“You’re hitting up Finland? Sweet!” “Germany, awesome!” “France, so cool!” Though their excitement would quickly turn to disbelief upon hearing my answer to the question which ALWAYS came next.
“Who are you going with?” they would always ask. And the question always with an air of assumption, as if traveling alone was a concept so alien, and so shocking that the possibility had never even crossed their mind.
“I’m traveling by myself”.
Silence. Disbelief. And then everyone’s reactions were the same.
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Denali National Park is Alaska’s most popular land attraction, though it’s almost impossible to experience everything the park has to offer in just one day. Most visitors choose to stay 3 or 4 nights, we chose to stay for 5, though when you find yourself wanting to spend multiple nights in Alaska’s wild interior, the question then becomes, where do you stay?
Alaska.org advised that “90% of visitors choose a Denali hotel near the park entrance because it’s convenient, less expensive, offers a variety of lodges from luxurious to rustic, is near the national park visitor center, and is within easy access to transportation and interpretive bus trips along Denali Park Road and a variety of recreational activities and Denali excursions.”
Sound enough logic for us! We as such checked into The Lodge at Denali Park Village.
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Vancouver Island and its beautiful city of Victoria would be our introduction to Canada as we made our Pacific Coast Voyage from San Diego to Anchorage. We had heard so many wonderful things about the Garden City that we had to make time for a stop on our itinerary. The city is sprinkled with beautifully landscaped parks, a lively and entertaining harbor, abundant history, and great weather. Even after just a few short hours we were already captivated by its charm.
It isn’t always easy for a destination to live up to its hype, however Victoria is one of a very few which did not disappoint. What we weren’t expecting however was the delightful introduction to Delta Hotels & Resorts which is based in Canada from coast to coast.
We were not expecting such a young and modern feel from Victoria after having heard so much of its long history and old world charm, however Delta Victoria brings the city up to date with every modern convenience that is a must in today’s day and age.
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With over 100 years of history and a guestbook which includes the names of Kings, Queens, Emperors, and much of the Hollywood Elite, the Fairmont Empress in Victoria B.C. reigns over the city like the mightiest of any Monarch. With it’s famous green ivy walls symbolic of Vancouver Island’s rugged wilderness that surrounds the city, you are greeted with pure royal elegance once you step through its doors.
I have always dreamed of what it would be like to be Queen. Which little girl hasn’t. I would switch lives with Kate Middleton in a heartbeat, and I live vicariously through the decadent lives of the world’s most famous royals through various shows which grace the small screen.
I have taken my fair share of castle tours, Windsor, Buckingham, Neuschwanstein, and although these give you a glimpse of how the royal families have lived and continue to live, they fall short of giving you the feeling of being treated as a royal. Enter the Fairmont Empress.
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With no guide and absolutely no reservations, we hiked onto a body of solid ice which flowed like a river under its own weight through one of Alaska’s most spectacular glacial valleys. We trekked past beautiful crevasses and startingly blue ice. When we had a steady foot hold we whipped out the camera to snap a shot of the breathtaking Chugach mountains.
There’s climbing a mountain, and then there’s climbing an ICE mountain. But there was no need to strap on our crampons – we were wearing Jambu.
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Seven Years In Tibet is a 1997 film which chronicles the true story of Harrer (Brad Pitt) who became friends with the Dalai Lama at the time of China’s takeover of Tibet.
Despite a fairly woeful attempt at an Austrian accent, Brad Pitt’s interactions with the curious Dalai Lama are fantastic – it’s a seven-year personality transformation condensed into 140 minutes, and is captured perfectly, right down to the Dalai Lama’s eager curiosity still sharp at an old age.
There is no better story which highlights conquering the parts of our personality that make us arrogant and self-centered, and no better way to achieve this than setting sights on the highest mountains in the world. And what better place to learn such important lessons than that of the Himalayas – the home to the Dalai Lama.
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Seattle may be known as the Emerald City, though on our recent trip through Washington, we found Kimpton’s Hotel Monaco to be like Emerald City in itself.
A luxury boutique recognized by Fodor’s as a Top 100 Hotel in the World, we stepped into a vibrant new world; chandeliers hanging from a grand lobby, plush furniture throughout, and colorful, bold design offering a playful escape from outside.
And, just as Emerald City was at the center of the Land of Oz, so too is Hotel Monaco just steps from downtown. The perfect gateway to everything Seattle has to offer.
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It’s a tough decision every time you go to pack; choosing which pair of shoes to sacrifice and leave in the wardrobe behind. You need your pair of hiking boots, as bulky as they are, and a good pair of sneakers are a must, but then you also have to consider footwear for the beach, something you can wear to dress up and then something to also dress down, perhaps a set of flats, a set of sandals, and, if you’re planning on hitting up the clubs, maybe even a sneaky pair of high heels.
