There is a hike for everyone at Badlands National Park. That’s right I’m saying it, “Get out of your car and take a hike!” No, seriously, while the drive through the park is amazing, Badlands is a place to hit the trail and kick up some dust. Whether you’re looking for a short hike on the boardwalk or a trek though towering spires and flat-topped buttes, this Badlands Hiking Trail Guide will help you find your perfect hike (or hikes)….
This week it’s my turn to share packing tips and tricks for a long term trip in Europe. If you missed it, be sure to check out Tom’s men’s version of our Packing List for Long Term Travel in Europe—after you finish reading my post of course. Earlier this year we traveled around Europe for 3 months with only what we could carry. We started in Paris in Spring and ended in Italy in Summer so needed clothing that could…
When preparing for extended European travel, it isn’t just where to go, it’s also what to bring. It can be stressful deciding what makes the cut and what doesn’t. Liana and I recently returned from three months backpacking in France and Italy. When it came to our own packing lists, we had to make some additions and subtractions along the way. In the end we felt we had the perfect packing list for long term travel in Europe. Pin this…
We’ve come to the conclusion of our European travels. We likely still have a few posts up our sleeve, but Rome is the final destination on our 3-month tour of France and Italy. Fortunately, it was nothing like the cheesy horror movie (although I’m not gonna lie, I was a devoted Devon Sawa fangirl in the 90’s—he was right up there with JTT). Shhhhh, don’t tell Tom. Okay, enough about my embarrassing pre-teen crushes. Let’s talk about some free things…
Sicily. A place I’ve always wanted to visit. This desire may have stemmed from my vision of sitting at a small table in a mountain village and gorging myself on local cuisine, fresh olives, and carafes of wine. Maybe I was intrigued by the 50 times I watched Michael Corleone spend two years there—his father’s homeland and birthplace of the mafia. Or maybe I just wanted to see how you ride a train to an island. Whatever it was that…
One thing we learned during our travels in Europe is how much lodging affects your experience in a place. We’ve told the story of our worst rental…or as we refer to it our nightmare in Nice, so now we’re sharing something more helpful—what we’ve learned (sometimes the hard way) about how to choose a vacation rental. Pin this post for later > 8 Tips for Choosing a Vacation Rental We’ve stayed in a lot of different lodging types over the…
Where to stay, where to eat, what to do, and why you should add Naples to your Italy itinerary Naples Italy gets a bad rap. While planning our travels I came across a lot of articles saying that Naples is dangerous. Well, it’s a good thing we don’t believe everything we read. I mean, you should believe us, of course, haha! Seriously though, Naples (or Napoli in Italian) ended up being Tom’s favorite city in all of Italy. We put…
We almost made a huge mistake with Venice. We almost skipped it entirely. Venice is crowded, and smelly, and expensive they said. I’m not sure exactly who “they” are, but these were the complaints we’d heard. Thoughts of how to avoid the crowds in Venice swirled around our starting to become travel-weary heads. If you know us, you know that we’re not much for crowds. We’ve even written about how to get away from crowds in national parks. A quiet…
It’s hard to know where to begin talking about Florence. A city renown for it’s art and history. The birthplace of the Renaissance as well as numerous great artists, architectures, and writers. Many who spent their lives creating work that still resides in this opulent city today. Deciding where to start and how to spend your time in Florence is daunting. We knew that we wanted to visit museums, but didn’t know the best places to see art in Florence…
(AKA How to Not be an A$$ in Nature) It’s that wonderful time of year when the days are long and the sun is hot. Summer has always been my favorite season—promising road trips, camping adventures, and many hours in nature. It’s also the busiest time of year at national parks. We’ve already shared some tips for finding solitude in the parks this summer, but with rising national park visitation, comes an increased human impact on these beautiful places. Here’s…