What is your favorite place you have ever visited? What’s the most amazing thing you’ve ever seen? What’s the most uncomfortable or dangerous situation you have found yourself in? Do you get diarrhea when you travel?
These are just a few of the questions we often get asked about our frequent, though often time-crunched, travels. To be honest, sometimes we get tired of answering the same questions over and over. So when we were asked by Ryan at Just Chuckin’ It to record our ABC’s of Travel, we jumped at the chance to finally answer some more unique travel-related questions — questions we had never really even thought about! So without further ado, here are our ABC’s of Travel!
A. Age you went on your first international trip
Ellen: Age 10. My dad took me to Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada
Justin: Two weeks old! My mom, brother, and I returned to South Africa (where my family lived) after being born in the U.S. so I wouldn’t have to have dual citizenship. My dad was an American working for a company overseas.
B. Best (foreign) beer you’ve had and where:
For foreign beers, we’d say all three of Croatia’s beers: Lasko, Ojusko, and Karlovacko. They taste exactly the same, but each has a very loyal following of consumers.
C. Cuisine (favorite):
Ellen: Indian, though I’ve never been to India
Justin: Thai, though I’ve never been to Thailand
D. Destinations, favorite, least favorite and why:
Although each place we’ve traveled has particular significance and holds cherished memories, if we have to pick just one, we’d say …
Ellen: Favorite = Uganda; Least favorite = Niagara Falls (for explanation, read here)
Justin: Favorite = Egypt; Least favorite = Also Niagara Falls
E. Event you experienced abroad that made you say “wow”:
Definitely the morning mist at Machu Picchu. We were not prepared for how breath-taking both the geographic setting and the architecture at Machu Picchu would be. We arrived around 6 am, and the entire site was still covered in clouds. Little by little, as they morning progressed, the clouds lifted, and more of the site was revealed.
F: Favorite mode of transportation
Ellen: Anything other than airplane. I HATE flying!!!
Justin: Horse trekking in China’s Sichuan Province
G: Greatest feeling while traveling
Ellen: I love to explore new places and experience new cultures. I love the feeling of everything being new or interesting. In our daily routines back home, it is easy to ignore the beauty that is around you. Traveling to new places is like being a kid, learning or experiencing new things for the first time.
H: Hottest place you’ve traveled to:
Justin & Ellen: EGYPT!
I: Incredible service you’ve experienced and where:
We really appreciated the hospitality showed to us by the owners of the Bed & Breakfasts we stayed in while we were in Croatia for our honeymoon. They were very accommodating, fed us well, kept our rooms clean, and taught us so much about Croatian history, culture, and conflict.
J. Journey that took the longest:
Coming home from our honeymoon in Croatia. We flew from Dubrovnik (where we arrived super-early) to London-Gatwick, took a bus to Heathrow through morning rush-hour traffic, arrived at Heathrow to be told the flight was overbooked and we were being bumped to a flight to NYC the next morning. Flew to New York’s JFK, waited almost two hours for luggage before getting stuck in traffic for five hours on the way home.
K. Keepsake from your travels:
Ellen: The notes and gifts given to me by the children I worked with at an orphanage outside of Kampala, Uganda.
Justin: The jewelry box I bought in China to give as a present to my wife someday. I gave Ellen the box five years later, when I proposed!
L. Let-down sight, why and where:
You mean other than Niagara Falls? … We’d have to say Montenegro. We read reviews in travel magazines that actually caused us to question whether we were making the right choice in spending our honeymoon in Croatia, rather than Montenegro. We found it was not nearly as clean as Croatia, nor as welcoming to Western tourists. The coastline was also not nearly as striking.
M. Moment where you fell in love with travel:
Ellen: Atop Mt. Pilatus in the Alps of Switzerland at age 15. That’s where I officially was bitten by the travel bug, and the rest is history.
Justin: I think I have always been in love with it! Our lifestyle of moving to a different continent every few years while I was growing up almost required me to develop a love for travel.
