The Girl Who Goes

independent, intentional travel

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7 Things To Know Before Taking a Road Trip in Europe

Our car for our road trip in Europe.

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…]

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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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Why We Decided to Move to Helena, Montana, for a Month

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A snowy day in Yellowstone

Ouch, it’s been two months since my last post. That’s definitely the longest I’ve ever gone without writing something new here, and I want to be clear that The Girl Who Goes is NOT over… it’s just that the girl isn’t able to go very much these days.

But I haven’t given up on traveling forever, and with the first COVID vaccines being administered in the U.S. today, I’m feeling excited about my travel prospects for 2021!

Anyway, today’s my birthday so I decided I should write SOMETHING today, of all days. So I’ll share the story of my last travel adventure, during the month of October in Montana. [Read more…]

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Why You Should Visit Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado

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The view from Tomichi Point at Black Canyon National Park — hazy from western wildfires

“Several canyons of the American West are longer and some are deeper, but none combines the depth, sheerness, narrowness, darkness, and dread of the Black Canyon.”
— Duane Vandenbusche, author of Images of America: The Black Canyon of the Gunnison

Have you ever heard of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park? No? Well, you’re not alone. But when we stayed in Grand Junction for a week in September 2020, we were so close to Black Canyon that I couldn’t resist the chance to check off another National Park from my personal list.

Matt had never heard of it but was also happy to make the 1.5 hour drive and spend the day exploring. And the more we researched it, the more excited we were to visit. Keep reading to find out why you should visit Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. [Read more…]

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How to Spend One Day at Arches National Park, Utah

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THE Delicate Arch, seen during our one day at Arches National Park recently

Out of the 29 National Parks I’ve been to, there’s one that I’ve returned to time and time again: Arches National Park. Located in eastern Utah, not far from I-70 and near the small town of Moab, Arches wasn’t even a park I knew about until my family visited for the first time in 2012 during our annual road trip. Our memories of its fiery red rocks and blue skies came second only to our memories of a particularly ill-advised hike.

Let me just say… hiking to Delicate Arch at 3pm in the middle of July with inadequate shoes and insufficient water isn’t something I would recommend. Also, it’s 1.5 miles each way, not round trip like we’d thought. All I remember is both of my sisters crying the entire time — Becky because she had a migraine; 10-year-old Carrie because with each corner we turned, we weren’t yet at the famous arch. [Read more…]

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A Day in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho

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Tubbs Hill, Lake Coeur d’Alene

Now that I’m back in the U.S. for the next couple months, I’m taking every opportunity to keep traveling and keep exploring. Two weeks ago, I flew to Spokane, Washington, to meet up with Matt since he was there for a work trip. I was super excited to spend more time in Washington after traveling to Seattle and a few national parks up there in the past few years! But I actually didn’t stay in Washington for long — we took a quick day trip from Spokane over to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. [Read more…]

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Day Trip: Dublin to Giant’s Causeway

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A few years ago, my best friend Hanna took a trip to Northern Ireland with her mom. All the pictures were so beautiful, and one of the places she specifically mentioned was the Giant’s Causeway. Fast forward to when I lived in Madrid. I’d been planning a trip to Dublin to visit my friend Nicole, who was living there at the time. A week before the trip, Nicole texted me: “What would you think about taking a trip up north from Dublin to Giant’s Causeway?” [Read more…]

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7 Reasons Why Road Trips Are The Best

Hey everyone!

On Tuesday, I came back home from a week-long road trip out west with my family! They actually left a week before I did, but I couldn’t take that much time off from work, so I flew to LA and met them there. We always took road trips as a family when I was growing up, but as I got older and responsibilities increased, I hadn’t been able to join the yearly vacation. Until now!

I decided to share some of the reasons I think road trips are the best.

[Read more…]

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Alaska Packing List: Packing for Alaska in the Summer

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Alaska packing list essentials

If you’re planning a trip to Alaska this summer, you probably have one major question: What should go on your Alaska packing list?  I had the same question — but every time I Googled it, I got packing lists for cruises. I’ve never been on a cruise, and I might try one someday, but it’s not really my preferred method of travel. During this trip to Alaska, I was flying up and renting a car with one of my best friends for a week. And we didn’t know what to pack.

So I decided to put together my own Alaska packing list (summer) for your land-based Alaska trip. Here are five things you absolutely need. [Read more…]