The situation: getting from Golden Bay (Takaka) to Queenstown by car. The problem: the main road, Highway 1, was destroyed south of Kaikoura by an earthquake and was still being reconstructed (only to open three weeks later). The solution: a 30-hour road trip! Marlborough was one of three stops en route to Queenstown on Highway … Continue reading Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand
We took the Interislander Cook Straight Ferry from Wellington on the North Island to Picton on South Island, then drove one hour drive to Takaka in Golden Bay. We thought the North Island was beautiful, but everyone we talked to said "just wait until you get to the South Island!" They were right. Even the … Continue reading Golden Bay, South Island, New Zealand
From wine country we drove to New Zealand's capital city, Wellington, to catch the ferry to the South Island. We also got to visit the Te Papa National Museum of New Zealand, which was quite informative. We Visited Te Papa Museum of New Zealand Te Papa's "Gallipoli: the Scale of our War" was an intense … Continue reading Wellington, North Island, New Zealand
Martinborough is a tiny village situated on the southern tip of the North Island of New Zealand, in the midst of the Classic New Zealand Wine Trail. We stopped in for just one night, to partake in a wine tour with Martinborough Wine Tours. Wine Tastings with Martinborough Wine Tours We thoroughly enjoyed stopping at … Continue reading Martinborough, North Island, New Zealand
From Rotorua we took our time enjoying the scenic - and sometimes snaking - drive to Napier to explore the Hawke's Bay wine region. Read about why this area will always be a top North Island recommendation. We Got a Bird's Eye View with Bay Heliwork On a whim we decided to look into taking a … Continue reading Napier, North Island, New Zealand
With Australia in the books, we were excited to start exploring New Zealand. The change of scenery also brought a change of pace, which inspired us to embrace our inner kiwis and not book much in the way of accommodations and activities - counter intuitive for us Type A Levines. Here's a summary of our … Continue reading Rotorua, North Island, New Zealand
Guest Blogger signing in from down under! For those of you that don’t know me, I’m Robin – a childhood friend of Lindsay’s and fellow travel enthusiast! When I heard Lindsay and John were headed to Australia I knew I had to jump on board, at least for a little bit. I still regret not … Continue reading Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
From Hobart we had to drive to Launceston to catch our flight to Sydney. We decided to make a road trip out of it, taking advantage of what they call the Great Eastern Drive, a scenic drive through the east coast regions of the island. There are dozens of wineries, restaurants, cafes, bed and breakfasts … Continue reading The Great Eastern Drive, Tasmania
We were drawn to the cool climate wines and criminal history of Tasmania, the island state off the coast of mainland Australia. We're very happy that we added it to our itinerary and made the trek. In this post on Hobart and the next on the Great Eastern Drive, we'll share our high points and … Continue reading Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
The state of South Australia has a population of 1.7 million people, 1.3 million of whom live in the Greater Adelaide area. In creating our itinerary, we had to pick between Adelaide or Melbourne, and we were nervous about our decision. It only took a day in this city for us to realize we made … Continue reading Adelaide, South Australia
Traveling MSY > LAX > SYD > CNS > Port Douglas took us a total of 34 hours, thanks to a flight delay in Sydney (the trip should only take 29 hours normally). It was worth it, though, to get to this seaside town with lots to do. Here are the highlights from our four … Continue reading Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia
Interactive trip map Here is our itinerary: We left for our trip on November 4th Australia 4 nights in Port Douglas, Queensland 3 nights in Adelaide, South Australia 5 nights in Hobart/Launceston, Tasmania 4 nights in Sydney, New South Wales North Island, New Zealand 1 night in Auckland 2 nights in Rotorua 2 nights in … Continue reading The Big Trip Part II: Australia / New Zealand
Friday, March 10 Sometimes I think we'd do well as contestants on The Amazing Race. Then we get into a situation like navigating Shibuya Station while sleep deprived and hangry, then I remember that we would promptly be kicked off after the first episode. Shibuya Station was like being inside of an anthill when it's … Continue reading Tokyo, Japan
"It is impossible to remain indifferent to Japanese culture... it is a great intellectual challenge and a gorgeous sensual experience." - Alain Ducasse We loved Japan. So much so that we had difficulty putting our experience into words (clearly, since it's been over six months since our visit!). As we pack our bags for our … Continue reading Kyoto, Japan
After extending our time in Bali so we could celebrate our first anniversary in our new favorite locale, we began researching other areas of the island we might be interested in seeing. We finally settled on the Seminyak area, but the hotel search led us to a great hotel on the beach in nearby Legian. … Continue reading Legian Beach, Bali
