What’s the Big Deal with ‘Country Counting’ Anyway?

May 18, 2017 Lana @TravelSavvyGal Comments 14 comments

I don’t always come into contact with other frequent travelers on the road, and when I do, the topic of ‘country counting’ doesn’t come up. Until last week when I was in Belize and happened to take a day trip to Guatemala with a bunch of frequent travelers, including a pair who worked at a ski resort 6 to 8 months a year and traveled the rest of the time.

Travel blogging doesn’t always lend itself to interviewing or conducting field research, but on the two hour or so drive, I felt like I had an opportunity.

“So, do you know how many countries you’ve been to?”

I tried to pose the question as innocently as possible to the ski resort pair. They didn’t know I was a travel blogger, and I didn’t offer up the information because we were at the beginning of the tour and I didn’t want special treatment from the guide. Although I had already planned to write about ‘country counting’ for the blog.

After a brief moment of thought, one of them suggested, “Maybe somewhere in the 30s?”

I would venture to say that visiting 30+ countries is something not attained by most people. As we passed our passports to the front of the van for processing at the Guatemalan border, theirs bulged with the extra pages displaying all of the places they’ve transited.

But here is the other key piece of information. They didn’t talk about all the countries they’d visited or how many new ones they would see this year, but instead waxed philosophical about how they loved southeast Asia and it was a destination they’d returned to again and again.

This is in stark contrast to the travel blogging world, when someone’s number of countries visited serves as some sort of “street cred” (aka credentials) of how experienced they might be, or perhaps how trustworthy with advice.

When I started out blogging, I noticed it in people’s Twitter or Instagram profile. I followed suit and added it to my Pinterest page description. As you can imagine, there are also travel bloggers that are vehemently opposed to country counting because of what it represents. To each his or her own.

Country goals

There are plenty of people though, from infrequent tourists to backpackers to business travelers, who engage in ‘country counting.’ For some, it’s not a constant tally, but an occasional check-in, depending on the goal.

I’ve heard it all in terms of goals: visiting 30 countries by the age of 30, making it to 2 new countries each year, or just using the number as a motivator to travel more. Apparently there’s even an app for that. Or rather several apps, that typically use a map feature to shade in and track where you’ve visited.

And for the really ambitious, there’s the Travelers’ Century Club (TCC). The TCC was founded in Los Angeles, California in the 1950s and – you guessed it – membership is open to those who have visited 100 or more countries.

Why ‘country counting’ is so complicated

Of course, “been to” or “visiting” can mean many things.
Does transferring at an airport count?
What if you go through customs and leave the airport?
Do you have to spend the night?
Stay for 24 hours?
Have a meal?

By the way, those aren’t random questions. All of them are criteria I’ve heard floated by friends and other bloggers as to what you might have to do for a country to “count.” Or for those counting US states or Canadian provinces or Italian regions as they try to visit each one.

As for me, I only know the number of countries I’ve been to because I sat down and made a list last year, thinking that it would help to mention it to be considered a travel blogging authority. At the time I started the blog, I had been to 45 countries, which I mentioned in my very first welcome post on the blog.

Although interestingly I don’t know – off the top of my head, anyway – how many of the 50 US states I’ve visited, although it’s quite a few. (Maybe I’m somewhere in the 30s?)

Hidden in my number of 54 are a few quick passes through places, like…

brief jaunts into Montenegro and Bosnia on day trips during my 2007 road trip
the overnight I spent sleeping at the Kuala Lumpur low-cost airport terminal in 2012, although I did have to get my passport stamped and I exited the terminal once for a brief stroll
my day trip to visit the ruins at Tikal in Guatemala last week, starting and ending in Belize

Also hidden in my number, which seems to be toward the high side for bloggers, is the fact that I’ve never been to South America! Although I’ve traveled a bunch in the Caribbean and Central America. And racked up quite a few extra countries while living in Europe and visiting micro-nations like Andorra and Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and San Marino, Monaco and Vatican City.

It sure sounds impressive to say that I’ve lived in 4 countries on 4 continents (which is true!) but really I just keep going back to those same continents for travel as well! And no, I don’t count my few days into the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt as visiting Africa, although you might consider that to technically be the case.

See how complicated this all is?

But wait, here’s the other kicker of a question. How many countries are there in the world?

There are some people who aim to visit every country in the world. Although I’m not one of them, the question of how to know when you’ve visited them all is not so straightforward.

How many “countries” are there?

You would think that knowing how many countries there are would be a simple question, but it is anything but. How to decide?

Probably the first thing most people think of is to consult the United Nations (UN) membership as a guide. There are 193 UN member states. OK, so there is our number: 193.

But wait, what about the Holy See (Vatican City, pictured above) and Palestine, both of which have official UN observer status. So, there are 195 countries in the world?

Well, not so fast. Taiwan is not a member of the UN at all, due to ongoing disagreements with mainland China. And certainly most people would consider it a country. New tally: 196.

Or how about Kosovo? Following conflict over its status after the breakup of Yugoslavia, Kosovo declared its independence in 2008, which over 100 countries have recognized. But it is still not part of the UN. And we’re at 197.

There is still Antarctica, which is a continent, but has no country based there. Can you visit a continent without adding to your ‘country count’? Or what about Hong Kong & Macau, which are Special Administrative Regions of China?

Interestingly, the Guinness Book of World Records put the number of “sovereign nations” at 196. The most recent (and fastest) person to achieve the feat of visiting them all, American Cassie De Pecol, brought recent attention to ‘country counting’ with the goal of visiting every country. It took her just over a year and a half.

The TCC country and territory list takes things to a whole new level and lists 325 places! Based on their own definition, of course.

What about me?

Personally, I think you need to clear immigration and step foot in a country for it to count, so by that measure I am technically at 54 countries, although it really feels like 53 since I left the Kuala Lumpur airport oh-so-briefly during my overnight layover. I didn’t actually see or do anything there. Except take this picture:

How did my count get so high?

A few factors, really. It was Caribbean vacations with my family & a few well-planned trips over the years that included several countries each & living in Europe for 3 years where things are so darn close together.

“Oh, you lived in Europe for 3 years, you must have been everywhere!”

That’s something I hear a lot, but I didn’t even come close, despite my many trips to micro-nations. I only made one foray during that time into Scandinava (Stockholm for TBEX, a travel blogging conference), and there are other places that lots of people have visited that just haven’t happened for me. At least not yet.

Like Portugal. Or Ireland. Or places I would love to get to this year like Malta & Georgia.

Some would call me well-traveled (and I think I am), but not because of my country count!

Some parting thoughts

What I can say? Yes, I’ve been to a lot of countries. I’m not an expert on everywhere, but I have done enough travel to offer advice and tips on mistakes to avoid and how to do it well. Which is why I started a blog =)

For the places I have been, I typically do a fair bit of research before going. Then I take good notes on what I’ve seen, done & enjoyed, and can share my best tips for those destinations with you!

And this whole ‘country counting’ business? I like numbers, and it’s certainly something interesting to think about for your own travels. But at the end of the day I’m much more concerned with what type of travel someone has done than how many places they’ve visited necessarily.

Did you savor great street food, seek out haute cuisine, or eat what’s most convenient at the moment?
Did you plan ahead of time or travel spontaneously?
Did you join organized tours or do your own thing?
Did you visit places where you know locals or went somewhere you have no connection?

These are some of the many ways to frame travel, and they’re certainly not mutually exclusive. I travel in lots of varied ways depending on the destination, budget, and my traveling companions. There is no one right method, although in its own way my number does tell a story – of the clustered travel I’ve done around countries where I’ve lived, and how much of the world is still left for me to explore.

A particular travel count is not a goal of mine. (It never even occurred to me to try to visit 30 countries by the time I turned 30!)

And I don’t know that I’ll want to go to every country someday like some of those world record holders.

But I do want to explore new places, re-visit places I’ve been and loved, and take some travel savvy with me when I go.

Happy travels!

Lana

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Do you know your country count? Or your count of provinces or states where you live? What does it mean for you and your travel? What do you need to do in a place for it to make it onto your list?

And do you have any goals around your country count? Like visiting 40 countries by the time you’re 40…or 100 countries in your lifetime? I want to hear all about it!

