Viewing entries tagged
city life

Central Market Highlights in San Jose, Costa Rica

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Central Market Highlights in San Jose, Costa Rica

The last two nights of my time in Costa Rica were spent in the city where it all started: San Jose. I purposely booked a relaxing stay with nice amenities so I could recoup from all the adventuring I’d done in the previous 2 weeks (best decision ever!).

It was time to sit back, relax, and take in some Netflix! Of course, the adventurer in me couldn’t sit still long. I had to get out and see a bit of San Jose. San Jose’s famous Central Market was the main attraction for me!

This 140+ old indoor market had everything I could possibly desire. I mention a few of its highlights but there’s one place in particular that had what I needed. This place had possible the most unique ice cream I’ve ever tasted made in 20 different ways. Read on to learn more as I close out my Costa Rica trip experience.

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The Most Colorful Autumn in Denver, CO

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The Most Colorful Autumn in Denver, CO

Perhaps this is why they call it COLORado. I planned a trip to Denver to hike the Rocky Mountains. What I didn’t know is that one of the most gorgeous views during my trip would be the trees right in my friend’s neighborhood.

We took a short drive through Baker and other Denver neighborhoods to visit a farmer’s market on my last day in Denver. It was a perfect Fall day and the colors of the trees were more vibrant than this Floridian has ever remembered Fall being!

Apparently, the right combination of conditions in 2021 allowed for one of the most colorful Falls in Denver in a long time. I’m so glad I got to see it as we browsed the local farmer’s market. I couldn’t stop taking photos! Read on to see more photos of just how gorgeous it was!

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A Vaccinated Staycationer's Guide to Miami: Friend Weekend

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A Vaccinated Staycationer's Guide to Miami: Friend Weekend

The vaccine for COVID-19 changed a lot of things in the last few months. Places all over the USA are opening up, including New York City this past weekend for Pride events. And Miami has been opened up for a while.

I didn’t feel comfortable going out fully until about one month ago when two of my friends visited. In anticipation of their arrival, I put together an itinerary of activities based on their requests. We were all eager to not only spend time together but to also go out like “normal" and explore a city—the city of Miami!

For me, I am basically still new to Miami since the pandemic hit only a few months after my arrival. So this was a really awesome 4-day adventure around Miami including a hotel stay at Miami beach, tons of great food, awesome rooftop bars, and so much more.

Our experience serves as a guide for any vaccinated visitor or staycationer in Miami!

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15 Self-Guided Things To Do In London

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15 Self-Guided Things To Do In London

There is so much to see and do, mostly for free or low cost, in any big European city. London is no different.

I spent about 4 weekends exploring London during my visit to England in 2012. On those visits, I wandered the streets of London and found incredible history, architecture, art, shopping, food, parks, and more.

I share in this post all of the highlights from my mostly self-guided experience around London.

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3 Days in Denver: Art Exhibits, Red Rocks, & Golden

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3 Days in Denver: Art Exhibits, Red Rocks, & Golden

There's nothing like spending time with a close friend in a new city and seeing new sights together.

For the last 2 days of my trip to visit Dasha in Denver, I saw psychedelic art, celebrated her birthday with more of her friends, and explored some iconic parts of the Denver area.

We visited the Natura Obscura art exhibit, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, and checked out a little western mining town called Golden. Read on to hear about and see all that we did before I departed back to New York!

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3 Days in Denver: Nightlife and Mountains (Part 1)

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3 Days in Denver: Nightlife and Mountains (Part 1)

You know what's awesome? Having friends as adventurous as I am—friends who aren't afraid to travel across the country to try on a new lifestyle. That's what my friend Dasha did over a year ago when she moved to Denver, CO.

A hiker like me, Dasha left her Brooklyn life seeking higher elevations. When I visited for her birthday weekend back in April, I had the privilege of experiencing some of Denver's gorgeous mountain views.

We also had the chance to explore a bit of Denver's nightlife and restaurants. I did a ton with Dasha in just the first 24 hours in Denver—but there's more! This 3 day weekend in Denver is in 2 parts. Here is part 1...ready, set, go!

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10 Things to Explore in Willemstad, Curaçao

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10 Things to Explore in Willemstad, Curaçao

When I visit new places, I rarely spend a lot of time in the main tourist areas. But the Otrobanda, Punda, and Pietermaai districts of Curaçao's capitol were unique and rich with history, art, culture, food, and fun. I am glad I spent time in this area both during the day and at night to discover the atmosphere in both settings.

I got stuck on a floating bridge, found a secret beach, uncovered unique historic landmarks, and posed with lots of street art. Everything I did I could easily experience in one full day of exploring Willemstad!

