The Girl Who Goes

independent, intentional travel

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UK ETA Visa: What You Need To Know

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Last month, we visited the United Kingdom to spend the first few days of the New Year in Cardiff, Wales. And this weekend, we’ll be  heading back to the UK — to Liverpool this time — with a brand new “visa” in hand. This is the new UK ETA visa, or the Electronic Travel Authorisation visa, which just went into effect for the first time on January 8, 2025.

It sounds a little but scary, but I promise the process to apply is super simple — and I’ll walk you through all the steps so there’s no confusion. I’ll even share a trick for American passports to (hopefully) help prevent frustration. So, here’s everything you need to know about the UK ETA visa. [Read more…]

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Day Trip: Cardiff to the Gower Peninsula

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I mentioned in my last blog how deciding to visit Cardiff, Wales, in January was quite a choice. 😂 And while we enjoyed our time in Cardiff, the real highlight of our visit to Wales was the day trip we took to the Gower Peninsula. We had considered renting a car in advance of the trip, but we decided against it in case the weather was going to be bad — so we basically booked and planned our road trip less than 24 hours before we set off.

Here’s what our day trip from Cardiff to the Gower Peninsula looked like, and what you need to know if you want to plan your own. [Read more…]

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City Review: Cardiff, Wales

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Whether it was spending an infernal August in Sevilla, moving to Ecuador for two months, or just visiting the city of Bratislava at all, sometimes we find ourselves planning trips that leave other people with only one question: Why? Our most recent trip — to Cardiff, Wales, on New Year’s Day — was just another example. As we boarded the National Express bus to Cardiff from Bristol airport, the bus driver couldn’t figure out why in the world three Americans had turned up in winter coats and backpacks for a January trip to the gloomy UK, and he told us as much.

But with our friend Hanna visiting us in Alicante for the second time, we wanted to take the opportunity to travel somewhere new together. And flights between Alicante and Bristol (just an hour from Cardiff) were direct and cheap, and none of us had ever been to Wales before. So we followed our own typical line of reasoning, which also asks a question: Why not?

With almost no prior knowledge about Cardiff or Wales, here’s my review of the Welsh capital city. [Read more…]

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A Review of SAS Airlines: Chicago to Copenhagen to London

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In February, I set off “across the pond” for the second time this year to visit London with my friend Hanna. We all know that flying to Europe isn’t cheap, so when it was time to look for flights, I tried to find the best flight for the best price.

In this case, it meant selecting Chicago as my origin because that’s always cheaper than flying from Kansas City, where I live. Using Southwest points to fly from KC to a larger city is one trick we use pretty frequently to get cheaper flights. And when I found a round-trip flight from Chicago to London — with a layover in Copenhagen — on SAS Airlines, it was a price I couldn’t pass up: just $400.

It was my first time ever flying with SAS Airlines, and it wasn’t an airline I knew much about. So if you’re thinking about taking a trip with them, here’s my review of SAS Airlines. [Read more…]

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Trip Review: Scotland, Ireland, and England

Here we are, wrapping up our last travel-free month, having been home since the end of August. December, January, February, and March will bring plenty of trips to new places, and certainly lots to write about! And while I’ve talked some about our most recent trip over to the UK and Ireland, I hadn’t gone into too much detail.

But I thought it could be fun to share in “trip review” form. This trip in particular was a great mix of new and old places, and new and old friends. So if you’re wondering what Matt and I got up to during our two weeks across the pond… keep reading. [Read more…]

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A Review of Lumo Train: London to Edinburgh

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Back in 2013 when I studied abroad in London, my school had a few organized trips that they offered to students. Some were short, like a day trip by bus to Stonehenge and Bath. But others spanned the entire weekend — like a longer train trip to Edinburgh, Scotland. Having already taken a long 10-day fall break to four countries and trying to be conscious of my college student budget, I reluctantly passed on the Edinburgh trip.

Fast forward to this past spring, when Sarah and Kelan invited us to come visit them in Dublin in August. From the U.S., it was much cheaper to fly in and out of London, a city I love and was excited to share with Matt for the first time. And then I thought… while we’re across the pond, why don’t we visit Scotland too?! Scotland had been on my bucket list ever since the trip I’d missed out on.

I think that’s why I also had my heart set on traveling by train to Scotland, just like my friends had done. So when it was time to plan our trip, I started by looking at train tickets. We ended up going with a Lumo train from London to Edinburgh. Here’s what it was like. [Read more…]

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The 7 Best European Summer Drinks

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It may have only been “officially” summer for a week, but here in Spain and most of Western Europe, we’re already in the middle of a bad heatwave. Temperatures of 102°F (39°C) for days on end may be normal in Missouri and other parts of the U.S., but it’s so much worse without one key American luxury: home air conditioning.

With a high of 109°F, I’ve spent the last 5 days bouncing from one air-conditioned cafe to another, chugging iced coffee by the gallon where I could find it and trying to avoid my stifling 4th-floor piso. Iced coffee isn’t a particularly Spanish drink, though. But it got me thinking about the summer drinks that are popular throughout different European countries. So if you’re visiting Europe this summer, hopefully these European summer drinks can help keep you cool — air conditioning or not. [Read more…]

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Going Back “Home”: A Weekend in London

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The London Eye and River Thames from Westminster Bridge

Five and a half years ago (!!!!), I spent a fall semester of college studying abroad in London. It was one of the most important experiences in a long chain of events that contributed to me eventually living in Spain. During that semester, I had more fun than I’d ever had in my life. I met some of my very best friends, I was able to jet off to different countries over the weekends, and I got to live a lifestyle unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. Most importantly, I learned that I could do it. I could adjust to life in a foreign country, away from everyone/everything I knew and was comfortable with, and thrive while doing it. [Read more…]