Ugh ...

I haven't updated this baby in a very long time. I feel ashamed. But the silver lining is that I HAVE been writing stuff on a consistent basis. I promise to do better here, but check out my latest piece on group travel on GoJaneNews.com!

Feel like a drink?

Temple Bar in Dublin, Ireland

Check out my first official travel piece — A beer tour through Europe — for amNewYork in tomorrow's paper's Travel section.

Or read it online here.

Let me know what you think!

Tweet, tweet, travel, travel

Readers of Bitten, I just wanted to let you know that I now am an avid Tweeter. For travel updates, and updates on my daily activities, follow me @SmellTheRosy.

That is all.

Piling on the baggage

It looks like the federal government is stepping in to regulate airlines a bit. And unlike the annoyingly stupid full body security scans instituted last year, these regulations actually look like they're going to benefit travelers. Shocking, I know.

The Transportation Department's new rules, which are slated to go into effect in about four months or so, will mean that airlines will have to refund baggage fees if they lose your luggage — they're already required to compensate you for the value of your lost goodies. But you're out of luck if your bag is delivered eventually (no matter how far down 'eventually' is). Airlines won't be required to reimburse you if the bag comes late.

The new rule also will make airlines include all fees, taxes and hidden costs in their advertised prices. I don't know about you, but I think it's immensely annoying when I'm planning to book a flight because it's this great deal I found only to be slapped with $100-plus extra on the final cost. Kind of defeats the whole beauty of the deal, doesn't it?

Also — and I'm extremely lucky this has never happened to me — but apparently airlines have kept passengers on the tarmac for up to 10 hours. Ridiculous! Well, it's not going to happen anymore. The Transportation Department is expanding the tarmac delay rules — which already say that domestic flights can't hold passengers on board without food, water and access to bathrooms for more than three hours — to include international flights at a cap of four hours.

This last rule is one that I think shouldn't even have to be implemented because the premise of the violation behind it is so absolutely absurd — but at least something's being done about it, I suppose. Carriers will have to pay passengers up to twice the cost of their ticket, capped at $800, if they're bumped from an overbooked flight (it was a $400 max before).

Carriers shouldn't be overbooking flights anyway!!! Seriously. I understand it's all a money game, but come on! If, for whatever reason, the flight is booked and someone doesn't show up or cancels, there's always stand-bys hanging on for hope that they'll make it on that last-minute flight. Put them on the flight, rather than overbooking it to start and then having to reschedule the passengers that are bumped. Wouldn't that save everyone time and perhaps some headaches?

Anyway, at least those unfortunate people will get some sort of compensation now. Because, let's face it, how many flights cost you less than $200 these days?

A resident visitor

It's interesting going back to a place that you used to live in as a visitor. (See what I had to say about it here.) In a way the nostalgia gets to you. Because you don't live there anymore. You ARE an outsider now.

Relaxing with some fish pedicures

On the other hand, it's really nice to be able to visit somewhere just to relax and see the people you came to see without worrying about running around to all the tourist attractions you have to see in the five days you're there.

A gorgeous day at Kew Gardens

There's always something new to discover, especially in a city like London, so my recent trip there was far from boring. I actually spent most of my days wandering around parts of the city I hadn't been to in the three months I lived there four years ago. It was great to be able to relax and wander around with my friends, and to see the things that someone just visiting probably wouldn't bother to see.

Strolling in the old 'hood

However, it is nice to visit your old hangouts and neighborhood. It's fun to see what's changed and comforting to note what hasn't (like my favorite sandwich shop with the best sandwiches ever right by Hyde Park). It's brings back good memories of good times once had.

All in all, a great trip to a place I love with wonderful people. What could be better?

$hopping on the cheap

St. Josep food market off of La Rambla in Barcelona

I'm all about traveling on a budget. But sometimes it's nice to splurge on a little something for yourself — and there's a lot to be said for the therapeutic value of retail therapy.

You all know what I'm talking about.