N. Nicest hotel you’ve stayed in:
We don’t usually stay in really nice hotels unless someone else is paying for them. Maybe the place we stayed in San Sebastian, Spain. It was very modern and well-designed.
O. Obsession – what are you obsessed with taking pictures of while traveling?:
Road signs we find humorous. They’re everywhere!
P. Passport stamps, how many and from where?:
We have no idea how many total stamps, so we’ll just give the number of countries where we have had our passports stamped.
Ellen: 15
Justin: 19
Q. Quirkiest attraction you’ve visited and where:
Justin: We accidentally stumbled upon a very unique army surplus store on Rue Saint Laurent in Montreal. There were metal sculptures of Darth Vader, Predator, and characters from the Alien movies. It’s one of my favorite accidental finds of all our travels!
R. Recommended sight, event or experience:
We couldn’t possibly recommend just one, but our top picks include: Machu Picchu, Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast, Alaska, Washington, D.C., Island of Santorini (Greece), Mt. Washington in New Hampshire (USA), and Egypt.
S. Splurge; something you have no problem forking over money for while traveling:
Ellen: I’d say any sort of site or experience that I know I may never see again or that I cannot experience anywhere else. Something that will give me a more authentic cultural experience. Also, I have a weakness for all things textile.
T. Touristy thing you’ve done:
Although it was fun and quite tasty, visiting the Ben & Jerry’s Factory in Vermont is one of the more touristy things we’ve done lately.
U. Unforgettable travel memory:
Sea kayaking around the Pakleni Islands at the island of Hvar in Croatia during our honeymoon. Hvar is a beautiful island along the Dalmatian Coast, with much to offer visitors who are looking for outdoor adventure on both land and sea. We recommend our guides at Hvar Adventure. They made our experience fun, informative, and most importantly, safe. We’re totally jealous of their jobs!
- Hvar Island, along Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast
V. Visas, how many and for where?:
Ellen: 2, Uganda and Egypt
Justin: 2, Egypt and China
W. Wine, best glass of wine while traveling and where?
Spain had excellent wine. We don’t remember the brands, but we generally enjoy Merlot.
X. eXcellent view and from where?
Justin: Flying over the Harding Ice Field in Kenai Fjords National Park in Alaska at the beginning of my week-long hiking trip in the region ranks as one of the most awe-inspiring natural wonders I have ever seen.
- Flying over the Harding Ice Field in Alaska. Photo by Eric Jordan
Y. Years spent traveling?:
We’re not permanent nomads, and we’ve never done a Round-the-World trip. Instead, we make the most of the vacation time we get from our jobs by traveling the world and by taking weekend trips within a few hours of our New England home. Domestic and international travel has been a part of our lives since we were children, but there has never been a time when we were “traveling” as a lifestyle.
Z. Zealous sports fans and where?:
We were in Croatia during the 2010 World Cup. It’s no secret that tense relations between the Balkan nations of the former Yugoslavia remain. One evening as we strolled the streets of Dubrovnik heading back to our apartment, we heard an eruption of cheers from a nearby outdoor cafe. We approached to see what all the commotion was about. We saw on the large-screen TV that Ghana, a west-African nation, had just scored a goal. Why was this significant? They had beaten Serbia. Ghana earned quite a few fans in Croatia that evening, and we learned an important lesson about the divisions that remain between the Croats and the Serbs.
There you have it! From A-Z, those are the highlights of our thirty years of traveling the globe! We hope you’ve enjoyed reading about our adventures and mis-adventures around the globe!
If you’d like to share a travel adventure of your own, we’re now accepting Guest Bloggers! We’d love to feature you on our site.
Now it’s our turn to do the tagging! Up next?
Mike and Anne from HoneyTrek, a recently-married couple taking a 16-month honeymoon around the world!
Brent Dawes, A world traveler currently in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but soon headed on to Rio!
Colleen Setchell, of Wobblything’s World, who is also traveling the world and sharing her experiences as she goes.
TAG — You’re it!!!
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