Category Archives: travel

October 9, 2012 · 7:29 am

travel insurance – it’s better to be safe than sorry!

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why i finally broke down & bought it for Cambodia

i have done my fair share of traveling but have never purchased extra insurance when going away. so many people recommend it but so far i have been lucky in my health and travel circumstances. having said that, i felt like my trip to Cambodia was a worthy one for additional insurance.

being careful during the build

i was so impressed with my Habitat for Humanity build. the whole experience was waaaay more organized than i ever expected & i’m a detailed organizational freak who can be hard to impress. given the unknown possible injuries that could occur on a house build in a foreign country, Habitat requires that you purchase insurance through them while on the build. makes total sense. i never felt like i was about to hurt myself…i wore my hard hat like a good girl! 🙂 BUT some of my build buddies definitely had a few near misses.

for the remainder of my time in Cambodia i also opted to buy additional medical & travel insurance. maybe i was being paranoid since i’d never been to Asia or a third world country but it definitely gave me peace of mind to know my options and coverage. i know i made the joke about being covered for dismemberment or death. THANK GOODNESS i’m back and able to report i’m alive & well and everything is intact on my body. BUT you never know when you may get sick or injured and need medical attention and insurance to fall back on. it seems obvious in the environment of a build site but things can happen in the simplest of scenarios.

the perils of walking around Angkor Wat

for example, the millions of steep steps at Angkor Wat are a prime place to possibly hurt yourself. these temples are absolutely stunning but they are not exactly in the best condition. talk about uneven surfaces and rickety structures just waiting for a twisted ankle to happen. OR how about taking a lengthy ride in a tuk tuk. this could also pose a danger to your health. tuk tuks are open on the sides and with the bumpy poorly paved or unpaved roads one could easily fall right out of one of those suckers. especially if you decide on a whim to take a quick nap while being driven around. HA! seriously, you better to have your wits about you when you’re passenger in a tuk tuk.

gettin’ down & trying not to fall down

THEN there’s just plain ole getting down at the local club. this is where an actual injury happened with one of my pals during our trip. between hiking the steps of Angkor Wat and then shakin’ our booties at a club she ended up tweaking her knee. although she opted not to seek a professional opinion about her knee until she returned home, she was relieved that she could go see a doctor if the pain became too unbearable. it definitely provides a good argument for why you might wish to have additional travel insurance.

since i definitely plan on future Habitat for Humanity builds in far-flung locations, among other typical travel, it really makes a lot of sense to continue on with getting additional travel insurance. AND i just discovered a company that offers an annual policy for frequent travelers with multi-trips at a reduced rate called Insure & Away. unfortunately, the insurance is only available to residents of the UK. this idea sounds super appealing. discounted, multi-trip insurance would be the perfect solution for most travel bloggers and frequent travelers in general. i’m sure my Australian friends from the build would agree to that statement too. now i need to investigate something comparable for US residents.

do you typically purchase additional travel insurance? does it depend on your travel location and length of trip?

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October 8, 2012 · 3:33 pm

postcards, pins, patches – what’s your favorite travel souvenirs?

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the tale of lola’s favorite travel souvenirs

how do you feel about them? i like to bring a few home. i prefer the practical travel souvenirs…like food, scarves or t-shirts i’ll wear to the gym. maybe spices. my favorite souvenir for my most special places i visit are gold charms for my charm bracelet. i don’t buy them everywhere i go. only the places that have some deeper meaning and touch me in some way. YES that’s right. lola’s a sentimental gal.

i picked up some things that i just LOVE in Cambodia. Cambodia is a very special place to me for soooo many reasons. i bought a ‘i heart Cambodia’ t-shirt that i just love. paid $5 for it. whether i wear it bumming around, to sleep or to the gym, it’ll bring a smile to my face every time i put it on. i also bought a ‘floppy hat’. if you’ve been to Asia, you’ll know what i mean. hats are a big thing there to protect your head and face from the sun. while mine isn’t terribly floppy, it IS very cute and i paid something to the tune of 3 bucks for it. then there’s the ‘traveler pants’ i bought as a joke. these are akin to harem pants and many people wear them almost as a fashion statement. i’ve actually come to really love these pants too – $10. they are really comfortable, and again, remind me of my lovely time Cambodia. they make me laugh because of all the jokes with my friends about them and now that i own them, ACTUALLY like them, AND wear them – well, the joke is on me!

BUT my favorite travel souvenir (and maybe of ALL TIME) is my impulse buy of a gold buddha charm. on my last day in Cambodia, i was walking through a dank market in Koh Kong and was reminded that i wanted to look for a charm for my bracelet at the end of my trip. i didn’t even barter (which i suck at) much to the friend i was with chagrin. i don’t care. unless it’s fake, i totally love it and got an amazing deal for it. i will treasure it always.

