Outdoorsy inspiration

If you're ever looking for a reason to get off your couch and go to the woods, this tumblr is all you need. So much inspiration. So much gorgeous. Bonus points for Bon Iver love and all the handsome beards. For Emma, Forever Ago

Picking a good travel buddy

This is me and one of my best friends, Michele. In the 15 or so years that we’ve been friends, we’ve taken many trips together: Las Vegas, London and Amsterdam, Yellowstone, and a road trip to Mexico, to name a few. This August we’ll be heading to South America to hike the Inca Trail and check out penguins in the Galapagos. I have a few other tried-and-true, go-to travel buddies, and I started thinking about what makes some people work well together on trips, and what makes me think “never again” about others.

With me and Michele, the biggest commonality is probably that we’re both pretty laid back about how we like to plan and take trips, her even more so than me. She lives in Los Angeles and I’m in Austin, so we’ve done almost all of our planning, booking, and confirming for South America via email and text. We took turns booking shared flights, hotels, and excursions, and kept a running tally of who paid what; we ended up pretty darn close, too, considering the expense and detail of this trip. Everything is booked now and I only owe her $113 (it’s coming, Mish, I promise. PayPal, man).

And now that we have the big pieces in place, we’re both leisurely perusing the details—good places to eat in Lima, places to see in Cusco while we acclimate to the altitude, any must-see markets in Quito, that sort of thing. Over the next few months we’ll each come up with our own lists of what we want to do, probably with a lot of overlap, and then just do whatever sounds best when we land. Super easy with no drama.

It also helps that we both just kind of roll with the randomness that pops up when we’re traveling. I remember when we were walking down a street in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, and saw a Jeep drive by with three or four guys standing up in the back, holding menacingly large guns. We looked at each other and said, “So we’ll go into the next bar and sit for awhile?” “Yep, sounds good.” We ducked into the first place we came to, walked up to the bar and ordered our Dos Equis from a rather bemused bartender, and turned around to take in the place. My eyes surveyed the room and I realized it was full of men, all of whom were staring at us. Michele, meanwhile, had looked at one of the many TVs around the bar and nudged me. “Look up.” I did … and realized all the TVs were showing porn. Then we both noticed the few women scattered around the edges of the room, scantily dressed, looking bored, and ignoring us, unlike the men. And then we saw the door that led who knows where covered with a curtain. And a man walking behind the curtain with one of the bored women. Without a word we slowly, oh-so-casually, like we totally knew what we were doing, walked back toward the door, chugging our beers (we were 21 at the time and had priorities). One of us said, “So … we’ll go in the next restaurant we find and sit for awhile?” “Yep, sounds good.” And that’s how we found an adorable courtyard restaurant in Nuevo Laredo with delicious chips and salsa and margaritas.

While this story might not say much for our situational awareness or sense of danger, rest assured that we’ve both gotten much better about these sorts of things in the last decade. Michele even looked up the travel advisories for Peru and Ecuador, and we now know to be very cautious with all of our cabs. Progress! But my point is, in my experience, some people tend to have anxious reactions when things go awry, and others are more able to pragmatically react without exacerbating the situation. For my style of traveling, the latter is clearly a better fit. Because even now that we’re more mature and cautious (and know to assess potential porn bars/brothels before ordering beer), things will go wrong on our trip. That’s inevitable on any adventure. Picking a travel partner whom I know I can rely on to keep a level head in those situations is the only part of it I can control.

After all this rambling, maybe it’s time for a list. Here are some factors that I like to consider when picking a travel buddy:

1.     Does this person agree with the type of trip I want to take? Examples include:

a.     Staying in cheaper hotels to extend the trip versus having a shorter, more indulgent vacation

b.     Taking a relaxing vacation with lots of sitting, eating, and drinking versus mixing in more active, outdoorsy fun

c.      Mapping out a strict itinerary versus leaving chunks of time open to explore whatever comes up

2.     What traits about this person bug me under normal circumstances and can I handle them when they’re magnified under the pressure of travel?

