All roads really DO lead to - and from- Rome. If you're interested in biking the Appian Way in Rome, this post is for you.
Julius Ceasar, Saint Peter, Spartacus, and now the team from Turnipseed Travel.... there's been more than a few legends who've walked, rode, and peddled their way down the Appian Way. This ancient highway, nearly 400 miles of engineering marvel, connected Rome with southern Italy and the sea, forming a critical trade and communications link with Greece and Egypt. Considered the world's first super highway, everyone who was anyone traveled along the Appian Way, along with over two thousand years of worth of anonymous citizens too. We were happy to start our first day in Italy by following in their footsteps and biking the Appian Way in Rome.
Ljubljana's Beekeeping Trail gives you a bee's eye view of one of Europe's loveliest cities. And it's the perfect chance to discover the Ljubljana Botanical Garden.
Ljubljana is a sweet travel destination, and not just because it's so lovely to look at and so pleasant to chat with the warm local residents. No, in this case Ljubljana is literally sweet, for it is a city obsessed with honey!
Slovenian honey, coming from the beloved Carniolan honey bee, is a product of protected geographic indication and Slovenians take their honey so seriously that they are the only European country which has special legal protection for their bees. Beekeeping and bee protection has a long, passionate history in Ljubljana, one that we were able to trace step by step on a guided walk of the Beekeeping Trail. Move aside, buffets. Under Nonna Antonella's guidance, bruschetta is anything but basic.
One of the first big trips Ryan and I did together was a two week adventure through the American Southwest, with plenty of time in Las Vegas. We were so excited to check out the city's legendary casino buffet scene that we even invested in the "Buffet of Buffets" all you can eat package. I hadn't made it halfway through our 24 hour pass before I tapped out. Can someone please pass the vegetables!?
While Vegas is a more extreme example, I experience the same conflict on every trip; my desire to indulge is constantly fighting with my will to survive and avoid scurvy. As such, I constantly have an eye out for a mythical perfect dish that manages to be both decadent and nutritious, enthralling my senses without destroying my stomach. In Rome - in its own way, the original Las Vegas, a swirling, enchanting, hedonistic kind of town - I found exactly what I was looking for with humble bruschetta. And with our very own "nonna" (a real Roman grandmother and expert home cook) by our side for an evening, we couldn't go wrong. Nonna Antonella was dishing out recipes AND great advice! Green travel is dream travel in Ljubljana, where eco-friendly initiatives bring endless charm.
If terms like "eco-friendly" and "green" bring to mind dowdy images of damp granola and hemp fabric the color of dishwater, Ljubljana - one of the greenest cities in the world - is going to blow you away. Both the Slovenian capital and the 2016 European Green Capital, Ljubljana is filled with charm and whimsy, incorporating its environmental priorities with a deft hand and an eye for design. The result is nothing short of wondrous -a beautiful city with a perfectly preserved historic core, seamlessly integrating sustainable objectives. Even the graffiti is endearing, with a nod towards conservation! Here's what else won over our hearts.
In Malawi I had my first battle with travel burnout. It wouldn't be my last.Lying under a bed net in Malawi's sweltering heat with a cold, wet towel on my bare stomach, my face was a mess of tears. The silent air conditioner served only ornamental purposes. In the darkness its knobs became eyes, watching my every move, my futile efforts to cool down, taking pleasure as I winced whenever one of the tiny, pink, pus filled blisters that covered my body - compliments of a whopping case of prickly heat - spontaneously burst.
It was over 10 years ago, but I'll never forget my worst day of travel burnout - a horrible combination of homesickness, culture shock, and sheer exhaustion. And pus. Lots of pus. People often sneer when they hear the words 'travel burnout' and offer disparaging comments such as "Must be soooooo hard to be traveling all the time" or "Poor you, with your first world problems". But the truth is that anyone can experience burnout from any activity or circumstance. No person is fully immune from feeling lonely, overwhelmed, frustrated, or isolated. And unlike burnout from work, family stress, or a stalled creative project, travel burnout comes with geographic, cultural, and linguistic isolation which even the most optimistic traveler would find difficult to cope with. You are separated from your support system, you lack control over your environment, and you may even face a serious conflict in your values and ethics. I suspect that fast paced trips are even more susceptible to burnout than a slower style of travel. City hopping can be exhilarating but also overwhelming. The excitement of a new hotel each night doesn't always mask the loss of community; the sense of place that comes when you stay in the same neighbourhood for a few days. With more extremely fast paced travel planed, I'm trying to learn from the past and prepare for a balanced, healthy, happy trip. Here's are my top three tips for keeping sane on the road. Worried about toilet travel trauma? We look at what travel toilets are really like around the world.There's nothing like a little potty humor to make you crack a smile. ("Crack"! Get it?!) But in many parts of the world, bathrooms are a most serious business. According to the CDC, 25% of the world's population does not have access to adequate sanitation. Inadequate waste disposal systems are a contributing factor for everything from cholera to trachoma. These illnesses are no laughing matter.
