Long layovers are my favorite, or, at least the long layovers that allow you time to explore a cool destination. Enter Boston. While this wasn’t my first visit to Boston, it was easily my shortest visit. I enjoyed a 9-hour layover in this historic city with a few ideas in mind and an adventurous spirit. Here’s how I spent a perfect Saturday afternoon in one of the oldest cities in America.
Spain has always been on my travel shortlist but, if I’m being honest, I wasn’t sure about Barcelona. Perhaps it was because of their differing heritage and culture from the rest of Spain or their desire to break away. Whatever the reason, I was wrong! Barcelona is truly remarkable and one week was not enough!
I like to cram as many explorations as possible into a trip, often planning day trip excursions to neighboring towns as well, but on this week-long trip, I happily remained in Barcelona, soaking up everything the city has to offer. Prior to arrival, I often prep a list of potential activities in order to avoid wasting time wondering what there is to do. Of course, I will also leave room for local suggestions and try not to plan things back to back to allow time for spontaneity but I always have at least an idea of what I will do. I never accomplish all of it and, for this post, I’m sharing my planning and actual lists for your recommendation pleasure.
My original planning list included the following…
Sightseeing
Neighborhoods Worth Exploring
Day Trip Options
And here’s a photo journal reflecting what I actually ended up doing each day…
[Day One]
Exploring the neighborhoods of Gracia and La Sagrada Familia, outside tour of Casa Batllo, and purchasing bottles of €3 wine at the local grocery!
[Day Two]
Exploring the neighborhoods of Poble-sec and L’Eixample, Parc de la Ciutadella, Montjuic: National Museum of Art, Magic fountain, Moritz brewery, Sagrada Familia and Tarantos for flamenco show in Placa Reial
[Day Three]
La Boqueria Market cooking class with BCN Kitchen, exploring the Gothic Quarter and visiting the Picasso museum
[Day Four]
Wandering around Parc Güell, ice cream at Dela Crem, music at Palau, tropical drinks at Paradiso
[Day Five]
Thursday – Food Festival “Tast a la Rambla”, more time exploring the Gothic Quarter, mojitos on Barcelonetta Beach, dinner at Bro Room
Tips & Other Recommendations:
Take a Cooking Class
I love joining cooking classes while traveling! I get a taste of the local cuisine, meet fellow travelers, learn about the cultural foods of the country, and stock up on local food recommendations from a chef. What’s not to love about that? My cooking class with BCN Kitchen was no different. I used “hostelgeeks5” for a discount and selected the market shopping and cooking class option. The kitchen was located in the back of the popular market, La Boqueria, and included shopping for the ingredients in our dishes.
At the end of the class I asked the chef for a list of places she would take her friends and family when they visit as well as where she frequents in her free time. I wish I’d started my trip with this cooking class because, by the time I received this list, my trip was more than halfway over.
Here’s a few of the highlights from her list. I’m sure they are all worthy of a visit!
Book classes & walking tours for the start of your trip
Classes and walking tours are a great way to meet people, a perfect opportunity to ask a local for recommendations, and a way to orient yourself to the city and local culture. Booking these for the start of your trip allow you to take full advantage of all that you learn and gain from them. Highly recommend!
Avoid La Rambla as much as possible
La Rambla is a well-known street filled with souvenirs, street vendors, and buskers. It is also the location of the terrorist attack and the place you’re most likely to be a victim of pickpocketing. Barcelona has earned a bad rap for pickpocket theft and most if these crimes take place on or around La Rambla. It’s mostly a tourist trap and with so much else this city has to offer, you might as well avoid this strip.
Book tickets to visit Gaudi’s works in advance online
Avoid disappointment and ensure you have your time of day pick for any of Gaudi’s masterpieces by booking online. I prioritized Parc Güell and La Sagrada Familia and was able to skip the lines by reserving my tickets online. This is especially important for the Parc because they only allow a certain number of people in at a time. If you walk/travel all the way up there and then have to wait around to get it or possibly not be able to get inside, you will be sorely disappointed and frustrated. Truth.
It seems nearly impossible to tackle all of these fabulous spots – and I certainly wasn’t going to do it all in just one week – but there’s no harm in trying! Happy Planning!
Packing is one of my least favorite parts of any trip. I used to dislike it so much that I would have anxiety attacks and lash out at loved ones who got caught in my path. I am much better now – thank goodness – but much of that is due to the creation of a go-to packing list.
I first established this list in preparation for my Australia adventure. Prior to the list, I tried a few other methods that were no where near efficient. For my Italy trip, I downloaded an app that would help you plan out your outfits. In order to use it correctly though, you had to take pictures of individual wardrobe items in your closet, crop and save them in the app. It reminded me of paper dolls and Cher’s polaroid routine from Clueless. All in all, it was too much effort. I will say, however, I was quite proud of my packing for that trip!
By the time Australia rolled around, I needed a solid plan. I would be traveling for about a year and I did not want to check a bag. Checking bags is the worst! I hate the fees and I hate waiting for bags, hoping yours didn’t end up on another flight. No thanks, I’ll bring a carry-on. But carry-ons require smart planning.
Below is my go-to list that I use for each trip. Of course, depending on where I’m heading and the length of time I will be there, I modify this list. Bare in mind this was created for a year’s worth of travel, the country where I was headed is mostly warm weather, and there was the potential for work, too. Overall, most of my trips are to somewhere warm or with mild winters so my list continues to prove useful.
*Note: I scan each of these and save them on DropBox or Google Drive as well. Always good to have a back-up.
So there you have it! I rely heavily on the rolling method to fit everything inside and always lay out all my clothes together before beginning packing. I have a routine now for all of this and it is definitely a process but I’m constantly pleased with the results.
