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 seeing them on the flip side because they’re taking that camper van all the way across the pond as well. Until then, we would be maneuvering in a different direction, for two weeks of semi-quick travel until our next one month slow-down in June.
Complete with new unblemished passports, which remarkably only took ten days to acquire, our new travel ensemble is complete and updated. If you zoom in, you’ll discover both of our shirts have their own lingo. The $55/day and 8 years and counting are probably self explanatory. “Eat My Country Dust” refers to the friendly competition between Greg and Megan in their “race” to get to 100 countries first.
The other line, “That’s My Wife” refers to a time when a beefy Turkish guy grabbed my butt, and Greg valiantly bellowed what would become an iconic inside joke, while shaking his fist at the guy and pointing vigorously to me and to his wedding band. Still one of my endearing travel memories. 🤣
Uzbek Blossom refers to the Uzbek outfit I was wearing with my floppy sunhat recently at Palenque. As a Leo, I’ve (obviously) always wanted to walk around with a likeness of myself plastered to….myself. 🤣
Touching down in the Windy City of Chicago, which is quick jaunt from Evansville and cost us 7500 American points each.
My new Osprey 36L bag baby. Yes, I’m both downsizing by four liters AND seniorizing, having the option to pop a wheelie…or…sling a backpack. One of my friends recently asked what’s in said backpack. Although I don’t have a formal packing list, here’s the general stock of clothing items…
- 6/7 short sleeves
- 3 long sleeves
- 1 puffy
- 1 leggings
- 1 hiking pants
- 1 all purpose/yoga pants
- 1 lounge pants
- 1 dress
- 7 undies
- 2 bras
- 6 socks
- 1 trail running shoes
- 1 sandals
- 1 swimsuit which doubles as sports bra
Arriving to the Hyatt Place in Itasca, a suburban joint which still offers a 5000 points per night redemption, or about $50. It came complete with a marshmallowy bed, fluffy feather pillows, which we typically curse at all night, and a seating area. Seriously. Show of hands…who here prefers feather pillows?! After a quick night, and morning swim, we had our complimentary breakfast…
…and took the free hotel shuttle to the nearest train station. From here, our freebies and bougie privileges dried up temporarily as we waited nearly an hour for a train to arrive, and then connected to a bus and metro line to arrive at O’Hare for a grand total of $21, only a $15 difference from our Uber ride the night before. Our 5k hotel did have its downsides.
The train, however, was pretty cool…a double decker which was the first of its kind we’d ever seen. Pretty unique Chicago! But once an hour is a bit ridiculous. Oh….public transport in the U.S. of A. 🤣
Waiting for our bus, in front of a what else? An Irish pub. We finally made it with time to fly through the TSA pre-check line, a new freebie thanks to our credit cards, and cruise into our first Air France lounge….
….where they had what else? Ratatouille….cheese…and lots of rules. Regardless, we’re very delighted to be on the road again.
Also, a couple notes on O’Hare for those who use it…
- There seems to be a “secret” terminal transfer bus between terminals 1, 3 and 5 on the airside which allows you to use the terminal 5 lounges and then jump to another terminal without going through security again. Not a single other person was on this bus and it was kind of hidden near gate M13.
- Another note, apparently in Chicago, the elusive words “Gate closes” on your ticket actually means “Boarding Time.” 🤣
Dublin, Ireland >>> Geneva, Switzerland
After another prolonged night incessantly batting our eyes to and fro ‘neath our sleep masks, we were met with a frigid blast upon departing the plane in Dublin. Although we had been having second thoughts, this immediately made us content that Ireland was not our final destination and that we were merely passing through. Still, we had eight hours to kill until our next flight and only one lounge to do it in. Since lounges typically have a three-hour maximum restriction, we still had to figure out how to score some breakfast, so we used one of the free lounge/restaurant passes from our annual FEE FREE US Bank Altitude Connect card. This is the same card that gave Greg his TSA pre-check, and supplies our bi-monthly Gig Sky global data plan. Aka, what should be a US travelers’ no-brainer….
Of course, we weren’t expecting the super-stimulation of a fully loaded Irish bar, in every sense of the word, at 6:30 in the morning. They even had an outdoor section which looked like the remnants of some frat parties I attended in uni. At least there were also a sprinkling of water boxes on the table?
Rather than getting sloshed on 8€ pints, we ordered a veg-friendly “Irish breakfast” and an Americano which was covered by one of our 23€ restaurant credits, and proceeded to the lounge where I tried desperately to sleep, a state still impossible to attain even with my kooshy new bougie travel pillow called the Sidney Sleep. Time will tell if we like these better than the Nemo Fillos.
By 10, we still weren’t quite ready for complimentary Guinness. Clearly our roots are decidedly more British than Irish.
In my stupor, this still didn’t stop us from discussing the curious script that is the 2500-year-old Irish/Gaelic language. Although the majority of Irish people don’t fluently speak it today, it still holds a vital piece of their history and almost all signs across the country are bilingual, as our airline announcements.
Watch out! We’ll be here….(or at least in the general vicinity…) for the next 17 days!!
Arriving to Thonon-Les-Bains (Finally)
We had arrived to the French side of Lake Geneva, which for the record, en Français is actually called Lac Leman. But we’ll get to that below. In Thonon-Les-Bains, we were staying with new friends, Libbi and Andy, Americans who we met through the Go With Less Facebook group and were delighted when they not only wanted us to watch their cute cat, but hang out with them for a few days as well.
For our first outing, they took us to our favorite European supermarket of Lidl where we stocked up for 102€, or about $119 for the week. (And…oui, oui. At least $30 of that was our “mandatory” splurge on French wines, craft beer, and mouthwatering cheese.) The receipt above, current grocery prices in France. ($1=1.16€)
The second outing was a bit more fun where they dropped us right into what we’ve been longing for…a short hike with some delicious tastes of the Alps.