Click here to read more about my suggestions of how to shop on the cheap across the pond — my latest contribution to GoJaneNews.com.

Hope you like it!

Branching out

Regent Street in London

I'm branching out! You're looking at — well reading the words of — the newest travel writer for GoJaneNews.com.

Don't worry, Bitten is going strong and I have no plans of slowing my pace here. I love it here. But a girl's gotta get her name out there! So do me a favor and check out my latest piece on Girlfriend Getaways (along with my very own photos). And don't be shy ... let me know what you think.

More to come soon!

Regarding the compromise

Alas, my honey decided that he can't financially justify my planned trip to Ireland.

Yes, I'm disappointed, but such is the life of someone bitten by the travel bug. You can't expect others to fully understand or be able to comply with your craziness, passion, however you want to put it.

Because of my own strapped wallet, I have had to scrap my original plan to see the Irish countryside and instead will be venturing solo to good ol' London in April. Different, yes, but nevertheless exciting, especially since I'll have the opportunity to see and catch up with old friends.

As a traveler, you have to be willing to not only compromise to accommodate the itineraries and interests of others, but you also have to be willing and flexible enough to accommodate unexpected changes that are inevitably going to happen to your own itinerary, no matter how well planned it might be.

My Ireland trip is not canceled — simply postponed indefinitely at the moment. I will go and see the Irish countryside and it will be lovely. Just not this May. And I'm OK with that.

A traveler's compromise

I like to travel. I think we've adequately established that. I spend most of my free time thinking of my next trip, whether it's a weekend trip up to Westchester or a trip across the Atlantic. Planning trips, perfecting itineraries and discovering deals to places I never even thought of visiting until right that moment makes me happy. It's my go-to when I'm particularly anxious or stressed out.

My boyfriend, the wonderful and lovely man that he is, is not in any way whatsoever passionate about travel. Sure, he'll do it (a lot of the time to oblige my travel bug) but he doesn't get excited by it. I'm not even saying to the degree that I do — he's just not all that into it.

Me and my travel buddy, Sheila, showcasing our
"I've seen Mt. Everest" certificates

When we started our relationship a bit more than one (very wonderful, mind you) year ago, we discussed that while he would NEVER want to join me on a trip to, say, India or Southeast Asia, he also would never stop me from going. Lucky for me I have a friend who's a particularly good traveling buddy who's just as crazy as I am about the whole thing. She currently is spending several months trekking through South America. Yes, I'm incredibly jealous.

Anyway, the fact that my man doesn't want to travel to some more out of the ordinary places is OK. I'm just as happy exploring the beauty of Europe and maybe, just maybe, Japan and/or Australia one day. Oh, if only things were that easy.

If you're a travel nut, like me, you know that no matter how dire financial straits might be, you find a way to make it work. (I've even outlined in an earlier post some of the ways that I, personally, am able to travel as much as I do, to the amazement of many of my more well-off friends.) If you're not a travel nut, like my boyfriend, then justifying spending $2,000 on one week of schlepping around Ireland doesn't really sound all that appealing — he'd much rather take that money and spend it on comic books. As he very astutely phrased it, that's where the two of us differ most greatly in our personalities: he would rather spend his money on tangible assets, whereas I am much happier spending it on experiences. 

And therein lies the rub.

Relaxing after snorkeling in Grand Cayman

Another issue is that I am a very active traveler. My philosophy is that if I already spent that much of my hard-earned and not-so-easy-to-come-by money to get to a place, I might as well take full advantage of it and see as much as possible. My boyfriend, like many normal people, prefers to actually relax on his vacations. Perhaps that's why he was less combative about our trip to Grand Cayman than he's being about my very jam-packed itinerary for Ireland.

Luckily, we both love each other enough to compromise, which I hear is what a successful relationship is all about. He has agreed to — perhaps begrudgingly, but I choose to ignore that — go on my trip to Ireland; I have agreed to go to as many book stores as he wants to visit while we're there.