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Top 10 Travel Destinations for 2017

January 5, 2017 Lana @TravelSavvyGal Comments 0 Comment

Happy 2017! As the new year starts (along with some New Year’s resolutions, maybe?) this is also the time of year to start to think about what places to visit in the coming year. For many, vacation days are precious, but with a little creative planning there is a lot of travel destinations that you can squeeze into a single twelve-month period.

Last year for me was the year that I visited the most new countries. Final tally: 11 new countries (6 in Europe, 5 beyond)!!! I don‘t expect that this coming year will be quite as prolific, but I am already planning for the spots I want to hit up. I usually pick where to go these days by finding hidden gems – destinations that may not be at the top of traditional travel lists but have a variety of cultural and outdoor activities to enjoy, along with a unique food culture. And having good wineries to visit doesn’t hurt either =)

This list is not meant to be exhaustive, and it certainly is subjective. It’s also a mix of countries I’ve been and loved, along with other destinations that are timely for 2017 that I haven’t explored yet, but hope to this year. And I contemplated ranking the choices, but in the end decided that since it’s already a top ten list, alphabetical order will do.

Here are the Travel Savvy Gal Top 10 Travel Destinations for 2017:

Australia

Maybe I’m a little biased since I loved the year I lived in Perth, but I really believe that this year will be a great time to visit. The Australian dollar is still around 75 US cents, which means that despite the sometimes high price tags, it’s like having a 25% discount on everything if you’re American (and even more if you’re European). Yes, it is far to travel, but this is a destination that will wow you whatever your interests and is worth the week or two you’ll want to spend after making the trek.

Melbourne has a vibrant food scene and alleyways to wander and explore. Sydney has icons like the Harbour Bridge and Opera House to discover. And Perth has great year-round weather, with both beaches and wine country easily accessible on the city metro system. The list goes on and on and on. And really, Australians are some of the friendliest people you’ll ever meet. They’re JUST. SO. NICE.

Bulgaria

When a friend and I both had a week free in late August last year, I don’t quite remember how we settled on visiting Bulgaria, but I’m so glad we did. Sofia has the feel of any typical Eastern Europe capital city, and it’s worth spending a few days there, but the real gems are further afield. My favorite spot was the old Roman city of Plovdiv, where you can explore the city’s ancient history, or drive a bit out of town to sample the excellent local wines and visit the nearby fort and monastery.

The UNESCO site of the Old Town of Nessebar on the Black Sea is also a great spot for exploring one day and relaxing on the beach the next. And there is an abundance of forts and monasteries, many with breathtaking views, to take in wherever you are.

Cuba

Yes I know, if you wanted to go to Cuba before flights and cruises were widely available to Americans, it’s too late. However, even if you haven’t been yet – and I haven’t either – all is not lost. Cuba is at the outset of a possible shift into a commercialized tourist destination, but it is still worth making it there sooner rather than later.

And as the country slowly shifts to catering to tourists, the earlier you go, the more places that will still be off the beaten path to discover. There is also some concern about how a Trump presidency might impact the recent openness for American tourists. Which again, puts Cuba on this list of top places to visit this year.

Kazakhstan

This is another country I have not made it to yet, however I’ve included it on my list for 2017 because Kazakhstan’s capital city of Astana will be hosting the 2017 International Expo from June 10^th until September 10^th. When the 2015 World Expo was in Milan, I was quite impressed by the Kazakhstan pavilion – and with the hour-long queues outside, I wasn’t the only one. Inside, their interactive displays lived up to the hype. I can’t wait to see what Kazakhstan rolls out when they are the host country this year for EXPO 2017, with the theme of “Future Energy.”

Liechtenstein

If you live in Europe, Liechtenstein is a great spot for a weekend trip. If you’re visiting Europe from further away but will be in the vicinity (Zurich, Innsbruck, & Munich are all from 1-3 hours away by car), I’d definitely add Liechtenstein to your itinerary.

Not only is there excellent hiking in summer and skiing in winter, but there are also several museums to take in and some outstanding breweries and wineries to visit. It’s a great spot for a relaxing couple of days, a few days of intense outdoor adventure, or a little bit of both – take your pick!

Oman

Yes, I *just* came back from my week-long Oman road trip, and yes, it’s already made my list of top places to go in 2017. This really is a stretch of unspoiled Middle East, where history has been preserved in many ways. Omanis also offer incredible hospitality. In other countries, when someone stops you on the street it’s usually to try to sell you something. In Oman, it’s because you look like you might need assistance and Omanis will jump at the opportunity to help.

Like Bulgaria, Oman has a lot of forts, but also a lot of outdoor adventure opportunities, from desert exploring to swimming in a wadi to touring the fjords of the Musandam peninsula by boat. And Muscat is a city of wonder, with stunning sights like the Sultan’s Palace and Grand Mosque. Their tourism motto is: “Beauty has an address.” It’s true.

Spain

Before living in Europe, I kind of clumped all of the countries on the Euro as its currency as being equally affordable, but it doesn’t quite work like that. Spain is incredibly affordable especially compared to many of its Euro-using neighbors, and can really be a budget destination while still eating and drinking well. I haven’t explored the whole country yet, but I have enjoyed my time spent in Seville, Barcelona, Zaragoza, and San Sebastian, plus wine tasting in the Rioja region.

The more off-the-beaten-path you venture, the more value you get for your money, with cheap accommodations available and incredibly affordable and filling tapas and stellar wines if that’s what you’re looking for. There are also plenty of opportunities to splurge, including at one of the highest concentrations of Michelin-starred restaurants in the world in San Sebastian in Basque country on the northern coast.

Sri Lanka

Ever since I spent two weeks in Sri Lanka in December 2015, I have been singing its praises. There is a huge variety of things to see and do on this relatively small island nation: ancient temples, beach, Dutch forts, hiking, safaris, visiting a tea plantation, whale watching . . . the list goes on.

The food is amazing, involving a combination of south Indian and Tamil influences along with other dishes only found on Sri Lanka. The beer is good and the variety of tea is incredible, with many plantations offering tours and excellent tea tastings. It’s a whirlwind adventure, I’d dedicate at least 10 days to exploring, although you can get a taste of the wonder in fewer.

United Kingdom

Since the UK voted in favor of a Brexit – the exit from the European Union – the value of the pound has been steadily falling. Britain has always had a wealth of places to visit, and I enjoy my time in London every time I go, but with the value for your money, 2017 is the time to go for your first time (or again).

A highlight of my last trip there was the town of Bath. Not too far from London, the site of Britain’s only natural hot springs, and boasting a history dating from Roman times to Jane Austen to the present day.

Vietnam

Vietnam was another winter holiday trip, like Sri Lanka, and is another destination I can’t recommend enough to anyone who will listen. The coffee and food are fabulous, and there is so much to do that after a busy two weeks there, I felt like I had only scratched the surface. There is the bustle of cities Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), while the center of Vietnam boasts the largest cave systems in the world, several of which you can tour.

Ha Long Bay in the north has lovely spots for rock climbing and deep water soloing, kayaking, or staying overnight on a boat. Hoi An on the coast is a foodie mecca and probably the most popular spot in Asia to get clothes custom-made. The south has the Mekong River delta and also some intriguing remnants of the war, like the underground Cu Chi tunnels. And although I didn’t get a chance to go, I hear the beaches in the south are great. I want to go back just writing about it…

What’s top on your list to visit in 2017??

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How to Plan Solo Travel in 8 Easy Steps

January 20, 2017 Lana @TravelSavvyGal Comments 0 Comment

Solo travel can look like so many different things, and is one of the most rewarding things I have done as a frequent traveler. I love having a buddy (or several) to share my travel adventures with, but there is a totally different perspective and awareness that comes from taking a trip just for you. Most destinations have an abundance of organized activities as well as plenty of things you can do solo, so you really can tailor the trip to what is best for you personally, or most comfortable. And you can still eat incredibly well while traveling alone. Even though I’ve been a solo traveler for nearly two decades, I keep planning (and savoring) solo trips, and have now visited over a dozen countries on my own.

Below I break it down into my step-by-step process for how I plan my solo trips, whether it’s for a weekend or a month. Follow the process one step at a time, and before you know it you’ll be on your first trip on your own!

Planning…

Step 1: Pick the amount of time you’ll travel.

