Top 10 Travel and Adventure Favorites from Abroad

It is hard believe that we are going to be on a plane for India in just over a month.  Even more amazing is that we will be moving out of our house in just two weeks.  It is an entirely new chapter in our life.

Sure we have traveled for extended periods before, but this time, we are not planning on returning to our careers in the film business.  Nope, we are moving on to somehow become ful ltime adventurers!

Six months ago, we decided to work diligently on our blog.  It has been an amazing experience writing daily posts and it has made us reflect on our past travels.

In a few short weeks, we will be making new memories, but for now we would like to share some of our Favorite things that we have encountered in our travels.  We were brainstorming about moments that have stood out over the years and

Here is our list of Favorites from abroad.

At the Summit

1- Favorite Adventure – Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro had to be one of the highlights of our life.  We spent six glorious days with great people, fantastic guides and wonderful scenery.  To make it to the top of one of the most famous climbs on the planet is one of the most gratifying experiences a person can have.

2- Favorite Thrill Ride – I was freaking out when the police stopped us to warn us how dangerous it was to dune buggy through the sand dunes of Huacachina.  But once we got started, it was a thrill of a lifetime.  Roller coaster have nothing on climbing one of the highest dunes in the world strapped into a rugged 4X4 only to plunge down the almost vertical drop on the other side.

3- Favorite Adrenaline Rush – Dave had always wanted to go to Zambia to jump from one of the world’s tallest bungee jumps at Victoria Falls.  We took it one step further and booked a day abseiling, zip lining and swinging into the great gorge as seen on the Amazing Race!

4- Favorite Meal – food is always the main focus of our travels. After a good adventure there is nothing more satisfying than eating an amazing meal.  We were cycling Africa last year and by the time we made it to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, we were famished.  Ethiopian is one of our favorite foods and having a great mix of stews and salads served with Injera at the tranquil Ghion Hotel downtown was simply heaven. We were even treated to a show with traditional dancers and music as we sipped our beer and stuffed out faces.

5-Favorite Sunset – It is hard to pin down the perfect sunset.  Our planet is filled with them. But we will never forget being on a boat cruise in Chobe National park watching the sun go down.  Hippos were munching in the water, elephants were lumbering on the river banks and the sky was ablaze with reds, yellows and oranges.

Roasting Coffee in Ubud

6-Favorite Coffee – Before we started traveling, neither of us were big coffee drinkers.  But to visit places such as Indonesia and Africa where coffee was born, how can you not become a lover of the caffeinated beverage.  We have enjoyed some rich and delectable cups of joe, but nothing compares to Bali Coffee.  It is the most delicious brew we have ever tasted.  We brought several bags home with us, and we just may have to take a side trip from India to visit Bali, just to stock up again.

7- Favorite Place to Chill out.  It isn’t always about treks and adventures. Sometimes we just want to relax and work on our tans.  Nothing compared to Gili Air for serious chill time.  We decided to venture to Lombok with the intent of staying a couple of days in the Gili Islands.  11 days later we finally pulled ourselves away from this small island that didn’t allow motorized vehicles.  Horse carts were the mode of transport or some good old fashioned foot power.  We slept in hammocks, snorkeled the drift in front of the beach and ate seafood until our hearts content.

8 – Favorite Wildlife Encounter. Wow, the wildlife we have seen over the years has been amazing. But nothing compared to our time in Belize.  Taking a sail boat out to the pristine coral reef near Caye Caulker to swim with the sharks with Juni was so much fun that we turned around and went right back the next day.  We saw eagle rays, manta rays, nurse sharks, barracuda’s and eels.  We had been diving throughout Central America before hitting Belize, but the snorkeling with our guide Juni was a touching experience.  These fish had personalities and I could see the intelligence and innocence in their eyes.

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9- Favorite Festival.  We had stumbled into Malaysia in January thinking that we would use it as a stepping off point to go to Bali, Singapore and Malaysian borneo. Well, 6 weeks later we were still there and in that time, we witnessed the most shocking and amazing festival on the planet.  Thaipusam is a Hindu Festival where pilgrims pay homage to the Lord Muruga by piecing themselves with hooks and driving spikes through their cheeks and lips.  Unbelievable unless you have seen it with your own eyes.

10 –Favorite Trek. People may say that Sapa is ruined and that it is over run with tourists.  We loved our time in Sapa.  Dave and I had a private tour with Xin as our guide.  We walked through the vast rice terraces for 3 days. We picnicked on a high plateau, we enjoyed rice wine with the local villagers as they sang around the fire.  We ventured far into the mountains away from the town and away from tribes corrupted by tourism.  It was an incredible experience staying in a homestay. Xin brought a feast and the family prepared fresh vegetables and rice and the rice wine kept flowing. We quickly learned that you just cannot ever say no to rice wine when it is offered.

