My Favorite New Destinations of 2017

Every year, I like to take a look back at my favorite new destinations of the year. What were the new places that I enjoyed the most? What are the places I’d most like to recommend my readers to visit?

In 2012, I chose places like Iceland, Montenegro, and South Africa.

In 2013, I chose places like Japan, Berlin, and the Scottish Highlands.

In 2014, I chose places like Sri Lanka, New Orleans, and Skellig Michael, Ireland.

In 2015, I chose places like Nicaragua, Albania, and Chicago.

In 2016, I chose places like Puerto Rico, Alsace, and Western Australia.

Each year I choose a mix of countries, regions, and cities. Sometimes I rank them, sometimes I choose a favorite, sometimes I list them all as equals. It depends on how I feel about the year as a whole. This year, I think it’s best to name one destination of the year and a runner-up.

My 2017 was all about Europe and the United States, with a bit of the Caribbean. As I grow older and become more settled in my life in New York, I’m more interested in taking shorter trips to closer destinations. The younger Kate would probably be cringing at that, but that’s the truth!

I was also fairly strategic this year, spending little out of pocket on airfare and turning work trips into longer trips. When I got a comped flight to Romania for a conference, I added visits to Moldova and Ukraine. A comped trip to Universal Orlando turned into a longer trip to the Keys and Miami. And when it came time to go to Vegas, last-minute airfare was pricey but I used my miles and spent just $11.

Do note that list is exclusively places I visited for the first time in 2017, so places like San Juan, Bucharest, and Philadelphia are ineligible.

My Favorite New Destination of 2017: Ukraine

Ukraine surprised the hell out of me. I expected a furtive, unfriendly country with all the worst stereotypes about Eastern Europe. Dirty cities, terrible food, a difficult language barrier, and feeling unwelcome and isolated.

Instead, I found a grand and gorgeous country filled with breathtakingly beautiful architecture, fantastic food, and incredibly stylish people. And a bonus? It was dirt cheap. The cheapest country in Europe by far, and much cheaper than Albania, Macedonia, and Bulgaria. I would pay 95 cents for a huge fancy latte in a fancy cafe and 30 cents for a regular latte elsewhere. A three-course meal with wine would rarely cost more than $10.

If I could choose one favorite city of the year, it would undoubtedly be Odessa. I’ve wanted to visit this city for so long, since reading Moonlight in Odessa by Janet Skeslian Charles (yes, I’m recommending it for the 47th time, because it’s that good). I found Odessa mystifying; by the time I arrived — especially after bleak Chisinau — I was in love in about ten minutes flat.

But that wasn’t all. I found Kiev to be a chic, modern, and culture-filled city with gold-domed churches and the most fashionable women in the country. And my day trip to Chernobyl was one of the most moving experiences I’ve ever had while traveling.

I would absolutely love to return to Ukraine. It’s definitely in my top ten favorite countries in Europe. Most of all, I need to visit the city of Lviv! So many people raved about Lviv and it broke my heart that I didn’t have enough time. Next visit for sure.

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READ MORE:

In Odessa, Romance and Grandeur

In Kiev, a Stylish and Surprising City

What’s It Like to Tour Chernobyl Today?

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Runner-Up Favorite Destination of 2017: Key West, Florida

Oh MAN, did I love Key West. Throughout my life there have been all kinds of party playgrounds: Montreal when I was 18, Prague when I was 20, Las Vegas when I was 23, Bangkok when I was 26, San Juan del Sur when I was 30. But as I get into my thirties, I’m all about places like Key West. It’s the kind of place where you just let loose and have a good time. I can’t imagine being remotely uptight there.

But it’s not just a party place — it’s also full of gorgeous buildings, phenomenal food, and interesting cultural attractions. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the Little White House, Harry Truman’s vacation residence. And just off Key West in Stock Island, I stayed in perhaps my favorite hotel of 2017 — the Perry Hotel.

I lucked out with two trips to Key West this year — and on the second one, I was there for the Hemingway Lookalike Contest! I need to go back again!

Key West did suffer when Hurricane Irma arrived earlier this year, but the damage was far less than expected. The island has recovered and is fully open for business. So if you’re wondering whether it’s a good idea to visit Key West right now, GO. They need your tourism dollars. (Some of the other Keys haven’t been as lucky, sadly, and will be recovering for a long time.)

Personally, I can’t wait to go back. There’s so much more I want to do, like visit Dry Tortugas National Park (if you want to do that, book it ASAP because it fills up quickly!). Mostly, I want to visit for more than two nights and just chill. I want Key West to become a regular tradition for me.

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READ MORE:

Key West, You Are My New Favorite

A Sizzling Summer Trip to the Florida Keys

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Asheville, North Carolina

Asheville is a city I’ve been wanting to visit for years now, and I enjoyed my trip there immensely. I went in expecting a liberal and artsy enclave amongst the mountains, and I discovered a treasure trove of arts, culture, shops, craft beer, and truly fantastic cuisine, including my favorite restaurant of 2017, Cúrate. Oh my God, that meal was so good I nearly cried!

But what truly blew me away about Asheville was the people. I swear to you, Asheville has some of the warmest, kindest, friendliest people on the planet. It’s not faux-politeness like I’ve seen in other places in the South. It’s genuine.

