Europe
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Winter Travel in Transylvania, Romania
While Romania, and especially the region of Transylvania, is castle heavy and famous for inspiring the movie Dracula from Vlad the Impaler, it has so much more to offer. Some moments driving through the country were like taking a step back in time – like when we would pass horses and carriages carrying loads of wood for their fires, or when we would pass people moving furniture on small hand carts instead of in a car. From fortified churches to the architecture of castles and homes, winter travel in Transylvania, Romania is one of a kind and definitely worth a trip. Stephen and I barely scratched the surface of this…
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5 Outdoor Activities You Should Try This Winter
During the cold winter season, most people want to curl up on the couch by the fire with a mug of hot cocoa and watch Netflix. I get it – winter and lots of snow can seem long and daunting. While I love my days snuggling with the pups and reading, it’s great to have balance, and getting outdoors will do you loads of good mentally and physically. I never really liked winter sports before this season, because either I wasn’t sure what all there was to do, where to go to rent things, or it was just too dang cold. (I’m from North Carolina and anything below 32 to…
- Africa, Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Europe, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Montenegro, Morocco, Norway, Personal, Scotland, Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland
2018: A Recap of Our Year Traveling to 20+ Countries
2018. A year that flew by. I look back and I feel as if I’ve hardly accomplished anything, and then I read through all these posts, look back through my photography, and think WOW – a lot happened this year. I grew as a person, a writer, a photographer, and a wife. I have seen and done things I never thought I’d do in my entire life. One thing I love about blogging and writing, in general, is that it gives you time to reflect on the past and to see what you’ve learned and accomplished (or just flat out failed) during that time. I’m super excited to share this…
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Thanksgiving Weekend in Oia, Greece – Blue Domes, Greek Cuisine, & More
We have a way of always visiting places in the offseason and heading to Greece for Thanksgiving was no exception. People thought we were crazy when we told them we were going to spend our holidays in Santorini, but I think it may have been our best decision yet! Last Christmas vacation we spent a week in the Arctic Circle of Norway, where it was definitely the offseason. Snow was knee deep and driving was an adventure in itself. But we got to see the Northern Lights and experience the country without tourists around every bend. Similar to that vacation, Greece was a stress-free, relaxing, and tourist FREE experience and…
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Hiking and Climbing in the Dolomites: Via Ferrata in Val di Fassa
This October we completed our fifth via ferrata of the year and the summit viewpoint was incredible. It was by far the longest of any hike/climb we had completed yet. 11 miles, 9 hours, and 3400 feet of hiking and climbing in Val di Fassa. It was exhausting – mentally and physically – but the feeling afterward of accomplishing that feat is something I’ll never tire of. I wanted to see the leaves changing and we hadn’t climbed in many months, so we headed to our favorite mountain range in all of Italy – the Dolomites. I did a little research and found a valley and area that we hadn’t…
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10 Christmas Markets Around Northern Italy Worth Visiting | 2018
Christmas in Europe is a winter wonderland dream. Christmas markets, mulled wine, cold weather, and snowy mountain peaks. That’s what it was like here in Italy last December for our first holiday in our new home. I’ve always been like a little kid when it comes to all things Christmas, but I never realized just how much I loved the holiday until moving here and visiting the Christmas Markets in Italy, often referred to as Mercatini di Natale. There’s something in the air, or maybe it’s the hot wine, that is just different in Europe. Last year, my husband and I managed to visit as many Christmas Markets as we…
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Summer Road Trip: Croatia, Hungary, Austria & Slovenia
The first week of our summer Eastern Europe road trip was jam-packed. We spent 7 days traveling through the countries of Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. We were denied entry into a country twice, had rental car issues, and made up plans as we went. We camped or stayed in a different hotel every single night. And through it all, we loved every second. No one said road tripping was easy but this was my first legit road trip and the first for us across Europe and the Balkan countries. If you haven’t read the first post from our road trip for days 1-8, head…
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Edinburgh, Scotland: Castles, Lochs & Highland Cows
Arriving in Edinburgh, Scotland is like taking a step back in time. Everything from the architecture, the homes and castles, to the red telephone booths and old-timey taxis. The miles and miles of lowlands are just as beautiful as the miles of city streets of downtown Edinburgh. It’s a castle lover’s dream and a shopper’s paradise. You’ll find something for everyone to do here. I fell head over heels in love with Scotland – a place like I had never seen before. Even the downpouring rain couldn’t stop the liveliness that I felt during my weekend visiting this country. Back in the summer of 2017, I took my students abroad…
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Summertime in St. Moritz, Switzerland
Fresh mountain air, blue skies, snowy peaks, and a wide variety of outdoor summer sporting activities. You’ll find all of this and more in the lakeside town of St. Moritz, Switzerland. With only a four-day weekend, we wanted to stay somewhere within driving distance of home. We hadn’t explored very much of Switzerland, so we packed up our bags and headed northwest to escape the agonizing August heat of Italy. The first thing to note: Switzerland is expensive. The currency in Switzerland, CHF (Swiss Francs), is basically equivalent to 1 USD. However, everything is double to triple what it usually costs us. It’s not like staying in a campground in the…
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Balkans Road Trip Part 2: Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina
The first four days of our Balkan countries road trip were mostly spent in Croatia, which wasn’t necessarily by choice, but instead due to the fact that we were denied border entry so many times. Luckily, this gave us more time to fall in love with the country, the people, the food, the sea, and everything else in Croatia. If you haven’t read the first post from our Balkan countries road trip, head on over there now by clicking here and then you can return for the second leg and pick up reading below! This part of our road trip went by way too fast as we had a lot of…
