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Category: Europe

Italy Less Traveled: Aosta, Bologna, and Umbria

Italy Less Traveled: Aosta, Bologna, and Umbria

I hinted before that we’re still not done writing about our time in Europe. This post in particular, about Aosta, Bologna, and Umbria, has been brewing for some time. During our two months backpacking through Italy earlier this year we were able to see a lot of the country. We hit the main stops like Rome, Venice, Florence, and Cinque Terre but also many less visited places. Three especially—Aosta, Bologna, and Umbria—captivated us in a way that the busier more…

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Packing List for Long Term Travel in Europe – Women’s Edition

Packing List for Long Term Travel in Europe – Women’s Edition

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…

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Packing List for Long Term Travel in Europe – Men’s Edition

Packing List for Long Term Travel in Europe – Men’s Edition

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…

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Budget Travel Guide: 9 Free Things to do in Rome

Budget Travel Guide: 9 Free Things to do in Rome

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…

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Hospitals, Haunts, and a lot of Hobbling: A Story of a Travel Injury in Palermo

Hospitals, Haunts, and a lot of Hobbling: A Story of a Travel Injury in Palermo

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…

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Naples Italy Travel Guide: Pizza, Porn, and Pickpockets

Naples Italy Travel Guide: Pizza, Porn, and Pickpockets

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…

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5 Ways to Avoid the Crowds in Venice

5 Ways to Avoid the Crowds in Venice

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…

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Best Places to See Art in Florence for First Time Visitors

Best Places to See Art in Florence for First Time Visitors

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…

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What to Expect in Cinque Terre, Italy

What to Expect in Cinque Terre, Italy

Not long ago I wrote about how expectations are pointless. Now here I am writing about just that—what to expect in Cinque Terre. Perhaps a more accurate title would be: Things we didn’t realize about Cinque Terre before visiting. That doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, though. Hypocritical as it is, I’m sticking with what to expect…or more specifically what “unexpected” things to expect in Cinque Terre. First a little background in case you’re not familiar with the “five lands”…

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A Nightmare in Nice: Our Worst Rental Experience

A Nightmare in Nice: Our Worst Rental Experience

This week’s blog post is set in the lovely seaside city of Nice, France. A destination known for its azure Mediterranean water, beach-front promenade, and vibrant architecture. Unfortunately, that’s not what this post is about—sorry to disappoint. Our posts from Europe lately have focused on all the wonderful things to do, so today we’re mixing it up. Yes, guys it’s time for another installment of mishaps and misadventures on the road with Tom and Liana. Or perhaps I should say…

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