What's the best way to travel? We talk to people who stress that they always travel independently and it's the superior way to travel. And then we speak to others who have no interest in independent travel. They think it sounds like a hassle, could be dangerous, and they want to leave all of the planning to others. So who's right? As is so often the case in life it's … [Read more...]
7 Things to know when preparing for your trip to Iceland
1. Plan realistically If you're like us you don't envision yourself getting a whole lot of chances to go to Iceland. We only got to go because we won a contest from SadCars. Although it is sometimes seen as a stopover on the way to European destinations most people who do that only spend a couple of nights in Reykjavik. (And that would be worth doing.) However, if you have … [Read more...]
The Ringling Circus Museum, Villa and Art Gallery in Sarasota, Florida
The Ringling Circus Museum, Villa and Art Gallery If anyone tried to convince two (unnamed) life-long clown haters that they would love the The Ringling Circus Museum, Villa and Art Gallery those two (unnamed) sisters wouldn't have believed it. Wrong again - although "they" didn't really change their opinions of clowns very much (although the video of one doing his make-up … [Read more...]
Planning travel to other hemispheres
Planning travel to other hemispheres When you're planning to travel to another hemisphere a good starting place is to answer the question: What other hemisphere are we talking about? The world has two circles around it (not literally). One divides it in half horizontally and uses the equator to separate the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The other one is vertical and … [Read more...]
Rick Steves is right (but not all the time, according to us)
Rick Steves' presentation for PBS in Naples, Florida According to his own website "guidebook author and travel TV host Rick Steves is America's most respected authority on European travel". It should come as a huge relief to Rick that we agree. When we learned he was coming to speak at a fundraiser for the local PBS station we got tickets for the event. We showed up early … [Read more...]
Capturing Amazing Photos of the Northern Lights
Prepare, before you leave home, to photograph the Northern Lights When Blonde received a call, in early July, to go see the Northern Lights in Iceland in February she immediately agreed and fantasized about how she would take amazing photos of the Northern Lights. She would become an admired and sought-after photographer, silencing any naysayers who may have criticized her … [Read more...]
How to keep travel memories alive
Why it can be hard to keep your travel memories alive We travel like fugitives on the run (think El Chapo but with much nicer accommodations and sans Sean Penn) which makes it challenging to keep our travel memories alive after the trips have ended. One time, years ago when Blonde was still employed in a grown-up's job, she returned late on a … [Read more...]
Hacienda San Angel – A romantic hideaway in Puerto Vallarta
History of Hacienda San Angel When Blonde and Brunette recently visited Puerto Vallarta we decided to take Richard Burton up on his Valentine's Day gift and stay at Hacienda San Angel. We are not romantic sisters (or romantic in general) but Richard Burton apparently was as he gave this lovely building to his wife Susan Somebody-or-Other in 1977. Legend has it that Burton … [Read more...]
Top Travel Bloggers’ Favorite Places from 2015
Top Travel Bloggers' Favorite Places from 2015 After we wrote our annual year in review place and enjoyed reliving some of our favorite trips we wondered what some of our blogger friends had enjoyed the most in 2015. So, using our in-depth investigative techniques we sent them emails and asked them! Without further ado (we were too lazy to edit) here are their interesting … [Read more...]
2015: Where we traveled, what we liked and what we didn’t
2015 Travel Looking back on where we traveled in 2015 we (meaning at least one of us) went to 12 countries; 4 for the first time. Now we can see why our friends think we travel all the time. We, oh so cleverly, tend not to travel to places we don't expect to enjoy so when we do our year-end review sometimes it can be hard to come up with a lot of things we … [Read more...]