For my first trip to the Serbian capital, Belgrade, I had a lot of preconceived ideas and stereotypes in my mind as to what the city would be like. I was continually surprised throughout my whole trip. Let me just say—Belgrade is SO COOL. Belgrade suffered extensive bombing by NATO forces in 1999, and in… Read More First Impressions of Serbia: Belgrade
How had I never been to Budapest before this trip?! The intriguing capital of Hungary, beautiful Budapest blew me away. After four wonderful days exploring, I already know that Budapest is a city I’ll visit again. There is so much going on in this city, it’s hard to know where to start. Here’s my guide… Read More A Beginner’s Guide to Budapest
The Danube River cuts through Hungary on its way south to Serbia and beyond. The Hungarian side of the river is home to several picturesque twists and turns, giving it the nickname the “Danube Bend.” Esztergom and Visegrad are two popular towns (evident from the number of tour groups) that are strategically located on the… Read More Esztergom and Visegrad: Danube Bend Daytrip Towns
There are so many things to do and see in Budapest, it’s hard to know where to start! If there’s one activity to put on your bucket list for the Hungarian capital, it should be the thermal bath spas. There are several different thermal bath spas throughout Budapest, but the Széchenyi Bath was consistently recommended… Read More Visiting the Szechenyi Thermal Bath: Everything You Need to Know
Being based in Bratislava for my time in Slovakia, both Devin Castle and Trencin Castle were easily accessible to me. Slovakia seems to be full of castles, and I definitely recommend visiting at least one. Here are my tips for visiting Devin and Trencin Castles! Devin Castle is very close to the city center of… Read More Exploring Slovakian Castles: Devin and Trencin
My three days in Bratislava were my first introduction to Slovakia, an entirely new country for me. Bratislava’s currency is the Euro, but prices are much cheaper than they were in my previous city, Vienna in Austria. While Slovakia still seems to get lumped together with the Czech Republic (due to the former Czechoslovakia), it… Read More Bratislava: A Brief Introduction to Slovakia
I had just two days on my trip in the Austrian capital, so I hit the ground running. Vienna is prominently known for being one of the most important cultural cities for art, music, and stunning architecture. There is so much to see and do, and I absolutely recommend staying for more than 48 hours!… Read More 48 Hours in Vienna
On my most recent visit to Prague, I spent one of my days visiting the pretty small town of Cesky Krumlov. Located south of Prague close to the Austrian border, Cesky Krumlov is an incredibly picturesque place with enough to keep you busy for a few hours. I absolutely loved my trip here and would… Read More Cesky Krumlov: The Czech Republic’s Prettiest Town?
Prague is a city that’s stolen a bit of my heart. My recent trip was my second 3-day trip to Prague, and I definitely wish I could have spent longer in both the city and the Czech Republic. Nowadays, Prague is one of the hottest tourist spots in Central Europe, and is very much open… Read More 3 Days CZECHing Out Prague
On some level, everyone has a set of their own pre-travel rituals they go through before take-off. All the little actions you take to get ready for a trip after you pack your bag—maybe you like to carry your bag around to see how heavy it actually feels, or you set 12 different alarms to… Read More 16 Good Travel Practices to Help Decrease Travel Stress
England is my favorite country in the world by far—there are so many different cities to see and places to explore. Being based out of Nottingham on this trip, I’ve made it my goal to try to visit some of the nearby cities and see what they have to offer. Most of the places I’m… Read More Daytripping Around England: Derby
The Rock of Gibraltar is Gibraltar territory’s biggest tourist attraction by far. The Upper Rock Nature Reserve is the official name of the site, but also goes by the “Top of the Rock” or just “The Rock.” I spent a great day exploring the Upper Rock and all it had to offer and absolutely loved… Read More A Day On the Rock of Gibraltar
I can’t believe that I hadn’t even heard of Gibraltar before the past year! Gibraltar is a Territory of the United Kingdom, located at the south-eastern tip of Spain. It’s joined to Spain (the nearest Spanish town is La Linea de la Concepcion) by a small isthmus, but is completely British through and through. It’s… Read More Visiting Gibraltar: A Sunny Version of England
Having lived in Nottingham for nine months during my study abroad in 2013/2014, I’ve got a lot of love for my adopted city. 2 years later on my second trip back, Nottingham still feels like home! Even though there were some really difficult times (living in a flat with 11 other people isn’t easy…), my… Read More Nottingham: An Insider’s Guide
Flying is a great way to travel: it always saves more time than taking ground transportation. Unfortunately, one of the biggest downsides to flying is the expensive money trap that is Every Airport Ever. Spending money is almost always necessary (particularly for long layovers), but you don’t have to break the bank every flight! Here… Read More 7 Tricks to Save Money at Airports
While there are so many places I want to go in the world, I thought I’d give my picks for where I’d love to go this year—right now, before it’s too late (if I had unlimited time and money, that is). Taking into account currency exchange rates (my #1 deciding factor as a budget traveler!),… Read More 16 Places to Go in 2016
I’m (finally) starting to get my head around packing for my trip, so I thought I’d share the few things that are simply a “must” for any trip I take! Regardless of where I’m headed, I always have the unspoken things I absolutely have to bring with me. There are so many things to bring… Read More Top 10 Travel Essentials: What I Never Leave Home Without
UPDATED 2020! During the summer of 2015, I spent ten great days in the beautiful province of Quebec on my first ever trip to Canada. Quebec City was the base for my visit, and I spent a lot of my time exploring the surrounding area outside of the city. The scenery is stunning and you… Read More Top 6 Daytrips From Quebec City
I sat down to make a list of all the “things that can go wrong” when you travel, which tend to be exacerbated when you travel solo. I realized that almost every single bad situation happened to me with my trip to Russia. In 2014, I set off for a two-week solo trip to Russia—despite… Read More 7 Challenges I Faced on My Solo Trip to Russia, and the Lessons I Learned
Saving is the name of my game. After saving money for travel (also called: my life) religiously for the past 9 months, I think I’ve got the idea down. When travel is my goal, I work hard to play hard—while I try to keep expenses down on any trip, I put in major effort to… Read More 5 Ways I Save Money for Travel
