When you read that the most beautiful village in all of Italy is just a few miles away, you can't fight the urge to go and judge for yourself. Italy crawls with villages that could easily be the most beautiful in all of the country. Locorotondo in the country’s southern Puglia region has the coveted title of one of the borghi piú belli d’Italia, otherwise, one of the most beautiful villages in Italy. I had to go and see for myself. Coming up on Locorotondo, my skepticism got the best of me. It didn’t look like much, a city on a hill but not one a pilgrim would write home about to Continue Reading
The Unexpected Benefits to Solo Travel
Before I left for Ireland, I knew there would be benefits to traveling solo. These benefits I likened to a new-found independence, ease in social situations and confidence. While I didn’t assume these positives would come out of solo travel, they were aspects to traveling I suspected I would gain. In the end, I did find a new sense of confidence. I also discovered just how much more independent I could be. Talking with strangers became much easier for me after a month of solo travel. However, there were a few surprises in the solo travel department. Perhaps you have traveled solo and found Continue Reading
For Love of Travel, Not Destinations
Sometimes, it is not the destinations we remember, but how we arrived. As travelers, we are always so preoccupied with destinations. I want to go here. I have to see this and that. However, I didn’t fall in love with destinations at a young age. I feel in love with traveling to them. My first memories of traveling are in the back of a blue suburban. Sometimes under the cover of night, my four other brothers and sisters and I would pile into this monster of a vehicle and head out where our parents had planned for us to go. From exploring the U.S. north, east, south and west, road trips were Continue Reading
The Dingle Peninsula, Ireland Wishes You Were Here
A pile of stones is never just a pile of stones in Ireland. It is a facet of history, a connection to times long since past, someone’s former home. On the Dingle Peninsula of Ireland, the landscape is speckled with homes and forts of residents who might have just grunted to communicate, too preoccupied with getting food and surviving and nothing more. The Dingle Peninsula rests above the famous Ring of Kerry. It has a quiet over the Ring of Kerry as it lacks the steady stream of tour buses. There are tour buses making the Slea Head Drive, but they are few in number. The peninsula centers on Continue Reading
Solo Travel Staring
I sit in a dark pub sipping Smithwicks as I receive a few stares. As a woman traveling alone, walking into a pub in Ireland is not the easiest thing for me to do. I believe it is the idea of wanting to involve myself in pub culture, but at the same time I don’t want to attract creeps thinking I am alone for a reason. I walk into this pub in Doolin, Ireland, perhaps incredibly self-aware and assured, but I fumble. I watch two local twenty-somethings giggle at me as I ask if I can sit anywhere. Of course you can, you pub novice fool. It’s a pub, not a five-star restaurant. I head for a table Continue Reading
The Aeolian Islands of Sicily Wish You Were Here
This week’s Wish You Were Here post comes from Matt McCall. As the weather is finally warming up, I find myself often daydreaming of past trips to the Mediterranean. On one trip to Sicily in the early Spring, I ventured to the Aeolian Islands to the northeast of the mainland. Only having one day to make it out to the islands, I was able to see the islands of Lipari and Vulcano. The ferry took me from Messina to Lipari, the largest of the seven islands. Immediately after departing the ferry, I was greeted by people wanting me to book any combination of boat ride offers. I normally do not Continue Reading
Redhead Reviews: A Moment in Italy—Original Photography and Custom Cards
Full Disclosure: I received these products free of charge, but my thoughts and opinions are my own. Not everyone can travel indefinitely. If you are like me, you travel throughout the year, but you also have a home base. When I am at home, I like to soak up the comforts of home, but I also like to be constantly reminded of travel. I have old suitcases functioning as side tables. Guidebooks fill my bookshelves. If I don’t have that constant reminder of travel in my home, it would be difficult for me to pass time in between the next great adventure. Rosann Evans asked me to take a look at Continue Reading