In the future, I'll just have to either plan my vacations with my man locally and around certain comic conventions (see Weekend Getaways: Chicago and Philadelphia), or I'll have to capitalize on his love of boats and plan many more cruise vacations. Not a problem, considering I also enjoy cruises.

It's all about compromise.

Have any tips on how to get some more unwilling parties to comply with your traveling needs?

Finding your own way to get lost

The rush of adrenaline hits your senses. The anticipation of the possibility of discovering something you’ve never seen before, mixed with the anxiety of not knowing what lays around the corner creates a unique rush.

But getting lost while traveling is something that, ironically, requires planning ... and an awareness and concern for your own safety.

The New York Times’ former “Frugal Traveler,” Matt Gross, a few months ago launched a new series dubbed “Getting Lost.” Gross chronicles his attempts to get lost while traveling. His first stop was Morocco, second was Ireland.

“I’ve lately been wondering, how does it feel truly not to know where you are? Are the guidebooks, GPS devices and Internet forums pointing us in the wrong direction? In our efforts to figure out where we’re going, have we lost something more important?

“Hence this new series, ‘Getting Lost,’ in which every few months I will try to lose my way all over the globe, from developing-world megalopolises to European capitals, from American sprawl to Asian archipelagos. (For the moment, I’ll avoid deep wilderness and deserts; I want to survive.) It’s a challenge that requires special preparation — that is, nonpreparation. In the past, I’ve researched destinations to death, zooming deep into Google Maps and uncovering unusual restaurants in the darkest corners of the Web. Now I am avoiding maps. I am shying away from Chowhound and Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree forum; I will not ask my Facebook friends who they know in Moscow or Addis Ababa.

“I am, in short, trying to break free of the constraints of modern travel, of a culture in which every minute is rigorously planned, and we grade destinations based on how they live up to our expectations. I want to have no expectations. I plan to show up with neither hotel reservation nor guidebook; instead of devising my own itinerary, I will let the place itself guide me, and in doing so, I will, I hope, find myself caught up in moments I never could have imagined,” Gross writes.

Sure it sounds glamorous and exciting — coming to a place without any plans in hand. Aimlessly exploring your surroundings and stumbling upon hidden gems. Yeah it’s great, if the NY Times is paying you big bucks to write about it.

But what about for all of us other travelers who aren’t getting big paychecks to travel. Who simply do it because we love it and who don’t have the kind of cash to throw down for a flight at the last minute or a hotel room that will cost double or triple because we didn’t have a reservation.

Prague was beautiful at the turn of any and every corner

I’m not saying that it’s necessary to plan out every detail of your itinerary. Some of my best travel experiences came by wandering around and letting my instincts guide which way I turned at the next corner. Wandering rather aimlessly through the streets of Prague allowed me to see much more of that beautiful city than I would have had I stuck to the main streets and mapped out every step.

However, that was Prague; not Morocco. Depending on where you’re traveling, safety becomes a greater concern. Well, safety’s always a concern, especially for a female solo traveler, but walking around, say, London after sunset is far less dangerous (depending on what neighborhood you’re in, of course) than generally wandering around Morocco by yourself at night. That sentiment also was expressed in a response letter to Gross’ first “Getting Lost” column.

“In ‘Lost in Tangier,’ Matt Gross romanticizes ‘getting lost’ in Tangier’s medina. He makes the journey seem eminently doable for a solo traveler. He fails to mention that this may be much more difficult for a woman traveling alone. I lived in Morocco for eight months on a Fulbright grant, and traveled quite a bit around the country. In Tangier, like many cities I visited in Morocco, it was not advisable to be out alone at night if you were not a male or accompanied by one. Come-ons aloud and whispered, being followed in cars, the occasional grab: none of these are much fun. Matt Gross, as a man traveling alone, perhaps did not think about any of this as none of it happened to him, or perhaps he did not think to ask any of the women he met,” writes Alma Rachel Heckman of Los Angeles.

