Before even leaving California, my mom and I were told our flight to Vienna was affected by strikes in France. Arriving a day late without luggage taught me more about visiting Vienna than any guidebook. When the English lost-luggage line wouldn’t connect, I had our hotel concierge call the German line. This Vienna travel guide…
One of the few things my mother remembers from her childhood is watching her grandmother stretch dough for apple strudel across a massive table. So when I surprised my mom with a heritage trip in May 2018, deciding what to eat in Vienna was partly about tracing our roots and savoring the dishes as our ancestors would…
On the last day of my first London trip in 2006, I didn’t see a single sight. I was so burnt out from rushing between attractions that I spent the day in a movie theater watching Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. That was one of many common travel mistakes I’ve made over 13…
Nothing is scarier than being lost and alone in an unfamiliar place, especially for a solo female traveler. I’m comparing Maps.me vs Google Maps because people ask how I’ve navigated so confidently for the past decade in places I’ve never been. I’ve used Maps.me since 2018, when a friend told me to download this offline…
In over a decade of solo travel across 25+ European countries, I’ve rarely rented a car. Trains, buses, and my own two feet usually get me where I want to go. But every so often, I travel with friends or family to places where public transportation only gets you so far, such as Rhodes, the…
On my last day in Bangkok, Thailand, it was absolutely pouring! I mean, sheets of rain. It wasn’t even May yet — the start of the rainy season — and there I was, stuck in a parking garage, trying not to get soaked. Thailand’s shoulder season travel window runs from April to early June and…
As a child, I adored sitting on my living room carpet in front of the TV, taking in faraway places. I felt like I was peeking through a portal into other worlds, and those travel films inspired me to get out there and take my own trips. I’ve since visited 38 countries (as of 2026),…
I’m really hard to buy gifts for, so I’ve found that the best gifts are always things someone wouldn’t buy for themselves, or you’ll end up like my mother, watching half her presents get returned. This list of gifts for someone traveling to Europe omits travel basics like underwear, shirts, and a swimsuit and instead…
As someone who’s tried everything from Meetup.com to Bumble BFF (how I met my travel buddy), I’m no stranger to trying every way imaginable to meet people, especially when traveling. Which is why I was so eager to try this ‘turn strangers into friends’ app while I was in Europe for 4.5 months, solo, and…
I originally visited the Folger Shakespeare Library in May 2019, when it had a tiny area for visitors in the DC area. Honestly, it was so small that a friend who lived there told me it’d take only 5 minutes. But being the longtime Tudor history and Shakespeare enthusiast I am, I was determined to…
I’ve been a fan of travel TV shows long before the Travel Channel turned into the Aliens built this channel! I can recall sitting on the couch, clicking through the TV remote in search of the best travel TV shows that would transport me to just about anywhere but the United States, where I lived….
Only have a weekend getaway and wondering if you can truly do Lisbon justice in that amount of time? With 2 days in Lisbon, Portugal, it will be a bit of a sprint, especially when contending with the seven hills the city is famous for, but you can see the city’s highlights in an action-packed…
Struggling to figure out exactly how many days in Lisbon you need without either rushing through the seven famous hills or running out of things to do? Planning can feel overwhelming when you’re weighing limited vacation days against a budget and wondering if you have time to squeeze in a day trip to Sintra on…
Trying to figure out where to stay in Lisbon Portugal, without blowing your whole budget on accommodation? When I rebooked my 2020 trip in 2021, prices were significantly higher, so it was super important to find accommodation in Lisbon that wouldn’t break the bank. And as I was going solo after my cousin dropped out,…
I was supposed to go to Lisbon with my cousin. Then COVID happened. The trip was postponed, and when I finally departed in September 2021, I ended up going solo. Suddenly, I had to figure out: was this even a smart idea? As a woman who has explored 25+ countries alone, I always keep safety…