This sounds basic, but it’s hugely important. If this will be your first solo trip, you’ll probably want to keep it to a day or weekend, so you can get a taste for solo travel without feeling too overwhelmed or stressed with the planning. Sometimes the amount of time will be dictated by your available vacation time from work or a period of time in between trips already planned with other people. In any case, decide on something reasonable that fits with your free time, level of comfort, and budget.

Step 2: Pick a destination.

This step can be done interchangeably with Step 1. Sometimes I block off time to travel and then pick where I’ll go & other times I have somewhere I want to visit and figure out how much time I have available to spend there. In any case, picking a destination is related to your free time, as you probably won’t want to venture too far for a weekend trip, but might spend 20 hours flying to go away for a month. Take into account how expensive a destination is (both to get there & once you arrive), whether you speak the language, and if there are enough things you’re interested in doing for the time you’ve set aside.

Step 3: Book transportation.

This step for me is always the point at which things go from me dreaming about a trip to it becoming R-E-A-L. If you book a flight in the US, you have 24 hours to change your mind, but most other US transportation options – and certainly international ones – are typically non-refundable or can only be changed with a hefty fee. So for me, booking my transportation to and from a place is when I feel committed. Figure out if it’s best for you to arrive by car, bus, train, or plane, look into economical options that work with your schedule. And of course, don’t forget to take a minute to run down my Travel Checklist for Booking Flights, most of which applies to bus or train transportation as well. Then just pull the trigger and book!

Let’s be real, people tend to be most terrified of this step, myself included. You may think it over for so long that there are no good cheap flight options left or you let your fear get the better of you and never actually make the plan. But take a second to think about it. At this stage, you’ve already decided where to go and for how long, so the hard part is over. Don’t think too much about it, and just book. Now you’re going on a trip!! And it’ll be great =)

Step 4: Decide how you’ll split your trip between time on your own vs. organized tours.

When I have a solo trip planned for anything longer than a weekend, I typically plan at least one formal tour. Not only is this a great way to get to know a place while hosted by locals or experts, it is a social activity that can be a nice way to break up time sightseeing on your own. I also use organized tours as a way to meet others, including (but not only!) other solo travelers. This is also your chance to decide how much time feels right for you to be traveling on your own. If this is your first solo trip, you might want to schedule some form of planned activity each day you’ll be traveling. Or every other day. Perhaps you like to explore new places at your own pace and will only schedule a single day activity for a week on the road.

This is your chance to be real with yourself about what feels comfortable and works for you. And the good news? There’s no wrong way to take a solo trip! Do it in a way so you don’t feel overwhelmed or in over your head. For me, if I’m feeling adventurous, I’ll book only a single tour – or even none at all. If I don’t have a lot of planning time, or will be too exhausted from a previous trip, I’ll slot in more activities in advance. You can get a better feel for what this balance might look like in the next section, where I share the details of previous solo trips I’ve taken. Of course, if you decide to not plan any organized activities ahead of time, skip straight to Step 5.

Step 5: Book accommodations.

The only reason I am putting this step after outlining your rough overview of your trip is because some organized tours or trips may involve overnights where you’re sleeping arrangements are taken care of (see more about my Thailand trip in the next section), so you’ll want to know which nights are not accounted for before booking where you’ll stay. Your style of travel may typically involve familiar chains or boutique hotels, but if you are traveling solo I’d also recommend that you consider booking accommodations where you can meet others easily, like a hostel. Many hostels offer private room options if you’re not interested in having a bed in a communal dorm room, and often will host other solo travelers who might be looking for a sightseeing companion for a day or afternoon. They are also great sources of information on local tours and excursions, and can often book these for you directly. Regardless of which type of accommodation you choose, be sure to run down my Travel Checklist for Booking Accommodations.

I urge you that even if your days are unplanned, to book accommodations ahead of time, so you know where you’ll be resting your head each night. Even if you’re a seasoned solo traveler who chooses to not book and leave it up in the air, at a minimum take a few minutes to search and do a reality check that there’s still decent availability on the nights you’ll be somewhere – not every destination has a wealth of places to stay or there may be a convention or special event in town you didn’t know about that has most places already booked up. In which case, you will probably want to go ahead and reserve accommodations in advance.

Step 6: Rent a car (if applicable).

Honestly, I tend to shy away from renting a car when I’m traveling on my own. Street signs, especially in a foreign country, can range from confusing to being displayed in a different alphabet from your own. And navigating can also present challenges, even if you have a data plan for your phone or have rented a GPS along with the vehicle. Personally I like driving in a strange place with a buddy, so one person can drive and the other help navigate, although I have rented a car on my own in more familiar locales. If you do go this route, be sure in advance that you’ll really be comfortable doing so, and also check out my road trip tips – some of these are Europe-specific but many apply to any time you’re renting a car or taking a road trip.

Step 7: Figure out if there are any restaurants that you’ll want to reserve in advance.

Sometimes for me this step is quite quick, involving a cursory internet search to discover that I’ll probably want to stick to low-key places or that there are no “fancy” restaurants or local hot spots I really want to sample that would involve a reservation. In other cases, I’ll get caught up scouring many excellent options and reserve one or several places for dinner around any organized tours I’ve already planned. Again, specific to your level of comfort, you can eat street food for all of your meals, plan all your meals at sit-down establishments, or anticipate a mix of sit-down places and eating on the go. There are a great variety of restaurant types that are friendly to the solo diner, and of course you can pretty much always find a place to eat, even without advance planning.

Step 8: Do as much (or as little) additional research as you’d like.

For certain trips, I’ll spend weeks intermittently looking into sights to see and places I’d like to eat while I’m there. Sometimes for me this is flipping through a guidebook at the airport waiting for my flight, or during the train ride or flight itself. Or posting a plea on Facebook a few days beforehand requesting begging for recommendations from friends who have previously visited a certain destination. This is another step that is really up to you in terms of how much, if any, effort you put into it, depending on your comfort level and how much of your trip you’d like to be planned out in advance.

*NOTE: Regardless of your level of advance planning, still check out the “Before you go” section below for the essentials to definitely complete before your trip begins, regardless of how much other planning you’ve done ahead of time.

Details of actual solo trips I’ve taken!

I’ve given a detailed run-down of my trip planning for my week-long solo trip to Thailand in 2015, plus an overview of one shorter and one longer solo trip I’ve done to give you an idea of what your trip might look like – and how little planning it takes to flesh out an itinerary for a week away on your own.

Berlin, Germany (long weekend)

There are an abundance of walking tours in Berlin, so while I didn’t buy a ticket ahead of time, I did research into the meeting spots and times for different options, and ended up having a great introduction to the city with an experienced guide. I also blocked off one day to visit the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, which has an audioguide and the option of an in-person guide as well. Then I left my other two days unplanned, although I did do advance research into restaurants to try and sightseeing options. You can find more details about my favorite spots and best Berlin meals in the blog post I wrote here.

Thailand (1 week)

Steps 1 & 2: My solo trip in Thailand was actually my second time visiting the country, and I chose to spend a week there between the northern town of Chiang Mai and Bangkok, the capital.

Step 3: I knew I wanted to spend most of my time in Chiang Mai (which I had missed on my first trip), then went ahead and booked my flights to and from Bangkok, with a side round-trip flight to Chiang Mai.

Step 4: In terms of activities, I was interested in spending so much time in Chiang Mai to be able to do a 2-day meditation retreat and also some rock climbing. After looking into some options, I realized that I could do an overnight homestay as part of a climbing and zip-lining trip, so booked that as well. That was just enough organized activity, although I did meet another female traveler at my hostel who arrived a day before her travel companion, and we spent my first afternoon in town exploring Chiang Mai together.

I had two full days in Bangkok, and booked one organized activity there – a night tour of the city by tuk-tuk, including street food and sightseeing. I sought out this option after knowing from my previous trip both how hot the city can get during the day and also how difficult it can be at times to navigate between different neighborhoods.

Step 5: I booked a private room in a hostel in Chiang Mai for the nights I wasn’t away (2 of my excursions were overnight), and then reserved a bed in an all-female dorm in Bangkok (close to the MRT stop where the airport express arrived). Saving money on my Bangkok accommodation let me splurge on my meals there =)

Step 6: Nope, no rental car.

