What to Do: Hoi An
What started as a three day stop quickly turned into almost two weeks in this amazing place. I fell in love with the beach, the waves, the pedal bike rides and the laid back lifestyle of the Old Town. I fell in love with the people, the walks through town, my morning coffee, and the waterfront lunches. By far, my favourite place in Vietnam, here are a few things that I recommend when you go!
Spending Christmas Abroad.
This isn’t my first year celebrating my Christmas abroad, however it’s the first time I haven’t had a Christmas at home. I’m somewhat sad about it since I do love Christmas, but I did prep for it by writing Christmas cards before I left, and wishing everyone love before I left. Here are a few ways to celebrate the holidays when you’re abroad
What to Do: Sa Pa
First off, Sa Pa is this city/town, with surrounding towns that make up a northwestern part of Vietnam. Laying very close to the Chinese border, this place takes a bit to get to from Hanoi, but it’s well worth it to escape the city and be immersed in a bit of culture.
What to Do: Ha Long Bay
Now, after arriving at my hostel in Hanoi, I was overwhelmed with the amount of trips that were offered, everyone from your front desk, to tour company, to shack by the side of the road had tours they could book for you, and they promised they had the most exclusive deal. I’m going to start off this post with a few tips on finding the right tour and what you can expect to pay!
What to Do: Hanoi
I don't know about you, but I love hostel travel. I've been spoiled in meeting great people and hanging out with them during my stays and I end up becoming long term friends with a lot of them. I lucked out in Hanoi, staying in the Old Quarter at the Old Quarter View Hostel, right in the heart of the happenings of Hanoi and right where all the food and activity was.
Long Term Travel Checklist
So you've booked a long term trip and you're excited to leave. Now what! There are probably a million and one things that you have to do and think about before leaving, especially if you're considering not coming back, or there are other options out there for you that you want to take advantage of!
What they don’t tell you when you go long-term traveling
I’ve gone on quite a few trips, and every time I leave things change and I’m never prepared for it. I am terrible with change (i’m working on it), but here are a few things that I’ve noticed no one tells you about when you traveling.
Visas in SE Asia
In preparation for my trip out to SE Asia, i've been researching which countries I'll need a Visa for and how long can you travel around those countries before requiring a visa if possible. Please keep in mind these might change and fluctuate, so click on the countries included to go to their government sites!
Loss of a Friend
As I write this, I have just found out a close friend of mine had passes away suddenly. I’ve been told “you’ll get used to it”, “things will get better as you get older”, “you’ll eventually get used to it when people you know start to pass”. This isn’t my first friend to pass away suddenly at a young age, and it hasn’t seemed that it hurts any less. Here is a personal post with just a few thoughts on young loss.
Long Term Travel: Budgeting in SE Asia
Although I love to travel, I've only spent 2-3 weeks here there and everywhere, but I try and go somewhere far off once or twice a year. Budgeting for both is difficult. You have to take into account the cost of traveling often, flights, whether you splurge because you're only somewhere for a few weeks, or need to stretch out your savings over a long period of time, and so many little things.
Turning 27
This year I'm turning 27, and I'm not going to lie, it scares me. I'm entering into my late 20's and I feel like I still don't have anything figured out. I don't have long-term plans and I don't have any short term goals.
But I really thought about it, and 27 is a year to really figure out what I want in life. It's a year that I can spend really figuring out what I want to do, where I want to live, where I want to go and who I want to surround myself with.
Long term Travel: Choosing the right backpack
You have many options when you're traveling depending on how long you're going for, what type of travel you're doing, where you're going and the weather. Since I plan on being gone for 6 months through rain and sun, cold and warm, I need to make sure I have enough room to have clothing to fit these options as well as enough shoe options for all of the above. Here are my favourite options for Long Term Travel!
Planning a Trip: Seattle
After missing our flight, we ended up stuck in Seattle for an 8 hour layover. I had never been before and the opportunity to explore made me excited. With 8 hours and counting, we wanted to make sure that we maximized our time there and got a chance to see a few sights. We managed to cram a few things in, but given a weekend here is what I would have liked to do!
April Inspirations
Now that April is right around the corner, we've rounded up what we are loving right now, from new clothes to DIY's. I am in love with springtime as it means I can break out the flats and the boyfriend jeans and experience a bit of Vitamin D on the skin. Here are a few things that are inspiring me this April!
Traveling to NYC: Part II
Here’s the second part of our trip to NYC in February and all that we saw. Some highlights included the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and Central Park, wandering around the city and just exploring. Check out everything we squeezed into two days in NYC!
Decor Inspirations: Palm Springs
In our previous post we recommended a few things to do and places to stay while you're considering going to Palm Springs. Following that, I felt the need to make a few changes to my house to reflect the laid back and earthy aesthetic that my favourite place has to offer. Here are a few inspirations that we really loved to accomplish this.
Traveling to NYC
Our trip started off with a red eye flight to Toronto. Let me tell you, red eye flights may sound exciting, leaving one city and waking up in the next, however it’s key to note this means usually a 3.5 hour sleep if you’re lucky and then after a slightly hectic transfer, you’ll get another hour of uncomfortable sleep. Here is a run-down of the first couple of days in NYC!
Planning a Trip: Palm Springs
It's freezing outside for a lot of us this time of year, so now is the perfect time to plan a trip to somewhere warm. Somewhere that I discovered last year was this lovely retirement-esque place known to many as Palm Springs. With the aging population of 65+ and few younger people, it's a really great place to get away and relax with friends by the pool, hiking in the Joshua Tree National Park, or visiting the many interesting places that the area has to offer.
February Inspirations
We've been spending a lot of time working on this blog the past couple weeks and planning out our year ahead that January has flown by. It's amazing how the beginning of January starts off with goal setting, organization and well intentions. Whether you set out to go to the gym five times a week and ended up watching your favourite shows on Netflix instead, or pledged to eat healthy and instead re-downloaded that food ordering app, February can be your new start.
What to Pack: NYC
I've just booked a trip to NYC for the beginning of March! I wrote post last week about places that I want to check out when I get to NYC, but I wanted to put together a post about what I'm packing. I like to pride myself in packing light whenever possible, and paring down where I can to make things as easy and efficient as possible while traveling.
