Paris we stayed on the Champs Elysees and it was so busy, that was a mistake. I had the worst bedbugs OF MY LIFE and my legs were completely bitten and I had horrible blisters for a week. We saw all the museums, but dad had way more energy than the rest of us jetlagged normal human beings.
Avignon was much more fun and we stayed behind the Pope’s Palace in this amazing beautiful hotel that had a chef’s table in the basement for dinner where we met so many different people.
In Nice, we stayed right on the water and went to this bizarre hotel that apparently is considered a work of art in itself. We had a beautiful suite, and our hotel had an indoor/outdoor pool with people in speedos. I picked up a ton of parisian music cds during the trip, so I was able to listen to them at the hotel since my makeshift room was in the living room.
In Berlin we stayed at the Marriott, and in my opinion we weren’t there long enough. I loved Berlin!
In Frankfurt, we stayed in Bad Hamburg at this nasty hotel with bugs in the cereal. The spa had naked dudes, but the restaurants and town around the hotel made up for it. We ate at this beautiful castle in Kronberg that was one of the most amazing meals I've ever had.
I know this wasn't the most positive review, but it was my first impression of Europe.
2)Europe August 2009: Berlin, Locarno, Prague, Milan
This was for my summer abroad with UC Davis, so this trip was a little different than going with my parents. In Berlin, one of the groups would stay out all night and sleep until class time at 1pm, while the rest of us would get up and explore the city after breakfast. This is how I discovered the lemon bars at Cafe Retro and the brunch stop at the Phoenix Lounge. We went to Locarno in Switzerland by Lake Como for a film festival, and it was like a 10 day film party complete with a swim in the lake and running through the rain like in the movies. Our hostel managers tried to make guacamole for us, which was sad and cute. We were able to take a day trip to Milan and the story ensued of ‘if we were in a horror film, who would die first’ and everyone decided Milano pasta tastes just like pasta at home. I was able to spend a weekend in Prague, which was very beautiful, but the hostel was kind of awful. You would try to shower and a flame would literally be next to you heating up the water, scary! We went to some interesting underground bars and cheap eats, along with the most awesome 5 story club ever. The castle was worth a day trip and we had the best walking tour there. I really enjoyed this trip, but I wish we could have spent more on food :)
3)Michigan June 2010 Mackinac Island
This was a family trip and I was super pissed that Matt couldn’t go (since it was during my 21st birthday, but that is a post for another time). After this I swore I would never travel without him again, but I broke this promise when I went to Vegas for Frances’ girls-only birthday last year (2012). We had a great time on Mackinac Island, but the rest of the cities in Michigan were horribly run down and sad during the recession. Petosky was great, but we didn’t even stay there! We should have spent the whole two weeks on beautiful Mackinac instead of crammed into a van fighting with each other (me and 8 other relatives)
4)Vegas (4 times)
So I hadn’t been to Vegas since I was 7 or 8, but the last year and a half made up for it because I went 4 times last year. I have discovered some favorite places for those of us that don’t really spend a lot of time gambling, so see my previous Vegas post for those ideas (mostly spa and eating).
5)Maui June 2011
This was the first time Matt got to travel with my family and I was super excited since we were staying near the beach in a giant rented house. We were swimming in the amazing pool and golfers almost killed us with golf balls! The food and company was great, but the hike to the beach up and down the hill in 100 degree weather was maybe not the best first impression of Maui. Kaanapaali is our destination of choice :)
6)London, Paris, Berlin, Rome March 2012
Matt and I made a promise that as soon as we could afford it, we would go on a trip together since we had never traveled alone together before. For our seven year anniversary, I scheduled and booked this crazy trip and everything luckily went as planned. We really enjoyed London the best and wish we had had more time in Rome (but the hotel and the food were more questionable). I wrote about some of the places we ate at in the giant ‘best restaurants’ of the world post, but next time I go to Europe, we’re going to Vienna, Venice, Copenhagen and Prague.
Trips I would like to go on:
Caribbean- Aruba or Bahamas?
Mexico- Cabo
Bora Bora
Hawaii again (going in July 2013!)
Ski trip -possibly Tahoe :)
Hogwarts at universal studios in Florida
Thanks everyone for reading and happy exploring~! If you think saving up for a trip to Europe seems daunting, start putting a little bit in a special fund every month, it works! :)
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