I think about that line every time I travel with friends. There’s nothing like being out of your comfort zone and in an unfamiliar environment, whether for a weekend or a week, to help you get to know the “real” person.
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While we were in Abu Dhabi, one of our favorite experiences was visiting the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center. Because it’s a little complicated to visit, and because we saw several people learn the hard way about photo restrictions there, we wanted to share some tips and offer some suggestions for future visitors.
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Once we knew we wanted to go to Tokyo, Japan, we needed to book a plane ticket to our next destination. There was one tiny problem: we weren’t sure what our next destination would be. We were both interested in more off-the-beaten-path places, but had varying comfort levels with some of the options we were considering.
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Our flight to Baku, Azerbaijan would leave from Dubai, so rather than go straight from Abu Dhabi to the Dubai airport, we decided to spend a few nights in Dubai. We still had some work to do in Dubai, but spent an entire day on a dhow in Oman and were able to spend more time exploring than we were able to do in Abu Dhabi.
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I’ve read many books by people who’ve left North Korea, so I was really excited by the prospect of being able to visit the DMZ while we were in Seoul. It was one of the highlights of our time in Seoul, so we wanted to share a few tips for others who might be considering visiting. First, a little background.
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That second title might seem melodramatic, but it’s not far from reality. Let me back up a second.
We knew our time in the United Arab Emirates would mostly be spent coaching clients and working on consulting projects, so we wanted to plan a true day off before we moved on to Azerbaijan.
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The tiny country of Andorra sits about a three hour drive from Barcelona, landlocked between France in the north and Spain in the south. The “microstate” is one of the smallest countries in the world by both population (fewer than 80,000 people) and landmass (180 square miles). It is mainly known for its low tax shopping, skiing, and hiking that attract 10 million visitors each year. (Yes, you read that right – 10 million visitors each year in a tiny country with only 80,000 citizens.)
Frankly, not the kind of place where we’d normally want to hang out long-term, but as a day trip, why not? We had already booked several commitments in Barcelona (Sagrada Familia, the Picasso Museum, etc.) that required us to be in Barcelona all but one day of our time there, which happened to be the last full day of our trip.
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This is the anniversary of our second month of full time travel. We have some work that requires us to be in the United States for our coaching and consulting business, Apochromatik, for the next couple of weeks. But don’t worry — RedDotBlueDot continues as we have several more international and domestic (USA) destinations on the docket before the end of the year. (And many, many posts to write for the Blue Blog and photos to share on the Red Blog!)
With that said, how was month two? Aren’t you just dying to know?
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In his book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, Anthony Bourdain confessed that for his very first meal on his first trip to Tokyo, in his jet-lagged and exhausted state, he was so intimidated by the soba restaurants and overwhelming nature of Tokyo that he went to Starbucks. After considering his options, though, he bought a latte, rallied, and dove in to Tokyo.
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On our most recent Facebook Live (you can see them all on our Facebook page if you missed one), one of the questions was about using guides. It is important to us that RedDotBlueDot be a place where readers can learn from our mistakes and benefit from our experiences. So a more detailed answer to this question is in order . . . .
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We ‘ve taken many food tours over the years, usually through Culinary Backstreets, which works with local guides to offer tours in cities all over the world. They don’t offer one in Seoul, so I decided to see if I could find one that might be comparable, since it’s fair to say that none of us were experts in Korean food beforehand.
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When we were deciding where to go in Asia, Japan was our number one choice. As we booked our tickets on Korean Airlines (using Ultimate Rewards points!) , we discovered that we could add a free stopover in Seoul, South Korea. While we didn’t want to cut short our time in Japan, ultimately the prospect of being able to visit the DMZ and see another city weighed out, and we found ourselves (the two of us and Keith’s mom, Betty) arriving in Seoul at 4:00 a.m. one humid morning in July.
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Red Dot Blue Dot readers who signed up for our email list had the opportunity to choose our next destination around the world. The readers chose Odessa, Ukraine, so that is where we are headed. Gotta get there, so here is the story.
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Odessa, here we come!
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With about 22,000 miles traveled so far, we each reflected on the last month of non-stop travel (July 1-August 1). We didn't discuss our answers before combining them and hitting publish. As you can see, it's been a great month, but we definitely have our own perspectives on it. August has already included some amazing experiences -- stay tuned, and let us know in the comments if you have other questions we didn't answer.
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Studies show there are long-term effects from decreasing your exercise for even two weeks but that’s actually not why I try to run in every city and country we visit. I try to run because by running, I learn something about the people and culture that I can’t from a walking tour, a museum, or even a restaurant.
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If you are traveling to Machu Picchu, you’ll almost certainly fly through Lima. Rather than rushing through, we stayed in Lima for 5 nights, and highly recommend as much time in Lima as you can spare. Below are some tips to help you get the most out of your time in Lima.
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First let me come clean on something. I wanted to travel to Japan to see camera shops. I’ve followed Bellamy Hunt (a.k.a. The Japan Camera Hunter) and his website japancamerahunter.com for years…and a few times I’ve even been incredibly tempted to put down money on a vintage film camera.
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It was like having dinner with an old friend.
For years I have watched Anthony Bourdain use his writing and travel documentary style to bring the sights and sounds of far off places right into my home. His irreverent, sarcastic, and detailed style of describing what travel is really like served as a mentor to my travel style. He helped teach a boy from rural Iowa what travel is all about.
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