Sintra is one of the most popular day trips from Lisbon, and it’s easy to see why. The UNESCO World Heritage Site is home to the beautiful Sintra-Cascais Natural Park & Cabo da Roca, as well several architectural & historical gems, including the Castle of the Moors & Pena National Palace. There was so much […]
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling lived in Porto, Portugal during the early 1990s. During this time period, she created an outline of what would eventually become the full set of Harry Potter books, while also beginning work on the first book. As with most writers, Rowling was inspired by her surroundings. Within Porto, it’s possible […]
Box Elder County fills the expanse of land that is northwestern Utah. Located north of the Great Salt Lake, the county is a crossroads of natural & historic wonders. The lake & the open spaces around it have attracted birds for thousands of years, while in more modern times, the area has seen many events […]
On my second full day in Fukuoka, I decided to take a day trip to Dazaifu, since I’d heard that it was pretty & had some nice shrines & museums. After eating the best ramen I had in Fukuoka, I took the subway back to Tenjin station. From there, I headed into the train station, […]
Heading to Helsinki, my perception was that the city was fairly large. Perhaps it’s due to my relative familiarity with Finland as a whole compared to other places I hadn’t yet traveled to, including knowing about Finnish stars of sports such as hockey & F1, some familiarity with Finnish technology such as Nokia and Rovio (makers of […]
The Chinese New Year is a popular time to travel home to visit family. Described as the largest annual human migration on Earth, it’s a period of massive traffic jams as everyone tries to get somewhere all at once, making over 2.9 billion journeys in all. The delays aren’t just on roads, which is what […]
After almost 24 hours of traveling already and a day layover in New York City, it was finally time for me to board my flight to Europe. I was flying on American in Business Class from New York JFK to Manchester on an award booking. The flight was initially delayed for 20 minutes due to […]
Here are your travel contests for this week. Prizes include an Amtrak trip, plus trips to Australia; California’s Wine Country; Santa Barbara; a Ritz-Carlton hotel; Las Vegas, Nevada; Morocco; Croatia; Turkey; New York City; Barbados; and more. Happy Thanksgiving & good luck! Win a family Amtrak train trip Grand Prize winner will receive one (1) […]
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has a reputation for being a loud, rude guy, so it’s not surprising that his mouth would get him in trouble once again. Huffington Post & Gawker report that Christie had a bad day while traveling on an Amtrak train from Washington, DC to New York. First, Christie was nearly late […]
If you’re going to be in Japan for a week or longer, the Japan Rail Pass is a must-have. The pass is available for 7, 14, or 21 days, but you must purchase it before traveling to Japan, as it is only available to overseas tourists. Fortunately, the process of buying a Japan Rail Pass […]
I started July off in Vancouver, celebrating Canada Day and going to the Women’s World Cup final. Later in the month I went to Lake Tahoe. Here are my favorite Instagram photos I shared this month. As always, you can follow me on Instagram here. View this post on Instagram OMG OMG OMG POUTINE A […]
Following my visits to Monaco, San Marino, and Liechtenstein, I only had one tiny European nation left on my list: Luxembourg. I set off from Zurich on a day-long, uneventful train journey to Luxembourg City. I have zero notes about it, and two years on, I don’t remember a thing. That’s a testament to the […]
This part of my trip was comprised of just a couple of nights in each place, so I was off to Zurich, Switzerland the next day. Of course, it wouldn’t be a trip to Italy with one last train fiasco. I arrived at the station in Como to find that every train was listed as […]
My first full day in the Alps was spent criss-crossing the border between Italy and Switzerland. The schedule had me checking out a local scenic railway between both countries. In true Italian fashion, my first train was delayed, which nearly made me miss my connection in Switzerland, a country where they don’t mess around with […]
On my final day in Nice, I walked through the Old Town section of the city. There was a nice farmers market with local cheeses, meat, produce and bread. Fresh baked bread and fresh goat cheese are a perfect aid for a slight hangover. The hangover was a result of watching a couple of NFL […]