I can certainly appreciate why some travelers hesitate to go anywhere without a modern flush toilet. Serious illnesses bear serious concerns. And, let's face it, 'crappy' toilets can be really unpleasant and uncomfortable. What kind of vacation involves toilet trauma? But if you want an ironclad guarantee of particular standards and services when you travel, well, you won't go very far. Nearly all of our favourite destinations brought a bit of toilet culture shock. And sometimes it took a while to adjust. But we haven't let a throne, commode, or outhouse cast a stench over our travel dreams and neither should you! This is our take on travel toilets around the world. Sometimes in travel it all goes a bit sideways... When I was feeling a bit blah, I still found quiet, cozy things to do in Lake PlacidIf you've ever woke up feeling like you have a horrible hangover, yet you had nothing to drink the night before, then you know exactly how I felt on day two of my trip to the Adirondacks. There was the headache (without the fun of any red wine the previous day), there was the sore stomach (was this the universe getting back at me for eating both pasta carbonara AND tiramisu?) and then there was the unmistakable shake and sweat of a low grade fever. I was SICK. Sick in the land of outdoor adventure and Olympic legacies and super healthy people. SICK.
There was no way I could join in the fun as my friends toured wineries and set out on epic hikes. Time for a change in plans! Fortunately by the time I arrived in Lake Placid, I was feeling a tiny bit better and was able to make the best of a queasy situation. Here's how I spent my lazy visit finding things to do in Lake Placid that were lowkey. A bog in the heart of the city? Hiking Mer Bleue Bog in Ottawa may just be the city's best secret adventure. Plants from the Arctic tundra, a secret "sea" left over from the ice age, and one of the rarest micro-climates in Canada? You can find it all on the outskirts of Ottawa and - even better - it's completely free and accessible to visit! Hiking Mer Bleue Bog trail in Ottawa is one of my favourite things to do in the city and I guarantee you won't find it listed in many guide book. Let me tell you what makes this place so special and why it should be on every visitor's bucket list.
Welcome Home! What's the First Thing You Do? On my last trip to Bulgaria, I awoke at 3:00 AM after a very short, very fitful sleep to meet up with a driver to bring me from Plovdiv to Sofia for an early flight to Paris, where I spent a blissful day walking and eating and walking some more. Scooting back to the airport, I caught my flight to Montreal and from there I just made it onto the train to Ottawa. Pulling into the train station, I dragged my luggage to my parked car to retrieve my parking stub, headed back inside to pay my balance, and drove home. It was SUCH a long, full, incredible, exhausting day. When I arrived home, I was greeted by an equally joyous yet exhausted doggo. Oliver himself had recently been on an adventure -to the doggy hotel as Ryan too was away that week - and a friend had kindly picked up him before closing time and dropped him off at my house so I could reunite with him without delay. With a quick walk (for Oliver) and a bite or two of macaroon (for me!), it was time for bed.
What followed was the BEST SLEEP IN THE WORLD! For both of us, actually, as Oliver was blissfully flaunting all the rules and sleeping in the bed next to me. There are no words to describe that moment before you drift away in what you know will be the perfect, jet lag busting sleep, your final day of busy chaotic travel behind you and your body swathed in soft, fuzzy, sweet scented pajamas. Sure, Bulgaria and Paris were wonderful. But reuniting with my own bed and my beloved fur boy was SUBLIME! As much as I love to travel, I'm always anxious for the last 24 hours of a trip to pass so I can return home. As luck would have it, some of my most aggravating delays have corresponded with my final flight home, putting my fuzzy pajamas tantalizingly out of reach. Not every travel day goes as smoothly as my return from Bulgaria did. So frustrating! There's nothing so nice as sleeping in your own bed, on your own sheets, wearing your favourite pj's - you know, the impractical fluffy flannel purple polka dot ones that you never take on the road. Throw in a long, hot bath, some homemade food, a cuddly pet or two, and you have a one outstanding homecoming! I'm not the only one who feels this way. Everyone I know who is passionate about travel is also passionate about returning home, connecting with the people and things they love as they re-calibrate from their latest adventure and adjust to 'normal life' Find out what other travel bloggers think is the best part of coming home! |
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