How to: Plan your Travel Transportation

May 27, 2015January 18, 2016Leave a comment

Let Me Tell You About Rome2rio

Day-dreaming about future adventures has become a full-fledged hobby of mine. I could spend hours looking at travel photos, reading about adventures, and trying to determine which destinations are in my Top 5. There are too many!

While recently planning my family’s upcoming trip to Paris, Avignon, and Beaune, I came across this brilliant website that makes travel-planning a cinch! Trust me. You NEED this resource!

Rome2rio is an amazing one-stop website that shows you all of the possible ways to get from Point A to Point B, and it includes times and rates. Having trouble deciding if you should rent a car, take the train, or brave the local buses? Rome2rio provides all the details so you can decide which route will be the cheapest, the quickest, or the easiest!

Here’s a screenshot of the Rome2Rio Tool.

See that sidebar on the left? Just click through your transportation options to compare costs and times, then select your favorite to book your tickets! Once you have your logistics handled, you can focus on what really matters: daydreaming about your destination!

: Notre Dame

: Louvre

: Sacre Couer

: Eiffel Tower

: Winged Victory

Yes, it’s constant daydreaming about Paris over here now that we have the logistics out of the way. I’ve also been doing a little day-dreaming about how my husband and I can combine a few stops in Spain with some special locations in Morocco for an anniversary trip. While we are still trying to figure out what is feasible, we can check Rome2rio to see when it’s worth it to fly between cities and when an overnight train from Fes to Marrakech will allow us to save on hotel costs. Have you been to Morocco? Do you have any advice for me?

: The Souks

: Tangier

: Jardin Majorelle

: Babouche Slippers

: Aït Benhaddou

It’s hard enough to decide where to go next. Let this website do the transportation planning for you!

[Friends, this is not a sponsored post. We’ve been using Rome2rio in our personal vacation planning, and we love it! We think you will, too!
Morocco Photos courtesy of Apartment Therapy and AFAR Magazine. ]

Meagan Martz at A Friend Afar

Meagan grew up in the North Georgia Mountains and spent her first trip abroad in Italy. She’s been traveling all over the world ever since, learning Spanish, Japanese, and Thai. She travels for the food, the culture, and the history.

http://www.AFriendAfar.com

What to Pack for a Week in Greece

May 20, 2015January 13, 20162 Comments

Check out my packing list below from the week I spent on my European vacation visiting Santorini, Hydra, and Athens! Greece had been at the top of my bucket list for a while so I was so excited to finally make it to a place I’d been dreaming about for quite a while.

Packing light is so freeing and makes travel so much easier. I packed all of this (and more) into a small carry-on, and still had room to bring back some great souvenirs!

Here’s what I packed for a week in Greece!

If you’re spending the majority of your time on the islands, you’ll want to bring light and airy clothing. I packed a lightweight scarf for breezy nights on the water, as well. You’ll want skirts, shorts or cropped pants for when your walks take you down to the shore. Hydra doesn’t have any cars, so you’ll need to bring comfy walking shoes and sandals. Also Athens cobblestone are particularly slippery so bring shoes with traction. One last thing: don’t forget your swim suit! This is THE place to wear it!

Greece Packing List

2 pairs of pants – I packed my go-to cropped denim and some adorable, breezy printed pants. It’s still a little cool in the evenings, especially on the water, so these are perfect for sunset strolls. [The printed pair are from Old Navy this season, but I can’t find them online. Here’s a similar pair.]
3 tees – I packed olive green, white, and heather grey. I didn’t want my entire suitcase to be blue, and green is my favorite color!
1 black tank – It’s always classic and easy, and I can dress it up with my jeans and some fancy jewelry.
2 dresses – I packed the blue and white striped dress that you see here, and another blue one that can be worn as a beach cover-up, a dress, or a skirt. So many options! Besides, who doesn’t want to wear blue and white while exploring Santorini? It’s the perfect dress! [Similar: J.Crew, J.Crew Factory, and Gap] You may recognize it from Meagan’s Florence post- I borrowed it from her.
3 pairs of shoes – I brought my cute Keds, which I’ll wear at the airport and for walking, some brown sandals, and some black sandals. I bought some sandals there, of course, and leaving my older ones behind.
1 swim suit – Are you seeing a theme with my colors? I couldn’t help but to pack items that fit the Mediterranean color scheme!
A Baggu backpack – My trusted Baggu backpack joined me in Cuba, and it was the perfect day bag in Greece as well. Those blue and white stripes – so perfect!
1 floppy beach hat – in navy, of course!
My camera and camera case – Check out my camera strap here. It’s the perfect accessory for any adventurer.

My most important packing tip:
Be sure that every piece you take can be worn multiple times or with multiple other items. You’ll have so many more outfit options! Even the bold, printed pants in the picture above can be worn with 3 of the shirts that I packed.

Stephanie at A Friend Afar

Stephanie grew up road-tripping across the U.S., but her first flight was to Australia, and she’s been hooked ever since. She lived abroad in Thailand, where she met Meagan, and in Ghana with Peace Corps and has been to over 30 countries on 6 continents. She travels for the adventure, the stories, and nature.

http://www.AFriendAfar.com

Travel Tips for Amsterdam

May 12, 2015January 28, 20165 Comments

Amsterdam is a Euro-visit mainstay, and with summer approaching, we know it appears in many a traveler’s plan. Here are a few tips to make the most of your stay in this romantic, historic, artistic, and beautiful city.

Anne Frank House

If you’re planning on visiting the Anne Frank Huis, buy tickets in advance online or try to get to the ticket booth when it opens in the morning. I waited in line for hours in the rain so trust me on this one! It was impactful to see what I had read about in The Diary of Anne Frank as an adolescent when I was about the same age as Anne. Visiting the Secret Annex and seeing how the Franks had to live in order to hide from the Nazis made it all very real. I remember acting out a play version of the diary in middle school, so visiting the house that serves as the setting of the true story was a must-see on my list.