As we’ve been planning and looking forward to our upcoming trip to Kenya and Tanzania, one of the things we have done is watch a couple of movies that are set in the region. Not documentaries, but actual movies such as Out of Africa or even The Ghost in the Darkness. We don’t necessarily watch them to learn about anything particular, but more to just look forward to the upcoming trip. Obviously, depending on the film, you can end up learning about the culture or history of the country that you are about to visit. Needless to say, we don’t expect our trip to end up being like what is depicted in the movies and sometimes you find out that the director and cinematographer haven’t taken creative license by filming in locations other than the actual place that is supposed to be depicted.
The Giza Plateau in EgyptAmazon Rainforest in Ecuador
Prior to traveling to Egypt and taking our Nile River cruise, we actually watched the mystery movie Death on the Nile. There are plenty of other movies about Egypt as well, but that was the one that came to our mind at the time. Prior to going to the Amazon Rainforest, watching the movie Medicine Man provides an interesting perspective and just traveling through various parts of South America prompted us to watch Dragonfly. Although we didn’t watch any movies prior to our time spent in Tuscany, there are obviously a plethora of choices of movies to watch to get you in the mood to visit that wonderful region of Italy.
View from Piazzale de Michelangelo in FlorencePoisonous Frog in the Amazon
There certainly isn’t any tremendous benefit to watching movies prior to visiting a location, but we find it a way to relax prior to a trip while getting ourselves excited about the upcoming adventure. It could be that watching movies throughout our lives has given us inspiration to travel, so perhaps that is what drives us to revisit some of them when the time comes for us to finally visit that location. Perhaps we’re unique in watching movies or shows located in our intended destination, but maybe some of you do the same thing as us.
We have had several trips where we have spent several weeks in a location and others where we simply did so much while we were there that it seemed like a couple of weeks. Because we often have to spend the better part of a day just traveling to a destination, we definitely try to maximize our stay as much as possible. We tend to make sure that we have something planned for every day, but we also make sure that we aren’t on a rigid schedule for the entire trip. After all, we want to enjoy our time in a location, not just run from tourist spot to tourist spot. Here are some of our favorite trip ideas and itineraries in no particular order.
The Giza Plateau in Egypt
Seven Day Itinerary for Egypt – Egypt is a destination that is on almost everyone’s wish list to visit at least once in their lifetimes. With so many incredible sights to see across many different cities, you will want to plan as many days as you can to make the most of your time in Egypt. We found our trip to be ideal in many different ways, but with any destination, if we had more time, we would have seen even more. What we have here are the locations and sites that we chose to make our priority during a full seven days in Egypt. Due to the length of air travel, the total trip was twelve days, but much of that time was spent in transit. Although we landed in Cairo, we left early in the morning to fly to Luxor and begin a cruise down the Nile River to Aswan and then flew back to Cairo where we spent the remainder of our time in Egypt. It would be easy enough to flip the trip around and start in Cairo, but we found that it worked out well to finish in Cairo.
View of the Quilotoa Caldera and Lagoon in Ecuador
Top Things to Do in Ecuador – Ecuador is such a wonderful country in South America with so many different places to see and explore. It is a country made up of three distinct ecosystems from the coast, the peaks of the Andes Mountains, and the dense Amazon Rainforest. Quito, the capital of Ecuador, is centrally located, making it the perfect location to start any adventure. Ideally, any visit to Ecuador would last for at least two weeks, but if you don’t have that much time, you’re going to have make some difficult decisions. During our trip, we made sure to make the most of our time there, but we had to decide whether we wanted to go to the Galapagos Islands or spend time in the Amazon Rainforest as we didn’t have time to do both.
Seville Cathedral
The Perfect Itinerary for a Trip to Southern Spain – There are so many wonderful places to see in Southern Spain, so we have put together what we considered to be an ideal itinerary for visiting the region. We rented a car for the two weeks that we spent there, which is ideal as it is easy to get around and the highways are not very busy. Although we stayed at one central location so that we didn’t have to continuously pack and unpack, it could easily be done by going to each place individually. With such a rich history and wonderful culture, it is a great location to spend time relaxing and exploring.
Halong Bay in Vietnam
Making the Most of a Trip to Hanoi, Vietnam – Visiting Hanoi in northern Vietnam is truly an amazing experience. We spent a little over a week exploring Hanoi and taking excursions into the countryside. We also did an overnight cruise in Halong Bay, which was certainly one of the highlights of our trip. We stayed in Hanoi’s old quarter, which has a variety of restaurants, street food, and many different boutique hotels. With so many options of things to do when visiting Hanoi, these are some of our favorite memories of our trip. We took advantage of our time there to fly to Vientiane in Laos for a couple of days as well.
View from Piazzale de Michelangelo in Florence
Top Things to Do When Visiting Florence, Italy – Florence is one of the most beautiful cities in the world with a rich history that includes architecture, art, and politics. There are so many wonderful sights to see when spending time in Florence, but if you have limited time in the city there are a few things that should certainly be on your itinerary. We would certainly recommend spending at least three days in Florence if at all possible as there so much to see and do. Depending on the time of year that you visit, you can expect plenty of crowds in Florence, so going during the off-season is advisable. Here are our top things to do in what we would consider to be the order of priority depending on the amount of time that you have to spend in Florence. If you have the time, we would definitely recommend adding a few days in Rome to your trip to Tuscany.