And I don’t know how that’s possible — Asheville is a city of transplants! Almost everyone is from somewhere else! HOW DO THEY ALL HAVE THE SAME PERSONALITY?! Either it’s a Stepford Wives-type thing or the most wonderful people in America simply choose to live there. I mean, one night I went out to a bar and made a friend, and the other night I ended up going out for drinks with my waiter. Me, who hates talking to strangers. That’s how friendly Asheville is.

If you’re looking for a getaway within the US — you could do it in a weekend, or spend as long as a week — I highly recommend adding Asheville to your list. I find it an especially apt choice for couples if one person is into the outdoors and the other is more of a city person.

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READ MORE: 14 Reasons Why I’m Smitten With Asheville, North Carolina

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St. Petersburg

Another city that surprised the pants off me was St. Petersburg, Russia. What a magnificent place! I only had 36 hours there or so, and I spent about 35 of them marveling at everything around me. The grand buildings. The canals. The churches. The museums. Everything was more elegant in St. Petersburg.

Lots of cities like to compare themselves to Paris, but I’ve never thought anywhere was remotely like Paris — until I went to St. Petersburg. It matched Paris in grandeur, in fashion, in art. I mean, look at the Hermitage! It’s basically what would happen if you said, “Hey, what if we put all this art in Versailles instead?”

My quickie trip to Russia on the St. Peter Line ferry was a teaser trip of sorts, a chance to visit visa-free and see if I’d like to make the effort to get a visa and have a longer visit. The verdict? Yes, I’d love to go back. Even though some of my Russian readers have pointed out that St. Petersburg is very different from the rest of the country, I’m intrigued enough to plan a longer visit. Maybe on the Trans-Siberian railway someday!

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READ MORE: Visiting Russia Without A Visa On the St. Peter Line Ferry

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Colorado

How have I never visited Colorado before 2017? It seems like everyone is crazy about this state. I came to Vail for a campaign and decided to stay a few days longer and check out Denver and Boulder as well.

Vail was the main reason for my visit, and I fell in love with the famed ski town in an instant — and soon learned that locals think Vail is better in the summer than the winter! Whether I was hiking the mountains — once with llamas in tow — or biking around town and sampling fares at all the best restaurants, I was delighted by the fresh mountain air, the dizzying altitude, the craft beers, and the motley crew of Coloradans who live for being outdoors. Vail convinced me without a doubt that I’m much more of a mountain person than a beach person!

After Vail, I visited Denver for a few days and my lovely cousins, Colleen and Cynthia, took me on a tour of the city’s best spots, including The Tattered Cover bookstore, Hop Alley for trendy Chinese food, and D Bar for mind-blowing desserts. The next day, I took a brief detour to nearby Boulder and met up with my friends Carrie and Matt for the best breakfast of my life at Snooz, a stop at an authentic Tajik tea house, and, um, lots of people protesting circumcision.

A lot of young professionals have been making the move to Denver lately, including some of my friends. I really enjoyed Denver but didn’t feel the urge to move there — it’s important to me to live somewhere walkable, and Denver is definitely a driving city. But I see myself making many return visits to Colorado in the future. I want to see more mountain towns. I want to hike. I definitely want to return to Vail and hit up my favorite spots again. Maybe someday I’ll even learn to ski!

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READ MORE: Vail, Colorado, Might Be Better in the Summer!

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St. Maarten

Some places give you a good vibe right away. I didn’t expect much out of a destination you only visit for a few hours from a cruise ship, but St. Maarten filled my heart with happiness from the moment I saw it. This place felt right.

St. Maarten is a tiny island split into two nations: the Netherlands and France. I only visited the Dutch side (to my stomach’s chagrin — it wanted baguettes and Normandy butter!). I found beautiful beaches with crystal-clear water, cute restaurants and yacht-filled areas, and nice shopping and people. As I took a bus from one side of the island to the other, I yearned to stop and explore like crazy.

Oh, and there was Maho Beach — one of the world’s most extreme beaches, where airplanes once landed scintillatingly close to you, almost brushing the top of your heads.

St. Maarten is one place that was hit very hard by the hurricanes this year, and it’s not open for tourism at this time. In fact, Maho Beach was destroyed. When the time comes, we will need to support St. Maarten in its economic recovery.

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READ (a little bit) MORE: AK Monthly Recap: March 2017

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Miami

How is it possible that I didn’t visit Miami until 2017?! I feel like everyone’s been to Miami, and I fly through Miami all the time! In fact, I only visited Miami this year (and twice) because it was an easy addition — an add-on to the end of a cruise, and a logical stop en route from Key West to Orlando.

I spent those two trips in two neighborhoods: South Beach, the famous high-end neighborhood along the best urban beach I’ve ever seen in the US, and Wynwood, the artsy, hipster neighborhood more inland. Those two neighborhoods couldn’t be more different, but I was crazy about Miami’s colors, Latin culture, and the fact that it’s home to the most attractive people I’ve ever seen. Seriously, the phrase “really really ridiculously good-looking” was made for Miami. It was like the bar was set at a much higher hotness level.

Miami is now one of my top picks for a weekend destination in the US, and especially a winter sunshine destination. There is so much more to explore in this city, and even though I experienced two very different neighborhoods in depth, I’ve only scratched the surface.

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READ MORE: Miami Is Nice, So I’ll Say It Twice

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Porvoo, Finland

Finland is a country that I know and love, but Porvoo is the new destination that captured my heart this year. Located just one hour from Helsinki, this charming little city is home to an old town filled with 18th century wooden buildings. It was like a mini version of my favorite place in Finland, Rauma, but much more accessible to the capital.

