independent, intentional travel
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…]
Budapest is a city that I visited for the first time this past March. Despite the chilly temperatures, it didn’t take long to fall in love with it! And while I wrote a Budapest city review for my last post, I wanted to share some of the many things to do in Budapest — no matter how long you stay, you won’t have a problem staying busy.
Here are my top choices for things to do in Budapest. [Read more…]
Back in February, I headed over to Europe for the second time in 2 months. This time, instead of traveling with Matt like I have over the past few years, I met up with my best friend from college, Hanna. We studied abroad together in London in 2013, where we became friends. Considering it was now 2023, we decided to take a 10-year anniversary visit. But while we were over there, I wanted to visit a new country, too. And that’s why we went to Budapest, Hungary. [Read more…]
Back in January 2023, Matt and I took our first big European road trip — from Barcelona to Andorra, to France and back to Spain. Literally 14 blog posts later, this is the last thing I had to say about it: What if you wanted to take a similar trip of your own? A road trip on another continent can be daunting, but having an itinerary can help take some of the pressure off of planning.
So, to help, here’s our exact road trip itinerary to help you plan your own! [Read more…]
If you didn’t know, I’m a big fan of road trips. Whether it was my family’s annual road trip across the U.S. that took us thousands of miles in two weeks, my road trip through Alaska with a friend when we were 24, or the most recent European road trip Matt and I took through Spain, France, and Andorra this past winter… there’s something special about traveling “slow.” Seeing the world around you rather than flying from point A to point B.
Our European road trip in January was actually my first “proper” road trip in Europe — meaning I rented a car for more than just a day. Over two weeks, we visited seven cities in three countries. And while it was more expensive than flying or taking the train/bus between cities, we enjoyed the freedom the rental car afforded us.
Of course, planning a road trip can be overwhelming, no matter whether you’re close to home or on the other side of the world. So if you’re thinking about your very own European road trip, here are my tips to help make it easier. [Read more…]
Back in January, Matt and I rented a car in Barcelona and began our two-week road trip through parts of Spain, France, and Andorra. While I’d rented cars for shorter day trips before — like Munich to Neuschwanstein, and Dublin to Giant’s Causeway — this was my first time taking a real European road trip.
It’s always cool to try something new, and we had an amazing time visiting three countries and seven cities. And of course, when you try something new, you learn a lot. (Here’s what we learned about taking a road trip in Europe.)
If you’re thinking about taking a European road trip of your own, there are lots of things to think about before you make the decision. And now that I’ve done it, I’ve got a list of things for you to consider.
Here are the pros and cons of taking a road trip in Europe. [Read more…]
As we neared the end of our European road trip, the last real stop (aside from spending one afternoon/night in Zaragoza) was the city of Logroño in Spain. When I told Spanish people we were visiting Logroño, they all said, “Why??”
Back when I was preparing to apply for the language auxiliares de conversacion/NALCAP program, I knew I wanted to end up in Madrid. But you have to select a few options. So after selecting Madrid as my first choice, I put Logroño as number two… despite never having visited before. That’s because I had read a blog by a former auxiliar who said she had an amazing time during her year in Logroño. Later, when I lived in Madrid, a friend of mine ended up visiting Logroño for a weekend, and she said it was Spanish wine country. Who wouldn’t love that?
All these years later, my curiosity got the better of me when I saw how close we’d be to Logroño during our road trip. I wondered what my life would have been like if I’d spent my years in Spain there, instead of Madrid. So I knew we had to check it out.
Here’s what it was like to visit. [Read more…]