Growing up, my father used to talk about the Mayans and their culture all the time. He was a grade school teacher and annually taught a unit all about the Mayans. Despite so much education and awareness of the Mayans all my life, I never actually got to visit or see real Mayan ruins with my own eyes.
As a result, visiting Mayan ruins was a major bucket list item of mine for my first visit to Mexico. So of course I prioritized this for my first full day in Cozumel!
Cozumel has little hints of Mayan remnants all over the island. But there’s really only two places to go see it—El Cedral and San Gervasio. San Gervasio, however, is the most well-preserved and intentional archeological site of the two to see some of the Mayans remaining buildings.
The choice to see it self-guided not only saved me money, it also gave me the opportunity to see it at my own pace and without being herded around with a crowd!
Taking a little break from Costa Rica this week to bring you some extra content from my trip to Santorini!
On our last day in Greece, on the island of Santorini, Carolina and I decided to explore one last area. The Akrotiri peninsula includes a few nice highlights that are worth the bus ride down for part of the day.
We went to the red beach and to the Venetian Castle of Akrotiri. Both of these were free to visit. We had the option to also visit the Akrotiri Museum but we opted not to. Sometimes there are certain highlights that I choose to pass up on trips especially when they cost money. The fee and not feeling enthusiastic enough about the museum turned us away.
Otherwise we had a nice visit to Akrotiri before we departed for our next adventure in Sweden and Norway!
Carolina and I had time to kill in Stockholm for a day as we waited for her daughter to arrive from Italy. After recovering from our red eye flight from Greece with a car garage nap, we wandered the streets and did a little self-guided landmark and art museum sight-seeing.
We were on our own and pretty aimless until we met up with an old friend of mine. Giles took us around to a few of the more interesting spots including a sunken warship museum with a funny backstory.
This top 10 must-see’s include some typical stops but also some unexpected ones, like where to find Stockholm’s legendary stone face crying over—you’d never guess it—a sculpted vulva! Keep reading to find out more about our 24 hours in Stockholm!
Sometimes I randomly pick adventures to go on without doing much research in advance. This has it’s benefits and its drawbacks!
The first adventure Carolina and I went on outside of Chania was one of these unresearched occasions. I thought we would go on a short, meandering hike to a beautiful, ocean chasm for a nice swim on a hot day. In reality, it was a sun-soaked and complicated path down to unknowingly treacherous waters!
While this hike to Katholiko Bay had some difficult twists and dramatic turns, I still can’t wait to share all the beautiful scenery, the ancient ruins, the cool caves, and the turquoise waters we encountered. In the end, I highly recommend this hike but definitely pay attention to some of the lessons I learned!
Chania is a new favorite city of mine and its all because of its area called Old Town. I had the perfect Airbnb location in the center of the Jewish quarter of Old Town. This put me right in the middle of an incredible mix of historic architecture and modern tourism.
From the crumbling ruins to the colorful painted alleyways, I was utterly enchanted by Old Town. Walking the streets alone was a magical experience. Add in a charming, Greek local who I heard open up his restaurant each morning, an Egyptian lighthouse reflecting off the waters of a Venetian harbor, and some furry friends and you have a total package of an experience.
I have so much to share with you in this post. There’s so many photos that I hope capture at least a small percentage of the feeling of this place! Enjoy!
St. Augustine is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the continental US. The city was settled by Spanish colonizers in 1565!
In 24 hours, Kim and I had a whirlwind, self-guided tour of the main walking part of the city called “Old Town.” We ate delicious food, explored shopping, observed various opportunities for museum visits and tours, and so much more!
In this post, I give twelve recommendations for various experiences you can have. Each suggestion is accessible along the main tourist street or just beyond it.
I don’t do paid tours all that often but sometimes they are worth it! When Kim and I visited the town of St. Augustine, we decided to also check out the famous lighthouse nearby.
The St. Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum have been there for almost 150 years! It’s a beautiful, actively working lighthouse overlooking the East coast region just across from St. Augustine.
