Unique digital nomad travel adventures from around the U.S.
R and I spent six weeks living, working and playing in Savannah, Georgia, in January and February. It really was a dream. Here are our trip recommendations for Savannah if you will be traveling there during the winter season: Trees, squares, architecture and food Savannah, …
Charleston, South Carolina, one of the best cities in the south brimming with American history, charming boutiques, and tasty restaurants. President’s Day Weekend in Charleston is a terrific time of the year to visit. Background I have been fortunate enough to spend President’s Day Weekend in …
Weekend getaways and microtrips are a great way to do more exploring. We recently enjoyed a quick weekend getaway to the compact and historic city of St. Augustine, Florida. Below are our recommendations from that trip.
Spending six weeks living and working remotely in Savannah, Georgia, as a digital nomad is nice for a lot of reasons. One reason is the possibility of fun weekend getaways and microtrips. So one Friday after work, we packed up and hit the road heading south. Our destination: St. Augustine, Florida.
The plan was to spend two days exploring this historic U.S. city. In reality, we only needed one day. This town is compact and easy to see. We stayed at a cheap hotel that I would not recommend. Luckily, there are plenty of accommodation options, so pick something that suits your style.
Something to note: We did not visit the beaches, which is a main attraction for some folks. We visited in January and although we had fantastic weather, it was not swim-in-the-ocean weather. We were, however, within the window for holiday lights, which we very much enjoyed. Honestly, no matter what time of year you visit, you will have a good time.
St. Augustine, Florida, is a compact, historic city with a Spanish vibe. This city makes a perfect weekend getaway or microtrip. If you visit, check out some of our recommendations and let us know what you think.
This post will discuss tips for traveling locally–in your state or in your region. Why? Because the world is experiencing a pandemic, as we’ve detailed our recent travel experience with COVID 19. When I was talking with a friend recently about her travel plans for …
Charleston, South Carolina, was a bucket list item of mine for many years (we did not quite make it there on our original epic road trip through the South). I know so many people who count it as one of their favorite cities. And whenever …
Driving around the Faroe Islands, R asked me this question: what are five words to describe the Faroe Islands? It did not take long for us to agree on the following: Sheep. Waterfalls. Tunnels. Green. Clouds. We also attempted to find five words that do not describe the Faroe Islands. We came up with people and sunshine before we got distracted…probably by a sheep or a waterfall.
The Faroe Islands are not the easiest place to get to. We flew from Boise to Copenhagen, stayed for a night, and then caught a two-hour flight to the Faroes. As we circled the islands and came in for the landing, cliffs of green started peaking through the clouds. By the time we landed, it was obvious: we were in the middle of nowhere.
The airport is small. You will be outside, in your rental car and exploring the Faroes in 15 minutes (give or take). We rented a car from Unicar and it was a great experience. Renting, that is. Driving is a bit of an adventure–we encountered our first sheep within minutes of leaving the airport. The roads are nice and traffic is scarce, but the sheep, fog, tunnels and one-way roads demand extra caution. I was relieved when we returned the rental car without any incidents.
The Faroe Islands are made up of 18 islands connected by tunnels, ferries, causeways and bridges. We made it to seven and everywhere we went, we saw sheep, waterfalls, tunnels, green goodness and clouds.
It is hard to emphasize the number of sheep you will see. Seriously. They are everywhere. We knew there would be a lot of sheep before we arrived, but I had no idea it would be impossible to look out the car window and NOT see sheep grazing. There are some 50,000 people who live on the Faroe Islands, but the sheep population is around 70,000. This makes driving a challenge. But it also means there is always something to see when hiking.
We visited in the spring and that means babies. Baby sheep everywhere! They were so adorable and curious. They did make driving a little more hazardous since I never knew when one might dart across the road looking for its mother. But to watch them folick and play was an absolute delight. I came home with way too many pictures of baby sheep, it is ridiculous.
I was expecting sheep. I was not expecting so many waterfalls. The Faroe Islands are flush with them. Perhaps there are more during the spring because of all the rain, I have no idea. But I was a little blown away. By the end of the trip, we hardly paid attention to them anymore. They were just everywhere. At one point while we were driving, R pointed out that we could see seven different waterfalls. None of them were named in any guidebooks, but there they were.
