No Vacation Required's Blog – November 2010 Archive (6)

Kauai - Exploring the Island (Awesome Hike Edition)

It's been a couple of weeks, so I guess we have to say that we're officially settled in here on Kauai. Since we're on the island for several weeks, there's lots of amazing stuff yet to discover, but we've made friends with some nice routines and are no longer feeling like we have to be running around to "get a feel" for everything.

Last week we talked about the… Continue

Added by No Vacation Required on November 26, 2010 at 10:24am — 3 Comments

Passports with Purpose - Build a Village (and Enjoy Paradise)

A few days ago, we introduced you to Passports with Purpose (PwP). It's a giving back initiative that's guided by the belief that travel can change the world. Pretty cool.

Today, we have more exciting news to share.

First, some backstory for those who missed it the first time around...

Back in 2008, the PwP crew raised about $7,500 for Heifer International. Last year, they blew past their goal and raised $30,000 to build a school in Cambodia. This…

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Added by No Vacation Required on November 22, 2010 at 12:46pm — No Comments

Passports with Purpose - Build a Village (and Eat Pastries)

When our neighborhood travel pals Beth, Pam and Meg gave us the 411 on their altruistic passion, Passports with Purpose (PwP), we couldn't wait to learn more. These three – along with the other two founders – started PwP back in 2008 guided by the belief that travel has the power to change the world. Pretty… Continue

Added by No Vacation Required on November 19, 2010 at 10:30am — No Comments

Kauai - We're Here!

Aloha!

We jetted off for Kauai on a blustery day. As much as we love that textbook Seattle weather, It's always fun to embrace the drama of escaping the drizzle for some sunshine.

The packing and getting all-set-to-go process went as well as it could. With our NVR life, we're always pretty prepared to head out, but we were doing our usual scrambling around as if we had… Continue

Added by No Vacation Required on November 15, 2010 at 1:28pm — No Comments

No Vacation Required - The Lowdown

Once you've witnessed poverty, abject poverty, you don't forget the smell. It's nothing like you'd expect (at least in our experience), and it's nothing you can even imagine. The smell is surprisingly easy to recall, though, and we're quickly reminded of it when confronted with particular triggers – intense smoke and dried shrimp being at the top of list (told you it was tough to peg!).

We can each tell when, after one of these triggers, the other's mind is swirling back to the… Continue

Added by No Vacation Required on November 8, 2010 at 5:35pm — No Comments

A Case FOR Travel Insurance

Before we started traveling deliriously, we didn't give much attention to travel insurance. We knew it was out there, but - for us - it was just a bothersome entity that served only to make us feel paranoid about everything that might possibly go wrong.

What if a dog bites one of us? What if I step on a rusty nail? (Cue the ominous music.)

That all changed a few years back, when we adopted this "no vacation required" (NVR) life and found ourselves on the road a lot. We're… Continue

Added by No Vacation Required on November 3, 2010 at 8:44am — 3 Comments