RTW backpacking travel in Eastern and Western Europe
Walking the wooden boardwalks around Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia I looked up and saw this dead tree with a very clear thought bubble painted across the sky by mother nature; like something out of a comic book. What would a tree say? Even more pointedly, what would a dead tree say on a …
There’s a secret spot in Connemara, Ireland. And the locals don’t want you to know it exits. I found it by chance—though I recommend renting a car in Ireland that means a good deal of alone-time for solo travelers. Time spent following the directions of lonely brown heritage signs, standing as sentinels of history on …
I studied abroad in the north of Italy, Bergamo, during the summer of 2005 doing some Italian language intensives at the Universita’ di Bergamo. There was a slew of us from my Florida university and after the program ended I went south for a week exploring Rome. I wasn’t completely alone in Rome, but there …
The thatch roofed houses peppering the sea of emerald grass fields seems so oddly reminiscent of another era but yet are actually still found in areas all Ireland. Landing on the Aran Islands off of the west coast of Ireland is like taking a full leap into a small and traditional pocket of intensely Irish culture. …
Spotting a huge mulberry tree on the side of the road after hours (okay, barely two hours really) of biking uphill read like salvation—like a thirsty man in the desert spotting a mirage this seemed too good to be true. It was hot, I was sick and forced to pull over frequently during the bike …
When you travel the world, you discover all kinds of new things: new dishes, new festivals, new cultures, new friends. The list is endless—it’s a parade of new things. Include sweet treats! Sure, over the years I’ve found my favorite signature dishes that I will forever love thanks to sampling them in a new country—some …
I winced as I took my first sip of the jet-black Bosnian coffee—it was certainly not your average American brew! My couchsurfing hosts in Sarajevo, Furkan and his roommates Anida and Sidak, decided that I couldn’t leave Sarajevo without stopping in the Turkish quarter for a traditional Bosnian coffee complete with Turkish Delight. They were …
Ireland is one of those countries that I can’t help describing melodramatically; the country just speaks to my soul. On the Diamond Hill hike in Connemara, Ireland I spotted this sheep among the fully blooming purple heather. The hike brought to mind the lovely song, “Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go,” which I used to sing back …