Did I miss anything? How do you pack for a trip? Share your thoughts below!
I chose to live in New Orleans for six glorious years. New Orleans is real, gritty, crazy, violent, and beautiful. There really is nothing like it. The people are warm and friendly, oozing with southern hospitality and the streets are filled with vibrant colors and deep potholes. It’s a place where many people go to party and a place that anyone who has ever been holds near to their heart. It is a special place and a difficult place and that is how I will always describe it. I love this city.
In the words of the late Anthony Bourdain, “In America, there might be better gastronomic destinations than New Orleans, but there is no place more uniquely wonderful. So I would say New Orleans. With the best restaurants in New York, you’ll find something similar to it in Paris or Copenhagen or Chicago. But there is no place like New Orleans. So it’s a must see city because there’s no explaining it, no describing it. You can’t compare it to anything. So, far and away New Orleans.”
I am often asked for recommendations – where to eat and what to do – for New Orleans and I am happy to share. Rather than continuing to craft a list over and over again, I am sharing my recommendations here — How to explore New Orleans like a local.
On almost every website you surf these days, someone is waiting to convince you that 2016 has been a horrible year. While I’ve experienced my fair share of challenges in 2016, I am a glass half-full kind of gal and would prefer to reflect on my BEST moments of the year instead. Here’s what I have to be grateful for this year:
Hola, Mexico! I’ve just returned from my work and holiday in Australia and am now off to Mexico City for a week to visit my new friend, Andrea. Andrea and I met while traveling in New Zealand and I quickly decided a trip to visit her and explore her city was necessary. Knowing and visiting people in other countries is one of the best parts of making international friends, isn’t it?!
I’ve briefly visited Mexico on family cruises but had not spent any significant amount of time in the country. Mexico has always been a curious one to me. It’s a US neighbor and many Mexicans choose to live in the United States, bringing delicious food and culture with them. I feel as though I am the most familiar with Mexican culture, and yet, my understandings and experiences were limited to my American point of view before this trip. Mexico City is vibrant, busy, and dangerous with pockets of extreme poverty and some of the best street food you’ll ever have. It’s the 8th largest city in the world and the traffic makes this statistic abundantly clear.
I planned a week around the city and made sure that food, lucha libres, and pyramids were at the top of my list. Here’s how I spent the week…
Chattanooga is one of Tennessee’s hidden gems. Located less than 10 miles from the Georgia state border and nestled among the curves of the Tennessee River, Chattanooga is a city made for people. I spent 48-hours exploring this small city and loved every moment of it. With countless hiking trails, a charming downtown, riverside views, and delicious food, Chattanooga is not to be missed.
Australia is well-known around the world as being the country to house the most dangerous animals on the planet but, upon visiting or speaking with the locals, you quickly realize your chances of interacting with these creatures are slim to none. The real story is all of the unique landscapes the country has on offer, including several quirky and strange small towns. And it’s no surprise that these towns can be found deep in the Australian Outback and in the island state of Tasmania. My favorite among them below.
What do you do when average temperatures range from 35-45° C (95-115° F) in the shade and the annual rainfall is only about 5 inches per year? Live under ground, of course! Or at least, that’s what the residents of this small outback town do. Coober Pedy is an opal mining town and the residents have opted to work and live below ground these days.
The images above show the mining tunnels as well as what the homes looked like years ago and the more modern updates. Coober Pedy residents design their homes with giant tunnel drillers and enjoy regulated temperatures year round. While the only natural lighting comes through the front door, under ground home owners sleep well in total darkness and limited phone service. It isn’t my idea of the perfect house, but for the 3,500 residents of Coober Pedy, this is home.
Located approximately 450km north of Adelaide, this town is almost haunting, a town seemingly frozen in time. This town was established as the “closed town” for military families between 1947 and 1982. The name Woomera actually refers to the larger Defense system testing range. During its heyday, close to 7,000 people lived in the town, including American military. Bowling alleys and movie theaters were built as forms of entertainment and still remain today.
The town is like a ghost town, with a select few military members allowed to live there these days. A museum and a few exhibits are present for visitors interested in learning more about the town with growth and expansion plans that never came to be.
Known as the “Town of Topiary”, Railton is located south of Devonport, in the north-central part of Tasmania. Railton is home to over 100 topiary characters and approximately 1,200 people. Most of these imaginative bush and tree creations can be found along the town’s main street, with a topiary walking guide available at the local shops.
Not far from Railton lies the town of Sheffield. Just as the topiary is to Railton, the mural is to Sheffield. Every year the town hosts a Mural Festival and art competition and the winners are prominently displayed in the town. Sheffield’s mural obsession originally began in hopes of promoting art and tourism and now attracts an estimated 200,000 people to the town annually.
Exploring some of the many urban and rural regions has been one of my favorite pastimes in Australia and I imagine this list is just the beginning of the strange and beautiful found throughout the country.
Purple starfish, sea slugs, blue spotted fantail rays, clown fish, and coral-chomping parrot fish are a few of the many colorful locals you’ll meet among The Great Barrier Reef. While it’s true that some of the reef is dying, a greater portion is still teeming with life. I had the privilege of snorkeling in two spots along the Reef: Hastings Reef and Michaelmas Cay. Both were filled with colorful coral and curious sea life, both sparkling under the sunshine.
This photo diary only scratches the surface of this amazing underwater world. Everything was wonderful, from the various types of coral – Stag Horn, Plate, and Brain Coral – to the playful Clown Fish swimming through the anemone, and the sound of Parrot Fish munching on the coral. Thankfully my mind was able to better capture the richness of it all, an experience I won’t soon forget.
Thanks to Passions of Paradise for a beautiful, educational day on The Reef.
Photo cred: Bethany Gaffey
ALI IN OZ