So many people visit Porvoo for just a day trip — and there were tons of cruise ship passengers — but I really appreciated staying overnight. It gave me an opportunity to photograph the city during the best light of the day — and this was probably the most photogenic place I’ve visited this year.

At first glance, Porvoo is just a tourist-driven town filled with gift shops, not unlike the many seaside villages in Massachusetts that I grew up visiting. But when you get under its skin, you discover things like history, culture, and forest fitness. And getting to spend the night in one of those famous little red houses was a major highlight for me!

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READ MORE: Finland in the Summer: Quirky, Isolated, and Pretty

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The Hamptons

I think Long Island is one of the most underrated destinations in America. Yes, it’s the butt of lots of jokes — the accents, the malls, the big hair and giant jewelry — but it’s also home to a surprisingly good food and wine scene, as well as beautiful beaches.

Last year I spent time on the North Fork; this time I visited the South Fork, home to the Hamptons. My friends Beth and Colleen and I spent a day out in the low-key and fun beach town of Montauk, juuuuuust far enough to be an ambitious day trip from New York City, and we spent a bit of time exploring towns like East Hampton and Bridgehampton and the surrounding wineries. We hit up several of the destinations from The Affair, a TV show I love, and had one memorable meal that will be listed in my WORST travel moments of the year (stay tuned for that)…

A lot of people joke that the Hamptons are basically New York City transferred to a beach — same people, same culture, same attitudes. And…that’s kind of the case. But it’s impossible not to relax a tiny bit when you’re surrounded by beautiful beaches.

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READ (a little bit) MORE: AK Monthly Recap: July 2017

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What was your favorite new destination of 2017?

The post My Favorite New Destinations of 2017 appeared first on Adventurous Kate.

from Adventurous Kate http://www.adventurouskate.com/favorite-new-destinations-2017/

The Secret Sauce Behind Scott’s Cheap Flights

“Have you heard of Scott’s Cheap Flights? Should I use them?”

When friends and family far removed from the travel hacking/cheap flights space ask me about a website, I know its mainstream. While there are many good deal websites out there (The Flight Deal, Secret Flying, and Holiday Pirates are three of my favorites), Scott’s Cheap Flights seems to have broken through where others have not. Over 1 million people get this daily flight deals email. I’m a big fan of the website and their ability to often break airfare deals (I used one of their alerts to fly to South Africa). It turns out Scott is fan of this website too so we sat down for an interview where I get him to spill the secret behind his website:

Nomadic Matt: Tell everyone about yourself. How did you get into this?
Scott: When I graduated college in 2009, I knew two things: (1) I wanted to travel the world and (2) I was never going to be wealthy. So if I wasn’t going to let #2 prevent #1, I knew I would have to figure out some creative ways to travel without spending my life savings. I began reading up on flight pricing economics, spending hours on various flight search engines, and learning various airfare patterns. Before long, I found an online community of fellow travel hackers and cheap-flight aficionados who enjoy not just travel but also the thrill of getting a great deal on flights.

Where did the idea of this website come from?
Scott’s Cheap Flights has a weird origin story. In 2013, I got the best deal of my life: nonstop from NYC to Milan for $130 round-trip. Milan hadn’t even been on my radar as a place to visit, but for $130 round-trip, there’s no way I wouldn’t go. And it turned out to be amazing! I went skiing in the Alps, caught an AC Milan match, hiked Cinque Terre, hung out on Lake Como. It was divine.

When I got back, word spread among friends and coworkers about the deal I got, and dozens of them began asking me to let them know next time I found a fare like that so they could get in on it, too. So rather than try to remember to tell George and Esther and Aviva when a great deal popped up, I decided to start a simple little email list instead so I could alert everyone at once. Scott’s Cheap Flights was born.

For the first 18 months, though, it was just a little, fun hobby I did for my friends. It wasn’t until August 2015 that it had generated enough organic growth that it made sense to think about turning it into a business.

You’ve sort of blown up in the last year or so. What do you think have been the two biggest factors into your success?
First off, thanks! We just hit one million subscribers — still hard for me to believe. The credit goes to two primary factors:

First, there’s an incredible team who runs Scott’s Cheap Flights. It’s not just me; we’re up to 25 folks on the team now. We have a team of flight searchers finding great deals around the world, and also a team of amazing customer support folks. On an average day we get well over 700 emails in our inbox, and most people get a response within a few hours, if not a few minutes. I think this is a major reason why more than 50% of people who sign up for Scott’s Cheap Flights found out about it via word of mouth.

Second, the startup itself had very serendipitous timing. Right around when Scott’s Cheap Flights became a business, international flight prices began to plummet, fueled by low oil prices and a bevy of new low-cost airlines like Norwegian and WOW jumping into the transatlantic market. Whereas in 2010 it was rare to see flights from the US to Europe under $900 round-trip, in 2015 (and through to today), it’s relatively common to see those same flights around $400 round-trip, if not less. We can’t force airlines to offer cheap flights, but we’ve been there to ride the wave these past few years and help subscribers pay half of what they used to to travel abroad.