Though it's a very famous Dublin landmark, my friends and I
found Temple Bar by simply wandering the street

In his second installment of “Getting Lost,” Gross writes about driving around Ireland. One aspect of his solo travel that he focuses on is the loneliness of it. As a seasoned traveler, Gross has developed exceptional friend-making skills. I have those as well. It’s that inner thing that lets you strike up a conversation with the person sitting next to you on the plane, or the bus, or at the bar. That need to connect with another traveler and share your experience with someone as excited to be there as you are.

But there is something to be said about traveling alone. Not being responsible to anyone else or having to go discover something you don’t really care about because the person you’re with wants to see it. But I wrote about that already ...

Getting back to getting lost: “Maybe I was just grazing the surface of Ireland, failing to penetrate to its core, but when the surface is as raw and gorgeous as it is in Kerry, and when you never know when you’ll stumble on a Martine’s or the Calvinists, and when, despite everything that’s happened before, good and bad, you trust the road to take you where it will, sometimes the surface suffices,” Gross writes in “Lost in Ireland.”

Yes, I’m sure that grazing the surface of a country as beautiful as Ireland can be more than enough for someone who can afford to go back time after time. But for someone like me, who needs to take full advantage of every travel opportunity (both due to time and monetary concerns), just grazing the surface often is not enough. Who knows how many more times I’ll be able to go back to a place like Egypt or India, if ever again. For my own, personal travel satisfaction — to alleviate that damn bite as much as possible until it starts itching again — I need to plan out a way to see as much of a city, country and/or continent as I can.

Even Gross, who is trying to get lost on his travels, tacks on to the end of his piece this: “Even if you’re trying to get lost, it’s OK to have some touchstones. And don’t worry, just because you have these addresses doesn’t mean they’ll be easy to find.”

In the end, getting lost in a city can be a blast. You can discover hidden gems that may not be on that map your eyes are glued to otherwise. But remember that your safety comes first. And planning, even if it’s just a basic skeleton of an itinerary, is not necessarily a bad thing. Often, it’s what makes a trip the most worthwhile.

Weekend getaways: Maine

The drive up with pretty foliage

I'm a bad blogger, I know. It's been a month since I've unleashed my thoughts on the cyber world. In my defense, it's been a hectic couple of months. Work has been busier than usual, my boyfriend and I are searching for our first apartment together, and I've only been on one small, weekend trip up to Maine.

I know, I know ... it's no excuse. But I'm trying to make myself feel better, here. Anyway, this month was a fluke. And now I'm back. So here goes.

So the boyfriend and I did a quick trip at the end of October up to Wells, Maine, a small town on the Eastern coast of our northern-most state. I have to say, unless you're a lobster fanatic (which, luckily, I am) or an avid antiquer, there's not really much to do up in that part of Maine. Especially past mid-October.

Maine Diner's famous lobster pie

Twin 1-lb. lobsters

Unfortunately, a lot of the outdoor attractions closed for the season the weekend before we got up there, as did many of the outdoor restaurants. But, as I've said before, my main requirement for a successful trip is that I'm not at home, so even though the trip was rather uneventful on an events scale, it was quite nice just relaxing, driving around, walking through small Maine towns and gazing at the beautiful fall foliage that surrounded us -- not to mention the massive amounts of lobster I consumed at half the price it would be at home.

The harbor at Kennebunkport

Our little weekend getaway served its purpose -- we both needed a break from the same old weekend spent in our respective NYC apartments.

Weekend getaways: Philadelphia

As I prepare for an upcoming weekend getaway in Maine, I thought it was time for another installment on the blog.

In June, my boyfriend and I took a quick trip down to Philadelphia. Not surprisingly, he thought of planning the trip because there was a Comic Con in Philadelphia that weekend, but it doesn’t bother me, because I’m not all that picky as to the catalyst of our travel plans, as long as there ARE travel plans.

I, of course, have been to Philadelphia before — I’m pretty sure it’s a staple in any child’s life who went to elementary school in New Jersey. You took a trip to Philly to see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall and all that.

