Waking up in London had been an item on my travel bucket list for years — years! — and finally the day had arrived. When my alarm went off at about 8:30 a.m. Thursday, I opened my eyes and found myself in a flat — a flat! — on Longmoore Street in Westminster, with one of the most iconic cities in the world waiting just outside the door.
Read MoreIt wasn’t quite the crack of dawn, but Day 4 in Ireland certainly got off to an earlier start than any of its predecessors. Why, you ask? Well, because a mid-afternoon flight from Dublin to London was definitely going to sneak up on us faster than we would have liked — which meant we had but a few wee hours to see or do anything else in Galway before we had to hit the road, Jack, and not come back no more (no more, no more, no more…).
Read MoreTuro, which I have long dubbed the “Airbnb of rental cars,” got started in 2011 and today has a presence in over 7,500 cities spread across the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. Similar to Airbnb, which they took some of their cues from, the site’s interface invites you to choose a location, dates, and times, and then whisks you away to a page loaded with vehicles currently being listed for rent by private owners.
Read MoreBelieve it or not, there are still some pockets of the world that remain untouched by the population at-large. In some cases, this is simply because the destination is uninhabitable, or much too remote to even be worth the hassle. Other times, it’s because visitors aren’t allowed — either by governmental decree or due to the natives’ hostility toward outsiders.
Read MoreSometimes, for whatever reason — be it financials, career, or, ahem, a global pandemic — we find ourselves unable to venture off to the various destinations, near or far, inhabiting our travel bucket lists. In these times there is little we can do other than dream of the myriad places we wish to experience firsthand, and things can get depressing.
Read More“When we first got to the college, the afternoon that we got there the sun was setting and our rooftop overlooks the entire city of Rome. I remember we got up there and I looked over at St. Peter’s Basilica, which is literally right next door. I was blown away: ‘This is going to be our home? We’re going to live here?’ And somebody said, ‘This is your backyard for four years.’”
Read More