This was a great activity to do during relatively clear skies—there were no thunderstorms to keep us from climbing to the top (unlike our first visit to the Castillo Del San Marcos the day before)! I also learned a bit about maritime archeology, which I loved to see as a SCUBA diver!
While up north in Seyville, I could not pass up the opportunity to visit St. Augustine. St. Augustine is the oldest city in America founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers.
One of the most famous tourist attractions in St. Augustine is Castillo de San Marcos. I decided to do this very typical tour because castles are just cool!
Along the way, I discovered that accessing one of the coolest parts of the castle is only an option when the skies are clear of lightning! This meant that I went back to visit twice in 24 hours—worth it!
I was a major horror film buff growing up and I still am. That’s why I agreed to take up Dasha's suggestion to check out the Stanley Hotel while in Estes Park, CO. Especially since it was the weekend before Halloween!
If you don’t know, the Stanley Hotel was famously the inspiration for Stephen King's thriller novel The Shining. After Dasha and I hiked Rocky Mountain National Park, we made a stop to experience all its spookiness.
What we discovered was a lot of people, a blustery day, and some unexpected facts about this iconic resort inn.
Two years ago, I visited Cape Town, South Africa. While there, I made sure to take a tour of Robben Island. This is where Rolihlahla “Nelson” Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years following his armed rebellion against the oppressive white nationalist British government.
I decided to write about this tour now as an intentional juxtaposition to the coup attempt by white supremacists at the United States Capitol building last week. I felt covering this experience is particularly timely in the week before Martin Luther King Jr. Day, as the historic second impeachment of Trump is underway, and the inauguration of Biden is next week.
I never wrote about this experience but I find myself thinking about Mandela and this tour often, especially since George Floyd’s murder in May 2020. I find myself thinking about racism and its history both at home and abroad. Read on to learn all about my experience touring Robben Island and to hear my reflections on current events.
This month is the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots and the 3 year anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub shooting. So I have decided to write a bit about my experience visiting the Pulse Nightclub memorial back in November 2018.
Like many of my fellow queers and friends in the LGBTQ community, I was devastated on June 12, 2016 when I learned about the mass shooting that took place at Pulse nightclub resulting in 49 dead, 68 injured, and a world in shock.
While I went to vigils up in New York, my visit to Orlando was my chance to pay my respects in person and reflect more deeply on the reality of what happened.
Being there was even more powerful than I anticipated.
I am a lover of the sea. Between exploring the Namibian desert and touring the South African bush, I was feeling landlocked! Luckily, Simon's Town is a quiet, coastal neighborhood on the cape peninsula of South Africa. Famous for its views of False Bay, Simon's Town offers the "closest encounter with penguins in the world."
I flew from Johannesburg to Cape Town late in the evening of June 9th. I was coming directly off of a 5-day safari tour, ready for the final 4 days of my trip to Africa.
It was a rainy day my first day in Simon's Town. I was there to SCUBA dive but I had to wait for better conditions. Instead, I made the most of my first day there exploring this little seaside village.
This week, I am taking a short break from writing about my own travels to give tribute to my Grand-Aunt Wally. Wally died last week at 98 years old. She was my travel inspiration. And so I was moved to write this post in memory of her.
The photos in this post come predominantly from my visit to Germany in 2014. There I met her half brother, Ludwig, who showed me these photos during my stay with cousins in Rohr.
In this post, I write a little bit about what Wally meant to me. I describe some of the adventures she took part in and I discuss some of the words of wisdom she gave me about life and travel. I hope that her words and her life will inspire you as she inspired me.
Last week, I shared stories from a cemetery tour of New Orleans about its burial processes, dead bodies, tombs, and vandalism. In this post, I share more unsettling stories from a ghost tour I took through the French Quarter.
When I was little, I loved to read Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark illustrated with those horrific drawings by Stephen Gammell. Today, I love to watch thriller movies, dress up for Halloween, and learn every story I can about the supernatural, even though I don't actually believe a word of it.