Philly's Magic Garden

My love at the
Magic Garden

This trip, we specifically avoided those places and instead chose to wander around the city. We incidentally got a great deal at a very nice hotel in what we were told was the “posh” part of the city. Unfortunately, we happened to be there on one of the hottest weekends of the summer.

I had done a little bit of research before we left, so we had a couple of planned stops, including the Mutter Museum at the College of Physicians, which houses all kinds of medical specimens and samples and lots of things floating in jars; and the “Magic Garden,” a building and outdoor space covered in mosaic taken from all manner of “junk” for some, and treasure for others, including tires, bicycles, bottles and other such things.

South Street

Beyond that, we just wandered around exploring the city, mostly walking down South Street. Of course we partook in some Philly cheesesteaks for lunch and simply had a nice time being together.

Weekend getaways don’t need to be anything fancy or elaborately planned. Sometimes all you need is a little change of scenery and some alone time with a person you like having alone time with.

Can’t wait to tell you all about Maine!

Saving money is always a good thing; being cheap is not

With airlines consistently cutting back on their customer service, why the hell do prices keep going up? It used to be that you paid for the flight and got a free pillow, blanket, headphones and semi-decent meal (if you were flying far enough), or at least a snack. You were able to check two pieces of luggage and have a carry-on and personal item on board for no additional cost. I understand the airlines are in serious financial troubles — I get it, really — but if you’re cutting back on all the frills, then charge the same prices as no-frills airlines do. Why are we paying more than ever for no-frills flights and then paying extra for the frills on top of that?

In Europe there are several no-frills airlines that offer inexpensive flights to most cities. They provide a great way to save money on the actual travel part of your adventure, and you’re not sacrificing all that much comfort seeing as most destinations in Europe are no more than 3 hours apart. If you get particularly hungry, you can purchase a meal on most flights. But remember to factor in a fee for your carry-on. Don’t worry, the flights still cost WAY less than any major airlines flight.

RyanAir and EasyJet are two popular options, but prepare to be creative with your travel plans, since the two mostly fly through London to get to other destination. For example, there are far fewer direct flights from Madrid on EasyJet as there are from London. So, if partaking in these cheaper travel alternatives, allot yourself enough time for the catches.

Also, I’m a much bigger fan of EasyJet as it actually flies into the main airports of the cities you want to visit. RyanAir, with the exception of Dublin, flies into East Bumbfuck Nowhere — case in point, Reus, Spain. “Fucking Reus,” as it fondly became known amongst my group of friends, is a very small town outside of Barcelona. I’m sure it’s a fine town, but our experience at the airport consisted of a broken ATM (so we couldn’t take out Euros) and a closed down exchange booth (so I had to exchange our pounds for Euro at the café — you can imagine the exchange rate I got). The only way to get from Reus to Barcelona was on a bus — the bus cost us 11 euro each. That same 11 extra euro could have booked us a spot on an EasyJet flight that would have taken us into Barcelona’s main airport, from which it is possible to grab any number of modes of transportation to get to our location.

Another example is Amsterdam. I don’t know from personal experience because by that point I had learned, but RyanAir flies into Eindhoven, not Amsterdam. Have you ever heard of Eindhoven? I certainly hadn’t.

My friends and me waiting for a train in Italy

Trains are another possible travel alternative. Though train tickets can be pricey, many train companies have discounts for students and/or youth (those under 25), or other deals. Trains provide you with entry into city centers (whereas airports are usually far outside city limits), and less stringent baggage limitations. While international train stations still have customs and security checks, you can bring back a bottle of French wine in your carry-on luggage (which you obviously no longer can do on planes).

Basically, explore all your travel options to find ones that will save you money, but don’t be cheap — it’ll end up costing you.

What are some of your favorite methods of inexpensive travel?

Taking your 'shot' at traveling

It's interesting how sometimes things in your life that don't seem like they have anything to do with each other tend to overlap. I work as a copy editor on a magazine about the retail drug industry ... not really anything that is related to travel. And yet, the other day, I read a story by one of our writers about a Seattle-based regional drug store chain — Bartell Drugs — that has opened up travel clinics. ::Lightbulb:: That would make for a great post on a travel blog ...

