independent, intentional travel
After leaving Andorra on our European road trip last month, our next stop was a quick little day trip to visit Carcassonne, France. Only a 3-hour drive from Andorra la Vella and one hour from where we’d be staying that night in Toulouse, we couldn’t resist the opportunity to visit. All the time we spent playing the board game Carcassonne with our roommates over the years meant that we had to at least check it out. [Read more…]
The view from Rec del Sola in Andorra la Vella
Hi everyone! I’ve been really working on prioritizing my blog this year, but I’ve been so deep in some of the less fun website stuff… I need to make sure I keep writing along the way. So here I am, sitting down to continue sharing more about our European road trip from last month. I still have so much to tell you! And today I’m going to tell you all about Andorra la Vella, Andorra.
I also decided on a new post type called “city review,” which I’m planning to keep relatively formulaic. I’ve done review-type posts in the past, but my goal is to make them more functional for anyone who’s looking for advice on traveling to that city. City review #1, coming right up. [Read more…]
As part of my goal to visit five new countries this year — bringing my total to 30 while age 30 — Matt and I were able to visit Andorra for the first time last month. Our two-week European road trip brought us through the capital, Andorra la Vella, on our way from Barcelona up to France.
I didn’t know much about Andorra before visiting. Which is probably why so many things about it were a surprise. All I really know was that it’s where Spanish people like to go skiing in the winter. Yep, that’s all I knew! But when I saw how close it was to Barcelona, I knew we had to go.
So if you’re planning your own visit to Andorra, here are 5 things you need to know before you go. [Read more…]
Our BMW that we rented for our road trip in Europe!
Growing up, road trips helped me see more of the U.S. by the time I was 18 than many people ever get to see in their lives, which makes me so lucky! The importance that was placed on travel — in the form of my family’s annual road trip — definitely helped shape me into who I am today. But recently, I tackled a new undertaking: my first-ever road trip in Europe!
While I’d done day trips by car, or even weekend trips with friends in Europe, I’d never done something this ambitious, or for this long. Matt and I spent two weeks traversing parts of three countries, staying in six hotels along the way. But most of the cities we chose to visit weren’t more than 4 hours apart from each other, and we didn’t have lots of driving on back-to-back days. You can read our whole trip review here.
What I wanted to share, though, is that I learned a lot during this trip. So if you’re planning your own road trip in Europe, here are 7 things you’ll want to know before you set off. [Read more…]
Originally Published on January 17, 2023
Bonjour, friends! As I begin to write this post, I’m sitting in a coffee shop in Bordeaux, France. I’m almost halfway through our two-week European road trip across Andorra, southern France, and northern Spain. It’s been raining all day. Matt is back at the Airbnb taking a nap. And I almost didn’t sit down to write this because my computer was almost dead and all the outlets in this coffee shop had plastic covers on them. Devastatingly, I don’t speak French so I was too afraid to ask the one person who works here for help. Eventually I settled for a weak “bonjour” and holding up my laptop charger… and here we are.
I have SO MUCH to tell you all about this trip! About the cities we’ve been to, about the car rental process, about taking a road trip in Europe. But I wanted to start with a “trip review” type post, as I’ve done in the past. I’ll probably publish this before it’s all the way done and then just update it as we go through the rest of the trip. I think it will provide a lot of good context for the trip, and I’ll eventually update it with links to specific topics as well. [Read more…]
As I’ve mentioned here before, Matt and I have recently delved into the world of travel credit cards. No, we aren’t going into debt just to get free flights. (I don’t recommend anyone do that, obviously.) But we have used our credit cards to enhance our travel strategy. For example, with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card — our new go-to — we can get 5x points on any travel we book through the Chase travel portal.
When it was time to book our flights for my 30th birthday trip to Quebec City, Canada, we used a couple of our tried-and-true travel strategies in conjunction: fly from Kansas City to Boston on Southwest points, then book a separate flight from Boston to Quebec City. The whole thing ended up a lot cheaper than if we’d booked from KC to QC on one ticket. And, of course, we booked the Boston to QC flight using Chase travel.
But the big surprise was for the cheapest flight option we found: a company called Porter Airlines. [Read more…]
Back in December 2022, I celebrated my 30th birthday in Quebec City, Canada! When you have a mid-December birthday and your boyfriend says “Let’s take a trip,” you have two options: Flee the Midwestern cold for somewhere warmer, or lean into the winter weather by going somewhere even colder. Clearly, I chose option #2. So we set off for Quebec City with Porter Airlines.
But really though, Quebec City felt like the perfect place to spend a chilly pre-Christmas week. If you’re planning your own trip, though, there are a few things I think you’ll want to know in advance. So here’s my list of 5 things to know before you visit Quebec City in December! [Read more…]
Originally Published on November 25, 2022.
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…]
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…]
Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City
When many people thing of visiting Mexico, they may think of beach or resort towns like Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, or Cabo. But I’m not a resort girl — I prefer to visit places where I can get more of the local culture and go exploring on my own. Which is why, back in 2018 when Southwest Airlines still flew there, I spent some of my hard-earned points on a solo trip to Mexico City.
What I never expected was how much I’d love it! Mexico City is a busy, beautiful, vibrant city full of delicious food, gorgeous artwork, and friendly people. So when Matt and I had the opportunity to visit this past spring — and stay for three weeks — we jumped at the chance.
But Mexico City’s population is larger than New York City’s. And it’s nearly twice the size geographically! Which means it can be hard to know where to start with exploring the city, especially when your time is limited.
To help, I put together this list of 9 things you must do during your Mexico City trip. [Read more…]