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Our Ten Most Memorable Travel Moments After Ten Years Of Blogging

23/3/2022

 

From boats to balloons, Hawaii to hotels, these are ten of our most memorable travel experiences in ten years of blogging.

​​This post contains affiliate ads and links, which means we may get paid a small commission if you make a purchase

Ryan and Vanessa take a selfie while camping in Botswana
"But really... what's your favourite place?" "So where should I go next year?" "Well there must be some place you didn't like."

​After ten years of blogging, I hear questions like this all the time. Alas, dear reader, I am horrible with these queries. If you need someone to weigh in on finding pizza in Bruges or the quality of food tours in Quebec City, I am your girl. But sweeping generalizations are not my strong point. I can tell you about some destinations I didn't like - but I'd also have to get into how I slept funny the night before and skipped breakfast and honestly, that's probably what made me dislike Istanbul on my first visit (for the record, I love it now). The reverse also holds true. I'm convinced that an unexpectedly stellar hotel and accompanying breakfast factor into my long standing enthusiasm for Athens as the spot everyone should visit next.

That leaves the biggest question of all, my favourite place. People seem to think it's a bit of a cop out if I try to explain about how sometimes the most memorable trips aren't the most fun in the moment, or that the things that made me love a trip had less to do with the particular destination and more with other factors in my life. So sometimes I just name Hawaii as my favourite destination but this is what feels like the real cop out to me. Like, a decade spent travelling and writing about the world and my best answer is the one place that has long been established as the most desirable destination? Surely I can do better than that?

And that is exactly what I'm going to attempt here. These are ten of my most memorable travel experiences and destinations after ten years of blogging. I'm not going to go so far as to rank them or even say that they're my definitive top ten travel moments. These are simply the stories that flood my heart with happy remembrances and what they all have in common is that I invariably thought at some point that I truly have the best job in the world. And I do!

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My Top Ten Travel Lessons After Ten Years Of Blogging

15/3/2022

 

After ten years of being a travel blogger, I've learned some important travel lessons - and I bet you can relate to all of them. From toilets to temperature control, these are the ten things I know for sure about travel.

​This post contains affiliate ads and links, which means we may get paid a small commission if you make a purchase

Vanessa sleeps in the back of a truck wearing a red shirt and yellow scarf
Dreaming of travel lessons... or maybe just a latte. Probably the latte.
I like to pretend that this photo represents me at my best as a travel blogger. I'm crumpled, dusty, and sunburned, clearly exhausted as I slump in the back of a Land Rover, a water purification bottle within easy reach. It's the kind of photo that suggests I could be fatigued from any number of glamorous, travel blogger-y tasks. Maybe I was up at dawn to interview a farmer or worked through the night to "research" local liqueurs. It definitely doesn't suggest that my stomach is churning from the bumpy, twisting road or that I'd sell my soul for a working toilet. And most travel images are like that. There can be a lot of irksome truths behind soothing composition.

After ten years of travel blogging, I've learned a thing or two about what a photo really says and a whole lot about what travel is truly like. I've picked up a lot of hard earned wisdom in this job and I'm here to share my biggest lessons. After a decade of jaunting and jetting, this is what I know for sure about travel.

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Tales From The Anti-Adventurist: Vanessa Flies With Santa Claus

13/12/2021

 

I thought I was ready to fly with Santa Claus - but was I? The plane was small - and the naughty list loomed large! 

This post contains affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase, we may be paid a small commission. This was a no-cost press activity and we thank Ottawa Tourism for their support.

Vanessa sits in the aircraft behind Santa in the front seat
Preparing to fly with Santa, I had a bit of anticipation
Every writer dreams of an exclusive celebrity scoop and I got one to top them all: Santa Claus! Not only did the head elf himself give me the inside scoop on what he loves about Ottawa but I also got to spend some time with him in his very own plane. That's right - Santa doesn't just fly a sleigh but he also offers 15 minute aerial tours of downtown Ottawa in a vintage Cessna 172 in conjunction with Ottawa Aviation Adventures as part of a program in support of the Ottawa Food Bank.

There was just one tiny complication. The plane is tiny. Santa is all-knowing. And I'm a big ol' scarde-y cat. An Anti-Adventurist, if you will. Would my notorious stomach hold up in a vintage aircraft? Would my nerve hold up if Santa started grilling me about whether I was naughty or nice?

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Easy Travel-Inspired Black Forest Cookies

12/2/2021

 

These delicious chocolate-cherry Black Forest cookies taste like travel but feel like home. Anyone with wanderlust can whip them up in just a few minutes!
​

This post contains affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase, we may be paid a small commission.

Black Forest cookie mix, with cherries and chocolate chips, in a white bowl
Black Forest cookies, the pre-quel. They're pretty even before they're made!
I used to think travel bloggers were really dedicated to their craft... that was, until I stepped into the shoes of food and recipe bloggers for an afternoon.

What I thought would be a simple photography challenge of capturing some pretty cookies ended up as an exhausting, sweaty affair - and that was just the effort it took to scrub my kitchen to get it photo ready! For those of you who do this everyday, I tip my hat to you. It takes extraordinary effort and skill. Meanwhile, I think I'll stick to my day job of chatting about travel but there's no way I'm letting all those photos go to waste so I'm going to borrow one more page from my foodie friends and share the recipe and process here.

These travel-inspired Black Forest cookies have THREE kinds of chocolate in them, are filled with moist cherries, are super easy to make (at least, they are when you don't have to photograph them,) and they're perfect for festive occasions like Valentine's Day or Christmas. 

