The Girl Who Goes

independent, intentional travel

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5 Things To Know Before Visiting the Galapagos Islands

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The Galapagos Islands are unlike anywhere I’ve ever visited before. But in advance of our trip, I actually didn’t do a ton of research because I felt overwhelmed. First of all, most information out there seems to pertain to cruises, and we obviously weren’t doing a cruise. And second, a lot of it comes from travel agencies trying to convince you to book their tours and services.

When we went, I kind of just showed up for our flight and figured it out from there. Which worked out! But not everyone loves traveling that way. So, now that I’ve been there, I thought it would be a good idea to share some of the things I wish I’d known before we went.

[Read more…]

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How To Visit the Galapagos Islands Without a Cruise

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If you know me, and the way I travel, I like to do things independently when I can. For example, a lot of people visit Alaska by taking a cruise, but not me — my friend Megan and I rented a car and spent a week driving nearly 2,000 miles through the state’s wilderness.

When it was time to plan our trip to the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, I felt the same way. A lot of the information out there related to visiting the Galapagos is about what cruises you can take. I had to work harder to find what I needed about visiting on our own. It wasn’t easy, but I’m here to share with you to make it easier to plan your trip to the Galapagos Islands without a cruise. [Read more…]

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A Quick Guide to Medellín’s MetroCables

medellin metrocable

Hi friends. This was originally not meant to be its own post — I thought I could contain it in the MetroCable section of my post about the best things to do in Medellín. But I forgot how wordy I can be when I write. Especially when I feel like I’m addressing a gap in knowledge that exists on the internet. So this one goes out to all the travelers planning trips to Medellín and feeling confused about the whole MetroCable thing.

Because a lot of the information out there just isn’t very clear. A lot of it is outdated, too. [Read more…]

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Top 5 Things To Do in Medellín, Colombia

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I’ve said this before. But one of my favorite things to do when traveling is to take a vacation from my vacation. This is especially true when I’m staying in a home base somewhere for a long period of time. Why not take advantage of whatever geographic situation I’m in? When we stayed in Helena, Montana, for a month, we took a vacation to Yellowstone and planned another one to Glacier. When I went to Thailand, I took a detour to Cambodia for a few days.

Since we were in Quito for so long, I wanted to take the opportunity to visit another country while were were in that part of South America. And I thought Matt’s birthday was the perfect excuse. So I plugged our dates into my favorite flight app, Skyscanner, to figure out where we could go for a long weekend, for fairly cheap. That’s where Medellín, Colombia, came in.

I may eventually do another post about whether or not Colombia is as dangerous as everyone says it is. (Spoiler alert: I lived.) But if you choose to visit this beautiful and vibrant city, here are a few things you must do. [Read more…]

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Top 5 Things To See in the Historic Center of Quito, Ecuador

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Historic Center of Quito

When we arrived in Quito, it was a Sunday. Monday through Wednesday had been spent getting settled in, buying groceries, checking out our new neighborhood, and catching up on work. But by Thursday, I was ready to see what “downtown” Quito had to offer. Matt and I wrapped up work for the day and then decided to take a trip into the Historic Center of Quito, or the Centro Histórico.

Considering that it’s about 4 miles from our place, we decided to take a taxi. Using Cabify, it only cost a couple of dollars. I put in our destination as Plaza de San Blas, which was kind of a mistake because I didn’t know anything about centro histórico yet… haha. But it was fine, and we were able to see everything we wanted to within walking distance.

Here’s what you need to know when planning your own trip to the historic center of Quito. [Read more…]

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Why You Should Visit the Teleférico in Quito, Ecuador

teleferico quito

Do you like mountains? What about great views? Awesome photos for Instagram? Overall really fun days? If you answered yes to any of these, then I can’t recommend Quito’s Teleférico, or “TelefériQo” enough.

When we spent two months in Quito, there were so many day trips that we wanted to take. One weekend, I was disappointed to look at the Saturday forecast on Thursday/Friday to find that the weather outlook for the whole country was fairly depressing — nothing but rain. So we decided to stick close to home in Quito and see what we could find to do around town.

Saturday morning we went to brunch and checked the forecast again. There wasn’t supposed to be any rain until later in the afternoon. We knew that taking Quito’s cable car up the side of the mountain was on our list, and it wasn’t far away. So we booked a taxi with Cabify. [Read more…]

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How To Visit the Mitad del Mundo (the Equator) in Ecuador

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You know why Ecuador is called “Ecuador,” right? Obviously, it’s because the Equator passes through it! While 12 other countries around the world can also claim that honor, Ecuador is the only country named after it.

Knowing how close it was to us, we figured we’d take a day trip up there at some point. And as our first full weekend in Quito dawned bright and early — and with minimal chances for rain — we said, why not today? [Read more…]

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All About the 4T Trail in Portland, Oregon

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Part of the 4T Trail experience

One summer, Matt and I flew up to the Pacific Northwest for a trip with a group of his college friends. After a few days in the mountains near Cougar, WA, we headed to Portland to hike the 4T Trail. I’d never heard of it before (not surprising) but Matt’s friends who live in Washington, Josh and Mackenzie, had done it before. So they took us to do it.

Here’s everything you need to know about the 4T Trail in Portland. [Read more…]

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Trip Review: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

milwaukee skyline

This post is just a tad bit overdue, but a glimmer of hope about moving back to Spain is giving me new motivation to write again. 🙂 At the beginning of August, Matt and I took a road trip from Kansas City to Milwaukee. We went to a wedding about an hour outside of Chicago, but we didn’t want to just turn around and drive home. So we decided to spend a few days in Milwaukee, Wisconsin — because Matt’s sister lives there! So we had a free place to stay.

Also, one of my new friends that I met during my summer soccer league, Anna, just moved to KC from Milwaukee! We met up for coffee and she gave me a bunch of tips and places to see before we went, which was super helpful. We weren’t there for very long, but I feel like we still packed a lot into our visit. [Read more…]

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5 Breweries in St. Louis That Aren’t Budweiser

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Hi! It’s me, Cathy. I recognize it has been a pretty long time since I last wrote anything. That’s just because I didn’t have anything to write about 😬 Times like this, I really miss my old life in Spain where there was always something to write about… and I admire my past commitment to posting something new every 10 days…

Anyway, more travel is in my immediate future! Later this month, Matt and I are driving up to Milwaukee for a few days. And then when we get back, we’re flying up to spend a week in Washington/Oregon with one of his college friends! So, more to come. But for now, we’re here to talk about breweries across the state from us in St. Louis, Missouri. [Read more…]