What you end up looking at laid out on the floor are 8 pairs of shoes for one trip. Good luck fitting them all into one bag! And this, my dear female traveler, is why every single one of you needs a pair of Slinks. Your packing problems solved without sacrificing your desire to travel with multiple pairs of shoes…because one pair of sandals is never enough!
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After having walked the length of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco as well as downing our yearly limit of fine wines in Napa Valley, it was time to say goodbye to California and continue north into Oregon.
Travelling north along the famed Highway 101 towards Portland, we passed through many small coastal towns including Eureka, Crescent City, and Bandon, all of which offer decent accommodation for an overnight stop while passing through.
Though there is one stop however which is an absolute must before hitting the rush of the big city; the hidden gem that is Gleneden Beach, Oregon; two hours southwest of Portland. With lush pine forests and stunning beaches littered with beautiful agates and driftwood instead of trash, it is pure nature at its best.
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I’m told that the pioneers who made it to Oregon didn’t do things by the book, and as we were pleased to find, neither did Kimpton when creating the vision for Portland’s Hotel Vintage.
With graffiti-inspired cork art, a lobby that doubles as an urban tasting room, and a game room for adults, Hotel Vintage promises an absolutely wild stay. Keeping things weird, yet luxe, this is a pioneering kind of place, a trailblazer in the world of boutique hotels in a historic building downtown.
Here are 9 reasons to book an absolutely wild stay; though you won’t need much convincing past #1.
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We arrived far too early for check-in, though we weren’t complaining about waiting for our hotel room on a soft sand beach. We slipped on our shades, lost our shoes, and grabbed a few freshly baked chocolate chip cookies to-go as the Californian sunshine beckoned us to the beach.
The most ideal location on the Santa Barbara coast, The Fess Parker DoubleTree by Hilton Resort is your home away from home – beach included! An upscale, luxury retreat with signature Santa Barbara red tile roofs, perfectly positioned between the mountains and the beach, there is no need to compile a listicle when recommending where to stay in Santa Barbara – no other property will define your Californian experience quite like this retreat.
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From North Korea to Benin, from Mongolia to Madagascar, Albert Podell is one of the few people to have visited every country on earth. It took him fifty years and during his travels, he blasted his way out of minefields, came within seconds of being lynched, and coped with riots, voodoo priests, trigger happy child soldiers and Cape buffalo – all of which is recounted in great detail in his exciting new book “Around the World in Fifty Years: My Adventures to Every Country on Earth”.
He has eaten everything from old camel meat and rats to dung beetles and the “pulsating brain of a live monkey.” These are Albert Podell’s absolutely incredible tales from his adventures in eating abroad.
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There is a special spot in our hearts for travel films and documentaries. They inspire our wanderlust to explore every inch of the globe, and draw us into a completely different world, even if only for a few hours at a time. They recount stories and epic tales of adventure, and motivate us to get off the couch and witness our world in living color.
Though travel films are more than merely inspiration for Nigel Allison – the editor and creator behind UnevenToast, Nigel combines his passion for both travel and film by reviewing the travel features and documentaries he holds dear, and has begun to build quite an audience who eagerly await hearing about brand new travel films.
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Los Angeles hotels are incredible. They’re lavish, fashionable, modern, and chic, and if you’re lucky and know where to look, most modern LA hotels will even throw in a rooftop pool.
Hotel pools in Los Angeles are an art form, and the hotels which have made this list go well beyond a space for simply swimming laps.
Taking a dip is for hotel guests only, so don’t miss out on your chance to book one of these fabulous Los Angeles hotels while in town. With California’s charmed climate and year-round sun, swimming pools are a great way to spend your day no matter what time of year in which you choose to stay.
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Everyday, millions of people share their travel reviews on a host of popular websites, and you’re probably one of them. This means your experience is helping thousands of other travelers find inspiration and make more confident choices, and you do all of this for free, meaning the online travel agencies and review platforms are making a healthy profit from your knowledge and insight. But all this is about to change.
A new hotel booking site which pays you for reviews, Yonderbound is starting a revolution in travel – the first platform which lets you earn money online by sharing your travel insights whether you’re a travel professional, a travel blogger, or you just enjoy sharing your own experiences.
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There’s nothing worse than experiencing culture shock – that alien feeling of the unfamiliar, so much so that a new environment becomes stressful and completely disorientating. And it happens a lot when we travel – forced into new environments where the culture and behaviors are polar opposite to that of our own, and stripped of the comforts of home.
The concept of culture shock is analysed in depth Helene Rybol’s new ebook, Culture Shock – A Practical Guide, as it is only when we can truly strip a concept down to it’s core and understand why it affects us and why we react in the way that we do, that we can be truly prepared to fight it.