To be clear, I didn't invent these cookies. All credit goes to Beth at The First Year blog. Please check out her site to see her original notes and the gorgeous photos that originally inspired me.

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How To Find The Best Apple Pie in Sofia

12/2/2020

 

Does every good travel story start with a quest?

​I was about to find out in Sofia, Bulgaria, as I tried to satisfy a craving for apple pie.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase, we may be paid a small commission.

Close up of a piece of apple banista in Sofia Picture
Apple pie in Sofia? It's hard to think of a better foodie quest!
"Are you open?" It was nearly three in the afternoon, far too late for lunch and way too early for dinner. But I was starving. Starving! And the small, unassuming Italian restaurant which I had passed earlier in the day suddenly felt like just the ticket. 

The older waitress shook her head emphatically from side to side. I pushed aside a micro-flash of confusion then nimbly skipped over the threshold. This was Bulgaria, where shaking your head "no" is actually a gesture for "yes", and catching on was easier said than done. Once inside, I was greeted by the mouthwatering smell of cinnamon, so bright and vibrant that I could only conclude that the restaurant was using its pizza ovens to make baked goods during their downtime. 

The staff of Sofia's Restaurant Balito (ul. "Pozitano" 50, 1303 Pette Kyosheta) laughed when I inquired about what they were baking. I was smelling an air freshener! Perhaps I was more hungry than I realized or Bulgaria must make the best commercial scents in the world. Either way, I couldn't shake my craving, even after several courses of savory Italian delicacies. I knew I had to find the best apple pie in Sofia. 

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Death Sets With The Sun In Botswana's Chobe National Park

13/1/2020

 

On the banks of the Chobe River, an elephant mourning ritual shows that the cycle of life and death has never been so raw.

​​Note: This post contains affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase, we may be paid a small commission.

Elephant on a river bank examines the bones of a dead baby elephantPicture
The bones are loose and barely holding together. The meat and sinew have all but disappeared. What little is left threatens to slip away at any moment, taking what remains of the little elephant and scattering it along the river bank,  letting it slip into the water, letting it melt away.

There's a sense the other elephant knows this. Though he uses his trunk to jostle and even toss what is left of the baby's remains, there's a gentle urgency to it. Wake up. Wake up now and you won't be left to fragment. Wake up and you won't be reduced to crumbs.

I am intruding. There is an intimacy here between the living and the dead that's palatable. This is a private moment. While our safari vehicle is a safe distance away - respectable, even - I feel awkward, embarrassed by our proximity, ashamed by how hungrily I suck back the scene. If asked, I would use my interest in nature as a shield. Exactly how often does one see an elephant mourning ritual? Perhaps if I cling to this I'll feel better about the moisture which goes everywhere save for my parched mouth.

​The sun is starting to set. In less than an hour the park will be black. I am haunted by this jumbled-up pile of bones and by this adult who won't mosey on. I want to scream at it to move lest it spend all night next to a corpse, easy pickings for predators and ghosts alike. But its grief is a glue.

A distant passage I once read awakens in my mind, like a lazy cat indulging in a luxurious stretch after a very long nap. "Her face was like stone." It takes me more than a year to place it. It's from Bruce Northam's Globetrotter Dogma: 100 Canons For Escaping The Rat Race and Exploring The World and it reads:

​"While visiting a hospital in Delhi, India, I observed a mother carrying her dead infant down a long dim hallway, out the front door of the hospital, and into her gruesomely impoverished neighborhood. Her face was like stone."

The beauty of Botswana's Chobe National Park contains an embarrassment of riches. It is a lifetime of journeys away from the grim hospital and tableau of death Northam observed decades earlier. But his words about grief won't leave me. I can hear them in the elephant's gentle grunting breath.

Her face was like stone. Her face was like stone. Her face was like stone.

Orvieto Wine, Food, and Family

8/8/2019

 

In search of the ultimate travel coziness in Italy, we fell in love with Orvieto - oh, and Orvieto wine too!

​Media accommodations were provided to us by Hotel Duomo at no charge. All research, writing, and opinions are our own. Some links in this post may be affiliate links, which means we are paid a small commission should you make a purchase.

Orvieto wine bar, Italy
Is there anything cozier than stumbling into a delightfully snug wine bar with a full roaring fire at the end of a long travel day? Perhaps the only thing better is when said wine bar also doubles as a spectacular restaurant - and is owned by one of the kindest families you've ever met. This very scenario was our introduction to Orvieto wine, food, and family - and it set a new bar for hospitality, not just for all other Italian towns but indeed everywhere we travel.

​Here's what made Orvieto such a wonderfully cozy destination for us, including our beloved wine bar and our new favourite hotel, lovingly decorated by local artists.

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Exploring the North Shore: Oahu's Sweet and Sandy Side

22/1/2018

 

We're retracing some of our favourite travel memories along Oahu's North Shore.

Surfing North Shore Oahu Hawaii Picture
The North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii's most populated island, is one of the world's most famous surfing spots. But I am one of the world's most famous wimps - how is it possible that I fell head over heels in love with such a daredevil destination? 

Sometimes opposites really DO attract. I've been telling people by word of mouth just how much I love the North Shore for years now. It was one of the very first trips Ryan and I ever made together and we often get asked for recommendations. How can it be that we've never written it all down? So here it is - a story of love at first sight, sandy feet, gourmet treats, and a little bit of everything for everyone.

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Cycling with Saint Peter: Biking the Appian Way in Rome

13/9/2017

 

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.

​​This post contains affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase, we may be paid a small commission.

Biking the Appian Way Rome Picture
Ryan's ready for biking the Appian Way in Rome.
Bike Rental Appian Way Rome Picture
Our starting point.
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.

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