3.     What traits about me bother people under normal circumstances and can my potential travel buddy handle them when they’re magnified under the pressure of travel?

4.     Will I get stuck with all the planning and organizing?

5.     Will this person over-plan and over-organize so much that it takes the fun out of the trip?

6.     How does this person react in stressful situations? Do I trust him or her to help when things go wrong?

7.     Are we both stubborn about getting our way or can we compromise so everyone gets to do what matters most to them?

8.     Is he or she slovenly to the point that I wouldn’t want to share a bathroom with them? (It sounds extreme but, trust me, it can be an issue.)

9.     Do they have an appropriate sense of the world around them to not get me in trouble? Will I spend the trip babysitting?

10. Is this person comfortable with splitting up and seeing different things separately? Am I comfortable with that?

I could go on and on, but I think these questions cover the largest concerns about traveling with someone. And don’t forget, travel buddies are optional! Some of my favorite experiences have come from traveling by myself. Watch for a post on that soon. :)

I’d love to hear some of your thoughts on travel buddies. What wisdom have you gleaned along the way? Do you have go-to partners in crime or horror stories of someone you’ll never travel with again?

Amazing hotels

Just a little travel inspiration, courtesy of Earth Porn. I want to go to all of them.

P.S. If I ever get married, I think Bali just might be my honeymoon destination.

Past travels

To kick things off, I decided to do a quick recap of where I’ve been already to remind myself of how much more I have to see. So here’s a list of countries I’ve visited, in order (updated July 2024):

1. United States (Is it cheating if I was born and live here? Nah.)
2. Scotland (I spent three years outside Glasgow as a tyke, aged 3–6, and revisited in my 20s: Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Saint Andrews.) I also revisited Scotland when I was 36 (Glasgow and Edinburgh) and 41 (Glasgow and Boat of Garten).
3. Mexico (Like most teenagers growing up in Texas, I’ve been to a few different border towns.) I've also been to Puerto Vallarta for a family trip in 2018 and Playa del Carmen in 2021. Andrew and I spent 2 weeks in Guanajuato and 3 weeks in Mexico City in Autumn 2023.
4. England (work-abroad program in London, traveled around the country some as well, Bath, Stonehenge, and Canterbury when I was 21). Went back for a family wedding in 2018 (Beverly) and again in summer 2023 (Lake District, Hexham, Newcastle, and York).
5. The Netherlands (long weekend in Amsterdam with besties who came to visit me in London)
6. Germany (first stop on my backpacking leg to see another bestie who was living in Munich, day trip to Neuschwanstein and another day trip to Garmisch)
7. Italy (solo backpacking to Venice, Rome, Siena, Florence, and Milan)
8. Spain (more backpacking in Madrid and Barcelona)
9. France (ended backpacking in Paris)
10. Belgium (I feel a little guilty including this one because I only got off a train from Paris to London in Belgium to buy some chocolate. I’ll make it back to actually see the country one day.)
11. Costa Rica (San Jose, Monteverde, Tortuguero, Montezuma, and Manuel Antonio)
12. Ireland (Dublin, Cliffs of Moher, Waterford, and Dunmore for a friend’s wedding)
13. Northern Ireland (Belfast on the same trip to the Republic of Ireland)
14. Canada (Vancouver, areas north of the city for hiking, and Victoria; years later work trips to Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal)
15. Denmark (Copenhagen and Elsinore to see the Hamlet Castle)
16. Sweden (Malmo)
17. Greenland (Kangerlussuaq in a failed attempt to see the Northern Lights)
18. Peru (Lima, Cusco, Inca Trail, and Machu Picchu)
19. Ecuador (Quito and the Galapagos Islands)
20. Jamaica (birthday getaway at an all-inclusive)
21. Tanzania (hiked Kilimanjaro and went on a safari), 2016
22. Cuba (Havana, Vinales, and Trinidad), 2017
23. Iceland (Reykjavik, Golden Circle, and Vik), 2018
24. Sydney, Australia (work trip with a few days tacked on for hiking in the Blue Mountains and sightseeing), 2018
25. Prague, Czech Republic (summer trip with Sarah and Michele), 2019
26. Vienna, Austria (summer trip with Sarah and Michele), 2019
27. Budapest, Hungary (summer trip with Sarah and Michele), 2019
28. Singapore (work trip), 2019
29. KL, Malaysia (extra days after work trip), 2019
30. Belize (quick trip with Andrew, Kara, and Erin right before the world shut down), February 2020
31. Nepal (Kathmandu, hiking in the Himalayas, Pokhara), October 2022
32. India (followed Andrew on his work trip, Bangalore, Mysore, Agra for the Taj Mahal), March 2024
33. Chile (Santiago, Valparaiso, San Pedro de Atacama, La Serena), June and July 2024
34. Argentina (Buenos Aires, Iguazu Falls, and Cordoba), July and August 2024
35. Uruguay (took the ferry from Buenos Aires to Colonia del Sacramento for one night), August 2024 
36. Brazil (day trip to Iguazu Falls and the Bird Park from Puerto Iguazu, Argentina), August 2024

