I grew up about an hour north of the city, and desperately miss having constant opportunities to pop in on NJ Transit for a visit. Last month, I was visiting home for a couple of weeks and made the rounds to all of my favorite places, including New York City. I was playing host to my boyfriend, so of course I wanted to show him my “spots” in New York. We had a chance to try some new places, including Gallow…
While I have travelled extensively throughout Europe and parts of North America, I have not ventured into Asia nearly as much I would have liked so far. In fact, prior to my most recent trip, I had only visited Singapore (and the Asian part of Istanbul, but who actually “counts” that?). A recent business trip had me packing for a week in Hong Kong, and I was excited for the opportunity to explore a new country, city, and culture during…
After a day and a half spent in Aroumd and Imlil in the High Atlas Mountains, we began making our way downhill (so to speak) into easily the hottest place I’ve ever been in my life. I know it’s expected that the Sahara desert might be a little toasty, but this fact cannot be understated (especially in August, what was I thinking?). Fortunately, we started in a beautiful little village in a guesthouse/hotel that had a pool! Our first stop…
Tourism to Iceland has increased rapidly in the last several years ironically following the eruption of one of the country’s largest volcanoes. Prior to this tourism boom, the country hosted less than a million visitors per year, but the number this year will be record breaking at an already estimated 1.6 million people. In fact, the number of American tourists alone is expected to exceed the entire population. I’m not usually one for “bandwagon” travel, but I’d been hearing so…
My visit to Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains began the second half of my 3-week Moroccan adventure with a new group of travelers that were beginning the Intrepid South Morocco Discovery tour. The first half of the tour, which I’ve already written about, was mostly focused on Morocco’s biggest and most vibrant cities, while this second half was dedicated to much of Morocco’s natural landscape, smaller villages, and more …athletic… adventures. I know that our trip notes mentioned a hike was one optional…
After exploring one of the biggest cities in Morocco, Fes, I was happy to head to a smaller town to get a feel of the small-city local culture for a few days. Plus, our tour guide promised that the hotel in Chefchaouen was one of the nicest that we would stay in, so I couldn’t wait to fit some R&R into my 3-week backpacking adventure through (the very hot) Morocco. Chefchaouen, also called “The Blue Pearl”, has become Instagram famous recently, and for…
I spent a day taking myself on a one-day tour of Prague while behind the wheel of the official Czech tourism Instagram account: Visit Czech Republic. I like to go on these adventures in my “home city” every once in a while to remind myself how truly incredible Prague is- and this was a great excuse to do it! I decided that I wanted to give the followers of the Visit Czech Republic account a 1-day tour of Prague. Specifically, I wanted…
After leaving Meknes, we headed on our way via a short train journey to the city of Fes- our 5th city of this whirlwind adventure through the Kingdom of Morocco! Fes is one of the four imperial cities in Morocco, and was truly incredible to visit. Perhaps most interestingly, Fes is known as one of the last hold-outs for true Moroccan handicraft, as the government has arranged for handicraft workers in Fes to be compensated well in order to preserve…
Wow. It’s only the 5th day since I landed in Morocco, and I have to admit, it’s incredibly overwhelming! So far, I’ve visited 4 cities/towns and just landed in my 5th (Fes) to explore over the next day or so. As you can imagine, we’ve been moving pretty quickly, although I have to say that I’m impressed at how well everything has been organized thus far! I am exhausted, though, and anticipate many early nights in my future on this trip! After…
I’m sitting by the ocean listening to the evening’s competing prayer calls ring out over the city, and I still can’t quite grapple with the fact that I’m in Casablanca. In Morocco! I’ve been dreaming about this day for years, and finally, I’m here. I’ve spent my first day visiting the legendary city of Casablanca, and before I part ways with my entry point into Morocco for my next city (Rabat), I’m eager to share my thoughts. Yesterday, after a…
