Calling all walkers and hikers! We’ve got another bucket list trek for you…from beginning to end it’s breathtaking, awe-inspiring, and stunning all-in-one! Actually, this hike was so incredibly beautiful it rendered us speechless for much of the hike. The Valbona <—> Theth trek takes you across an especially rugged range in the Accursed Mountains of Albania, also know fittingly as,…
It’s time to utter a big statement…the Albanian Riviera has OUR FAVORITE beaches in Europe…at THE best value. Let’s start with the “wow”… Along Albania’s Riviera we found beaches which produced the most hypnotic aquamarine colors intertwining with coves and sandy stretches of irresistibly inviting sapphire splotches of water. Then, there is the ‘ahhh!’…Swimming. With only lightly lapping tides to…
When we told people who have not been to Albania that we were going, we always got one of two hesitant pauses. A ‘processing’ type pause on the name… “A-l-b-a-n-i-a”, like when you hear a familiar word but can’t quite place where or in what context it belongs. OR, a pause that triggers their sense seedy and shady elements where…
Greece...the birthplace of ”modern civilization.” The place that filled us with wonder and intrigue about this foreign land from the first time we opened our ancient history books, glimpsed photos of the Parthenon, heard the mythology of the Zeus or Medusa, or tasted divine Kalamata olives. Our journey to dig deeper and experience the treasures of mainland Hellenic Republic took…
The Greek Islands were not an intended stop on our world tour; they weren’t even on our radar since they are not known to be “budget travel” or even budget friendly destinations. We assumed there was no way to fit them into our $50/day “business model”... That is, until we discovered a HelpX opportunity that traded some manual labor in…
The Earth throws just about every dramatic landscape at you in Iceland; Gushing waterfalls….check. Explosive geysers……check. Volcanoes and steaming fumaroles….check. Glaciers and icebergs… check. Hot springs and bubbling mud pots… check. Iceland is a country where the earth moves, and moves you. With 30 active volcanoes, and vast glaciers occupying nearly every mountain range, the land of fire and ice…
It was in Prague that we began our story… noses buried in our guide books, hurriedly walking down a cobblestone street and not paying attention until, suddenly crashing into each other. Knocking each other flat to the ground whilst locking eyes, and suddenly the song “That’s Amore” begins playing. A majestic castle looms in the background, overlooking the Seine –correction,…
The Making of an Explorer Gene (His Story) Growing Up Inside A Snow Globe… At the age of 6, my mom moved me to a new home. A magical and otherworldly wonderland home. The welcome sign at the entrance road to this unfamiliar land proclaimed that you were entering Leavenworth, Washington, the “Bavarian Village.” The sign included a new, unfamiliar,…
