ADVENTURE ON A BUDGET | TRAVEL BLOG
Arriving to Zurich from Evian-Les-Bains After our grab-and-go dash of Evian-Les-Bains to fill our water bottles with the swanky stuff, we hopped a stupidly expensive ferry across Lac Léman (Lake Geneva) to Switzerland. This is a country both of us had previously been to independently but never together. I went in 2008 on a ski trip with some girlfriends to Geneva/Chamonix,…
It’s no secret that France is the most visited country in the world. And, like many dreamy teenagers, it positively beckoned me. That shimmering iconic tower…that sexy intonation…Audrey Hepburn’s influence and of course….the possibility of amour. All this is pretty much why I naively decided to take French in high school. (A decision I sometimes regret!) But it certainly wasn’t my first…
Annecy: the "Venice of the Alps" The area surrounding Thonon-les-Bains, where we stayed for our May housesit is simply loaded with day trip opportunities. Annecy, pronounced Ahn-see, is a petit alpine city located near the border of Switzerland, and commonly tagged as the “Venice of the Alps.” However, it seems significantly calmer, tidier and quieter without that overrated Italian label.…
Evansville>>Chicago>>Dublin In May 2026, we were off again and this time, with new and improved matching dork shirts, enhanced by AI thanks to our dear friends, Megan and Gordon, who we got the chance of visiting with on their journey by camper van through Indiana. (Because why else would you be in Indiana, but passing through?!) Anyhow, we'll soon be…
Exploring the Ajuda Neighborhood On our escape from Europe, we are passing through Portugal’s vibrant capital for four days. Surprisingly we had never been here so we decided to devote our time to discovering the city, and save Sintra and surrounding areas for another visit. We chose an apartment west of the center in the Ajuda neighborhood, which we noted looks…
In Summary…. This was my second time and Greg’s third visit to Spain and although we definitely found more redeeming qualities, budget saving measures, and I had the huge asset of being able to walk this time, (yay!) we’ve still concluded, it’s not a top country for us. At least it’s not in the winter or summer, and there are…
Exploring the Town of Rota For the holiday season, we took a housesit somewhere we’ve never been together…the sparkling southern coast of Spain. Other than being home to a bizarrely familiar community, thanks to the US/Spanish Naval Base, Rota is a charming seaside destination with a quaint and quiet old town, whitewashed Andalusian houses, narrow streets and squares, and long,…
From Rota, where we spent the month housesitting, we took a day trip to the ancient city of Cádiz, which is a lesser known Spanish superstar known for being the “oldest continuously inhabited city” in Western Europe. Although it preludes Rome by centuries, it’s hardly a date in the bucket when compared with a city like Plovdiv, Bulgaria founded 6000…