And one more thing to I want keep track of, the states I've been to (updated 2024):

1.  Texas

2.     California

3.     Oregon

4.     Nevada

5.     Utah

6.     Montana

7.     Wyoming

8.     Arizona

9.     New Mexico 

10.  Oklahoma

11.  Louisiana

12.  Arkansas

13.  Missouri

14.  Minnesota

15.  Wisconsin

16.  Illinois

17.  Tennessee

18.  Florida

19.  Georgia

20.  North Carolina

21.  Virginia

22.  West Virginia

23.  Maryland

24.  Delaware

25.  New Jersey

26.  Pennsylvania

27.  New York

28.  Rhode Island

29.  Massachusetts

30.  Maine

31.  Colorado

32.  Washington

33.  South Carolina

34.  Ohio

35.  Michigan

36.  Kansas

37.  South Dakota

38.  New Hampshire

39.  Connecticut (drove through)

40.  Kentucky (drove through)

41.  Iowa (drove through)

42.  Indiana (drove through)

Kangerlussuaq, Greenland (January 2013)

My first post!

Hello! Thanks for stopping by. My name is Laura and I'm creating this blog to be a home for my passion for travel. I hope you enjoy your visit!

About this blog:

I love traveling and I thought I got myself off to a good start, travel-wise, in my twenties. After college I moved to London and worked for six months, saving my pub earnings to fuel a month of European backpacking after my work visa expired. A year after that a friend and I traveled around Costa Rica for two weeks, and I felt confident that I had cemented my favorite hobby as a permanent life fixture.

Fast forward five+ years and I had a sad realization as my 30^th birthday approached: After those two trips, I had only been out of the country once. That just wouldn’t do. So I made a promise to myself that I would visit at least one foreign country a year, every year, no excuses.

That first year I didn’t have much time to save up for travel, so I took the easy (for an American) foreign trip and headed to lovely Canada. The following year I went to Denmark, a wee bit of Sweden, and Greenland. In January, y’all. I’m starting this blog at 32, in the midst of planning this year’s trip: Peru to hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu and Ecuador to tour the Galapagos Islands.

I want this blog to be a repository of my adventures, but I also want it to serve as an inspiration to others. I’ll touch on the biggest problem of traveling­—how to afford it—and (I hope) offer some helpful tips if you want to make it a financial priority for yourself. I’ll also post about my domestic travels, equipment and gear that I find helpful along the way, culture and vegetarian food I discover, and any little oddities that fuel my wanderlust.

But the heart of the blog is that promise I made to myself: Once a year, every year, I’ll be off to get another stamp in the old passport.

About me: I’m Laura and I live in Austin, Texas, with my feral cat, Hermy, and my neurotic rescue Dane, Sam. I work as an editor and am therefore comfortable with all those commas in the previous sentence, even though they seem excessive. Feel free to ask me anything; I might answer it. :)