If you enjoy this stuff, too, then you'll love this post even more than the last! I include lots of in-depth stories and lore about murders, hauntings, suicides, and monsters, so you'll get your fill of everything from real-life horrors to silly (but eerie) myths.
The summer is officially over, the leaves are starting to fall, and all my favorite kitschy Halloween stuff is showing up in stores. This is, hands down, my favorite time of year to be in the United States.
In New Orleans this past summer, I went on a free cemetery tour and a free ghost tour where I learned historical and present day tales of the dead and other spooky happenings. What I learned easily qualifies New Orleans as one of the creepiest cities in the country!
With October only a few days away, I am excited to finally share the chilling history of New Orleans in two installments. In this post, I share what I learned from my tour of the city's oldest cemetery.
I love discovering unexpected gems during my travels. While exploring the West Coast and all its stunning, coastal scenery, I came across Hokitika, a charming beach-side location residents literally call “the cool little town.” I could not agree more!
Hokitika turned out to be a pleasant surprise both times I had the chance to visit. The first visit was for lunch with my two German friends and the second time was for some beach fun with Carolina. All of us were struck by this town’s vibrant culture and charisma as we tasted its food, observed its art, and learned about its golden history.
Near the end of my time in Thailand, I booked a $7 bus one-way from Chiang Mai to the city of Sukhothai. Sukhothai was the capital of Siam Kingdom in the 13th and 14th centuries. Buddhism boomed there at that time resulting in the construction of many monasteries and other structures. Today, the ruins of the old kingdom are a UNESCO World Heritage site. The area is expansive and has well-maintained roads and pathways throughout making it best viewed by bicycle! I had the chance to spend a whole day there just before leaving Thailand.
“I can’t believe I almost missed this,” I said aloud to my new friends as we walked down the sidewalk toward the Ping River. Above us, thousands of golden, twinkling lanterns were floating up and taking to the winds across the night sky, morphing and expanding along the thermals like a galaxy of stars. Just a few days earlier, I had made the decision to skip out on what would have been a much-too-short motorbike trip around the Mae Hong Son loop.
Instead, I met a Thai local named Samart who graciously hosted me for the week. I had the awesome opportunity to meet many of his friends, employees, and volunteers—a mixture of Thai locals and other travelers—who work with him at his bungalows outside Chiang Mai. Several of them had come into the city just for the Yi Peng and Loy Krathong festivals.
Typically, an airport tarmac is filled with airplanes, luggage transport cars, and people directing plane traffic. Berlin’s Tempelhof deviates from this airport norm, however. In 2008, in an effort to reduce air traffic in Berlin, the airport closed down. Since then, the airport has been turned into a space for large fairs, tradeshows, and festivals. Berliners have also reclaimed the Tempelhof as a park, but the people of Berlin had to take to the streets to keep this space open for public use.
Initially, the city mayor had the vision to build a shopping center, condominiums, and plazas in the big empty plot. These plans were quickly extinguished. As I’ve written before, the people of Berlin despise such gentrification and they protested against it.
I spent 2 weeks visiting Berlin where I stayed in the neighborhood of Kreuzberg. I walked all over this neighborhood and got to know it very well. Walking around there, I couldn’t help but notice all of the amazing street art everywhere I looked. While I could admire the street art for what it was, I knew absolutely nothing about any of it. Who did it? Were they allowed to paint there or was it illegal? Is it valued by locals or seen as a defamation of property?
ll of these questions and more were, thankfully, answered by going on a free (tip-based) walking tour with Alternative Berlin. This tour was perfect for getting an authentic, off-the-beaten path understanding of the Kreuzberg neighborhood and culture. Guided by an Australian turned Kreuzberger/Berliner, I learned so many stories about the counter-culture and community of Kreuzberg, including its street art, squatter settlements, neighborhood resistance against capitalism and authority, and much more. I gained so much respect for Berlin and its people as a result of the knowledge I gained from this tour. So I am very excited to finally get to share these stories now!
