Adventuriety
China was a big deal for a lot of reasons. It was our 6th continent, our 18th country and our last destination for the year and above all, it was China and the thought of China intimidated me. Of all of the countries we have visited in the past year, China seemed the most foreign to me with its language, history, size, government and current...
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Adventuriety
I’m just going to start by saying that this blog drove me crazy and took forever to write and rewrite and rewrite. We chose Kyoto for five days because the overwhelming advice from both friends and guidebooks was to spend our time in Kyoto! There seems to be a consensus that Kyoto is the place to visit and when Japan is the topic, the questions range from, “Have...
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Adventuriety / Inspirietry
After the sensory overload of Tokyo, we were all looking forward to a little nature and a slower pace. The charming town of Nikko was recommended both by friends and guidebooks. It is located a little more than two hours north of Tokyo and offers both the UNESCO World Heritage that includes 103 buildings or structures belonging to two Shinto shrines and one Buddhist temple...
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Adventuriety
Traveling can help you get to know yourself for sure. This “last trip” on our year long adventure was a point of contention. I wanted Iceland, Norway and Ireland, places that sounded good in the hot summer months and all places I had been looking forward to visiting. Besides, I am Norwegian on my father’s side and I wanted to visit Norway. Conversely, my family...
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Adventuriety
I have been behind on my blogging more than usual after this past South America jaunt and have spent days at home catching up on Peru, Galapagos Islands and Aruba. It’s not unusual for me to lag behind, but it has been much worse lately and when I finally caught up to our latest adventure I happily reported to Scott who had been asking me on...
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Inspirietry / Recuperiety
One of the benefits of traveling is that one learns geography and in planning our South America jaunt, Scott was thrilled to realize how closely Aruba and Ecuador are positioned on the globe. While Scott is always on the lookout for trekking opportunities, his true love is the sport of windsurfing and a very dry four years has left his beloved local windsurfing spot looking like...
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Adventuriety
I feel like a real blogger now. I am in the middle of nowhere…literally. I am sitting in the main area of our “lodge” using the wifi, borrowing a power outlet, drinking a local beer. I have taken many planes and a high speed drug boat (I am fairly certain) to get here. Scott and I have been watching La Reina del Sur, a...
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Adventuriety
Today we woke up early and shared Special-K and Granola with a few bananas. After a double-check of the backpack, Grant, Ashley and I headed out of our apartment and hailed a taxi. In Quito there are a wide variety of “taxis” so you have to use a little caution to get the ones that are licensed. Always grab the ones that...
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Adventuriety / Inspirietry
Our last guided excursion was today and happily today was going to be the shortest amount of time in the car. We left the apartment around 8:00 am and headed north out of town. Our first stop was at Mitad del Mundo. We have been some places this year that are really interesting that I would not have ever thought I would see....
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Adventuriety
Today had nothing on our schedule and so we slept in a bit. We did however have plenty of work to catch up on. I thought we could break the day up by having lunch in the historic district. We hired a cab which took us there after a 15 minute ride that cost only $3.80. Two nice traveler points about Ecuador are that most...
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