Temples at Mahabalipuram, India
Maximizing Your Time in Chennai, India – Visiting the city of Chennai in India is a trip that we will always remember. We have mentioned previously that it was a trip that not only had a profound impact on us personally, but also changed the way that we have traveled since that visit. Although we only had a limited amount of time to spend in Chennai, we certainly made the most of the time that we had. We tried to see as much of the city as possible, but also made sure to take a couple of day trips to see the surrounding area. It can certainly be overwhelming to visit a city with as many people as live in Chennai and it takes a little getting used to as you visit the various sites.
Traditional Dance and Music in the Embera Village
Top Things to See and Do When Visiting Panama City, Panama – Panama is such a beautiful country with many wonderful sites to visit and growing ecotourism opportunities. It is a narrow country with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Pacific on the other, making it a strategic location that has been sought over by various countries throughout history. Today, it has its own independence and the people are very proud of their heritage and mindful of their history. Panama City is surrounded by jungles and mountains with strict restrictions on where populations can reside, so it is a city that is growing higher rather than growing wider. It is the perfect location to stay and to take advantage of all of the opportunities to take day trips to see the amazing locations that the country has to offer.
Parthenon in the Acropolis of Athens
Obviously, this is just the tip of the iceberg as far as trips and itineraries. We have also enjoyed many other locations in Europe such as Prague, Budapest, and Athens just to name a few. We are looking forward to having the opportunity to plan our next expedition.
We have always believed that we have two types of trips, travel and vacations. When we travel, it is all about seeing historic locations, exploring the architecture, tasting the local cuisine, and immersing ourselves into the culture. Vacations are about relaxation, refreshing our minds and bodies, and just getting away from the daily routines. We tend to travel more than we take vacations, but it is nice to just get away from time to time. Although there are many different places to visit in order to have a relaxing vacation, going to the beach is certainly one of our favorites. These are some of the favorite beach vacations that we’ve taken over the past few years.
Boats in Bay at Cabo
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico – This is one of our favorite locations to visit and we’ve been there several times. It is located on the Baha Peninsula that extends south of California, making it very easy to get to from the United States. There are wonderful restaurants along the beach and in the marina, plenty of activities, and a variety of resort styles. We tend to go during the “bumper” season, meaning not quite off-season and not the busiest months. Because we have been there many times, we like the familiarity of it and revisiting places that we have enjoyed in the past.
Royal Service Area
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic – We definitely indulged ourselves with our visit to the Dominican Republic as we chose to upgrade to the royal concierge service. This gave us a room right on the beach in an adult-only section of the resort. Because the resort was all-inclusive and had so many different restaurants, we didn’t actually leave the grounds of the resort during our time there, which we would do differently next time.
Ship on the Ocean from Puerto Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – Located on the western coast of the mainland of Mexico, Puerto Vallarta is definitely a tourist friendly location. We happen to go during the time when there was a flu scare that actually didn’t have any impact to the region, but it caused a lot of tourists to stay away. We also enjoyed going to a cultural show during our time in Puerto Vallarta in addition to doing the typical tourist activities.
Beach by the Resort in Spain
Estepona, Spain – Located in the Spanish Riviera on the coast of the Mediterranean, Estepona is slightly smaller than Marbella that is just a few miles away. We actually spent two weeks in Spain, so this was a combination of travel with a little bit of vacation mixed in. It was certainly a wonderful way to end our days of exploring southern Spain by returning to a relaxing resort.
Just Another Day at the Beach in Carlsbad
Carlsbad, California – We took a quick trip to Carlsbad, which is located north of San Diego. Not only did we spend time in the quaint beach town, but we also took a wine tour to Temecula where we sampled a wonderful variety of wine. We were able to enjoy the laid back lifestyle of California, even if only for a week. Once again we were treated to some beautiful sunsets as we ate at various restaurants across from the beach.
Sunset in Florida
Orlando, Florida – We went to Orlando for our twentieth wedding anniversary and spent time in Walt Disney World. We also went to Cocoa Beach in order to dip our toes in the water. We really enjoyed our time in Epcot Center as you are able to experience different cultures, food, and drinks in one place. There are many wonderful beaches in Florida, but obviously they can be quite crowded and we certainly wouldn’t go during the spring break season.
Cabanas, Umbrellas, and Palapas on the Beach in Acapulco
Acapulco, Mexico – Although there has been a lot of reports of crime in the area in recent years, the beaches of Acapulco are certainly quite beautiful. With the famous cliff divers, wonderful restaurants, and typical water activities, there is plenty to see and do in this resort town. This was the last trip that we took prior to the start of the pandemic.
If you are looking for a location where you can sit on the beach with a tropical drink in your hand, none of these locations will disappoint. Many of them are currently open to travelers although it is the start of the rainy season in most tropical locations, so we’ll probably wait for later in the year before considering a trip to one of these incredible destinations.
