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Dog Sledding in Alta, Norway
Standing tall on the runners of our basket sleds with snow piling up underneath, we raced through the Arctic wilderness led by a team of Alaskan Huskies. A 30-kilometer, 6.5-hour journey through the forests and by the riversides of Norway leaves one feeling a rush of adrenaline and wild-spirited. Welcome to the experience of dog sledding in Norway! Enjoy this short video we put together of footage from our trip of dog sledding in Norway (or click here if it doesn’t load.) During our trip to see the Northern Lights, one of our first outdoor activities was dog sledding in Norway – something I’ve wanted to do for years! Located…
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100 Days Down
I’m going to go ahead and apologize in advance for celebrating basically every milestone that comes our way in the future, but at this point in my world (and this new military wife life), these accomplishments are pretty much everything to me! So what about 100 days?! It has been exactly 100 days since I last saw my husband, when we parted ways after our honeymoon at the airport. I was preparing to come back to America, and he was heading off on a short deployment. My heart was broken and I literally had no idea how I could survive the next couple of months without him. I had fears…
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How To Conquer A Military Move
Three long months I waited for the day that the movers would come to carry all of my belongings away. Three months of hoping I packed everything, inventoried everything, and that I didn’t pack anything on the “not allowed” list. My situation is probably different than yours or the seasoned military spouse. I’m what’s considered to be a deferred spouse. In army terms, this means that I married my husband after he was already assigned a station. Or in other words, he’s been living in Italy for a year or more before I will be arriving. Why does this matter? Well, it means I had to do all the packing, planning, and…
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A Review of Italy’s Recently Opened “Bike Path” on Lake Garda
When an article appeared online about a bike path opening up along Lake Garda (Lago di Garda), I was all for taking the following Sunday to head up there and enjoy a nice day by the lake. The article, which I won’t name specifically for obvious reasons, considers this bike path one of the most spectacular in Europe. It goes on to say that it’s a 2 km stretch (although I wasn’t sure that could be correct), took 2 years and 7 million € to complete. That’s a lot of time and a lot of money. It’s gotta be worth it, right?! Well, let’s find out! On Sunday, we loaded…
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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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Road Trip Through the Balkans: Snorkeling, Camping & Sunsets in Croatia
2 weeks. 14 days. 13 nights. 13 different hotels/campgrounds. 3,342 miles (or 5,380 km). 11 countries. 6 different currencies. 2 rental cars. Stephen, myself, and the pup. That’s our road trip in a nutshell. I’m a numbers-loving person so those are the facts, but there was so much more to this road trip, so much to write about I hardly know where to start! Well actually, let’s back up a second and talk about how we chose this trip. When Stephen found out the dates for his 2 weeks of holiday leave, we talked about it a bit and decided that we didn’t really want to fly anywhere because we…
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A Weekend Guide to Tuscany
Tuscany is an ideal getaway if you love castles, wine, rolling hills and green fields galore. Here's a weekend guide to Tuscany and all the points of interest in Monteriggioni, Castellina in Chianti, Greve in Chianti, and San Gimignano.
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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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Bikepark Lavarone: Downhill Mountain Biking in Italy
Downhill mountain biking is one of those things that I sit around and daydream about. It gives me such a thrill and adrenaline rush, unlike any other hobby of ours. The adrenaline that flows through my veins each time I accomplish a downhill track at full speed in the woods is unspeakable. I didn’t expect to have a chance to hit any trails before we moved away from Italy, because the season usually starts so late in June. But when I saw that Bikepark Lavarone was having its season opener at the beginning of June, I knew it was the perfect time for us to go! Bikepark Lavarone is awesome…