Were there any media hits or high-profile features that really changed your trajectory? I remember hearing about you a few years ago, but now it seems everyone I know, even outside of travel, has heard of your newsletter.
There was one in particular: a Business Insider article and I were taking in the summer of 2015. It helped take Scott’s Cheap Flights from a hobby to a full-fledged business by bringing in thousands of new subscribers. We’ve had hundreds of media hits in the two years since then, but as we’ve grown, each individual one has necessarily had a diminishing impact. Perhaps a Nomadic Matt interview will give a big new boost though!

How does your website work? How do you find these deals? Do you have team of people searching for deals? Is it an algorithm?
One thing that surprises a lot of people is that we don’t have a bunch of computers running secret algorithms to find cheap flights. All of our fares are searched by hand. The secret sauce is hard work. Airfare changes by the hour, if not by the minute, and the best deals don’t tend to last very long, so finding out about them early is the key to booking them before they’re gone. Most people don’t want to spend all their free time searching for cheap flights; we love doing it and being subscribers’ early detection radar.

Another way to think of it is like this: Almost everybody is capable of cooking dinner at home, but that doesn’t prevent the existence of the restaurant industry. People don’t always want to put in the time and effort required to find cheap flights, so we’re happy to do it for them.

That seems super time-consuming. How do you decide what and where to search? Do you just randomly plugging in places and dates, or is there more of a method to the madness?
There’s a bit of proprietary knowledge that goes into the process, but 95% of it is just the sheer legwork, day after day, searching various routes and seeing what pops up. There’s more of a skill aspect to the process than I would’ve guessed four years ago, whether that’s remembering certain esoteric routes that periodically go on sale, or knowing that a fare war out of one city likely indicates fare drops in other similar cities. For the most part, though, it’s just a small team of incredibly talented and dedicated flight searchers scouring through fares all day every day, disregarding 99% of them and skimming off the juiciest 1% to send to subscribers.

What are some of the biggest trends in flights you are seeing right now?
In the last year or two we’ve seen far cheaper flights than in the past to India (before: $1,000+, now: ~$600), Italy and the Netherlands (before: $900, now: ~$350), and Hawaii (before: $800, now $350 from the West Coast, $550 from further east).

Unfortunately (though perhaps not surprisingly), we’re seeing a continued drought of cheap flights to popular destinations like Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand.

In addition, we’re seeing a continued unbundling of airfare: more low-cost carriers and “budget economy” fares offered by full-service carriers that don’t include checked bags, seat selection, or meals.

Do you use your own deals or are you more of a points/miles-in-business-class kind of guy?
Sure do! I’m personally not a business-class type of guy. I’m still young enough to be fine in coach for as long and far as a plane can fly. Ask me again in 20 years — but in general I’m uncomfortable being doted on in the premium section of the plane. I’m a simple guy. I don’t need much.

Will we see more business-class deals?
Don’t wanna overpromise and underdeliver. Stay tuned!

Do you plan to go global and feature more non-US deals?
Yes! We have a team of flight searchers finding cheap fares departing not just from the US but also Canada, the UK and mainland Europe, Australia and New Zealand, the Caribbean, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East (Sub-Saharan Africa coming soon!).

You get all these flight deals, but tell me some of your favorite travel experiences. What’s one of your favorite recent travel memories?
Last year my wife and I took a trip to Belarus to visit her family. One of the days we took a trip to a “park” that consisted of a big open field filled with old discarded and retired Cold War–era Soviet weapons. Think machine guns, missiles, and tanks.

Mostly people would walk around and pose for selfies in front of these massive weapons, but at one point I saw a small group of tourists from Asia hand a park operator some cash and then start to climb on top of a WWII-era tank. I thought they were just going to take photos, but a few seconds later the tank started lurching forward before hitting a cool 25 miles per hour, zipping around the park. These tourists were having the time of their effing lives, and it gave me so much joy just to watch them.

Your deal website is great of course, but what about just everyday flights people need to see Grandma. What advice do you have based on your experience learning how airline pricing works?
The single best trick to getting cheap airfare is flexibility. Being flexible not just with your dates but also your locations. For example, that NYC-Milan nonstop round-trip deal for $130 I mentioned at the top. I wasn’t living in NYC; I was living in DC. But for that fare it was well worth the short $20 bus ride up. I spent the weekend with friends in NYC and saved myself $650 off what fares would’ve been from DC to Milan.

The way most people approach getting a flight is this: (1) pick where they want to go; (2) pick their dates; and (3) see what prices are available. By prioritizing the fare lowest, they often end up with expensive tickets.

Instead, if getting a cheap flight is your priority, flip the order: (1) see what prices are available to various places are around the world; (2) decide which of the cheap destinations appeal to you; and (3) select the dates you like that have the cheap fares available.

What’s the craziest deal you ever got?
In addition to that $130 nonstop NYC-Milan deal, my wife and I recently scored $169 round-trip flights to Japan — flippin’ love mistake fares. And team members have gotten similarly good deals to Hawaii, New Zealand, etc.

Finally, what’s one non-airfare-related travel piece of advice you’d give someone?
Read more magazine articles and listen to more smart, informative podcasts. I’m a firm believer in the liberal arts approach of knowing a bit about everything (as opposed to everything about just one subject), not only as a way to be a well-rounded person but also as a social lubricant. If you can hold a conversation about anything from architecture to the stock market to Asian budget airlines, you’re far more likely to meet interesting people and develop deeper relationships.