We did visit some known waterfalls including Fossá and Mulafossur, but there were plenty of unknown waterfalls to enjoy on our various day trips.
Currently, there are two subsea tunnels on (under?) the Faroe Islands. They are long and a little disconcerting if you think about where you are driving too much. But they are big and easy to navigate. There are also tunnels that go through mountains. Some of these are one way and one-way tunnels are scary. In general, driving is pretty chill in the Faroe Islands. I did not find that to be the case for one-way tunnels.
My first time driving through a one-way tunnel was a breeze, probably because I never saw another car and it was short. My first time driving through a one-way tunnel as the car with the right-of-way was also pretty easy, although I was a little uncomfortable seeing headlights coming directly at me with nowhere to pull over. Thankfully, those cars always pulled over with plenty of time to spare.
My first time driving through a one-way tunnel as the car without the right-of-way was not my finest driving moment. I did not hit another car…or a sheep…so I suppose that overall it was a win. But I drove like the total novice I was. As soon as I saw headlights, I pulled into the first pull out. We then had to wait several minutes for the car to pass us. I had pulled into the pull out way too soon. I also ended up getting passed by a car going in the same direction as me! When I pulled into the pull out, the car just flew right past. Needless to say, that car spent a lot less time in the tunnel than I did. It was a unique driving experience and one I am not anxious to repeat anytime soon.
There is not a lot of variety in the landscape. It is dramatic and green. All over. Rocky and volcanic, trees are few and far in between and turf roofs are the norm. Coming from the high desert, the landscape of the Faroe Islands is about as different from my home as one can get. Which makes it a wonderful place to see and explore.
The weather in the Faroe Islands is tempermental at best. We had a couple of blue-sky mornings, but for the most part, we explored the Faroe Islands under clouds and fog. I did not mind the clouds so much. Sometimes they spit out a little rain, but I do not remember any major downpours. What was disappointing was the fog. More than one view was ruined by the pesky stuff. Weather can be one of the disappointing things about travel. Thankfully, none of our activities were ruined by the weather. Our ferry to Mykines was not canceled due to weather (which happens quite often I hear) and the fog was missing during our helicopter ride. Although I would have preferred to see the sky a bit more, at least the clouds did not stop us from exploring.
The Faroe Islands are unique. I can think of no other place that I would describe with the words: sheep, waterfalls, tunnels, green and clouds. If you do not enjoy those things, you may want to find another place to visit. It will be tough to avoid them in Faroe Islands.
It is very difficult for me to name a favorite country. I do not have children, but I imagine it feels a bit like having to choose one of those. However, even though I struggle to name a favorite country, I do not struggle to …
I often leave a place with a wish that I had more time there and an internal promise to return someday. Riga, Latvia is one of those places. We spent just 24 hours there and it was not near enough time. But sadly, 24 hours …
On a recent visit to the Balkan Peninsula, B and I found ourselves spending one full day in beautiful Montenegro. This country is blessed with sweeping mountains, azure seasides and historic medieval towns. It is simply wonderful. Here are the five Montenegro must-sees that we visited and recommend for anyone lucky enough to travel to this Balkan gem.
Our first stop on our tour was the mountain town of Cetinje. This little town (only about 15,000 people live here) used to be the capital of Montenegro. By European standards, it is very young–only about 500 years old. However, when we walked through the cute little historic center on cobble stone and saw a man hammering on iron to make some nails, it certainly didn’t feel modern.
Other than the old town, we visited the Cetinje Monastery. This pretty stone structure is nestled at the edge of a park. When we walked up we saw several surprisingly young monks. Make sure if you visit not to take pictures of the monks. It’s rude.
Up, up, up the mountains from Cetinje we drove to arrive at the Lovcen National Park. It is in this region that the whole country received its name. Monte (mountain) + Negro (black) = Montenegro (black mountain). Although, to be honest, the mountains seemed more gray to me. They were indisputably beautiful, though.
