independent, intentional travel
Park Güell
To those who are here because they’re coming to our 2024 wedding outside of Barcelona — this is for you! 🤍 And to those who stumbled across it because they also want to know everything they need to know about Barcelona — this is for you, too.
Whatever your reason, I’m glad you’re here. I’m going to try my best to introduce Barcelona and Spain for anyone who’s visiting for the first time. [Read more…]
When we lived in the U.S. and would travel internationally — whether to Europe, Central or South America, Asia, or elsewhere — we would often find and book the cheapest flights from bigger cities to our destination. From Kansas City, where we’re from, there just aren’t as many cost-effective options. Typically, we used Southwest points we accrued in our former lives as corporate consultants to help us get from KC to our destination city.
Our favorite place to transfer is Boston, because Boston only has one airport and we only have to change terminals, but a lot of big hub cities have multiple airports. And Southwest typically flies into the smaller airport of the two. Which means having to plan the transfer into our travel day. Depending on the airports and cities, this can range from a minor pain to a major one.
The four cities we’ve transferred airports on a travel day are Chicago, Fort Lauderdale/Miami, New York City, and Houston. Here’s a review of what it’s like to change airports using public transportation in those four cities, ranked from best to worst, with ratings based on a few factors. [Read more…]
The Tri-Rail Train helps you transfer from Fort Lauderdale to Miami airport.
Somehow, more than five years after quitting my corporate job that helped me rack up hundreds of thousands of Southwest Airlines points, I still had points left. And I kept using them to my advantage as long as I could. Our typical strategy was to use the Southwest points to fly for free from Kansas City to a bigger cities with better direct flights. So when we went to Costa Rica, we flew from Kansas City to Fort Lauderdale for free, and then booked our actual flight to San José from Miami.
But we did have to transfer airports: from Fort Lauderdale to Miami. With more airlines offering layovers at different airports in the same city/region these days, it’s important to know how to get from Fort Lauderdale to Miami, or vice versa, most efficiently.
So here’s what you need to know about transferring airports between Fort Lauderdale and Miami. [Read more…]
Our closest bus stop when we visited Manuel Antonio without a car
When we visited Costa Rica in April, we flew into San José, but our actual destination for our trip was Manuel Antonio. That meant we had to decide how we were going to get to Manuel Antonio from San José. While some of the most popular options are renting a car or hiring a private shuttle, we decided to take a bus. But this also meant that we were going to have to spend our week in Manuel Antonio without a car.
I was initially nervous about getting around the Manuel Antonio/Quepos area without a car. Since I’d never been there before, I wasn’t sure what it was going to be like. Would we have to walk miles to get to restaurants or the beach? Would there be taxis, and if so, would they be easy to find when you needed one? In the end, we stuck with our original plan to take the bus to Manuel Antonio and wing it from there. And it turned out great.
So if you’re planning your own trip to Costa Rica, here’s how you can get around Manuel Antonio without a car. [Read more…]
When we went to Costa Rica in April, we decided to stay in the Manuel Antonio National Park area the whole time. Having Manuel Antonio as our home base helped ensure we made the most of our week in Costa Rica, rather than spending half our time traveling from one place to another. But our flights from the U.S. would take us to San José, Costa Rica, which meant we would need to decide how we’d get to Manuel Antonio from San José.
Manuel Antonio is on Costa Rica’s central Pacific coast, while San José is basically in the dead center of the country and would require several hours of driving in any direction to find a beach. Luckily, there are plenty of options for getting from Manuel Antonio to San José — it just comes down to your personal preferences and your budget. [Read more…]
We stayed busy with plenty of exciting things to do in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica!
After deciding that we were going to spend our week in Costa Rica in the Manuel Antonio National Park area, there was something else we needed to do: book some activities to help us explore the best of what Manuel Antonio could offer! With four full days in which we did not have to travel, we decided to book three things to do in Manuel Antonio. And we saved one day for relaxing on the beach.
I love booking activities through the platform Viator, so we searched there to find some of the best and highest-rated experiences in Manuel Antonio. (Plus, when you book with Viator, they reward you with credit for future experiences!)
On Monday, we spent the morning and afternoon trekking through the jungle, ziplining with a small group. Tuesday, we explored a chocolate and coffee farm just a bit out of town. And Thursday, we finally went into Manuel Antonio National Park with a private guide who helped us see all kinds of wildlife.
We had an amazing time and I highly, highly recommend all three of these experiences! So if you’re looking for the best things to do in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica, here are my recommendations. [Read more…]
Manuel Antonio is one of the most popular areas of Costa Rica to visit. We visited in April 2023, and we had so much fun! Not only is Costa Rica a beautiful, friendly country, but Manuel Antonio was the perfect place to visit for a week — or longer!
If you’re planning your own trip to Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica, here’s what you need to know. [Read more…]
In my last post, I detailed pretty much every single thing we did during our week in Costa Rica. While Costa Rica is the 28th country I’ve visited, and I felt like I had a decent idea of what to expect, every country is different and has its own quirks and characteristics to be aware of.
So, for this post, I wanted to share some important things you’ll want to know before you visit. Here are five things to know before visiting Costa Rica! [Read more…]
Costa Rica was the third new country I visited in 2023! Back in December 2022, when we passed through Boston on our way to Quebec City for my 30th birthday, we spent a night at my friend Morgan’s place. Morgan told us that she really wanted to go to Costa Rica but couldn’t find anyone to go with her.
“We’ll go!”
Four months later, in April, the three of us set off for a week in Costa Rica. We flew into San José and traveled to the Manuel Antonio/Quepos area, where we spent most of our time. Here’s what that was like! [Read more…]
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…]