Scott founded Scott’s Cheap Flights in a Denver coffeeshop. Scott is the flight searcher-in-chief, spending 8-12 hours a day on Google Flights as well as oversee daily operations. If you’re looking for flight deals, it’s one of the best.

The post The Secret Sauce Behind Scott’s Cheap Flights appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

from Nomadic Matt's Travel Site https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/scotts-cheap-flights/

Announcing a New Landscape Photography Section!

Photography Life is excited to announce the creation of a new landscape photography section on the website! For years, one of the most important parts of Photography Life has been landscape photography, including dozens of guides, tutorials, and inspirational essays we’ve written along the way. And, as our website continues to grow, we wanted to make it easy for readers to find these articles as quickly as possible. In the upcoming weeks and months, keep an eye out for several new articles in this section (which will still appear on the main homepage, marked with a green landscape icon next to the title). We hope this will be a good way for you to find the most relevant content for your own photography! Here are some of the additional reasons we made this decision:

[Read More...]

from Photography Life https://photographylife.com/announcing-a-new-landscape-photography-section#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=announcing-a-new-landscape-photography-section

Landscape Photography Composition Tips

How is it that two photographers can visit the same landscape at the same time, but one of them manages to take a better photo? It’s not about equipment, or camera settings, or sharpness. Instead, it’s all about composition. Composition is how you arrange the elements of your photograph to guide a viewer’s eye. How do you pick a good composition for your landscape photos? There are two elements that matter more than anything else: simplicity and visual weight. In this article, I’ll share some tips for using them correctly.

[Read More...]

from Photography Life https://photographylife.com/landscape/landscape-photography-composition-tips#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=landscape-photography-composition-tips

6 (Non-Millennial) Solo Female Travelers Share Their Travel Wisdom

Kristin Addis from Be My Travel Muse writes our regular column on solo female travel. It’s an important topic I can’t adequately cover, so I brought in an expert to share her advice for other women travelers to help cover the topics important and specific to them! She’s amazing and knowledgable. In this column, Kristin shares some insights from solo female travelers who aren’t millennials!

Every now and then I think about Julie, a 77-year-old woman who stayed at the beach bungalow next to me on the island of Gili Air in Indonesia.

She regaled with me stories about being invited by locals to beach barbecues, her adventures, and the fun she had traveling the world. I felt so empowered during our conversations. She was so laid-back and at peace. This was a woman who had lived a long life and bucked the belief that solo female travel was something for the young. The confident role model in front of me showed me that women of any age can enjoy and benefit from travel.

Over the years while writing this column, I have seen a growing number of women asking, “What about those of us who aren’t twenty-something? Where can I read their stories and connect with narratives that are closer to my own?”

The Internet is awash with young, often Western, women traveling the world. They blog and Instagram and get their stories told in big media. There’s that bias toward youth.

But solo female travelers come in all ages, from all kinds of backgrounds, and from all over the world.

Today, I want to share some of the stories of older women travelers and add their voices to the narratives. So I sat down (virtually at least) with seven women and asked them for their travel advice.

Anne

From: United Kingdom
Age: 59
Professional background: Civil servant

Anne had a decent job, a comfortable house, a nice car, and lots of friends and family, but for as long as she could remember, she had felt a desire to leave everything behind and travel the world:

“I was feeling rather bored with my life. I had, for as long as I can remember, felt a desire to travel. Several things kinda coincided to bring me to my decision to ‘just go,’ I fit the new criteria for ‘career breaks’ at work, so I applied for a year of unpaid leave.”

For Anne, the reason for going solo was simple: no one was able to travel with her and she had spent too long waiting for the right time or companion, so she just decided to go alone.

“Do it! Don’t wait for anyone to do it for you, if you really want to travel, then find a way and don’t let anyone stop you. I am very fortunate in having taken a partial early retirement so I have a small pension, and I allowed myself a budget from the sale of my house. However, I financed some of my travel by using Workaway. The beauty of this for me was not just the financial side of it but more importantly that you are usually living in your hosts’ home and you become integrated into their family and learn the culture of the country.”

Anita

From: Chicago, IL
Age: 53
Professional background: Customer account executive

Anita was resistant to traveling alone at first as her mind raced through all the negatives and what if’s that could happen:

“I thought that traveling solo would be lonely, depressing, and not fun. Those opinions turned out to be totally false. I always end up meeting some of the most interesting people while traveling solo. And I always have the most amazing fun doing my thing, traveling by myself.”

“I would love to say my decision to travel solo was about making a statement to the world, being a brave trendsetter for my generation, all about girl power. But I basically went into solo travel kicking and screaming and resentful. However, my need to travel was stronger than my objection to traveling by myself.”

And, like others, she didn’t want to want any longer for the perfect companion or the perfect time. As she told me, “I didn’t want to put it off until the perfect travel soul mate came along so we could travel together on these life-changing adventures. As I got older I realized that time is of the essence. I might not ever meet my travel soul mate…and that’s OK. I’ve come to love traveling by myself.”

When it comes to naysayers, she says, “I show them my travel photos. But in my head, I’m saying to myself ‘while you’re sitting around getting old and judging me, I’m traveling and having the time of my life.’”

You can find out more about Anita and her adventures on her blog, The Social Tourist.

Helen

From: Toronto, Canada
Age: 44
Professional background: Marketing and operations

Helen lived a seminomadic life for a year and a half before returning home to work. She has traveled solo to the Galápagos Islands, Kenya, Tanzania, India, Turkey, Jordan, Israel, the West Bank, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, and South Korea.

