Only did plitvice. I was told plitvice is more beautiful but consider krka because you can swim I feel like I'd rather just spend longer at the nicer place if that's true
Decided on Costa Rica next March. I will be there with my parents and both my kids. Anyone have resort recommendations?
Depends on a lot my dude -- yall wanna do nature/rainforests or beach? Both? Tons of national parks -- Manuel Antonia, Corcovado (far), Arenal and the surrounding areas. Then there's the Pacific and Caribbean Coast. I think Arenal/La Fortuna area is the most accessible/closest to San Jose. Corcovado is supposed to be the most beautiful, but also the farthest away. With kids I would think you'd want to keep travel in the country to a minimum, so maybe 4-5 days at a beach and 4-5 days at a rainforest?
I'll drag them around if need be. Both my kids are pretty easy going as long as it's fun they don't mind travel. Best option for us is likely beach for the most part and day trips to jungle. Not opposed to splitting it up in both though. Seems like Manuel Antonio is a good spot with beaches and rainforest but a bit of a hike from San Juan. I assume you just stay put in that area. We were also considering flying to San Juan and going straight up to the volcano area for a couple of days and then driving over towards the Pacific coast maybe up towards Liberia for beach stuff then flying out of Liberia. Not sure if that makes any sense to do.
fwiw Corcovado is a lot of things, and imo the best national park in CR (at least that I've been to), but it's far from the most beautiful. Speaks more for how beautiful the rest of the country is rather than a slight at Corcovado. The appeal is that it's wild, unspoiled and isolated. World class beaches where you may be the only person who visits that day, no development, and it's one of the most biodiverse places on earth. Wife wants us to retire to Puerto Jimenez so it holds a special place in my heart.
I don't think I'm going to make it there, unfortunately, but everything I read says it's the best NP in Costa Rica. Gonna go be a dirty hippie on the Nicoya Peninsula for a few weeks instead.
Planning on doing Italy for my honeymoon next year most likely. Going to do Rome and the the positano area. Anyone have experience driving around Italy? Or should I just take trains?
Driving between cities is very easy. Driving within them is incredibly hard. I drove from Naples airport to Sorrento and then from Sorrento to Rome airport. Driving to Sorrento was a white knuckle experience and within Sorrento itself was nearly impossible.
Haven’t been to Italy since backpacking on college but everywhere we went (Milan, Cinque Terre, Venice, Rome, Naples, Pisa, Pompeii) was extremely easy to get to by train. Unless you’re going somewhere off the beaten path I can’t imagine renting to be worth it, especially considering the traffic/parking situation in cities.
The only place a car was really convenient in Italy was when we went north of Rome into Umbria and stayed in Assisi. It was really nice to have a car in the countryside. Assisi was very cool as well, basically an intact 13th century walled city built as a fortress on a mountain with the Rocca Maggiore castle sitting at its highest point.
Good choice. In Rome itself take a cab or the Metro to get around if you need to, but it’s very walkable. Driving in Rome is harrowing for anyone not used to it. Finding parking can be very difficult. Anyway, for a romantic honeymoon you’ve made a great choice!
I got a ticket several months later after driving into a restricted zone in Pisa that I didn’t know was restricted. Basically, everything in the old parts of cities has camera spots snapping shots for violations. We got an exception in Sorrento and Florence because we stayed in the restricted zone and our hotels got a waiver. Elsewhere, you get nailed driving in the old sections.
Same thing happened to me in Pistoia. I intended to bypass the city but incorrectly input info into the GPS and it took us right through the centro storico. Once we got into the center it stopped working. Finding the Strada Provinciale we wanted was a nightmare to find from there. My brother was driving the car behind our’s and went through the same zone. He didn’t get a ticket.
Anybody ever used a Grayl water filter? Have some buddies that use it while hiking, but apparently it's big for international travel: https://grayl.com/collections/geopress Just a push-filter system, so you can drink tap water from anywhere in the world immediately. Just bought one, will report back with or without giardia.
Welp. I've held off from posting about it, but tomorrow I turn in my two-week's notice, and as of Oct 23 I'll start the digital nomad life. I have fucking dreamt about this since I started working. Condo is sold and scheduled to close a few days before I leave. Already have an offer on my car. Have gotten rid of most everything non-essential, have completely re-done my lifestyle for longterm travel. Starting a fully-remote, virtual company that only needs a computer and strong internet connection. Don't know if it will be for 1, 2, or 5 years, but I'm hoping at least a few years. I could fall flat on my face and wouldn't fucking care, I'm going for it. Oct 23 - Nov 22: Costa Rica, then home for Thanksgiving Nov 28 - Dec 22: Back to Oaxaca coast, same place I was last year NYE: Back in Seattle Jan 5: Fly into Colombia, do 1 month in Medellin and Tayrona Nat Park Feb 5: Fly into Sao Paulo to meet my friends Feb 24 - Mar 3: Carnival with my sinners March 2022: NE Brasil, really want to spend some time in Bahia being a hippie [end of March/early April]: fly back to Seattle to handle some business Early April: fly to South Africa, Afrikaburn at end of April/early May -- hopefully stay in Africa for a few months -- Mozambique, Madagascar, Namibia -- sort of up in the air and COVID-dependent. Everything is booked up until my flight back from Brasil. Plan on buying that soon. Africa is still really up in the air, but I have my Burn ticket so we'll see. Hopefully, end of 2022 I can set up shop in Hanoi/SE Asia for a few months.
That’s awesome. Not sure how much you’re willing to talk about it but would love to hear more about the company start up.
