Trip Planning

Getting Lost

April 3, 2013
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When I travel, it’s usually for a week or less at a time, because that’s all the time I can get off from my day job. So I try to be efficient and maximize my time. I create an itinerary for each day of my trip—where I’ll go, what I’ll do, and when. I usually [...]

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Go Where Your Passions Take You

December 5, 2012
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I love getting emails from readers, even though sometimes, I’m at a loss for how to respond to them. Sometimes I get emails asking what it’s like to travel solo to a place I’ve never been to. I feel bad that I can’t help those people, though I usually try to steer them toward another [...]

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The Beehive, A Home Away From Home in Rome

June 5, 2012
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Two years ago, I read about a charming little budget hotel in Rome called the Beehive on a hotel review site called DarnGoodDigs.com. I knew that when I finally visited Rome, that is where I would stay. Fast-forward to 2012, and I booked three nights at the Beehive in May to bookend my cruise. Shortly [...]

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Organizing Travel the Old School Way

May 18, 2011

A couple of weeks ago, as I was in the midst of my trip planning for Spain, it occurred to me that, despite the many leaps forward in technology during recent years–smart phones, iPads, apps, travel planning websites–my personal method for organizing and planning my trips hasn’t changed in ten years. I still type up [...]

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Spanish in 10 Minutes a Day

April 5, 2011

A couple of years ago, I decided to get serious about learning Spanish. Mostly, I wanted this skill for travel, whether to Spanish-speaking countries or areas of the US with a larger Spanish-speaking population than Vermont. But I didn’t want to take a class; I wanted to learn on my own time, when I could [...]

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How Couchsurfing Helped Me Adjust to Life in France

March 29, 2011

One challenge for many solo travelers is finding their way around a strange country alone. What if you could arrange to meet up with a friendly local who could advise you on what to do and where to go? Today, guest blogger Brenna Mulvaney shows us how she’s done just that with Couchsurfing, a site [...]

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Want to Travel More? Play the Saving Game

March 11, 2011
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Do you wish you could travel more, but your paycheck seems to be gone at the end of every month?  You’re not alone.  Especially in the past couple of years, most of us consider ourselves lucky if we even have a job, let alone have seen a raise that has kept us even with the [...]

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Eating Around Paris

January 14, 2011
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There are many reasons to visit Paris, but let’s face it:  One of the biggest is the reputation of its quality of food.  To hear it told, one has not lived until one has tasted French cuisine.  I can’t help but wonder if people’s perceptions of how great the food is has been influenced by [...]

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Hotel de la Porte Doree: Just Right

December 14, 2010

You know the story of Goldilocks and the three bears? How Goldilocks wandered into the bears’ home one day, tasting all their porridge and sleeping in their beds, and even though she tried all three sizes, there was one that was “just right” for her?  Well I felt that way about the three hotels I [...]

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