Step 7: I knew I wanted to eat at nahm in Bangkok, one of the “World’s 50 Best Restaurants,” so I made a reservation for my last night in town. Their tasting menu ended up being well-suited to the solo traveler, since there was a lot of choice across several categories of dishes with the portion size being adapted to the number of people at the table. And my meal was absolutely delicious, and good value compared to tasting menus in Europe, Australia, or the US since the prices were in Thai Baht, the local currency.

Step 8: I did a bit of additional planning about sights I had missed in Bangkok on my first visit, and spots to check out around Chiang Mai. My list ended up being broken down into “EAT” and “DO” sections, with some vague entries like “temples” and “get massages!” along with specific items, like visiting the Jim Thompson house in Bangkok.

Mexico (5 weeks)

The part that was planned ahead of time was my time in each general area, as I did book a few flights within Mexico to get between different regions. I actually did pretty much nothing though in terms of planning organized tours in advance, although I did hire guides on the spot at several tourist attractions and joined a lot of day tours that I arranged through the hostels where I stayed. There were also several important religious celebrations taking place over my trip, so I planned to be in proximity to where I could celebrate on the pertinent dates.

Want more details on the nitty gritty of planning a solo trip? Something else you’re still unclear about that you’d like me to cover in a future blog post? Let me know in the Comments!

Before you go…

The amount of advance planning I do depends on all sorts of factors, from how I’m feeling about a trip to how much planning I think I need to do to get the most out of a destination. Your level of planning will probably vary as well from trip to trip, depending on how much free time you have, your motivation, and how important you think prior planning will be to your enjoyment when you travel. Regardless of how much activity planning and restaurant scouring you decide to do, there are some non-negotiables for me when it comes to solo travel:

Know how to get from your arrival point to your accommodation. Please, please, please don’t wait until after you’ve arrived to realize that you have no clue how to get from the airport or train station to your hotel. It’s much less stressful to have a plan in advance, and you can’t always count on having helpful information desks accessible (or with English-speaking staff on hand). Plus, one of the best ways to keep safe as a solo traveller is to know where you are headed – or at least look like you do – at all times.

Send your detailed itinerary and a scan of your passport to a trusted friend or family member. It’s always good to have a copy of your travel plans with someone who is not traveling with you. Especially if you go off on your own, like I did on the hike in Liechtenstein pictured above. Hopefully it won’t need to be accessed, but it’s good to have someone with those details just in case.

Print hard copies of all of these details. Technology is wonderful, but it doesn’t always work when we need it most. Be sure to have your accommodation confirmation and directions on how to arrive there in hard copy, as well as a copy of your itinerary and a photocopy of the main page of your passport. I usually keep a copy in my purse and also in one of my carry-on bags so everything is duplicated.

Of course, while these three things are especially important for solo travel, they are not the only steps I recommend to prepare for travel. Check out my Pre-Trip Travel Checklist for more on how you can be best prepared by the time you arrive.

And for some additional safety tips to keep in mind before you go and as you travel, check out these Essential Tips from The Blonde Abroad (which are aimed at solo female travellers, but really good advice for everyone!)

On the road…

I have a few final words to the wise for the time you’re actually on your solo trip, so you can make the most of your time away:

Trust your instincts. You already know when a situation doesn’t feel quite right or something is just ‘off’ about a place. Or a person walks into your train car or sits next to you at a bar and you feel instantly on edge. Especially as a solo traveler, don’t be afraid to walk away from an uncomfortable situation, even if you’ll look silly in the process. Feeling silly for a moment trumps compromising your safety. Every time.

Do what you *want* to do, not what you feel like you *should* be doing. This is a trap that a lot of travelers fall into, not just ones adventuring on their own. There is probably a list for your chosen travel destination of “must see places” or “must have experiences.” Those are great places to start your planning, but don’t feel compelled to do something just because everyone else is too. Sometimes my first hours in a new place have been walking the strip malls in the local neighborhood because that is all I felt up for doing, instead of heading to a top tourist attraction. Or passing up an outdoor adventure an hour-long bus ride away that sounded amazing to have a quiet day in town instead. It’s okay, even if the thing you feel like you should be doing (but don’t want to in the moment) is something you’ve already planned for.

Check in with yourself as you go. It’s a good idea to consciously touch base with your own travel desires every few hours or daily on your solo trip.

Are you feeling too planned and want more open time to wander?
Feel lonely and want to book an extra organized tour or guide at a specific sight?
Want some down time in a green space reading a book on your own?

Don’t be afraid to deviate from any previous plan you might have had – being able to change your plan at a moment’s notice is one of the advantages of solo travel. This is your chance to make adjustments so you enjoy your time even more!

Solo travel can sound intimidating, but really it’s an opportunity to customize a trip exactly to your own travel style and feelings in the moment. It’s a hugely liberating feeling to be able to make all of the travel decisions based on what you alone want, and is a great way to connect with those desires. And it also is not limited to being on your own every minute of every day. Solo travel for most is really a blend of organized activities and tours that take place with others along with sightseeing and wandering alone. So take it one step at a time and get out there!

What was the hardest part for you before you took your first solo trip? Or what things still frighten you, even after reading this step-by-step guide? I’ll address any concerns you still have personally.

And do you have any solo travel tips I haven’t already mentioned? Fire away in the Comments below!

How the US Election Result Helped Me to Connect My 2 Passions

February 14, 2017 Lana @TravelSavvyGal Comments 0 Comment

“Where are you from?” The typical first question of cab drivers transporting tourists, pretty much anywhere in the world.

“I’m American,” I reflexively replied.

While I know some Americans try to always disguise their nationality while they’re traveling, that’s never been me. I realize that sometimes there are bad stereotypes out there about American travelers, but I specifically mention that I’m American for that reason – to combat stereotypes. Nothing is a bigger compliment than being told by a foreigner that “you don’t seem like an American.” It basically means that they expected bad behavior, and instead you were gracious and unassuming.

The only place I had even considered temporarily adopting a non-American nationality was traveling in Vietnam in 2012. I had thought that locals might have prejudices or dislike Americans because of the Vietnam War, so started off telling people I was Australian (I figured they wouldn’t be able to distinguish between different accents speaking English, plus I *was* living in Perth at the time). In the end though, it turned out that none of the Vietnamese people I met harbored resentment against American tourists. So whenever I’m asked about my nationality, answering that I’m American doesn’t take any conscious thought.

Of course, on this particular cab ride, it was the next question that caught me completely off guard. “Donald Trump, new President?”

For Election Day this past November, I was in Bali, Indonesia. It was a week that I had set aside during my recent travels to fall off the grid. Not because of the US election, but simply as a week bridging the time between staying with friends in Singapore and Perth, Australia. I did not post on the travel blog or any of my social media accounts about where I was. I left my “nice” camera behind every time I went around exploring. And I was evasive when people asked which countries I’d be visiting on my 2-month trip, always excluding Indonesia.

Ubud is a pretty simple town in central Bali, where roosters crowing will wake you up at dawn no matter where or how fancy your accommodations. I had booked a car to take me to the airport at a nondescript, family-run stand around the corner from my impossibly cheap homestay. So when my taxi driver (the husband of the family) displayed a working knowledge of the American election result from three days prior, asking me about our new President-Elect by name, I was taken aback.

This was my first indication of the worldwide impact and awareness of the US election results – that everyone from wealthy intellectuals to the proverbial (and literal) man on the street in remote areas would know about the election, and be eager to ask any American in sight all about it. And like many Americans, foreigners were equally baffled about the election’s outcome, and couldn’t help but pepper me with questions as they tried to make sense of what happened.

So what does this all have to do with me and my passions?

I recently read Brené Brown’s The Gifts of Imperfection, in which she discusses the concept of a “slash career,” put forth by Marci Alboher. Essentially, the idea behind it is that people don’t need to limit themselves to a single professional identity, or even a single field. Instead, it’s fine to be a Doctor/Artist or Engineer/Musician (notice the slashes?), identifying two distinct passions or identities and taking on them both simultaneously without having to pick a single career or chosen pursuit.

This really was a moment of epiphany for me. I started the Travel Savvy Gal blog at a point in time when I was not working a regular job. People still ask me if my plan is to become a Blogger full-time. “Oh no,” I say, “blogging is a hobby, professionally I am still an Educator.” But this idea of a “slash career” meant that I didn’t have to choose, I could be both! From that moment on, I started thinking of myself as an Educator and a Travel Blogger, two pursuits I considered as disparate as being a Doctor and an Artist.