Travel vaccinations are an important part of any preparatory international travel routine, especially if you're traveling to areas with high risks for contracting certain diseases (e.g., parts of Africa, India and/or eastern Asia, among others). Before I went to India, I visited a travel clinic in New York to get vaccinated against hepatitis A and B and tetanus, and procured a prescription for malaria pills to take throughout my time in India. True, it's very likely that you may never even come in contact with the diseases, but what if you somehow do? It's definitely much better to be safe than sorry.

But other than preemptive vaccinations, you also should prepare medications to take with you. If you take prescription medications, make sure you have enough with you before leaving to last the duration of your trip. Also see if your doctor can write you an extra prescription just in case you lose your meds or run out on your trip. Whether or not that is possible, make sure you have the generic name of your medication written in a safe place on you at all times (and it's also probably a good bet to leave a list with someone staying at home, just in case). The reason you should make sure you specifically have the generic name is because brands vary by country, and even somewhere as nearby as Canada could have a very different name for a medication.

The same also applies to over-the-counter medications, including such common ones that we take for granted as Tylenol and DayQuil. You should take common medicines with you (pill forms are better, especially if your luggage is carry-on) but also make sure you know the main generic ingredient in the medication, because it's highly unlikely you'll find Tylenol in Egypt, but you'll most likely find another medication with acetaminophen, the main pain-relieving ingredient in our popular branded drug.

When I went to Egypt, I had a mini medicine cabinet with me, thanks to my always-be-prepared mother. I ended up not only having medicine that I needed, but I was the supplier for many on my trip. When our tour leader's head hurt, I had the Excedrin; when other people in our group got sunburned, I had the aloe. Everyone loved me ;-). When I went to India, there was no convincing necessary. I had Tylenol, Immodium, DayQuil, Dramamine and more medications that I can't fully recall now with me. True, this time I didn't use most of them, but I certainly was glad to have them on me.

So before you travel, especially internationally, make sure you see what vaccinations are necessary and get vaccinated; have enough of your prescription medication to last the trip; have a list of your prescriptions by generic names on hand; and take any OTC medications you might need with you in pill form, along with a list of the main ingredients in those medications. Trust me, you'll be much happier and better off for it.

Did I miss anything when it comes to medication-related travel advice?

Fall-ing into travel

Why is it that summer is the most popular travel time? I really don’t understand that phenomenon, because all I want to do in the summer is hop from one air-conditioned enclosure to the next.

Beautiful fall scenery in upstate NY, just outside of Cornell

Now, fall travel is a completely different story. As most of this past week of NYC weather proves (excluding the random tornado that swept through Brooklyn on Thursday afternoon), traveling in the fall is simply delightful. A sunny day that is just breezy enough to require a light jacket is the perfect time to stroll down a foreign street gazing at beautiful architecture or simply enjoying your time sitting in a park people watching. And if it happens to start raining, just pop into the nearest coffee shop or museum or whatever other indoor activity grabs your fancy.

I’ve looked into going to London in the summer a few times (not really because I particularly wanted to shvits in another country, but because several friends across the pond have their birthdays in the summer months). Tickets were TWICE the price I paid to go over Thanksgiving a few years ago ... if not THREE times as expensive. I love my friends, but I’m not dishing out $1,000-plus on a ticket that normally should cost around $500 to sit in the same cramped seat for the same 5.5 hours eating the same fairly crappy airplane grub simply because it’s July rather than November. In this humble traveler’s opinion, that’s simply ludicrous.

A frozen lake on the grounds of a castle in Denmark

And because traveling in the summer seems to be so popular with everyone else, it just means that it’ll take you all that much longer to get through security at the airport; be that much harder to hail a cab outside the airport when you get to your destination; and be significantly more crowded at any attraction you’ll inevitably be waiting all day in line for to get into. NOT my idea of a good vacation.

