December 2011 Blog Posts (45)

With an early closing time of 6 pm, getting up bright and early is key to making the most of a wild day at Animal Kingdom. 



As Disney hotel guests we were able to take advantage of morning Extra Magic Hours to access the park an hour before the general public.  That meant a 6:45 am wake-up call, and on the bus around 7:30 to make it to the park for 8 am. 



Over 500 acres in size, Animal Kingdom is the…

My hometown Vienna has been dedusting its old world charm by providing modern twists to established museums, neighbourhoods, coffee house concepts and product ranges. We even create novel hotel concepts when it’s about rescuing traditional shop space. When it comes to public transport, however, we are willing to scrap and start from scratch.

Here is an update on what has been going on in Vienna in 2011.

Five Museums, Waxed and…

Shooter

Shooter is an entrepreneurial free spirit who has lived his 58 years of life coloring outside of the lines. A quick study and wit, Shooter acquired his name by turning his photography passion into a profession once he turned 50 as a journalist and magazine publisher. An avid runner, Shooter keeps his sanity by training for triathlons and seeks a warmer climate to do so year-round.

He keeps Punk well nourished with his cooking expertise and, in return, reaps…

This is part one of a series of articles that aim to provide fellow travelers with an overview of our expenses as we continue our journey through the Americas. This article covers the 30 days we spent along the west coast and southwestern states of the U.S.

Why go to all this trouble, you my ask? And why should you care? First, if we had more resources such as this as we planned our trip it would have taken us a lot less time to come up with a budget had faith in. And second, if you…

“Uniquely Singapore” - What makes this unique tourism tagline appropriate for this sunny island? It is a city, capital, state and nation, all encapsulated into a little red dot within Asia. For visitors, Singapore is an extraordinary destination with a constant sense of renewal, always something new to see, to buy, to taste, to experience. Apart from the world-class malls, iconic architect like Esplanade, Singapore has also shed its staid image and now boasts a swinging nightlife. But behind…

This year as you’re doing your holiday shopping, you’ll no doubt hear the ubiquitous Christmas tune, “It’s the most wonderful time of the…

Start: Tuesday October 30, Lake Havasu, AZ

Finish: Monday November 7, Ensenada, Mexico

Borders Crossed: 1

Rainy Days: 3

Street Tacos Consumed: 3

Cameras Broken & Repaired: 2

Most Spent in One Day: $325.81



Since our whirlwind tour of the Grand Canyon we've survived a night camping in sand with 40 mile per hour wind, a beer brewery tour, two broken cameras and the world's busiest land border crossing.

We're currently driving down the Baja…

Many of the reviews I read pre-trip suggested that Hollywood Studios was the least impressive of the Disney parks and could therefore be tackled in a half day, or sacrified altogether if short on time.  I'm glad we didn't follow that advice, as we found that Hollywood Studios offered more than enough to keep us occupied for a full day, including evening Extra Magic Hours - minus a break…

One of the most common questions we are asked is, "How can you afford to spend so much time traveling?" People tend to confuse what we are doing with what most Americans do two or three weeks a year - go on vacation. Long-term travel is more like daily life than a vacation. It can even be cheaper than living at home.

We spent a year and a half planning and saving for this 16-month adventure. There's no magic involved, just a lot of research, spreadsheets and number…

Thumping bass coming from behind a metal door with no name. Dodgy people hanging out in front of what looks like a grungy, crumbling, graffiti-covered factory.  This is the stuff uninhibited, hedonistic dreams are made of. This is where unbridled orgies of excess turn into legend.  This is the heart and…

Our home in New Jersey is 1,000 miles and just over 18 driving hours away from Orlando, FL. Double those numbers and that’s how much driving my husband and I did this fall with our children, ages 10 and 11. Tweens are too young to be interested in looking out the windows and too old for games like travel bingo or I spy.

Thank goodness for the promise of Disney and the power of technology. My tweens aren’t yet using Facebook and Twitter to pass the time, but a few select handheld…

 pay a lot of attention to food when I travel.  Considering it, eating it, photographing it, and ultimately judging it. 



While one wouldn't expect Disney World to be a really exciting culinary adventure, the free dining plan included in our vacation package (a special offer only available only on select travel dates) provided us…

After five nights of freezing cold in Moab, we are ready for some warmth. Good thing I checked the weather at the Grand Canyon...overnight low of 18 frigid degrees. Our consensus: screw that. The result? Cut two days from our tour of the canyon, spend one expensive night in a hotel room, and move on to warm, sunny Lake Havasu as soon as humanly possible.

Did I mention we spent the night in a hotel room? That's the third night we've spent indoors since our trip began and the…

Check out my latest food adventure

Stand up, sit down, walk through, stay a while. In the world of cuisine, for me, the most enjoyable and animated ritual is the morning breakfast taken somewhere other than the tiny Ikea…

Canyonlands is the second national park we planned to visit from our base camp in Moab. Little did we know, mother nature would have a few nasty surprises in store for us following our near-miss while hiking in Arches National Park.

Regardless of the rainy, frigid weather, we were able to visit the northern part of Canyonlands, named Island in the Sky. Our third day in Moab brought rain, more rain, and cold. Luckily the sky cleared around noon and after warming up in…

UPDATE: A second woman in her 80s has come forward claiming she was also strip searched at a JFK security checkpoint recently.  TSA at JFK is apparently the Herman Cain of airport security.

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On Tuesday, November 29, 85 year old Lenore Zimmerman was traveling from New York to Florida.  At the security checkpoint at JFK airport she…

http://chatteringkitchen.com/2011/12/04/kuala-lumpur-going-out-guide-happy-hours-in-around-the-city/

Public houses, more commonly known as pubs, have been a common place to unwind, meet people, chat, gossip and make business deals over a pint, ever since the Middle Ages. After work drinks and sun downers were popularized by the British, where pubs are…