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Confessions of a Post-luggage-loss Shopaholic

Today’s post comes to us from Karin Gusta.  We were chatting the other day about a flight that she had taken to Paris and I just had to have her share it with everyone.  I love hearing about a bad situation turning out to be a great one! Knock on wood, I haven’t had any luggage lost during our travels, but I am sure that the inevitable will happen one day, and hopefully we have as pleasant of an experience as Karin and Gillian had.

Confessions of a Post-luggage-loss Shopaholic

Sometimes, the best part of travel is getting your luggage lost.

Wait, wait! Hear me out. I’m serious. Here’s the story.

A couple years ago I flew from Toronto to France via London. I was traveling with my friend Gillian. We went in September and planned on spending time in Paris, Marseille and then Poland. We were prepared for an assortment of weather possibilities.

We arrived in London, as did our luggage. It had managed to make the treacherous trek across the Atlantic unscathed. Crossing the English Channel however, proved to be too much of an undertaking. We flew with Air France. This, as you will see, turned out to be a wonderful, wonderful thing.

travel.msn.co.nz

Somewhere between London and Paris, our 2 backpacks decided to vacation without us.
And this is where our tale begins.

During our initial communications with the airline, we were told they were on the hunt for our wayward luggage. More importantly, I was also told that we should purchase anything we needed in the mean time.

“What do you mean by ‘anything we need’?” I said, feeling like we were being set up.
The gentleman on the other end of the phone proceeded to tell us, that we should buy absolutely everything we required for our trip and that we would be reimbursed.

“This being our first trip to France, we had heard tales of Parisians being rude and unhelpful. Entirely not true!”

Being a financial prude and not wanting to spend money that wasn’t available, I asked for a concrete figure. A spending limit. I was never given one. The closest restrictive guideline I got was “Be sensible with your shopping. Don’t buy a 200 Euro t-shirt.”

Fair enough, I thought, and after some reluctance, I allowed this Air France carte blanche to whisk me away on my shopping adventure.

Oh what a terrible hardship had befallen us! Shopping in Paris.

I bought dresses, shoes, jeans, bikinis, sweaters. The list of necessities goes on and on ?

Not all of it was glamorous. There were cotton swabs and socks and moisturizer, but I have to say, even the purchase of fairly non-frivolous undies had an air of decadence to it when done in French.

And, one of the best parts of all this, was the people we encountered during our wardrobe-replenishment mission. This being our first trip to France, we had heard tales of Parisians being rude and unhelpful. Entirely not true!

Our French being quite limited, we found everyone did their best to help us, with the use of what they called their “little bit” of English. On a side note, apparently the French have a grave misunderstanding of what “a little bit” means. These people were damn near fluent!

There was also the added amusement of seeing the horror on the faces of these lovely French people, when they learned that is was their national airline that was responsible for our misfortune. It felt like they were compelled to personally right this wrong.

I did not abuse my shopping powers. I was sensible with most of my purchases, but not being familiar with this new retail adventureland that was Paris, I did end up with some purchases that would normally not fit my budget back home.

I have to admit, I still fought the inner beast of doubt on occasion. Could this really be true? Air France will pay for all this?

I drowned my doubts in the purchase of a lovely fall coat.

We also continued in our attempts to make contact with our elusive luggage, but alas, it was not to be found while we were in Europe.

I had accepted the loss of some of my favourite clothes and embraced my new chic, French wardrobe.

But the travel spirits, in their infinite wisdom and wonderfully scheming ways, not only supplied us with this unique shopping opportunity, but also saw it fit to return our belongings to us unharmed. In the end Air France delivered our recovered luggage directly to our homes in Toronto, around the same time we got back.

And so, you wonder, did we actually get reimbursed for our purchases?

Yes we did. Promptly. To the penny. No questions asked.

I heart Air France.

So what is the moral of this story?
Travel with a good airline, pack your “I can’t live without this stuff” in you carry-on, and keep your fingers crossed, that you too can acquire a whole new wardrobe courtesy of your friendly skies.

Karin Gusta currently lives in Toronto, but has lived in Poland, Iraq and Kuwait. Her love for travel displayed itself at a young age. Now she frequently combines it with her other passion – rock climbing. And shopping She funds her passions by working as a Graphic Designer.

You can follow her group on facebook at Pomegranate Graphic Design Services

For your Graphic Design needs and services visit her website at Pomegranate Designs

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