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 MoreIt was a joke. Kind of. But as my brother’s 21st got closer and closer, my resolve grew: we were going to do it. Well, we were going to do something, anyway. I told him we didn’t necessarily need to go to San Diego; we could take a trip wherever his little heart desired. Somehow, some way, we landed on Vegas. Yes, Sin City was going to be the one.
Read MoreWhereas some apps are frivolous and just for fun, others are designed to make certain aspects of our lives more efficient. One area that has definitely benefited from the proliferation of these complicated collections of coding is travel. These days, you can easily book an entire trip exclusively using apps. What’s more, they come in super handy when you’re actually on your trip, and in all sorts of situations.
Read MoreIt could easily be argued that the U.S. is near the top of the list when it comes to countries that are so contained within their own bubbles that people tend not to think about the way life is lived in other places. That in mind, here are some social norms from other parts of the world that may sound a little odd to American ears.
Read MoreRenting a car when you travel is obviously the most convenient way of getting around. When traveling internationally, though, the process of renting a car can become a little trickier. One place where this is especially true is in Mexico. If you don’t know what you’re getting into south of the border when renting a car, you could find yourself behind bars after getting into a minor accident.
Read MoreOne thing that is true of all big cities? You'll almost always discover something new each and every time you go back. Michigan's largest city, Detroit, is no exception. I've been to the Motor City numerous times — I even lived there for the final three months of 2016 — and still there are countless things I have yet to experience.
Read MorePlanning a trip can be a headache. This is true when just two or three people are involved, but even more so when you start talking about groups of five, six, seven, and beyond.
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