This is the story of my first overseas travel cooking class with Just Royal Bcn in Barcelona learning to cook paella.One of my favorite things to do when traveling to a foreign country is trying local dishes. I haven't exactly done a poll, but I'm assuming that's what most people would put as their top 5 reasons for visiting another country.I figured it might be a little more exciting to learn about the foods and learn to cook them so I can bring the knowledge home and relive the travel experience.Barcelona was the first place I ever traveled to myself internationally. It wasn't really a hard decision to choose this city, but the hard decision was making my itinerary when I would only be there for three days. Airbnb for a Cooking Class? I have to credit Airbnb with making … [Read more...]
Ultimate List of Gift Ideas for Travelers Who Travel Frequently (2019 Edition)
As a frequent solo traveler, I've found a lot of products that are incredibly helpful for backpacking. Whether I'm a backpacker going through Europe, Southeast Asia, or Mexico, there are lots of things that have helped me organize my trips or just make things a little more comfortable. Lots of these came as traveler gifts from family that I wasn't expecting to need.The traveler gift ideas below are all based on both my essential travel items and a big wish list that I obviously have. I've also gotten some of these ideas from talking to other travelers and backpackers about what they love the most in their suitcase on their trips. Traveler Gifts Under $25 These are some of the less expensive ideas for traveler gifts. I personally have all of them and recommend them to give as a … [Read more...]
Discover Spain through its Delicious Foods
The following post was written by a reader of mine that had some information to share about traditional Spanish foods. I love when readers send me their own insider knowledge about places in the world I haven't been to or places I've gone but want to know more about.I actually learned a bit about the different cuisines in each Spanish region when I took a paella cooking class in Barcelona. Spain itself is only about the size of Texas, but each of the regions has its own unique food culture based on the history of the areas and the ingredients available to them. My cooking instructor taught us a lot of this including the story of the origination of paella which I loved learning about. If this sort of thing interests you, then you should totally check out Airbnb Experiences when you … [Read more...]
How to Get Hotel Discounts with OpenTable Points
Back in my days as an executive assistant, I racked up thousands of OpenTable Rewards points by booking lunches and dinners for my boss under my own account. I'd always try and book his dinners for OpenTable restaurants that would give me the 1,000 point bonus instead of just the regular 100 points per reservation through the site.At the time my options for cashing out on my OpenTable credits by either redeeming them for cash off of my bills at restaurants or by getting Amazon gift cards. The foodie in me always thought about using the Dining Rewards for going to nice restaurants I couldn't afford, but the compulsive online shopper in me held onto points until I could max out the Amazon money.Today I just saw an article on Lifehacker talk about a new option that OpenTable now … [Read more...]
Funny Road Trip Memes – Since I’m Stalling Planning LA to NY
I'm moving to New York from Los Angeles in about 30 days. OK exactly 30 days. I've been in California for 8 years so I've accumulated a lot of stuff, including friends, so in addition to planning an epic road trip I also need to figure out the whole leaving a home thing.But I'm getting a little overwhelmed right now and decided to spend my morning checking out travel memes for road trips. If anyone knows me, you know I'm meme obsessed. So I might as well share my loved images with the world in another of my travel meme collections. Enthusiastic Road Trip MemesRoad Trips with Friends MemesRoad Trip Bathroom Break MemesOther Funny Road Trip Memes … [Read more...]