We left Ubud city life and headed to a little fishing village on the coast for some Balinese R&R. Most people only stop briefly in Padangbai to catch the ferry to Lombok or The Gilis, but we heard it was a great spot for diving, so we settled into the OK Divers Resort for a few … Continue reading Padangbai, Bali
Our first stop in Bali was Ubud (pronounced "oobood") - the cultural center of the island. It was incredibly green, and jam-packed with artisans and massage parlors on every corner. The Ubud market was especially intense - and this is after several cities with markets much larger than this one! Let's just say the local … Continue reading Ubud, Bali
Interactive trip map: https://www.tripline.net/trip/Big_Trip_2017_Part_I-3552243350161012A6B1DE784C249FF2 Here is our itinerary: We leave for our trip on January 30th 4 nights in Hong Kong, China 4 nights in Hanoi, Vietnam 4 nights in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (formerly Saigon) 3 nights in Siem Reap, Cambodia 5 nights in Koh Lanta, Thailand 4 nights in Chiang Mai, Thailand 3 … Continue reading Itinerary Update
From the beaches of southern Thailand we headed north to experience Chiang Mai. Founded in 1296, Chiang Mai is the largest and most culturally significant city in Northern Thailand and was featured on Trip Advisor's "25 Best Destinations in the World" list two years ago. It certainly lived up to its reputation! We flew Air Asia … Continue reading Chiang Mai, Thailand
Getting to Koh Lanta from Siem Reap took a full day of travel and included a car, two planes, a sketchy van, a ferry, one grouchy husband and a very sassy wife. Needless to say these two travelers were looking forward to the beach. Unfortunately our Koh Lanta plans of sun and sand were derailed … Continue reading Koh Lanta, Thailand
Siem Reap was our destination in Cambodia. It exists almost solely because of the temples of the Angkor region, and nearly everyone there earns a living from tourism. The most famous temple, Angkor Wat, is even featured on the Cambodian flag. The vibe in Siem Reap is a mix of young backpackers, senior tour groups … Continue reading Siem Reap, Cambodia
February 8th-12th Saigon is officially known as Ho Chi Minh City. However, everyone in the city still refers to the city as Saigon - a form of nonviolent protest against North Vietnam renaming the city after reunification on April 30th, 1975. We only had one full day to explore the city of Saigon on our … Continue reading Saigon, Vietnam
Friday, February 10th Our Mekong adventure was quite a baptism to the South Vietnamese culture and climate. Day 2 was reserved for touring the Cu Chi tunnels, which are located 43 miles Northwest of Saigon. The drive should only take about an hour, but with the legendary traffic getting in or out of the city, … Continue reading Cu Chi Tunnels
February 9, 2017 The Mekong Delta is where the Mekong River meets the East Sea in southwestern Vietnam. This "biological treasure trove" has been inhabited since prehistoric times by humans, more than 1,000 animal species and countless plants, fish, lizards and mammals. The river itself has been a valuable maritime trade center since ancient times … Continue reading Mekong Delta, Vietnam
February 6th & 7th, 2017 Thank goodness my husband is an expert negotiator. When I mentioned in my last post that you shouldn't pay full price for anything in Vietnam... you really shouldn't pay full price. We knew we wanted to go to Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site made up of thousands … Continue reading Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
February 4th - 8th, 2017 We flew from Hong Kong to Hanoi on a Saturday, one of the last days of Tet celebrations. The Hanoi airport was very nice, with lots of natural light and easy to understand signage. What a difference from the city itself! The name Ha Noi means "city on the riverbank." … Continue reading Hanoi, Vietnam
Warning: this post brought to you by two incredibly jet lagged people. We travel a lot, so we're used to jet lag. We tried to sleep on the plane - John did a better job at that than I did, getting a solid 8 hours to my intermittent 6 (I was too excited about flying … Continue reading Hong Kong
Some things in life sound too good to be true. When you hear someone say "I flew business class to Asia for $12.50", this statement would make the list for most people. By applying for several credit cards over a two year period, Lindsay and I accrued over 490,000 American Airlines miles. Fortunately, we booked … Continue reading Flight to Hong Kong
November 9th-14th Wednesday, November 9th This was the last excursion trip via the 2015-16 companion pass. I've always heard that Belize is a nice place to visit, so we decided to go the week following the presidential election (in hindsight that was an excellent decision). We flew Southwest via Houston to Belize City. Houston Hobby … Continue reading Belize
October 14-16th Another companion pass inspired weekend getaway. I've been to Austin several times to visit my friend Marshall, but this was Lindsay's first trip. We enjoyed some great food truck dinners, bars around 6th street, and freshwater springs around Austin. It was a quick weekend trip, but Lindsay enjoyed her first visit and we will … Continue reading Austin
Livin' Levine-A-Loca 