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Overnight in Montréal: A Travel Friend Meet-Up

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Overnight in Montréal: A Travel Friend Meet-Up

When friends invite you to travel across the border for a one night adventure—you take it! My friends Chelsea and Dayle headed to Montréal, CA last summer for a friend’s wedding. They offered to bring me along for an adventure of my own.

I couldn't pass up the chance! I decided to meet up with an old friend whom I met in my travels. It was an opportunity to catch up with her and see more of Montréal after visiting in summer 2017.

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One Night in Johannesburg: Staying Safe

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One Night in Johannesburg: Staying Safe

Johannesburg, South Africa is often talked about as a pretty unsafe city for travelers. The most common crimes are petty, such as having valuables stolen from your person or your car. But that's the kind of hassle you don't want when you're having a good time on your trip.

Most places in the world are safer than you assume. But realistically, some places are going to be less safe than others. When the facts point to unsafe conditions where you're traveling, you don't necessarily need to avoid the place entirely. You just need to enact some precautions based on local recommendations.

In this post, I describe one night I spent in Johannesburg and my tips for staying safe. I only had to make small edits to my behavior. I chose to stay in a better neighborhood, I walked around with a friend, and I didn't carry my phone with me at night.

The result was an easy going night of listening to local music with a new friend. No issues. No sweat!

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Visiting My Friend in Pretoria, South Africa

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Visiting My Friend in Pretoria, South Africa

I am so grateful and privileged to have friends who live all over the world. This not only grants me the opportunity to stay with these friends and minimize travel costs. I also have a built in buddy, whom I share a true bond and connection to, to spend time with and explore a new place.

Puleng, my friend from graduate school, is South African. She was generous enough to show me around her town, which also happens to be the capitol city of South Africa.

I spent two nights with Puleng in which she gave me a specialized, personalized tour. We went to her friend's book reading at African Flavour in Johannesburg. We attended a rare Ladysmith Black Mambazo concert at the South African State Theatre. And we discussed politics and learned about apartheid at the Union Buildings and Freedom Park. Read about these highlights and more in this post!

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Exploring Windhoek and Partying With Queer Namibians

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Exploring Windhoek and Partying With Queer Namibians

Who knew Namibia had a queer scene? When I planned my trip to Namibia, I never expected to meet Namibian queer folk—and party with them! But that's exactly what happened through my couchsurf host in Windhoek, Namibia's capital city.

I stayed with Naville, a friend of a friend in the couchsurf community, while in Windhoek. Naville lives close to the city center. So it was super easy to access and explore shops, restaurants, sights, and bars from his place!

In this post, I share everything I squeezed into 1 full day and night in Windhoek. This included ethically shopping African souvenirs from local tribes and learning about local LGBT rights over ciders at a bar.

Despite limited time, I ended up making some great memories and even greater friends!Who knew Namibia had a queer scene? When I planned my trip to Namibia, I never expected to meet Namibian queer folk—and party with them! But that's exactly what happened through my couchsurf host in Windhoek, Namibia's capital city.

I stayed with Naville, a friend of a friend in the couchsurf community, while in Windhoek. Naville lives close to the city center. So it was super easy to access and explore shops, restaurants, sights, and bars from his place!

In this post, I share everything I squeezed into 1 full day and night in Windhoek. This included ethically shopping African souvenirs from local tribes and learning about local LGBT rights over ciders at a bar.

Despite limited time, I ended up making some great memories and even greater friends!

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10 (More) Things To Do In New York City

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10 (More) Things To Do In New York City

In my last post about things to do in New York City, I focused mostly on what to see as first-timers to NYC. I featured mainly the places and activities I chose to show my then-boyfriend from New Zealand.

In this post, I cover different things to do in the Big Apple. You could say these suggestions are suited for second-timers! But really, you can pick and choose from this list or the last list and be totally fulfilled during your visit!

Included are activities I've experienced on my own and with others. As a former resident and frequent commuter to the city, I've included all kinds of recommendations from my New York adventures. 

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17 Things To Do in New Orleans

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17 Things To Do in New Orleans

I love doing these lists. They are a good way to sum up some of the extra stuff I did in a location that is good enough to share but does not warrant a full blown post.

So here's a bunch of photos with descriptions about stuff I did that's totally worth doing in New Orleans. This includes going to the French Market which was full of all kinds of excellent treasures (and giant watermelons) as well as taking my Atheist self to church on Sunday morning. Say what?!

You'll also recognize some emblematic experiences I've talked at length about elsewhere. Enjoy!