“It’s great,” I thought, because my education background is teaching high school mathematics so the “Educator” title would cover the logical, rational, mathematical side of my brain and the “Travel Blogger” title would be my completely different, creative pursuit in writing and communication. Two completely different areas where I find personal fulfillment and two different pursuits tapping into totally different parts of my brain.

This world view held for months, and it was only after the US election that the two ideas, my two passions that I had considered so completely separate, began to come together in my mind.

After Donald Trump became the US President-Elect, the questions swirled…

How could this happen?

How could America elect someone with no experience in elected office?

How could the same country who *re-elected* America’s 1^st black President four years ago now elect someone who had spoken out against many minority groups?

Why did so many Americans fear the “other”?

And perhaps most importantly,

What needs to happen in the coming four years so that Americans support a candidate in the next presidential election who favors openness, international engagement, and welcoming refugees and immigrants?

Of course, I grappled with these questions and thought extensively about what I thought would be the “solution” to counter America’s isolationism and the desire many Americans felt to withdraw from the world stage and focus solely on issues at home instead.

What could convince Americans to be more open to strangers and foreigners?

What would make Americans believe that most refugees were simple people in a rough situation they did not create, and did not pose a security threat?

What would need to happen so that Americans wanted to engage with and not withdraw from the international community?

And honor our obligations to the international community?

After much pondering, the two answers I came upon: Travel & Education.

Travel.

Traveling of course can range from being sequestered in an all-inclusive resort and never setting foot outside to being completely immersed in the villages and with the people of a foreign country. Most of my travel falls into the latter category, and it is this kind of travel I’m talking about. Even if it’s minimal contact on a single-day jaunt away from the resort or off of a cruise ship, to me travel means both contact with locals and exposure to a different culture and a different way of doing things. And eye-opening travel can also be within your home country, to another state or region that does things a bit differently.

If you’ve never left the familiar comforts of home, you’ll never realize how much you take for granted. All of those things you simply think are universal or fixed in place, but it is only exposure to another place or another culture that allows you to see a different approach. For me, travel has allowed me to see that their can be two approaches to a situation, both different, yet both equally valid. There can be multiple right ways to do something, it all depends on your perspective. It is that open-minded thinking that I believe can prevent politics from becoming emotionally-charged and hugely divisive, and in many ways a type of thinking that is enhanced by travel.

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” – Mark Twain

On the road, you’ll often meet people of other nationalities, economic brackets, professions, and walks of life. Being outside of your normal routine, you’re more likely to cross paths with someone you wouldn’t have encountered back at home, even if it is someone of the same nationality. Through these interactions with someone who on the surface is quite different from you, that is where the commonality of the human condition emerges. Some of the most impoverished people I’ve met in my travels have the same basic concerns as people everywhere: how to best take care of their families and creating a better future for their children. These first-hand interactions that come from travel really make it so clear that people around the world have more in common than is different.

Education.

Sure, you say, travel is great, but not everyone has the ability or financial means to travel. While I would dispute the idea that travel is outside of the reach of many people, that is a conversation for another day. Among both the frequent travelers and those who never stray outside of a short distance from home, I know that education can teach different approaches and ways of thinking about the world, just as travel does.

People often say to me that it must be so easy being a math teacher and grading papers because there is only one right answer to a math problem. But that is not the case at all! Even for a problem that has a single number as an answer, there are so many different possible approaches that assignments and exams can be quite difficult to grade. And of course the real mathematical analysis comes into play when you ask a student to come up with multiple, valid ways to solve a single math problem. That is where the real expansive thinking comes in, brainstorming multiple approaches that can all be simultaneously correct.

I see education as a “solution” to isolationism because it has the capacity to expose people to a diversity of ideas and approaches, in mathematics and of course all the other subjects, too. Good education teaches critical thinking and provides students with the skills to compete in a global economy rather than fear it. And education inspires students to take the initiative to do research and be responsible for their own learning, drawing their own conclusions and not just accepting what others say at face value.

Connecting the Two?

Interestingly, I am not alone when it comes to having both travel and education as a passion. There are a ton of other travel bloggers out there who are also educators, something I was surprised to discover (but really shouldn’t have been). Sure, you say, of course teachers travel a lot because they get summers off. However, I don’t think it is just because of the vacation time – although many teachers certainly use that to their advantage – but also because of that common drive we teachers have to discover and explore the world around us. And just because teachers travel a lot would not necessarily mean that they also become travel bloggers in droves, although that too is what seems to have happened.

If you are a teacher, you not only have an intellectual curiosity about the world around you, but you seek to share your experiences and knowledge with others: your students. That is where the crossover between academic and professor occurs, and also the crossover between avid traveler and travel blogger – not just traveling but also sharing the resulting expertise and perspective with the world.

Of course, there are ways to simultaneously unite travel and education, instead of just keeping them as parallel yet related passions, and there are travel bloggers out there doing just that. As for me, at this point I don’t know if I’ll integrate my two passions of travel and education or keep them as separate pursuits, but certainly they are not nearly as different as I originally thought.

Do you have multiple passions or careers that you’ve chosen to pursue? How do you reconcile these different aspects of who you are? I’ve obviously been grappling with these issues, so help me out here =) Share your strategies (and ongoing struggles) in the Comments below!

I’m a Liebster Award Winner!

January 24, 2017 Lana @TravelSavvyGal Comments 0 Comment

I’m thrilled to announce . . . that I’m a Liebster award winner!! Much gratitude goes out to Stefano of The Travel Bakery, an Italian from Turin who is also relatively new to this crazy journey called travel blogging, and who nominated me for this award. It’s a way for bloggers to recognize blogger newbies for their efforts.

First, thank you so much to all of my readers for your support for Travel Savvy Gal! I started the blog in August of 2016 not knowing if I would have enough to say to keep producing new blog posts & how everything would go as I slowly learn the ins and outs of social media platforms (many of which I had never used before). Even now, almost 6 months in, I am only just starting to get the hang of Pinterest, for example. It’s still a learning process, so I am incredibly humbled for this recognition of all of the work I’ve put in to produce quality, engaging content for YOU, THE READER.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Read on to learn a little bit more about how I travel, as I answer Stefano’s questions & be sure to check out the blogs I’m nominating below for some truly excellent travel inspiration!!

Please, read the rules before going on:

Thank the person who nominated you and post a link to their site on your blog.
Display the award on your blog.
Answer their 10 questions about yourself.
Nominate 5-10 other bloggers for the award and inform them via social media.
Create your own set of 10 questions for your nominees.

My replies to Stefano

What’s the last place you have been dreaming of traveling to?
Georgia. The country, of course. I’ve been dreaming about it for a while, from the incredible cuisine to wine country to hiking the great outdoors. Anyone I know who has been came back raving about the experience, and it has all of my favorite things packed into a single country. I’m hoping that 2017 is the year I finally visit!
You are given ONE TRIP in life. Where are you going?
Bora Bora
Tell your most embarrassing travel moment ever. Don’t be shy.
Back in 2009 on my 5-week solo trip through Mexico, I had one of those terrible travel days when it seemed like everything was going wrong. After a disappointing day trying to do sightseeing in Puebla on foot, a huge rainstorm set in. Crossing the street was like wading through a stream, and some of the puddles were quite deep. The second there was a break in the car traffic, I started to cross one of the main thoroughfares, and only realized when I reached the island in the middle of the road that I would not have time to get completely across. And then as some locals were watching me standing alone on the island as traffic went by both in front of me and behind, a car came speeding through in the lane right next to me and completely soaked me from head to toe. I had a pretty embarrassing stroll the rest of the way back to my hostel, garnering stares from pretty much everyone I passed.

Which books and movies you have read and watched in 2016? Which are you looking forward to in 2017?
I read 75 books in 2016, people!! My most ever, I’m pretty sure, although my early reading years may have given me a run for my money. And 2 of them were in Italian! Something I’m very proud of. My top reads from last year:

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Berniéres
Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America by Jill Leovy
I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
The Liars’ Club by Mary Karr
Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky.

I’m much more of a book than a movie person — probably most of the movies I saw last year were on airplanes. For this coming year, I am my usual eclectic self when it comes to reading, and already have a few dozen titles on hold at the library. I am currently reading The Italians by John Hooper.