Of traveling solo, she says she did it “to gain new perspectives on both the world and myself. My travel pursuits have not (and still do not) always match those of my friends and family, but I’m fiercely independent, so I don’t let that deter me from reaching my travel goals.”

Her advice to solo travel hopefuls is to “go for it! You’ll likely discover that you’re stronger and more independent than you thought you were. You’ll learn to be more comfortable with your own company. At the same time, solo travel is a great opportunity to build your social skills, as you’ll find yourself in situations where you’re forced to interact with complete strangers. Don’t be paranoid but trust your instincts — if a location or person seems ‘off,’ steer clear. For a first solo trip, I suggest dipping your toe in the water by choosing a destination that would fit your comfort level, perhaps within your own country or a city where people speak the same language as you do.”

You can read more about Helen’s travels on her blog, Not Without My Passport.

Cate

From: Arizona, USA
Age: 72
Professional background: Retired occupational therapist

Cate decided to travel alone since her friends didn’t have the time or the money to do so.

“I went to Hawaii, then pretty much focused on Europe. So far, Rome was way too intimidating. I loved Florence (I have been back several times), and I adore Paris.

She doesn’t worry much about safety as she follows many of the common sense safety rules in the past:

“I avoid trouble by not going out much at night or going to really crowded places. I eat my big meal at noon, have an aperitif in the late afternoon, and a light dinner in my room. I like Airbnb, because someone will know if I don’t come home or will help if I run into trouble.”

She likes to immerse herself, adding, “I try to go for a month at a time, so I don’t feel rushed. I need time to absorb things, to rest, to meditate, etc., so may spend a day doing nothing, and not feel a bit guilty. Using Airbnb makes staying longer an option. Fifty dollars a night for a room is about average, which beats the heck out of $100/night in a hotel. And I try to take tours or classes so I have some contact with people. I spent a week in the Dordogne painting, took a week of French language classes in Tours, then a three-day tour of Andalusia. It was a joy to have someone else deal with the luggage!”

Her advice is “Take your time. Don’t rush. Travel light. Don’t try to cram too much into too little time. Follow your passions. And you can go back to places you really like.”

Julie

From: Manchester, United Kingdom
Age: 57
Professional background: Personal and professional development coach

Travel was a dream of Julie’s for more than 30 years. And, when the stars aligned at last, she didn’t dream of waiting for anyone else to join her: she went on a solo backpacking trip.

“It wasn’t daunting, but instead exciting, to be going alone. Doing my own thing, relying solely on myself wasn’t new, and I loved the freedom to find myself again at a point in my life when I was ready to change. I also relished the challenge of finding my own way around. I did have a reputation in the family that I always get lost — and I did! But really, that set me up for this trip — knowing I would get lost and also that I always found my way back home safely!”

When it comes to dealing with naysayers, she says, “You just have to want it enough like I did — I yearned to go ‘one day’ and ached at the thought of missing out on seeing with my own eyes what is ‘out there’ — and that you will find a way somehow, someday.”

Julie also came home with a lot of beautiful new realizations about the world, including “that you can and will overcome problems you meet along the way, that people are there to help too, and you will grow and learn, and develop new skills you would never expect or plan for! Now, for example, I can find my way around and create maps in my head. I just never could do that before.”

Julie currently runs her own business, coaching for personal and professional development, at clearmindco.co.uk. She also maintains a travel blog at Clear Mind Thinking.

Maia

From: Montreal, Canada
Age: 40
Professional background: ESL teacher

Maia first went to Europe in her early twenties with a group of girlfriends. She loved the experience and kept planning trips, and when people couldn’t come with her, she went anyway.

“Why wait for someone else, the ‘right’ time, more money, a better plan? Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed to any of us, and if you don’t go and see the world, that’s on nobody but you.”

On her favorite solo travel spot, she says, “Africa is probably my favorite place to travel, period. I’ve been four times to six countries, Tanzania being my favorite for sure. I’ve gone solo each time, but you never really stay that way. The people I’ve encountered have always been so welcoming that I’ve always felt like I was leaving my family and friends even as I returned to Canada.”

And like the other, she didn’t let negatively or people’s opinions get in the way of what she was doing:

“I had someone in my family once say to me that they were against me traveling to Africa alone, so I kind of turned it around: I profusely apologized, said I completely understood such a position and would definitely not burden that person with any of my planning, promised no Africa talk whatsoever and no news while I was there. It didn’t take long for this person to realize that I was going anyway and what a long six weeks that would be with no info from me. Let’s just say he came around fairly quickly and got on board with my trip. I think that’s what people have to do more of. I say do your thing, and if they come around, great, but if not, that’s on them, not you.”

—-

As I corresponded with these women, I couldn’t help notice some central themes: the desire not to let negativity get in their way, the fear but excitement over traveling alone, and the realization these fears were wrong. It’s something I dealt with when I traveled. There’s a certain universality to these fears that knows no age limit. Maybe our preferences and tastes change over time, but wanderlust never wanes for those of us who are adventurers at heart.

And, I think in this online age with so many young bloggers (myself included), it’s easy to forget that every day women of all ages set out to travel the world and, like Julie did for me, help inspire more women to head out on the road too.