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The events of Into the Wild are set in the 1990’s when access to mobile information and communication is nowhere near the level it is today; it’s so commonplace now that it no longer stands out. I’m talking about communal areas in hostels and hotels full of travelers, their faces illuminated by a plethora of devices. Bars with well dressed types sat round a table with their heads buried in their phones, and family day trips where each member sports a different piece of buttonry, eager to deplete their energy and sap their general attention.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m no different. With free wifi available on every street corner, I certainly can’t judge. Though in Into the Wild, Chris McCandless (Emile Hirsch) leaves it all behind to seek solitude by slowly making his way to Alaska, forming a series of life-changing relationships along the way.
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Can a single film motivate you to experience all of this and more? Can one documentary inspire you to walk 500 miles?
Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago is a 90 minute documentary which provides up-close look at the ancient spiritual pilgrimage known as the Camino de Santiago, or Way of St. James.
Following the journeys of six modern-day pilgrims as they walk 500 miles and cope with blisters, exhaustion, and loneliness along the way, this documentary successfully captures the universal themes of this physically challenging, spiritually nourishing, and profoundly enlightening journey, and offers a very realistic insight into what a traveler attempting the Camino should expect from the journey.
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It was one of those incredibly rare moments in life which makes you feel like truly one of the elite. Stretched out by a lavish outdoor pool surrounded by romanesque arches lined with towering palms, I had the terrific weather and a sprawling pool deck completely to myself.
Arizona is known for it’s terrific weather, and there is something about the combination of a brilliant blue sky and the warmth of the desert sun which induces a state of happiness and relaxation like no drug ever will.
Though with the expansive grounds to myself, the day was even more beautiful, allowing me to indulge in fantasies of living the high life; a life of the rich and famous where secluded decedance and private luxury retreats with mountain views are part of the normal everyday.
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“That’s a NICE backpack” she said as I swung out a concealed belt-pack to reach for my camera.
“I want one. Where did you get it?”
If you haven’t yet heard of the Rotation180º Travel Away Backpack your mind is about to be blown. An innovative new rotation backpack from MindShift Gear, this is a brilliant new day pack which travelers and outdoor explorers are going to love.
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Over the last year we’ve scrambled through sand dunes in Peru, trekked deep into the Amazon, and hiked through some of the most remote island destinations on earth. We’ve wandered through the desert, rappelled down buildings, and trodden on the ruins of ancient Incan civilizations. So it should come as no surprise that we’ve sacrificed many soles.
My feet have been pierced by needles from cactus plants, we lost one pair of shoes to a vicious cotton-mouth snake attack, and others have succumbed to water damage after crashing a quad bike into the sea. So it was about high time, we thought, to invest in some long lasting, high quality hiking shoes.
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Stuck for gift ideas for the world traveler in your family? Well, you’re in luck, because travelers are not difficult people to buy for!
In the lead up to Christmas, we have compiled a list of great gift ideas for world travelers, and also highlighted whether each item falls into the “want it” or “got it” category, so you know which items are based on personal recommendation.
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One of the largest concerns when traveling is how to keep your money safe abroad, and this is especially true for female travelers who generally carry more than can fit into a bulky purse.
While guys fit everything they need into a wallet in the pocket of their jeans, we also carry makeup, perfume, our cameras, cell phone, ID, credit cards, cash, chapstick, keys, tickets, a tampon or two, and some girls even throw in a small dog for good measure!
But carrying a bulky purse is not only painting you as a target for pickpockets, it’s annoying to filter through, and also annoying to carry. But don’t worry – I’m about to teach you a magic word: SHOLDIT.
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Having volunteered at an orphanage in Kenya, trekked around glaciers and lagoons in Torres del Paine, kayaked in the rough Adriatic Sea off Dubrovnik, witnessed the Saints win Superbowl in New Orleans, and flirted with penguins in Antarctica, Longy (Longzhen) Han has definitely experienced her fair share of epic travel experiences.
Having independently traveled across all 7 continents, this intrepid traveler is inspiring other young adults to get out there and experience the world, however adventurer by day and children’s book author by night, she is also aiming to bring the world to young children through a colorful and captivating picture book series “Gusto and Gecko”.
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After almost 10 years of travel, I’ve realized that travel habits don’t change. Once a snap happy tourist, you’ll continue to always snap everything insight. Once unprepared in the airport security queue, you’ll always be holding everybody up. Once a last-minute airport souvenir shopper, it seems you’ll always forget to discover local artisans selling traditional crafts along the way.
So while I’ve been told time and time again I need to start taking my own advice for slimming down your suitcase, it’s time to come to terms with the fact that I am, and always will be, a severe overpacker! Though granted most recently, packing for 150 days of travel and fitting it into 20kg is no simple feat!
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