What’s the funniest item you always bring with you when traveling?
For any trip longer than a weekend, I take what is called a Miracle Ball. It’s a softball-sized teal, rubber ball that is used to relieve muscle tension that I use to help with headaches, back pain, and any other painfully tight muscles that crop up as I’m traveling. It may look weird, but it works!
What was your lowest moment in your (presumably short) blogging career?
I think most of my low moments have come when I write a post that I think is great, and then there is not much of a reaction on my Facebook page. Even though I know a lot of this has to do with their recent changes to the algorithm for the News Feed, it’s still frustrating :-\
Do you believe believing in blogging alone as a primary source of income?
Sure, I believe in it, and many people have certainly made that work for a variety of budgets and travel styles. For me, blogging right now is a hobby. I’m motivated to share some of the amazing destinations I’ve been privileged to visit and the tips and tricks I’ve amassed over my years of frequent travel, hoping to inspire my readers to get out there more!
Tell a secret strategy (legit or not, we all know..!) you have been using to increase your social media followers.
I don’t think it’s a secret per se, but for Instagram I follow a lot of re-gram accounts that post pictures from a variety of people. When there’s a picture I like, I’m sure to follow the person who took the shot, which is how I’ve started following some of the more popular accounts and get great picture-taking inspiration.
Mac or Windows? Lightroom or GIMP? Twitter or Instagram?
I am definitely a Windows person. As for touching up photos, I sometimes crop or adjust lightness, but don’t really edit. Everyone keeps telling me that “real” travel bloggers edit their photos, but at this point I want to do it differently – showing what things actually look like instead of displaying a stunning shot that I’ll never be able to duplicate in real life – because so much has been photo-shopped or adjusted from the original. And I’m much more active on my Instagram account right now, showcasing my adventures visually.
Do you collect / Have you collected something in life or during your travel?

Probably the biggest thing I collect in my travel these days is wine. I enjoy wine tasting in lots of places I visit – and what better souvenir to take home and remind you of your wonderful trip than being able to open a bottle of wine you sampled there? Right now, my wine rack has wines from Australia, Bulgaria, France, Israel, Italy, Liechtenstein, Spain, and the US!

The 10 Questions I’m Asking

What travel destination do you love so much you keep returning again and again?
Tell the story of the best hospitality you’ve gotten from a stranger.
What was the turning point from being like any regular traveler to being a blogger?
What destination would you never go back to? Why not?
Must-have travel accessory?
What do you love most about being a travel blogger?
Most under-rated country you’ve visited?
Share your favorite photo-taking tip.
Weirdest hashtag you’ve ever used?
What’s the biggest success of your blogging career so far? (other than the Liebster Award, of course)

And here are my nominees for the Liebster Award…

From Italy. With Love. – I love the insights, tips, and engaging writing style of Gina, an American living just outside of Milan who shares her experiences with the “real” Italy.

Globetrotter Guru – Amy is living proof that even people with chronic illnesses can get out there and follow their dreams.

Headed Anywhere – Daina is inspiring people to prioritize travel in their lives, even for those working full-time jobs like she is.

Skye Travels – Skye is chasing his ever-growing bucket list, with no signs of stopping anytime soon.

Tales of a Backpacker – Claire is sharing her latest adventures and travel intel as she makes her way through South America.

Congratulations to all of the blogs!! Please take a moment to check them out and support these wonderful bloggers who are doing a stellar job sharing their travel tips and inspiration with *YOU*.

With gratitude, and happy travels!

Lana

Top Reasons to Savor Solo Travel

January 17, 2017 Lana @TravelSavvyGal Comments 0 Comment

One of the things that always surprises people the most about my frequent travel is how many trips I take on my own. Known in travel circles as “solo travel,” so many people have built it up as something to be feared, which requires a lot of preparation and know-how to be done well. But nothing could be further from the truth!

The advantages to traveling with a friend, romantic partner, family, or group of friends are well known. When traveling with others, there is always someone to bounce ideas off of, to keep you company on long train rides, and be your dining companion. There are of course advantages to traveling on your own as well (plus I think that I’m pretty excellent company!) so if you’ve never taken a trip on your own, make this the year that you do.

Why I savor my time travelling solo:

Do what you want, when you want. I love traveling with others, but certainly one of the many advantages of solo travel is that you can do exactly what you want, when you feel like it. You never have to go to a tourist attraction or restaurant just because someone else really wants to, and there is no negotiation involved when deciding where to go or what sights to see on a particular day. Just decide what *you* would like out of your day.

Deals on accommodations. Especially in Europe, there are plenty of hotel rooms that are so tiny they are really only meant for one person. Because travelling solo is not nearly as common as traveling with others, single rooms can be available – and offered at a steep discount – even after other accommodation options are already sold out. This also applies to more budget-friendly places to stay, like hostels, which at the last minute may still have a room or a single bed left in a dorm accommodation.

People, especially locals, talk to you and open up more. Even if you’re an expat living in a foreign country it can be hard to make inroads with locals. It’s that much more challenging when you only have a few days or a week to explore a new destination. The good news – when you are traveling on your own, you are much more approachable and locals are far more likely to ask if you need help or go out of their way to offer advice. The New York Times had a great piece last year about ways strangers can make your trip better, and of course the top recommendation for engaging with locals is to travel alone, even if just for a day.

Spontaneity. I love seeing something interesting down a twisting alleyway or following an unknown path to see where it takes me. When you’re traveling solo and something catches your eye, you can just go. It saves you the time of talking it over with your travel buddy and deciding to go together in a new direction or split up and meet up again later – and helps you to be in touch with your gut desires and the spontaneity that brings. Even if you have a crazy idea that you’d like to follow, you can just do it. If it doesn’t pan out, there’s no guilt for dragging along your unwilling friend. And often with the craziest ideas while you’re traveling, there is some huge up side you couldn’t have predicted in advance.

Catch up on reading. Sometimes when I take a trip with a friend, we spend all of our free and transit time chatting. Which is great, but I love that when I travel on my own, I get to catch up on my reading. I love books, and I always have several loaded onto my e-reader before a trip. I of course want to appreciate my surroundings and interact with locals and fellow travelers, so I don’t read constantly. But especially on airplanes, underground subways, or even just taking in the scenery at a nearby park, I like having the chance to relax and get lost in a good book. Plus, I often read books set in places that I’m visiting, so it’s just another way to learn about a new city or country, mixed in with seeing all the sights in person.

Being “just one.” Even if something is ‘sold out’ or a restaurant is ‘fully booked’ there are often ways to squeeze in a single person if you ask. Or find one seat at a bar, even if it’s pretty packed. I have snagged a last-minute theater ticket because it was a single seat that no one else wanted. I’ve been placed at an awkward table at a restaurant in the corner by the bathroom that really only had one spot for sitting. And even squeezed in once at a table at a trattoria with a couple already dining there (after the owner asked their permission, of course). Which turned out to be really great, because we had a lovely conversation over dinner, and then we even ran into each other at a museum the next day . . . and it was like reuniting with old friends.

Time to reflect. I usually spend a lot of time planning before a trip and time after remembering how great it was, but I don’t always get the opportunity to reflect on my experiences during the trip itself. But I do know that I am far more likely to have time to reflect on my day, my travels (or anything, really) when I am traveling solo and have the time at a sit-down meal or strolling around to be alone with my thoughts. I do some of my best thinking and brainstorming traveling on my own, and you can often catch me jotting down the results of my reflections in a memo on my cell phone.

Make adjustments on the fly. Does your alarm go off early for an ambitious morning, but you just want to sleep in? Or you’re wide awake at 5 am in the morning and feel like getting a super-early start to your day? Perhaps to watch the sun rise? When you’re traveling solo, you’re not messing up anyone else’s plans – so go for it!

Solo travel is a way to experience a destination in a new way, and also an opportunity to get in touch with who you are and what things you would choose to do if there are no competing opinions around. Traveling on your own is not just for single people or loners, it’s especially for people who usually travel with others. Even if you’re in a relationship or married. And the more you are open to interacting with locals and strangers, the richer your time away will be.

The best part? Solo travel is always tailored exactly to you. Make plans on your own and get out there!

What do you look forward to most when you travel solo?

How this Wine Lover Got Into Tea Tasting: 11 Ways Tea is like Wine

December 15, 2016 Lana @TravelSavvyGal Comments 0 Comment

With how much I enjoy wine, you might ask how I came to become such a tea aficionado. The surprising but true answer: it all started in Milan, Italy.