Kristin Addis is a solo female travel expert who inspires women to travel the world in an authentic and adventurous way. A former investment banker who sold all of her belongings and left California in 2012, Kristin has solo traveled the world for over four years, covering every continent (except for Antarctica, but it’s on her list). You can find more of her musings at Be My Travel Muse or on Instagram and Facebook.

Conquering Mountains: The ultimate Guide to Solo Female Travel

For a complete A-to-Z guide on solo female travel, check out Kristin’s new book, Conquering Mountains. Besides discussing many of the practical tips of preparing and planning your trip, the book addresses the fears, safety, and emotional concerns women have about traveling alone. It features over 20 interviews with other female travel writers and travelers. Click here to learn more about the book and start reading it today!

The post 6 (Non-Millennial) Solo Female Travelers Share Their Travel Wisdom appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

from Nomadic Matt's Travel Site https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/non-millennial-solo-female-travelers/

AK Monthly Recap: November 2017

Happy December, everyone! It’s hard to believe the year is nearly over. For me, once again, this was a low-key month, mostly spent at home. I’m savoring these times before I strike up my busy winter travel schedule.

Destinations Visited

New York, New York

Reading and Lynn, Massachusetts

Nashua and Merrimack, New Hampshire

Las Vegas, Nevada

Favorite Destination

Viva Las Vegas. It was so good to be back!

Highlights

Finishing Whole30 — a perfect 33 days. When I began Whole30 — 30 days of no sugar, alcohol, grains, dairy, legumes, or artificial flavors — I worried that I wouldn’t be able to resist temptation. That wasn’t the case at all! I was sad that I couldn’t keep going!! I ended up lasting for 33 days and felt so much better as a result. See more about that in the Fitness Update section below.

Spending Thanksgiving at home. Two American Thanksgivings in a row after spending six outside the country? That was a very good thing. Even if eating the pie sent me into major stomach pains following Whole30.

My 15-year high school reunion. How have 15 years passed already?! My class had an informal reunion at a nearby bar, and while I didn’t expect many people to show up, I was delighted that so many of my classmates came. And everyone looked the same to me — I guess the RMHS Class of 2002 is a well-aging bunch.

I was a little worried that I would be the odd woman out, as it seems like everyone in my class is married and/or popping out kids these days, but it turns out that most people at the reunion were unmarried without kids as well! Ha. And it was really nice to hear from classmates who have become readers of the blog.

I was featured on ABC 7 New York. The local news station is doing a series of video features on local influencers. I talked to them about my life, career, and travels. You can check the whole thing out here.

A return to Las Vegas! The trip began on November 30, so I’ll mention more in next month’s recap, but the highlights of the first day were eating at Gordon Ramsay Steak (and if you see an American Rib Cut on a steak menu anywhere, GET IT — it’s crazy good) and the sheer luck of having a row of three seats to myself on a six-hour flight.

Challenges

I got hit with some bad news at the end of the month. Nothing truly awful like death or illness, nor is it work- or business-related, nor is it anything juicy or gossipy, but it’s bad news anyway, and for reasons you’ll understand later, I’m keeping it private at the moment. It’s basically a huge disappointment compounded by a logistical pain in the ass, and it’s going to cost me a good amount of money. Fun times.

In other words, please be patient with me over the next few months, especially if you know me in real life. I’ll talk about it once things are settled.

There was a huge fire in my neighborhood. Six alarms and more than 300 firefighters were on the scene. Thankfully, neither my sister nor I were in danger, nor were any of our friends, and the injuries were miraculously minimal, but a lot of my neighbors have lost their homes. We’ve been raising money and collecting donations for them.

Most Popular Post

The Best Gifts for Travelers: 2017 Edition — I retool my gift guide with some great 2017 additions!

Other Posts

Solo Female Travel in Thailand — Is it Safe? — Everything women need to know about traveling in Thailand.

Chisinau and Minsk: Two Offbeat Soviet Cities — Two of the lesser visited capitals of Europe.

The 8 Best Old Towns in Europe — I narrow it down to my absolute favorites.

The Best Halloween Dogs in Hamilton Heights, Harlem — So many adorable Halloween doggos!

Most Popular Photo on Instagram

Hard to argue with a very rare view: a New York sunset without a single cloud in the sky, taken from one of the best viewpoints in the city: the Staten Island Ferry. For more live updates from my travels and New York in real time, follow me on Instagram at @adventurouskate.

Fitness Update

Whole30 is one of the best things I’ve ever done for my body. Stripping out sugar, alcohol, grains, dairy and lots of other things made my body suddenly start working far more efficiently. Altogether, I lost 8.8 pounds of fat and gained 0.8 pounds of muscle. That’s pretty much best case scenario for what my body can do in a month.

And one benefit that I didn’t expect was that my workouts with my trainer suddenly improved by leaps and bounds. For several weeks, I was struggling to do squats properly while holding kettlebells — and then suddenly it clicked and I was doing them perfectly. I was curving my back during kettlebell swings, then BAM — perfect swings. Bigger deadlifts, too.

I tried Pilates for the first time in October, and it’s since become a major part of my fitness regimen. I love it! It’s so weird, because I always get bored and exasperated at yoga and I always feel like I’m dying in barre, but Pilates is the happy medium. I feel so strong and aligned after I do it.

And finally — I’m doing Couch25K again! Couch25K is a running plan that takes you from being a couch potato to being able to run a 5K (3 miles, or about 30 continuous minutes) at once.