Exploring Thonon-Les-Bains
Nestled along the southern edges of Lake Geneva, the spa town of Thonon-les-Bains is not somewhere we ever thought we’d visit. But that’s the beauty of housesitting…it takes you to places off the tourist trail….places that are livable, and not just flashy. Although it lacks the mega-charm of places such as Yvoire or Annecy, it still has plenty of its own attractive character and sits right where the Alps start rising beyond the lake, which makes it very accessible for hiking, morning lake walks, while offering a much calmer and practical vibe than we saw in other places we visited.
If you refer to this body of water, which sits between Switzerland and France as Lake Geneva, it’s quite likely a French person will call you out and say it’s Lac Léman.
Both names are old, and both are technically correct.
The Romans called it Lacus Lemannus, which is where Léman came from. From the Middle Ages onward, Geneva became internationally important because of trade routes, protestant reformation history, and banking. For English speakers traveling or reading maps centuries ago, Geneva was the major recognizable reference point so it became “Lake Geneva” in English. English often chose the best-known city rather than the historical geographic term. English often chose the best-known city rather than the historical geographic term. Um. Because we’re straightforward and shallow like that?! 🤣
And, for residents who live here, the region is simply called Léman. And Thonon-les-Bains is simply Thonon. (Pronounced Toe-non).
In our ten days, we discovered it’s definitely a very pleasant place to live and be. Ask a permanent fixture if she agrees. This is the Statue de la Sirene…a bronze reproduction of the Little Merman by Marguerite Peltzer down by the port.
Although the weather was absolutely fabulous, it never felt crowded or busy…despite the cuddled-up proximity of the well-coiffed sycamore trees.
Alps popping like tarts from Thonon’s toaster
A potable water fountain. They are here to meet through hikers or anyone who is thirsty. Also, more man-handled sycamore trees overlooking the lake.
Gazing down the coastline
Greg pausing on one of our uphill climbs. Because we stayed down closer to water’s edge, we had to walk up the hill quite regularly for groceries and amenities. There was a 2€ funicular as well, but you know us! It’s not like we were trying to do the Route Des Grandes Alpes. This is kilometer zero, aka the 720k journey that traverses the French Alps and heads all the way down to the Mediterranean Sea near the Italian border. Many of these mountain passes are used in the Tour de France.
C’est La Vie en Thonon-Les-Bains
We are so grateful we contacted Andy and Libbi, who were looking for housesitters on the popular nomad FB group, Go With Less. It led us not only to new friends with similar interests, but to this beautiful location overlooking Lac Léman, an incredibly sweet cat, and nine days living la vie français, which we hadn’t got to appreciate since our five week stint in 2022. Also, I was able to walk this time which was a much more satisfying experience 🤣 Just a reminder, if you’re interested in pet sitting or having your pet watched for free, we have a code to save 25% off THS.
Andy and Libbi live in a four level duplex overlooking the lake, with a stunning view which craves nothing more than an authentic charcuterie board.
Our boss for the week, Kaleo, who was charming and cuddly (so long as he called the shots.)
The living area which was flooded with natural light. What a treat!!! So rare in every place we seem to stay.
Embracing my inner French girl. In case you’re curious, baguettes still sell for $.39 euros, or $.45. I was inspired by thisa wee Frenchman in training with his sac of baguettes.
Wow. That ratatouille must be terrified of the crazy chef on the left 🤣 (note: we did not have access to chef hats, so we settled for borrowed berets.) Our delicious creation, which was made from scratch with a package of pre-wrapped ratatouille veggies and herbs at the supermarket for 4 euros.
In case you think ratatouille is just a Disney cartoon, this traditional French dish from Provence is actually stewed eggplant, zucchini, red bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, garlic, thyme and lots of olive oil. We also tossed on chickpeas and feta cheese. YUM!!
Andy was happy to serve as our ratatouille guinea pig.
Morning runs along Lake Geneva were absolutely the best. Along the way, we spied the pool. We didn’t make it here, couldn’t help noticing the pool had a water slide shooting you straight into the lake!
Greg was ousted by this cuddle bug for the week. Don’t worry… he still got some attention 😻
Moving on to le shop-ping in France…a task I was eager to do after a frustrating experience in the health and beauty aisle at CVS in the States. The photo depicts a very similar bottle of Garnier conditioner compared in France versus the United States. This is what happens when there is not a governing agency to regulate health and beauty products. Using the Yuka app to scan these types of products (and food!) for harmful additives is an absolute game changer. But you also have to take it with a grain of salt.
I also scanned all the sunscreens. In the U.S., almost all of them were rated a 0-30. Seriously? What’s the point?? This particularly one, which we bought for 7 euros (tiny bottle!) scored 100 in France, although most were 60-100. This lip balm with sunscreen is 84. I threw out a Sun Bum one from the States I had just bought without checking, which was ranked zero.
And ladies, although tampons aren’t ranked on Yuka, you’ll find a box substantially cheaper here as well. Why?! No pink tax in France.…a tax added to women’s “healthy and beauty” products in many countries across the world. As if this is an option for us.🙄
Moving on to items that are way more fun, but equally cheap. A 750 ml CORKED craft beer for 2.90 euros ($3.40), courtesy of Lidl. In fact, the French are so stylish they even take it to the grave, via these designer plum caskets.
Well, I’m exhausted with all these posts. Time to wrap with another ravishing sunset, and another great stay. Merci beaucoup to Andy, Libbi and Kaleo for their hospitality and warmth. We had an amazing time!