Shortly after moving to Milan, I was immersed in language classes and looking for ways to practice and speak with Italians, so joined a language exchange. And it just so happened that one of the other members I befriended is affectionately known as “The Tea Lady” and hosts tea tastings at her home.

Once I attended my first tea tasting, I was hooked:

There were so many varieties of tea!
It could taste so different depending on the brewing method!
Even within a single, small category like Japanese green teas, there was such variety!

This excitement and continuing discovery is one of the reasons I got inspired tasting different wines, and my tea journey has gone through similar phases. Along the way, I realized how similar tea tasting and wine tasting can be:

Many Varieties

Just like wine is not one thing, tea isn’t either. You may have tried a single wine and didn’t like it, but that doesn’t mean you’ll dislike all wine. The same goes for tea. Wine has red and white grapes of many varietals – like chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, merlot, and syrah to name a few (and as I know from living in Italy, so many more!). With tea there are 6 categories to acquaint yourself with: black tea, green tea, white tea, yellow tea, oolong, and pu’er. I think prior to living in Milan I had only ever tried the first three types, but found out from doing lots of tastings that I quite like both oolong and pu’er as well.

Importance of Terroir

Prior to starting with tea tastings, I thought of terroir as that French word for soil that I can’t quite pronounce correctly and always gets thrown around by wine snobs. Of course, when it comes to wine-making, characteristics of the soil like minerality and salinity do impact how a grape will taste, along with things like the amount of sunshine and the altitude at which the grapes are grown. And for tea? The effect on the growing plant is so very similar, affecting the tea as it grows and also the taste of the final product. In Sri Lanka for example, the plantations and packaged tea are actually organized by the altitude of where they were grown because that will tell you so much about what taste to expect.

Processing Method is Also Key

Did you know that black tea and green tea can be produced from the same tea leaf? Apparently it’s all in the processing method. Processing tea leaves usually involves some form of heating and/or drying, to go from the leaf on a live plant to the dry version you see loose or inside a tea bag. There is also typically some type of rolling or crushing involved, depending on the shape – loose tea tends to be in larger pieces, while the tea you find inside of tea bags has usually been crushed fairly small. What exact steps are part of the processing method depend on which category of tea is being produced. Wine also undergoes a variety of processing methods, depending on the type of grape and the quality of the harvest. Grapes for wine undergo fermentation possibly in steel tanks, concrete tanks, large wooden barrels, or the smaller barriques (or a combination of the above), which in turn affects the taste and color of the wine.

It Will Taste Best Served/Brewed at the Correct Temperature

I’ve been enjoying wine for long enough that I know that not only are whites and rosés typically served chilled, while reds are not, but there is actually a lot more nuance than that depending on the grape. Some reds are really meant to be served chilled, or at least slightly chilled. Some white wines have more prominent flavors when they’re a little less cold than usual. For tea, it’s really the brewing temperature (and time) that impacts the final flavor and strength of your cuppa. Growing up, my mom would always boil water on the stove for her tea, while I typically just heated a mug of water in the microwave before immersing my tea bag. I always thought it was just laziness on my part, and that it was a sign of adulthood when I finally bought a tea kettle for my kitchen. Only recently did I discover that not all teas are meant to be steeped at boiling temperatures, and each one will have an ideal brewing temperature ranging from 80 to 100 degrees Celsius or 170 to 212° Fahrenheit. Brewing tea at the correct temperature helps to avoid that bitter taste it can sometimes take on, so perhaps my microwave strategy was wise? Fortunately for all of us, this information is often helpfully printed on the package that tea comes in, so you can brew at the temperature and for the amount of time directed and then taste the tea at its best.

Color

Color can tell you a whole lot about a wine. Is your white wine pale, golden or hay-colored? Is your red a bright claret or a deep opaque purple? (Yes, readers, I’ve done a lot of wine tasting, those color descriptions took me about 15 seconds to type off the top of my head.) Color may be something pretty to take in, but can also tell you about what to expect when you take a sip of a glass of wine. And yup, tea is oh-so-similar. If you’re a tea drinker, you probably already know that the darker the color, typically the stronger the brew. And as you saw from the first section that outlines the 6 categories of tea, many of the ‘categories’ are really colors – black, green, white, and yellow. Because the tea leaves and/or processing method vary to produce those different tea types, the taste you can expect from the color also varies. Next time you have tea or wine, take the moment to savor the color as well =)

Wine tasting "with" the Queen — Wine tasting “with” the Queen

Importance of Smell

Usually for me I can tell whether I think I’ll like a wine or not based solely on its aroma. Is it pleasant to sniff? Or do you have a cozy moment inhaling the perfume of a piping hot cup of tea before your first sip? They say that taste can be up to 80 or 90% smell, and it turns out to be quite true. If you’re raising something to your mouth and it doesn’t smell appealing, you may not even get to your first sip. Not only does the aroma of tea and wine give you some kind of indication of whether you’ll like what you’re about to drink, but it will also set a baseline of what flavors you can expect when you do.

Tasting Notes

They give you tasting notes at tea tastings too, something I was delighted to discover. Although I can tell from a sniff if I think I’ll like something or not, I don’t have the most developed sense of smell in terms of discerning particular aromas. So it’s nice when there is some specific fruit or aroma I can hunt for as I sip based on what someone else has sensed. Tasting notes help me to appreciate the wine in a new way, and has a similar effect when I’m tasting tea. I may not always agree, but it’s good to have a starting point, and a little guidance from the experts helps me develop my own expertise over time, no matter how slowly I progress.

Taste in Order from Mild to Bold

At my first tea tasting, when it was explained that we would be tasting the teas in a particular order from mild to bold it was again something I hadn’t considered before but made complete sense. Of course for me, I also find it fun to sometimes jump back to an earlier tea or wine sip, as the taste will change a bit if you taste something milder after one of the bolder options. I’ll even do this sometimes if I have loaded up a plate of food at a buffet – start with the most delicate dish while my palate is clear so I can appreciate it properly, the move on to the more bold flavors of the other food. Speaking of which…

Used for Cooking

Wine and tea are both liquids that can be added to a meal as you cook to impart some additional flavor or note. The alcohol in wine boils off when exposed to heat, so you are just left with the flavor when adding wine to a risotto, sauce, or stew. Even boiling it off can be a sauce in itself, like a red wine reduction you might put on a steak. Of course, a liquid like tea (or the leaves themselves) can also impart flavor to food. And the same way that the grapes from wine-making can be used to infuse hard liqueur to create a grappa, tea leaves can be used to infuse liquids other than water. Many ‘cooking with tea’ recipes involve using tea to infuse the dairy used to make desserts, like ice cream or panna cotta, but tea can also be used in stocks, marinades, or poaching liquids. Since tea comes from leaves, it could also be part of a spice rub or used to infuse condiments like oils and vinegars. The nice part about cooking with wine or tea is that it gives people who wouldn’t normally consume them an alternate way to appreciate it.

Can Be Paired with Different Dishes

I doubt I had ever considered the possibility of pairing teas with different course of a meal, but when I heard the suggestion from my friend “The Tea Lady,” I was intrigued. Just as you would pair certain wines with particular dishes, either because they have similar notes that tie together, or because it poses an interesting contrast of tastes, the same principles apply to pairing tea with food. Some teas are more earthy while others are more floral or smoky, and can make your taste buds appreciate your bites of food that much more.

When it’s good, take some home with you!

When you get a chance to taste a lot of different varieties, whether of tea or wine, you’ll know which ones you’d like to purchase instead of just guessing at a tea store or wine shop. While I often like teas and wines that are considered the “best,” sometimes it is the tea or wine a tier or two down from the top of the line that I enjoy the most. Plus for me, sipping a tea or wine when I’ve seen where the plants grow and procured it at the source is just another (very sensory) way of remembering my travels and bringing a smile to my face wherever I am when I enjoy it.

I’m not sure if it’s just a quirk of my personality or a love of food and drink, but I find both tea and wine tasting incredibly interesting (and delicious). Are you a wine aficionado? Take a chance and explore some new teas that you may have never even heard of before. Are you a daily tea drinker who doesn’t usually go for wine? Take a chance and venture into new wine territory. For example, you may find that if you like floral teas, there is an aromatic wine for you.