You might recall that I started Couch25K two years ago, got injured, and never picked up running again. Well, like many people, that was because I pushed myself too hard too fast. This time I’m determined to do it right — not running too hard or too often, stretching well, cross-training appropriately, and only increasing the intensity slowly. If this works out, I’ll be racing by spring.

What I Watched This Month

Can we talk about This Is Us? Can we talk about how I can’t decide if I want Randall Pearson to be my husband, my dad, my brother, or my kid? It’s disconcerting. If you’re not watching, you can get started on Hulu and catch up…

What I Listened To This Month

One podcast that I really enjoyed this month was More Perfect’s episode about Citizens United. More Perfect is a fabulous podcast about the Supreme Court; it explains some of the Court’s more notable cases in an interesting way that non-lawyers can understand.

I didn’t know as much as Citizens United as I should have — looking back, I realize it was because the case was decided in January 2010, which was the month that my life blew up, leading me to start this blog and travel the world. It was a crazy time; no wonder I wasn’t following the news beyond the bare minimum.

So listening to this podcast was incredible — while I only knew the basics of Citizens United, I feel like I understand all the nuances of it inside and out now. What a catastrophe, and what terrible results for America.

What I Read This Month

What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton (2017) — I didn’t want to read this book at first. Reliving the election was the last thing I wanted to do; I thought it would be too painful. So what changed my mind? Seeing so many people, from journalists to internet randos, saying that Hillary should just sit down and shut up.

Fuck that. Seriously. You’re saying that the first woman ever to be nominated by a major political party, a woman who won the last election’s popular vote by nearly three million votes, deserves to be silenced for the rest of her life? No. Al Gore and John Kerry and John McCain and Mitt Romney didn’t get the same treatment.

So I read the book. And I really liked it. It was a deep delve into the election from Hillary’s perspective, and honestly it felt so damn good just to hear her voice speak through her writing. So if you’re like me and you weren’t going to read What Happened because you thought it would be too painful, I encourage you to do so anyway. I think you’ll be glad you did.

Chemistry by Weike Wang (2017) — What happens when your world drops out from beneath you? In this book, an unnamed narrator, a Chinese-American student working on her Ph.D. at an elite Boston university, has a breakdown. She can’t decide whether to continue pursuing her doctorate or whether she wants to marry her perfectly nice boyfriend, and when compounded by pressure from her parents, she slides deep into indecision, letting the world decide for her.

This book is sweet, and short, and gentle — but what surprised me the most about it was that it read as a lesson in how to be kind to yourself, how to forgive yourself, and how to find joy and meaning after giving up the life you always thought you’d have.

Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood (2017) — I like to think that the best memoirs are by people with exceptional life stories, told in an exceptional way. Most memoirs are only one or the other, but I don’t think a single memoir has been equally strong in both areas as Priestdaddy. Patricia Lockwood grew up with a Catholic priest for a father (yes, the Vatican allows some clergy from other Christian denominations to convert to priesthood, even if they’re married and have kids, and it’s rare but it does happen). And the story is told beautifully because Lockwood is a poet. Every sentence is a work of art.

The memoir covers the nine-month period that Lockwood and her husband lived at the rectory with her parents to save money, as well as some childhood anecdotes. Basically, her father is a guitar-jamming, nudity-loving, abortion-protesting larger-than-life character, and her mother and four siblings are various shades of quirky and hilarious as well. I’ve never read a book remotely like this before. Just one warning — Lockwood’s prose is so detailed, each word placed carefully, that reading it will probably take you longer than you think. This is a book to savor, not speed through.

Practical Curiosity by Alex Berger (2017) — I am a big fan of my friend Alex’s writing on his site, Virtual Wayfarer, so when he released his first full-length book of observations on life, love, and travel, I was eager to dig in. Alex has a perspective that I’ve always valued — we’re about the same age, but he has the wisdom and insight of someone much older, and I love how he puts his thoughts into words.

If you’d like to look at your life a bit differently, add more adventure and curiosity to your life, or nod in appreciation about how much long-distance relationships suck, this is a great (and cheap!) book to check out.

Coming Up in December 2017

No travel plans other than the remaining days in Las Vegas that I just finished. I should be home in Massachusetts for Christmas, though.

And it’s a good thing that my upcoming Antarctica trip was postponed from December to March, since I now have to spend December taking care of the issue that I mentioned in the “challenges” section above.

That said, I love Decembers on the blog because I get to write my best and worst of the year posts! Get ready for posts on the best and worst moments of the year, as well as my favorite new destinations and favorite books of the year.

What are you up to this December? Share away!

The post AK Monthly Recap: November 2017 appeared first on Adventurous Kate.

from Adventurous Kate http://www.adventurouskate.com/ak-monthly-recap-november-2017/

What It’s Like to Photograph a Sandstorm

One of the windiest nights I’ve ever taken pictures turned into perhaps the single most rewarding — and frightening — landscape photography experience of my life. I was on the Mesquite Sand Dunes in Death Valley, a place I had visited twice in the past, though under much tamer conditions. This night, the gusts of wind were far greater than I had seen before, and they kicked up a layer of sand that made for amazing sunset photos. But as the day came to a close, it was clear I had entered uncharted waters.

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from Photography Life https://photographylife.com/landscape/what-its-like-to-photograph-a-sandstorm#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=what-its-like-to-photograph-a-sandstorm