Nothing too fancy. I'm a lawyer, so it advertises my legal services (directed at law firms and insurance carriers for freelance/contract work), and also advertises all of my Airbnbs/one website with all of them listed, with links to their Airbnb listings. And I'm a yoga teacher, so there's a little bit about that, too. More of a biographical website for why you should hire a lawyer that doesn't want to work full time.
Not sure on your budget but we stayed Arenal and did the volcano, bridges, etc. Then took a puddle jumper plane over to Manuel Antonio. Took ~45 minutes to do so. We saw a couple who stayed in Arenal do the drive from Arenal and Manuel Antonio and they were not a fan of it. Lots of very hilly, non-paved roads going through the rainforest so its white knuckle driving if you are the one driving. Our boarding passes were written in pen and we had to stand on a scale like the one in your bathroom before boarding so they knew the weight of the plane. This was 9 years ago though so things could have changed.
Another post on the topic. This site was great: https://www.anywhere.com/costa-rica You can put in your budget, your type of ideal activities and they can create an itinerary. I went back and forth with them doing a few revisions to tweak the agenda and from the customer service to ensuring everything was taken care of, it was top notch. I just paid them and then all your passes, lodging and transportation are taken care of. We used it for our honeymoon after a friend of ours also used them for the same thing.
Looking around Key West in February. Any recs. Also I want my dog to be with us. Anyone use a pet transport service?
I’ll be there around the same time for a wedding at the Hemingway House. Bought ferry tickets for Dry Tortugas Island which if you’re interested you need to buy really early. I’ve been before, but can’t remember the names of most places. Plenty of great restaurants to choose from though. Night kayaking is awesome. Jet skiing around the island is cool too.
This is more for decompressing. I don't need adventure. I rather work on my sunburn than run around looking for kicks. I rather play it low key. Go out to eat at night. Find things to do as it comes. I rather miss out on things than plan anything.
My buddy received a citation from Germany through our rental car company for about $180 two weeks ago. Guess we needed a pass or something to drive along the autobahn.
I think you should start your own thread documenting with pictures etc... I'd find it really interesting
For Madison - I've only been twice but I did get to eat a good amount of restaurants on the trip: https://chicago.eater.com/maps/best-restaurants-madison-wisconsin-food-road-trip The eater article is worth a read: For fancy - Harvey House is relatively new and from some Gramercy Tavern, French Laundry alums. L'etoile is fine dining French. Graft is solid. Fine dining steak house is Tornado. The Old fashioned is more of an American bar/pub but the food is pretty good. Same with Tipsy Cow and Merchant (not sure if they have reopened yet). Marigold kitchen is a casual breakfast lunch spot that is popular. There's a lot of solid options in Capitol Square area if you're going to actually be walking around. If I think of any others I'll edit this post and add.
The real way I'm funding this is just influencing, which isn't so much a job as it is a lifestyle. Follow me for more premium content.
Things took a turn quickly. I was going on the trip with my parents and they backed out and my wife decided she doesn't want to travel outside the country so now we're going to Williamsburg, Virginia and DC with the kids for spring break. Just as fun. Just as fun.
I don't know how I missed this, but I did Croatia this summer. I would say Krka was worthwhile, and its more than just Skradinski Buk. But when you do Skradniski Buk start off going to the left, you get to the waterfall more directly. The rest of that area is nice, but not as worth while and was very crowded. In Kraka also check out Roski Slap, there is a little loop trail and a trail to a cave that has some nice overlooks of the canyon. There is also a swimming area here. Further up the river is Manojlovac Slap which is the biggest waterfall in the park and you can walk down to it while probably being mostly alone. There is also a Roman amphitheater near Manojlovac. Plitvice is one of the most amazing places I have ever been. I would highly recommend buying tickets online in advance and getting there at 7 a.m. when it opens. When I went four people went in before us and we were able to get to many of the sites before they got crowded. It also made the park so much more peaceful than the main part of Krka. A lot of people showed up at 7, but they had to wait to buy tickets. By the time we were leaving in the afternoon the main entrance was super crowded. I would recommend starting at Entrance 1 and doing Program C, this seemed like the best way to see everything while seeing the main falls first.
Alright need some advice… Doing our big trip in January. 2 nights in Dubai, 5 in the Maldives, 2 in Singapore, we’ve decided to spend the rest in Thailand rather than try to cram Vietnam in as well. We’re definitely doing 4 nights at Keemala in Phuket to end the trip. We have 6 nights to spend in the rest of Thailand. What should we hit up? I was thinking1 or 2 nights in Bangkok. I guess biggest decision would be deciding between Chiang Mai or another beach destination? Thoughts?
We did the Andaz Peninsula Papagayo last year right before covid and it’s great. Excellent location, cool jungle beach situation, great pools and very kid friendly. Highly recommend. Whatever you do, do not try to drive on the Amalfi Coast. All the roads are very narrow, going down to a single lane in places; the locals make it look like an art form. We hired a driver to take a tour from Naples, I’m sure you can find a driver or ferry from Naples or Salerno pretty easily.
If you're already doing Phuket, I would try and do Chiang Mai. You can spend all 4-5 extra days around there, so much to do. Chiang Rai is also close by and pretty dope. Def need 2 days in Bangkok.
After doing 5 days in the Maldives and 4 nights in Phuket, I'm not sure why you'd really want to go to another beach when there is a lot to do elsewhere. Go to Northern Thailand and 2 day sin Bangkok, IMO.
Alright was mostly just making sure 4 nights in Chiang Mai wasn’t too much. I’m not familiar at all with northern Thailand, any recs?
Mr Mortisay what are the COVID restrictions for Thailand? Did you look at Vietnam? I was under the impression they're pretty locked down.