Tag Archives: travel

Travel

North Island, New Zealand

Back in August, my mom came to visit my partner and me in Australia! It was an amazing visit and of course we did all the expected Sydney-tourism things. That said, my mom is a HUGE Lord of the Rings fan (as am I) so we decided to hop over to New Zealand for a road trip. For some reason Aussies really get annoyed by the American mentality of “Well I’ll be in Australia so I may as well visit New Zealand.” After visiting New Zealand I have comfortably decided that it’s because they are jealous their country has to be the size of America just to have as much terrain variation as New Zealand 😛 I’m sorry to my Australian friends but I couldn’t resist the jab. Also Kiwis are, as expected, very nice.

What better way to see Northern New Zealand than by driving the entire island.

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Travel

Beach Bum

Summer in February is still a foreign concept to me, yet here I sit in the blistering heat. It’s forecasted at 100F today, with a heat index of WHAT THE EFF WHY IS IT SO HOT.

Despite our advantageous location of being in the Northern Beaches, I’m still feeling the dredge of summer as I type this. No air conditioning reminds me that this was once a penal colony. I believe the harshness of the environment here created a race of super humans known only as: ‘Strayans.

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running, Travel

Running on the Go: Picking a Route

You’ve just landed in a foreign land. You don’t speak the language and everyone is driving on a completely different side of the road. You think “Aw, hell with it, how am I supposed to figure out where to run?”

STOP! You can do this! You even packed your bright purple and pink Brooks shoes! No going back now.

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Travel

Summer Days: Sydney, Australia

Summer in Australia announces it’s presence as a warm breeze that wafts lazily into the family room while you’re enjoying Pavlova and a cold, Australian white. Unlike Florida summers, often overwhelming in nature, Australian summers are like a warm security blanket. With them come all the perks one would expect to find in the warmest part of the year; Lazing around on beaches, eating mangos, getting sunburns.

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Tips and Tricks, Travel

The Friendly Skies: Traveling with United

In the last few years of globe trotting, I’ve learned a really, really important lesson: Pick an airline. Ok, you can just pick a preferred network, but then you have to stick to it.

Traveling casually, I always took the cheapest fair (which, turns out, is what most people do). Typically, I would also sign up for whatever frequent flyer program that airline offered as well. But to what end? I had a couple thousand miles on a smattering of airlines around the world. When I started traveling for business, I realized what the hell those points were even for. Continue reading →

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running, Travel

Running on the Go: Starting Out

As many of you know, I run. I run quite a bit.

I get a lot of questions like “Don’t you get bored running for that long?” and “How do you get yourself to get up and just go?”

I assure you, these are all things I wasn’t great at to start. I won’t regale you with the entire saga of Jess’ running history. But since we’re starting the year off right, this will be the post to kick off my running series; Running on the Go.

Do you travel? Do you like to stay fit while traveling? Are you also an aspiring/seasoned runner? Well well well, have I got the blog series for you. Smash that follow button if you haven’t already!

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Travel

Photo Journal: London, England

Next time, you’ll be here too.

Hadn’t seen Becky since we parted nearly a year ago in Nepal!
So we headed out for some food and drinks
And nearly missed the last train home
Next morning, we headed out to Camden Market
Stopping to check out the canal boats along the way
I’d never seen anything like this before!
Camden Market was big
Really big
It just never ended
It didn’t even end here
On and on
and on
A rave department store
I wasn’t supposed to take pictures; I’m sorry
More Camden
I bought Becky a cronut… she was terrified of it
Classic
Primrose Hill
Beautiful Spring weather
221B Baker St.
St. Pancras Renaissance hotel
Gorgeous structure
Afternoon tea and scones
St. George’s
Stock Exchange
The Shard gave an awesome farewell
Walking back
Stunning hotel
But what trip to England is complete without fish & chips
And Banoffee pie
Goodbye, Europe!
Sunny, sunny Florida…
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Travel

Photo Journal: Copenhagen, Denmark

Lunch in Copenhagen, wishing you were here.

Central square
Eurovision took place here
Tivoli — rumored to be Walt Disney’s inspiration for the parks
Sing to get a subway ticket as a Eurovision promotion
Even department stores look amazing
Opera house
Boats float lazily, as visitors dine nearby
Saw Julia, my German friend from high school!
Beautiful Copenhagen
Colorful canals
Quiet day on the waterfront
Friday shoppers take a break
The sun kept coming and going as we walked
and walked
and walked
Stairs in this were leveled to make a sloping ramp up to the top at some point in the past.
We had an amazing brunch near the university
A church
Walking tour of Copenhagen
A very lively place
The trains have no drivers, just windows
Streets of Copenhagen
The airport is more a mall than any other airport I’ve seen!
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Travel

Photo Journal: Gothenburg, Sweden (2)

For you, dad.

Dusk
Penguins at the zoo
Overlooking Gothenburg
From the top of the hill
Out to sea
The harbor
A rainy view from the top of a skyscraper
There are random trampolines
We didn’t care
Coffee tasting with Swedes
Live music at Starbucks
The drink menu was kind of cute
Looking over Liseburg amusement park
Dusk on the streets
The Central Station
Trams around town
The pool on top of the Avalon
Swedish pride
A sleep road
I was in heaven
The most amazing candy store
Lunchtime shopping
Coffee shop in the alley
Most places look like Ikea
Inside a housing store
Even ketchup has great design
Rooftops of Gothenburg
Leaving for Copenhagen
But second class was comfy
Fields of yellow
As far as the eye could see
The Swedish coast
And quaint country towns
Yellow
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Travel

Photo Journal: Gothenburg, Sweden

I don’t know how much time we have left together, but I think of you every moment, wishing you were here.

Flew over the Atlantic
The design everywhere is amazing, including the airport baggage claim
Took the bus to the center of town
Three trams later, I figured out how to pay and which to board
But the money doesn’t have denomination labels
They leave blankets outside at restaurants in case you want fresh air– but it’s so cold.
Streets of Gothenburg
More streets
Banners made of jeans
Nordstan shopping mall
Had to check out the McDonald’s seasonal items — Chicken wings and Prime Nib (no typo)
Yup, a mall.
But spring is in full bloom
And the weather was lovely
So I wandered
And wandered
And wandered
And wandered
Graduation?
Followed the spring
Wandering
Discovering
Eating traditional Swedish foods
Like rump-roast
And raspberries with butter and ice cream
Until my first afternoon came to a close
But not without me discovering that Sweden loves gummies
Just like Ikea
My morning run through the park was gorgeous. We later returned here to relax that day.
Grabbed a morning coffee from across the street
Trying to learn the local language
Moved over to my hotel, that’s a pool on top!
7-11s are like Japan, places of wonderment and good food
So I bought the weirdest things I could find.
Before returning to the park
Swedes have good taste
I also located the largest chair in Gothenburg
And then I located a cider
And some local food
But, still managed to stop by to get more gummies
My hotel is nice
My view is nicer
Bill Murray talks about coffee
Tiny cars live here
And every afternoon, the Swedes enjoy the tradition of “fika” — afternoon coffee break. So I followed suit.

I love you, dad.

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