Really, there are so many varieties of tea and wine, there’s bound to be something for everyone even if you don’t consider yourself a “tea person” or a “wine drinker.” What do you like most about tasting different types of tea? Or doing a wine tasting?

Travel Checklists & Why Even the Most Experienced Traveler Needs Them

December 13, 2016 Lana @TravelSavvyGal Comments 0 Comment

We’ve all been there. You think you’ve packed everything, done a thorough check, and then ten minutes after you’ve left for the airport you remember – that key item you meant to bring, that will now sit at home for the duration of your time away. Sometimes for me it’s even hours later that I suddenly realize in a panic what it is that I’ve forgotten.

Fortunately it’s usually some non-essential item I can do without. And after that one time in Washington, DC that I forgot my passport at home (and very luckily had time to metro back, retrieve it, and still make my flight), I always do a final check walking out the door that at a minimum I have my passport and ATM/credit cards so I have a way to buy anything else I may have forgotten.

But the danger area for so many travelers – and especially us frequent travelers – is that you get complacent and have this false sense of security that you know what you’re doing when booking travel. Which is of course when you make the most egregious oversights and end up stuck with an inconvenient travel itinerary or miserable hotel booking. Checklists may seem elementary, but even experts get better results by using them, as many doctors can attest to.

This past summer, when in the course of a week I had inadvertently booked a smoking hotel room & a friend who’s also a frequent traveler booked a flight for 6am instead of 6pm, I knew that I had to put up some booking checklists on the website, both for me and also for all those other travelers out there. Before clicking that “confirm” button to commit to a flight booking or hotel reservation, run through the relevant checklist now in the Travel Savvy Gal ‘Travel Resources’ section:

Travel Checklist: Booking Flights

Before purchasing your next flight, do a quick check of these items, especially if you’re comparing the costs of multiple itineraries

Travel Checklist: Booking Accommodations

Things to check to ensure you don’t have any unpleasant surprises when you arrive on holiday

Travel Checklist: To Do List (Pre-Trip)

Things to check or look into *before* you take your next trip

Travel Checklist: Packing Must Haves (everything else you can buy in a pinch)

Your last reality check before you walk out the door

What is on *your* travel checklist??

“Travel is . . . an Adventure in Eating”

September 27, 2016 Lana @TravelSavvyGal Comments 2 comments

“Here, try this” was probably the phrase I heard most often when dining out with my family growing up.

It was typically uttered by my grandfather, with some morsel of food perched on his fork. As a pretty curious seven-year old, I would peer over and if I could not identify the food (or it looked slimy, or rubbery) I would shake my head emphatically from side to side. Which would then be followed by an even more insistent, “No, try this” as the fork was thrust purposefully in my direction.

I loved and trusted my grandfather, so sometimes at this point I would give him my blind faith and sample the bite on the fork before inquiring as to what I had consumed – if I inquired at all. At other points, I would ask, “What is it?” and then have an internal debate as to whether the ‘ick’ factor outweighed the potential tastiness of the bite. I didn’t always try what was on the fork, but I took the plunge more often than not.

Although many times I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious the taste turned out to be, there was still that rare occasion when I took the bite and regretted my choice. Some unexpected texture or fishy flavor would overwhelm my palate and I would make a face, and possibly not even swallow my food. And then, knowing me, I probably complained in a loud and whiny voice after the fact about being misled.

But of course, the lessons of all of the tastes pushed in my direction were many:

You don’t know if you like something or not until you try it
People you trust have your best interests at heart, but even with the best of intentions you can still sometimes be misled or disappointed
Even though you will feel betrayed at points, trust again at the next opportunity
Sometimes you’ll be (pleasantly) surprised by how reality does not align with your preconceived notions

Since starting a travel blog two months ago, I’ve spent quite a bit of time reflecting on how I got here. What is it about my upbringing or life experiences that leads me to travel often and on longer trips than most people I know? Or to be the one of my several frequently-traveling friends and relatives to decide that starting a travel blog was a good idea? (Mind you, it took me a few years of living abroad to come around to the idea, but now here I am!)

Is it something about the family I grew up in? The fact that we travelled a few times a year? Both sets of grandparents being avid travelers themselves, recently in retirement when I was little and taking the time to see the world?

Why did I study abroad when I was just 18 years old, fresh out of high school, when so many of my classmates who ultimately studied abroad during college did so a few years later? Why did I decide that travelling for a month the winter break after September 11^th was a good idea, when most Americans were avoiding air travel? Why did I plan my summer job when I was a teacher around being able to take long weekend trips to visit friends living around the US? Why did I spend two years saving vacation days when I was working in DC, to be able to take a trip that lasted 3.5 weeks?

Of all of the people with exposure to travel growing up, and who lived abroad during their college years, why am I so eager to both carve out time for travel and then write about it to inspire others?

As an adult, like my grandfather, when I am having a wonderful experience (culinary or otherwise!), my instinct is to share it with others so they can experience it, too. When I’ve visited and enjoyed my time in a particular destination, and then I hear that friends will be visiting soon, I want to tell them all about the amazing sights and delicious meals I consumed. Fortunately, as you can read more about in my Welcome Post, I had already been composing lots of e-mails with travel tips for friends who asked. Thanks to my Type A personality, I tend to keep pretty thorough notes when I plan my travel of what to see and where to eat. And not only do I do extensive research before most of my trips, I enjoy the planning! (I know, I know, you’re probably questioning at this point how I didn’t become a travel blogger years sooner.)

Another legacy from grandfather is that he always said there are 3 stages to enjoying a vacation: the anticipation as you prepare, the enjoyment of the vacation itself, and thinking back about it after the fact. He was one to savor all of these, even the sometimes stressful lead-up in planning a week-long vacation for the 15 people in the extended family for our annual summer trip. Why did he take such joy, even during the disagreements or misunderstandings?

This was a man, who as he always explained it “grew up dirt poor” during the time of the Great Depression in the US. He was not one to waste any material good, and certainly not food. He would finish any little bit left on someone’s plate, even if he was already full. My grandfather also ate marrow out of bones — and I don’t mean osso bucco or the luscious marrow you might be envisioning that would be roasted in the oven and served at an upscale, trendy restaurant. I’m talking about the marrow of teeny chicken bones, that he would have to scrape out with a toothpick to eat. So yes, this is a man who savored all of the stages of travel planning, even the not-so-idyllic parts.

In my grandparents’ house in Brooklyn where they lived for over 50 years, there were pictures hung on the wall next to the staircase from the various places my grandparents had traveled together since they were first married. Each from a different location, all exotic and colorful and enticing to me as a young child. These are also the grandparents who saw travel and exploring together as a means for family togetherness.

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Starting when I was young, the family would all get together. It started off at resorts in the Borscht Belt of upstate New York (think Dirty Dancing). Then we tried something different, further than a simple drive away. We checked out an all-inclusive resort or two and went on a few cruises. Somehow my mom and sisters and cousins and I got recruited into the organizing phases. Now the vacation planning involves a complex matrix of various schedules and a spreadsheet to narrow down our destination for the coming summer.

Although this process continues today (I’m in charge of the research for next summer), the important part is not the resort or massages or excursions. The important part has always been the time spent together, which somehow always seems to line up into those 3 phases my grandfather always talked about – the before, the during, and the after of travel. It is the shared experience and memory of all of our trips together that provides many of the anecdotes and laughter when the family is around the table together for other celebrations throughout the year. And the collective closeness that comes from decades of ‘Family Vacation’ each summer.

My grandfather always said (in case you can’t tell, he had a lot of sayings he liked to share!), “travel is an adventure in eating,” and he treated our trips together as a way for us all to explore the cuisine of a new place. And still today, three and a half years after his passing, the quality and variety of the food offerings is central to choosing a destination for ‘Family Vacation.’ And certainly in my personal travels, a big component of how I explore and experience a new place is through the local food.

This is the same grandfather who gave me the weekly push at dinner on Saturday night for me to venture outside of my comfort zone, and even when it didn’t lead to the reward I had anticipated, to venture outside of my comfort zone again the following week. To make sure that if he was appreciating something, I would have the opportunity to appreciate it, too.

And that is how I became an avid traveler. And that is how I became a travel blogger.

Travel Savvy Gal

Making the Most of Your Time Away

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