Tag: transportation

Van life in The Alps with our baby (1/3): Austria and Slovenia

On By Carmen BIn Austria, Europe, SloveniaLeave a comment

This is a very short recap of our 10-day Europe road trip on a camper van with our 6 month old boy. The whole experience was fantastic and this post won’t do it justice… but it is better than nothing.

DAY 1:

We landed in Munich after a surprisingly easy flight from LAX, with Lucas having slept in the bassinet for a good chunk of it. We picked up the van we had rented with Indiecampers and got a rather lengthy briefing on how to operate it. Although it was getting late, we figured it was worth driving to our first destination (under 2 hours): Salzburg, where we grabbed dinner with part of Sara’s family (who happened to be on their own Eurotrip).

Continue reading “Van life in The Alps with our baby (1/3): Austria and Slovenia” →

So many cool things to do in Aruba

On By Carmen BIn America, Aruba3 Comments

Aruba wasn’t necessarily on my bucket list. But we were going to Colombia for the Christmas holidays, and decided we wanted an easy, idyllic beach destination for the last days of our trip… and the flights and hotels happened to work out well. Aruba, a little overseas territory of the Netherlands nicknamed “one happy island”, turned out to be exactly what we needed and much more!

Continue reading “So many cool things to do in Aruba” →

Destination guide – Jordan

On By Carmen BIn Destination Guides, JordanLeave a comment

MUST DO:

  • Hiking all of Petra… and marveling at the Treasury at night

NICE TO HAVE:

  • Bedouin camp in the Wadi Rum desert
  • Floating in the Dead Sea

PENDING:

  • The Roman ruins of Jerash
  • The Crusader Kerak Castle

MIN TIME:

  • 5 days

GETTING AROUND:

  • Ferry from Sharm el Sheikk (Egypt)
  • Buses / public shuttles if you can make the schedule work…
  • … Otherwise private drivers / taxi for Aqaba – Wadi Rum, Wadi Rum – Wadi Musa (Petra), Wadi Musa – Dead Sea, Dead Sea – Amman (airport)
  • Organized tour in Wadi Rum
  • Hiking on your own in Petra

DIARIES:

  1. Freezing in Wadi Rum
  2. Exploring the hidden city of Petra

COMBINED WITH:

Freezing in Wadi Rum

On By Carmen BIn Asia, Jordan1 Comment

Maybe we should have done a bit of research before deciding to go to Jordan over Christmas. Or at least think about it for a minute, and we would have realized that the desert in the middle of the winter is bitter cold. But maybe it was blissful ignorance, because a couple of days later I’ve pretty much forgotten how cold we were, and we still managed to do everything we intended to 😉

Continue reading “Freezing in Wadi Rum” →

A great diving liveaboard in the Red Sea

On By Carmen BIn Africa, Egypt3 Comments

Egypt is a classic diving destination, maybe not as epic as Australia or Malaysia, but probably on par with Indonesia or Belize. And the best way to enjoy it, like all these, is on a liveaboard. We did the King Snefro 3-day trip and it was fantastic!

Continue reading “A great diving liveaboard in the Red Sea” →

Cruising the Nile from Luxor to Aswan

On By Carmen BIn Africa, Egypt1 Comment

A cruise on the river Nile between Luxor and Aswan, stopping in several ancient sites, is a classic in any Egypt itinerary.  We arrived in Luxor on a fairly comfortable overnight train from Cairo, and embarked on a 4-day cruise southbound. The word cruise is a bit of a misnomer, since these it’s rather floating hotels; all the boats do the same itinerary, and travelers from different groups get on them for sleep, food and the limited transit that actually occurs on the river, and are picked up by their respective guides at each stop. We got a pretty good deal through Imperial Egypt ($360 all inclusive); our guide was fantastic and private (absolutely recommended to really immerse yourself in the culture and history), while the boat we were put on, the Liberty, and the food on board were quite crappy. Below a quick recount of the places we visited.

Continue reading “Cruising the Nile from Luxor to Aswan” →

Destination guide – New Zealand

On By Carmen BIn Destination Guides, New Zealand, OceaniaLeave a comment

 

MUST DO:

  • Waitomo glowworms
  • Tongariro Crossing hike
  • Abel Tasman beaches and hike
  • Cook National Park hike and the views from Lake Pukaki
  • Road trip, and stop in so many great spots: lush hills in the North Island, Huka Falls, Punakaiki pancake rocks, Blue Pools, Lake Tekapo, etc.

Continue reading “Destination guide – New Zealand” →

Cruising and camping in Milford Sound

On By Carmen BIn New Zealand, Oceania2 Comments

And just like that, after 10 unbelievable days driving across New Zealand, we were entering the final leg of our trip: Queenstown and Milford Sound. For this part, we were going to meet up with an old Spanish friend of mine and her kiwi husband, making it extra special!

Continue reading “Cruising and camping in Milford Sound” →

Glaciers, blue pools and more, driving down NZ’s South Island

On By Carmen BIn New Zealand, Oceania1 Comment

New Zealand is simply spectacular, even just driving between the top spots you get to see so many breathtaking landscapes. After hiking in Abel Tasman, and sleeping in Nelson one last night, we picked up a rental car and hit the road down the South Island’s west coast for a couple of days. These are the places we stopped at along the way:

Continue reading “Glaciers, blue pools and more, driving down NZ’s South Island” →