I tend to like to make travel plans more around the mid-February/early March time of the year. I can plan my time off from work around the President’s Day long weekend and therefore conserve on days. I also plan to go places that most people avoid during the winter months — like Denmark. Granted, it wasn’t my best-laid plan to spend a week in an already chilly country during one its coldest months, but hey, the tickets were cheap, my friends were on break from school and able to take time off work to show me around, and there were no lines ... anywhere. A pair of thermal underwear under my jeans, and I was ready to explore Copenhagen as happily as if it had been 30 degrees warmer.

London's Regents Park in full spring bloom

Spring also is a great time of year to travel. Flowers are in bloom, people are happier, the weather’s usually perfect and tickets are less expensive — again — than they are in the summer (yet the weather’s much more enjoyable). My favorite time came at the end of my semester there in April and May, when I could sit in Hyde Park in jeans and a T-shirt with a sandwich and Coke Light, watching the kids playing and people walking their dogs. Perfect.

However, try and avoid the typical Spring Break locations, unless that's the kind of vacation you're looking for. For me, personally, butting up against college kids as they drink themselves silly in Cancun is not all that appealing — but no judgment here! Those spots also tend to be jacked up in price during that time of year.

So, if you’re like me and don’t really enjoy sweating during your time exploring, and you want to maximize your traveling by saving a buck or two when you can, please avoid European summer travel. And if summer happens to be the only time you CAN appease that travel bug bite, pick a place with an opposite seasonal schedule than ours so that you’re at least going during an off-season for that place.

When’s your favorite time to travel?

Easy fasting and yummy remembering

I wish an easy fast to all of my fellow members of the Tribe out there today.

Strange how fasting gave me the idea to write a post on my favorite meals that I've eaten during my travels. Here goes a mild form of masochism. Hope those of you who can eat today enjoy it, and for those of you who can't, I'm very sorry — though, come to think of it, you're probably not reading this on Saturday anyway, because that's not allowed, so enjoy it over your own yummy meal!



Cava sangria and salmon topped with pineapple with a side of fresh vegetables on our first night in Barcelona made for the best meal ever in my European travels.

 

The next day in Barcelona brought a meal constituted of individual pieces bought from the awesome food market off of La Rambla, including a baguette, cheese, lunch meat and tomatoes, all for a whopping 2 Euro per person. The day ended with an enormous seafood paella split between the four of us.

                              

Edam cheese is super duper yummy, especially when you get it from a shop in Edam.

I could have eaten my way through Italy, and practically did ;-). Our trip started in Venice, where I had the best slice of pizza of my life at a hole-in-the-wall little shop in Ghetto Vecchio (the Old Ghetto). Gelato was EVERYWHERE ... this shot was taken in Rome.

                                          

In Dublin there was a lot of liquid nourishment, but this traditional Irish breakfast helped soak up some of that alcohol.

 I loved being in Prague. The effortless beauty of the city and its architecture was a pleasure to explore. As was the food, which reminded me so much of the food I have grown up with. This meat plate was enough to fill up two of us.

French food is renowned for its flavor and yumminess. Even this Parisian deli hot dog, smothered in cheese, and accompanied by delicious pastries held up its reputation.

I think the best meals are ones you create for yourself ... especially when they're made with the freshest produce. This simple but absolutely delicious meal of pasta with pesto chicken and tomatoes and some white wine was the result of a day of shopping at London's Borough Market. I bought the tomatoes, my friend bought the pesto, and we topped it off with some Waitrose pasta and chicken. It was yummy!

During my trip to Egypt, our group took a detour, on camels, to a small Nubian village where we had one of the best meals I have ever had. The delicious meat, potatoes and vegetables were prepared in a traditional Nubian fashion, slowly baked in clay pots in the oven. Seriously, YUMMY!

Eating Indian food feels like an explosion on your tongue. The spices and exotic flavors create a party for your pallet. And it tastes even better when it's the product of your own hard work. Below is a fruit pizza (not something you'd think would taste good, but totally is) from a small restaurant and the fantastical result of a cooking class, both in the little town of Orcha in India.