  1. it’s from Cambodia.
  2. i impulsively bought it which makes it more fun!
  3. i was accompanied by a wonderful friend who i’ll forever be reminded of when i see it.
  4. AND it’s vintage and traveling somewhere else in the world it’s never been.

this goes back to the sentimental side of lola. i love to bring new life to things that are old. i believe in recycling. i don’t need shiny and new. i need meaningful. and this charm meant something to someone(s) else and now i carry it on with me. it may sound silly but it’s BLISS for me.

BEST news of all. i dropped by the jeweler once home to get a quick estimate of it’s value. ummm, yeah, i paid $130 for it. highway robbery in Cambodia – i’m sure BUT this baby at first look appears to be worth $600 to $700 so who’s complaining? certainly NOT me!!

what are your favorite travel souvenirs?

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October 5, 2012 · 7:53 am

Costa Brava Cocktails

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plus a little food porn

pleeeease don’t cut lola off!

so you may be wondering a couple of things. one, what exactly did all these alcoholic beverages look like in Costa Brava?! i know how you love my photos of cocktails and boozy stories. don’t worry, i didn’t disappoint in my visit to Spain. i pretty much only have photos of myself enjoying the local spirits! please take a gander.

let’s just start at the beginning with local beer

then it was cava cava cava

first of maaaaannnny gin & tonics

lola interrupts this amazing cocktails photo essay for a G&T break

beer with a faux soldier – i heart his eye patch

sangria the size of my head

still more G&T cocktails – ughhhh

catalan sangria made with cava

no lunch is complete without rose

AND WAIT FOR IT…

no dinner is complete without gin & tonics

the other thing i’m sure you’re thinking is why only a little food porn? i mean Spain is full of great food! well, while there was plenty of jamon for all to enjoy, lola pretty much stuck to a liquid diet. why? because i’m a dumb ass. of the food i did try, the cheese and ham were incredible.

leg of jamon anyone?

HANG ON what’s that? wine & cheese packaged together. me encanta!

AND i cannot say enough great things about the lunch and dinner i had on my blog trip in Costa Brava. delicious seafood – like the best i ever had AND wonderful paella. TO. DIE. FOR. thank you Costa Brava tourism board for making our incredible arrangements with Club Giverola & Es Blanc for the wonderful meals. they were pretty much all i ate while in Spain!

stuffed scallops, clams & mussels – Y.U.M.

XO – lola

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October 4, 2012 · 12:57 pm

TBEX – Girona, Spain

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the good, the bad and the ugly

ooo lala – kick off party at the castle

here we are. another Travel Bloggers Exchange aka TBEX has come and gone and all the “lessons learned and friends made” posts are coming out. i can say i did learn a thing or two and made a few new friends. yeah, it was THE BOMB.

BUT that’s not what you wanna hear now is it? you want the juice, the scoop, the dirt, the scuttlebutt. well, you came to the right blog. ‘where in the world is lola?’ has the gossip AND it’s completely ridiculous how many bloggers got accosted by this one crazy blogger. YEP, i’m talking about ME!

if you recall, last TBEX conference i claimed to have stage fright. well you no longer have to wonder how i made out! (AND NOT LITERALLY perverts) i’d say this TBEX lola jumped right past that stage fright, much to some fellow travel bloggers dismay. here’s the breakdown:

GOOD

cava was overflowing at the castle

learning, networking, partying. it was all that and more compared to my last TBEX in Colorado. i truly enjoyed the sessions and got more out of this TBEX that i will now apply to marketing my brand & making my blog better. i also enjoyed the networking. many, many of my favorite European bloggers were in attendance and i was beyond *thrilled* to finally actually meet them. NOW let’s discuss the parties. yeah, those were GRRREAT. lola managed to suck down plenty o cava at the castle, convince the bar to let buy my own G&Ts at the beach soiree and drink everything under the sun on Saturday night between the Cathedral beer to The River sangria to more G&Ts out at La Planeta – the club we ended up every night.

BAD

naughty lola buying drinks at the bar because the free ones weren’t good enough

flying in on Thursday and hitting the ground running with the kick off party. lola should really remember that cava (Spanish champagne) is not my friend. always gives me a terrible hangover. despite that and the jet lag, i managed to make it to all the sessions of day 1 of TBEX. cannot say the same for day 2. the exhaustion of everything FINALLY caught up with me. needless to say, this nearly killed lola and ruined my time.

flying in and rushing from one thing to the next also didn’t allow time to actually tour Girona. it’s a shame because i cannot share any stories about what is supposed to be a lovely city. (Girona’s auditorium is FAB) thank goodness i stayed on an extra couple of days and was able to visit a bit of Costa Brava. otherwise, i could have been anywhere for this conference! lesson learned: build in time on both sides of the conference to actually experience the location you are in. that’s my job & i like doing it. i felt a little short-changed from my time in Spain.