On top of the second highest mountain in the area, a famous Montenegrin built a mausoleum for himself. To reach it, you have to climb several hundred stairs. Once you do, you are rewarded with 1) a cool structure, and 2) a stunning 360 degree view. You can see the Adriatic Sea on one side and the Balkan’s biggest lake, Lake Skadar on the opposite side. In between you see striking mountains, green valleys and the red roofs of houses dotting every now and again.
Our decision to hire a driver was validated once we began our descent from Lovcen to the coastal city of Kotor. This mountain pass road was something else–mostly unpaved and not really wide enough for two cars. Not to mention the hairpin switchbacks as you travel down 5,000 feet in elevation. Yikes!
It was well worth the nerve racking ride though, once we arrived in Kotor (a.k.a possibly the cutest town ever). Our driver dropped us off at the gated entrance to Old Town and for the next two hours we wandered inside a real life wonderland. B’s first comment was that it looked like something you’d see in Disneyland. No cars are allowed inside the walls of old town, so you are free to ramble down the cobblestone alleys without fear of being mowed over. We were constantly looking up at the sandstone colored houses and buildings that line the streets. And just when you forget where you came from, boom, there’s the crazy high limestone mountains erupting from the edge of the town.
With our day (and access to a car) quickly disappearing on us, we made our final stop at the Adriatic Sea. B and I both prefer mountains and old cities to sunbathing by the beach, so we didn’t make the ocean a priority. However, one does not travel to the Adriatic without dipping one’s foot in it. So our driver took us to the fashionable town of Budva. We walked along a small beach and splashed a little through the lovely blue water.
Were we the partying types, Budva would also have been a good destination to dance at some discotheques. This region is called the Montenegrin Riviera and is the most popular tourist destination in Montenegro. As it was, I felt sufficiently unfashionable next to the beautiful bikini-clad 20-year-olds, so I was okay not spending too long here.
If you pronounce the capital of Montenegro ‘Podgoricka,’ then you will get corrected by a rather presumptuous whippersnapper. Or at least I did. It is actually pronounced ‘Podgorizza.’ Like rhymes with pizza. Nobody has much good to say about this capital city, so B and I didn’t allot any time other than evenings to spend here. However, I think this town might be getting unfairly critiqued.
We spent two evenings wandering around downtown. The nightlife scene seems to be hopping, tons of people were out and about starting around 9:00 p.m. We mainly saw people gathered in outdoor restaurants and bars, but I imagine there are also clubs around. It is very safe, in fact, our hotel lady actually laughed at us when we asked if it was safe to walk around. As B and I are usually tucked into our hotel rooms by 9:00 p.m., I consider the fact that we stayed out much later than that to be high praise for Podgorica.
Prior to visiting this less-traveled area of the world, we did some research into transportation options. I’ll give it to you straight: the options weren’t great. Unlike other parts of Europe, public transportation is old and a little sparse. To hit the five Montenegro must-sees we wanted to go, we would have to rent a car and drive it ourselves, or rent a driver and have him take us around. After reading some scary stories about the roads, we decided to seek out a driver.
I couldn’t find any private tours on the internet. There were a few taxi companies with websites in English, so I sent out a few emails. I had looked up highlights of the area and listed where we wanted to go in one day and asked for a quote. A gentleman named Radoslav responded with a price of 100 Euro. Since we didn’t really have any better options, so we agreed and told him where to pick us up. This was a bit of a leap of faith, yes, but it worked out just fine for us. Sure, the little English the driver spoke seemed to be (good-naturedly) mocking me. And sure, we had to get creative about explaining what we wanted to do. If this is out of your comfort zone, you might want to think about a car rental. Anyhow, our driver arrived on time and off we went to our five Montenegro must-sees
The Balkan countries are much less visited than their Greek and Italian neighbors. This is beginning to change, though, as people hear about lovely countries like Montenegro. It would be terrific to be able to spend more time here, but if you only have one day, we highly recommend hiring a driver and visiting the above five Montenegro must-sees.
A trip to Bali was just the birthday present S needed to celebrate her big day. Luckily, she invited B and me along to Indonesia and together we explored Bali and threw in a little Java for good measure. This post will discuss our 13-day …