Towards the end of my 5 week backpacking trip through Italy in 2007, I did some trekking in the northwest and then high tailed it to the border of France. As tempting as it was to cross into another country, I decided to save France for another trip.
There’s just ONE country I’ve visited that I’ve been holding off on posting about. Austria holds the honor of being the first foreign country I ever traveled to, on The Trip That Started It All (all of this, that is).
It’s been an unusually snowy December in New York this year, which means I’ve been craving summer and the beach way more than I normally do. At the sight of white outside our kitchen window, my mind instantly runs to a warmer, sunnier, HAPPIER place – somewhere I can walk around in a tank top and flip flops, work on my tan, and frolic at all hours.
Ah, New Zealand: land of lakes, mountains, fiords, adventure sports, Lord of the Rings, sheep, and colorful thermal pools.
On the latter front, the North Island is home to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, where volcanic activity manifests in brightly colored pools and geysers.
On my way back from a year abroad in Sydney Australia in 2006, I decided to break up the hideously-long flight home to Hartford by stopping for a few days in Los Angeles.
On my over-ambitious, super cheap 2-week trip to Spain in 2011, I went out of my way to stop in Seville. In retrospect, I should have skipped it – but how was I to know I wouldn’t completely love it there?
If there’s anything I’ve learned from my wilderness-chasing roadtrips, it’s that cramming too much driving into one day is no bueno. Cramming too much of anything into ANY trip is not good.
I’m not sure exactly how Southern Italy made its way onto my meticulously-planned 5 week itinerary, but I wanted to do something a little off the beaten path. So much of the good stuff in Italy is very much ON the beaten path, and rightfully so – and as a result, it’s fairly easy to get to.
In month #9 of my (f)unemployment stint and quarter-life crisis, I was as restless as I’d ever been. I had all this time at my disposal, and all I’d done with it was start my wedding photography business and apply for jobs.
Well, this one was a long time coming. I find myself flashing back to Sydney on a weekly basis, so it’s all too appropriate that I share one such flashback on ye olde blog.