In Nepal, my tour guide doused his meals in hot sauce because he claimed they were too bland. For me, they were just right. Below is a Nepalese samosa, which was more like a burrito, covered in cheese (which is always OK with me).

Chicago's known for its deep-dish pizza. And rightfully so. The stuff is delicious. Now, I know that as a native New Yorker, uttering that phrase is probably blasphemous, but I'm not saying it's BETTER than my beloved NYC pizza. In my opinion, it's too different to compare. Below is a yummy steak and broccoli stuffed pie from Giordano's.

On my most recent trip to Grand Cayman, my boyfriend cooked a lot in our hotel suite. It was cheaper, and frankly, a lot more delicious than the on-site restaurant's cuisine. However, as food lovers, we absolutely had to try the local delicacy of turtle. And it was delicious. Below is my boyfriend's yummy concoction of chicken in hickory-barbecue sauce combined with peach preserves and broccoli, a meal of turtle steak from what we were told was one of the best restaurants on the island, and a coconut that we devoured at a coconut tasting at our resort.

             

For me, food is such an important part of travel. Experiencing local cuisine is a great way to partake in local culture — and it's yummy to boot!

What are some of your favorite travel meals?

A lazy vacation for an active traveler

I’m a huge proponent of active vacations. By that I mean vacations in which I have every day jam packed with activities and sightseeing adventures. Lying around on the beach, sipping mudslides and lazing the days away is not an appealing use of vacation time for me.

However, with the right company, at the right point in the year, at a time when one ::ahem, I, ahem:: is feeling quite burned out from life, a vacation spent doing relatively nothing can be just what one needs.

The view from our room's balcony

Eating fresh-cut coconut jelly

My boyfriend and I just got back from a lazy week in Grand Cayman, where I mostly slept for practically 12 hours every night, drank pure coconut water, lounged around the pool and played Scrabble. True, part of me thought, what’s the point of spending the money on a flight (the hotel stay was a gift from my Dad) to do basically what I can do at home? But it’s not the same. Vacations bring on a different mindset, proved even truer by the fact that as soon as I landed in NYC, I immediately fell back into my pattern of worrying about everything. Yes, most of the things I did during my week away were things I could have done from my own living room, but at least my mind had a weeklong break that obviously was very necessary.

Stingrays flocked to the ship, knowing there was chow

Don’t worry; we did do things that we only could do in our destination. On the fifth day of our trip we partook in a Stingray City and snorkeling adventure organized by the concierge of our resort. My boyfriend very bravely conquered his fear of the ocean and we stood in the Caribbean together as stingrays gracefully floated around us, brushing their silky underbellies against our legs as they scented the squid being held out for them by the other people surrounding us.

I also overcame my discomfort with snorkeling after a terrifying incident my first time in Jamaica where I got stuck on the reef and scraped up my knees before finally wriggling out into open waters. This experience was much better and I saw some cool fish at the edge of the reef (though I was still a bit too panicky to go in much further).

Gazebo in the Gardens

A sign at Rum Point

On the last day before leaving we rented a car and, driving on the wrong side of the road, explored the entire island — in five hours. As you can imagine, on an island that it takes pretty much 2 hours to circle (we made a couple of stops on our exploration), there isn’t all that much to do EXCEPT lay around and soak up the sun. We did trek through the stunning Queen Elizabeth II Botanical Gardens and spotted the native blue iguana. We also ate turtle and conch steak, both of which were quite yummy. But other than that, it was a much-needed, fully relaxing vacation.

Overall, I concluded that unless you’re someone who enjoys a weeklong beach vacation (which I usually don’t) or are an avid diver, I would say that Grand Cayman is much better as a cruise destination where you get dropped off for a day, explore the town (which mostly is duty-free shopping outlets), maybe do a Stingray City excursion for a couple of hours and then return to your sailing resort and continue on to the next spot.

To see all of my Grand Cayman photos, click here.