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10 Must Do's in New York City for First-Time Visitors

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10 Must Do's in New York City for First-Time Visitors

I'm taking a break this week from my New Orleans posts to share a bit about my home city!

While Jono was visiting me for 5 weeks this past summer, I took him on a tour of New York City. Although we did not get to do everything we wanted to, what we did do represents a really good outline of "must-do's" for first-time visitors to the Big Apple.

Lists like these have been done before. But what mine includes is a lot of insider tips you won't get elsewhere.

I discuss some of the most typical experiences you should try to have while in New York with tidbits on the best way to do it. These are experiences only a life-long New Yorker comes to know how to navigate—but now you'll know it, too!

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12 Foods You Must Try in New Orleans

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12 Foods You Must Try in New Orleans

At the end of 5 days in New Orleans, I felt like I had gained 100 lbs because of all of the eating we did. I regret nothing!

New Orleans is considered Americas "food city." There is literally something for everyone including some serious cultural eating you cannot get anywhere else. Yes, I'm talking about the Crescent City's famous Cajun and Creole influences.

In this post, I give a short review of all the traditional foods you cannot miss and the best places to order them. You'll also learn about the current BBQ craze and up-and-coming Vietnamese trend. Catch them both before they go out of style!

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The Brassy Jazz Sounds of New Orleans

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The Brassy Jazz Sounds of New Orleans

The music culture is one of the main reasons I decided to take Jono to New Orleans this summer.

Trumpets, tubas, and trombones lead the culture of this Louisiana town. It's where parades of brass instruments blare down the streets at the start of a new day and jazz processions commonly mark the end of a life.

From a famous, 20-year old brass band recognized by the Grammy's to simple street performing artists, I saw the Crescent City bring strutting jazz, indie funk, hip-hop attitude and old school swing together under one melodic genre that is uniquely New Orleans.

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3 Surprisingly Awesome Things About Nashville

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3 Surprisingly Awesome Things About Nashville

I went to Nashville in late April for my friend Dasha's 30th birthday! There was 7 of us altogether and we had a stellar time exploring this southern city and the surrounding area.

But before I dive into our adventures in great detail, I want to share with you what I found most unexpected about Nashville. Nashville is known for a lot of things. Its excellent live music, its delectable food, and its ancient Greek architecture are a few of its most prominent attractions.

What I didn't expect was a dance party on a street corner, architecture to rival other cities, and a stereotypical country theme that is unafraid to laugh at itself.

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Shopping Spree in Tokyo on a Layover: Gamers and Anime-Lovers, Rejoice!

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Shopping Spree in Tokyo on a Layover: Gamers and Anime-Lovers, Rejoice!

I had finally arrived at my last destination abroad before returning to the USA: Tokyo, Japan. At 6:35am, I got off my connecting flight from Bangkok with a clear mission. I was going to spend the next several hours shopping in Tokyo.

I would need to minimize my time spent on public transportation in order to maximize the time I had between my flights.

Although I felt a bit rushed at times, I think I did a pretty good job planning my day. In 9 hours time, I managed to find out where to drop my luggage, board the right trains to get to the optimal shopping neighborhoods, and find the stores that would carry gifts for my game-loving, anime-loving family members back home.

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Marina Bay: Why Singapore is my new favorite world city (Part 2 of 2)

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Marina Bay: Why Singapore is my new favorite world city (Part 2 of 2)

I’ve visited many cities during my travels, falling in love over and over again with each. Cities like Reykjavik, Berlin, Chiang Mai, Wellington, and Melbourne all captured my heart in different ways. But I did not fall in love with any of these cities like I fell in love with Singapore.

The Singapore Government poured $35 million into one area of the city—Marina Bay. Money well spent, as the product is a masterpiece of architectural wonders, floral landscaping, and waterfront beautification. I could not stop snapping photos during my few hours spent between flights here. Marina Bay easily left me in awe with the city as a whole. Now I know I must go back—especially to see it at night and to stay at its mesmerizing, world class hotel.

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How to see Singapore on a layover (Part 1 of 2): The airport to the city

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How to see Singapore on a layover (Part 1 of 2): The airport to the city

Singapore is a city state and Southeast Asian island country next to Malaysia. And it’s small. At only 278 square miles (719 sq km), Singapore is an easy city to see during a long layover between flights. I flew into Singapore Changi airport at about 6AM from Auckland, New Zealand. My next flight was not until 9PM. This was more than enough time to see a bit of Singapore city.

The only problem was I had not done any research before my arrival! Was there public transportation? Could I leave my baggage at the airport? Where in the city should I go first? Find out how I got around and where I ended up in the first part of this post!

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