UGLY 

one of the gabillion gin & tonics i enjoyed in Spain. it really should have been BIGGER!!

this is what you really came here to read. i have no one is to blame but myself. i didn’t exercise much self-control in department of drinking. free booze = it’s hard to limit yourself. and, given that i’m really not a shy wall flower, the booze just further emboldened me to say more than a hello to a few of those “blogging heroes” i mentioned from the last TBEX. all i can say is LO SIENTO. yep, i introduced myself to the infamous Gary Arndt by referring to his blog all wrong. and when i had my first run-in with Nomadic Matt…let’s just say i feel badly for his ear. Johnny Jet, you are lucky you were on your honeymoon of a lifetime because you would have gotten #lolafied too.

lola loves LiveShareTravel!

thankfully, i don’t think i was offensive to most. two of my favorite things said to me were from Terry Lee of LiveShareTravel. 1) he said lola was like Patsy from Absolutely Fabulous. 100% correct. you get my character completely 2) Terry also said “Sarah and I agree that if you didn’t exist we’d have to invent you.” BEST COMPLIMENT EVER!

oh Will i heart you too!

then there was Will Peach. you know the dude i love to hate or whatever that phrase is. yes, this TBEX he didn’t have 5 things he’d rather be doing. he came, he saw, he kicked ass. BUT when it came to meeting me, well…i think there may still have been at least 5 things he’d rather be doing.

hobo lola

AND a heart-felt thank you to Stephen Otto of Walks of Italy. you’re a friend & a gentleman for scooping me up and sending me off in a cab. too bad i was locked out of my lovely flipkey apartment for over an hour “resting” on the stoop like a hobo. i’d like to say that my roommates slept through me buzzing them but we all know the truth is i was probably buzzing the wrong buzzer. bad lola!

i often say that i don’t need a babysitter but this visit to Spain may suggest otherwise. i’m happily accepting applications should you wish to accompany me in my crazy traveling escapades.

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September 27, 2012 · 10:53 am

favorite travel spots – food for thought

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dear fellow traveler – THANK YOU!

as i rushed from my late-arriving airplane from Barcelona to Zürich on Tuesday, i met a fellow traveler who was attempting to make the same ridiculously tight connection back to Boston. it was easy for him to discover we were in the same predicament when i started freaking out on the plane upon arrival in Switzerland. YES! i was one of ‘those people’ who jumped up before we even got to the gate and barraged the flight attendant with “will i make this connection?” “will they hold the plane?” she was all, “no big deal, you spaz!” WHATEVER. if my plane-mate and i hadn’t sprinted from the farthest terminal of A to E through the Zürich airport, i’m quite sure we wouldn’t have made our flight.

in any case, our race against each other on who’d get to the boarding gate first bonded us to an extent. then, when we arrived and as they were full on boarding the plane (no time for a bathroom break or to buy any coveted Swiss chocolates for us) we were then each individually given the ole “you’ve been pre-selected for extra screening”. READ you and your bags will now be molested. at least they had to deal with my sweaty self from my marathon sprint. HA – serves them right! this little incident made us laugh as the two of us, while we might be troublemakers, are far from sketchy looking terrorists.

so, after our half-day return flight from Europe to Boston, now the joke was whether our bags made the tight connection. my plane-mate, Adam, got his bag immediately – lucky bastard. but he kindly waited to see if i’d have the same luck. as we waited we chatted a bit and he asked me “what’s your favorite travel spots you’ve visited to so far?” SUCH A GREAT YET TOUGH QUESTION!!! i really appreciate him asking me this. it got me thinking and made me discover something new about myself. well, sort of.

i said to him that is difficult to answer and it depends on the type of travel experience you’re looking for. i know you all recognize i am a self-professed POSHAHOLIC. so my go-to answer is typically “heaven on earth is St. Barts.” it’s like the perfect place in my mind. AND while i do adore it and dream about it all the time, the question made me realize it’s not my favorite place anymore.

my favorite travel spots are the places that i know the least about and have no expectation of. like Budapest, Curacao and Cambodia to name a few. it’s NO SECRET that i love to travel. but i realized through answering Adam’s simple question that what makes me love a place is being pleasantly surprised in the unknown. the adventure of taking it all in and discovering it from my perspective.

i had already decided after my Cambodia trip that i need to travel at least once a year to somewhere i’ve never been. it’s good for learning and pushing myself and, let’s face it, i don’t have a lifetime of travel ahead so i gotta take advantage of the years i do have to discover all the wonderful places in the world that will touch me. BUT i didn’t recognize is HOW important this is to me. HOW i actually might love it more than the incredibly perfect and posh St. Barts. MY FAVORITE PLACE is quite possibly a place i haven’t been!

the takeaway?

1) this princess might not be so prissy after all since some of my favorite places are quite rough around the edges

2) it has to be top priority to seek this kind of travel out to keep me growing

3) i hope that Adam reads my blog as promised & comments because i’d like to say thank you for asking such a simple yet thought-provoking question

4) and THANKS for waiting with me until i FINALLY got my enormous bag off the luggage belt – phew

XO – lola

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