// February 28th, 2010 // No Comments » // News & Announcements
Pause The Moment has been featured on TravelBlogSites.com! CLICK HERE to see the latest post about PTM! We’d like to send out a BIG thanks to Louise at Travelpod for making this happen!
Also be sure to check out the list of other travelers who are either getting ready to set out on the road or are ALREADY on the road as we speak.
// February 24th, 2010 // 4 Comments » // Photography, Travel, USA
A place that most people never get to see while visiting Sin City. Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is a 45 min drive West of Las Vegas, NV. If you’re feeling adventurous and you’re sick of walking the strip, take a day trip out to Red Rock. I GUARANTEE that you’ll have a blast.
If you’re not into hiking, biking or rock climbing, that’s okay! Red Rock has a 13-mile scenic loop [map] that you can spend some time driving around. There are many pull off parking lots along the way, so if you see a particular area that you’d like to get out and see for yourself, you can do so.
I highly recommend scoping out some hikes before you make the trek out to Red Rock. Definitely plan ahead and don’t forget to bring lots of water!
Pull over and take a quick group photo in front of this cool sign!
Check out the view!
Jeff climbing to the top of this rock that looks like a turtle.
After hiking in the sun for about an hour or so, I needed some shade!
Look how RED this rock is? I love it.
What a rewarding end to our hike at Red Rock! You could see for miles…
One of my favorite photos from the hike… Amazing!
Have you been to Red Rock Canyon? If so, please feel free to share your story by leaving a comment below.
// February 22nd, 2010 // 3 Comments » // Croatia, Travel, Travel Tips
Also known as the “Pearl of the Adriatic” and boy does it live up to it’s nickname. In June of 2008 we were fortunate enough to be able to spend seven wonderful days in this amazing old city and we loved every single minute of it. In fact, out of all of the countries and cities that I visited while traveling Europe, Dubrovnik was my favorite destination. Hands down!
Here’s our list of the Top 5 Things to Do in Dubrovnik, Croatia:
1. Walk The walls of Old TownYes, you can actually walk atop the giant castle walls that surround and protect the Old Town of Dubrovnik! The walk around the walls is about 2 Kilometers (1.2 Miles) long. Parts of the castle walls reach up to 82ft (25m) in height, and up to 20ft (6m) thick in some places! Make sure you charge up your camera batteries for this one. You won’t want to miss some of the best views in town. Literally!
50 HRK/pp ($9.25 USD/pp)
Until your batteries run out!
2. Kayak the Adriatic Sea!We highly recommend this half day Kayaking adventure! We went with a company called Adventure Dalmatia and they were as professional as you can get. For those that have nightmares about flipping over in a kayak and getting stuck upside down, no need to worry! These kayaks are top loading, therefore you basically sit in a somewhat comfortable seat on top of the kayak. Plus, you can ride doubles! Instructors will lead the way as you struggle to keep in sync with your partners paddling. You’ll eventually get the hang of it and like us, you’ll end up passing your instructors at light speed while attempting to see how fast you can actually make your Kayak go!
As you cruise along the beautiful Adriatic sea you circle the Island of Lokrum, explore some small caves, and make a quick pit stop into a private cave beach along the Dubrovnik coast line called Bettina. Here, you’ll take a relaxing seat on the beach while you consume your yummy dalmatian ham & cheese sandwich which is included in the tour price. Once your food has been digested you can take a dip in the clear blue waters with your snorkel gear for a bit before heading back to the mainland. After all was said and done we had a great time, and boy were we sore afterwards!
230 HRK/pp ($42.50 USD/pp) – Price Includes Kayak & Snorkeling Gear, Lunch, Waterproof Barrels for personal items, Guides/Instructors.
2.5-3 hrs
3. Visit the isle of LokrumLokrum. A small, lush, uninhabited yet beautiful island which lies about 700m off Dubrovnik’s spectacular coastline. With just a short 10 minute ferry ride from the port of Old town to Lokrum, this island can provide a few hours of fun in the sun and some nice hikes along Lokrum’s many cliffs. Not only can you spend a couple of hours taking in all of the photo op’s along the cliffs, but Lokrum also houses an old monastery, botanical gardens and a lake called Mrtvo More or the (Dead Sea). The Dead Sea was my favorite part about Lokrum, or was it the nudist beach which lies on the south-eastern tip of the island? Either way, we had a great time exploring all that’s to been seen on the isle of Lokrum and we highly recommend this short hop across the Adriatic. Oh, and one more thing… be sure to watch out for the gangs of pesky peacocks that seem to be around every corner on this island!
40 HRK/pp ($7.45 USD/pp) – Round Trip Ferry from Old Town Port to Lokrum
Early morning until the last ferry leaves…
4. Seaside Drinks at BuzaBuza, a unique cliff side cafe on the south side of Old Town that can only be found by catching a glimpse of an old wooden sign that says “Cold Drinks With The Most Beautiful View”. Be sure to keep an eye out for this little sign, because it can easily be missed! When you arrive at a hole in the castle walls that leads out to the sea, you know you’ve arrived! Most people pass right by this place without ever knowing it existed. That’s what makes it special though, right?
There’s actually two Cafe Buza’s (Buza 1, and Buza 2) along the edge of Old Town. Both are accessed by holes in the castle walls, and both serve the same menu — drinks only! If you’re feeling a little adventurous, make sure you bring your bathing suit so that you can do a few of the many cliff jumps that are quite conveniently located at Buza. Usually, you’ll find a lot of the young locals jumping there through out the day. Watch to see where they jump from, and where they land and you’ll be fine! But, then again… don’t take my word for it!
Overall, Buza is a great place to end an evening while sipping a glass of wine and watching the sunset over the Adriatic Sea. Sigh… LIFE IS TOUGH!
Reasonable.
You won’t want to leave this place!
5. Explore Old Town at nightOld Town at night is as beautiful as it is during the day. From the immaculate white cobblestone streets to the maze of stair-filled alleyways that make up Old Town, there are endless routes to explore and you can do so feeling completely safe at all hours of the night. In saying that, I always recommend bringing a friend or two along with you because being cautious never hurts!
You’ll find that there’s usually a lot going on in Old Town by night. The streets are filled with the young and the old and most seem to enjoy taking an evening stroll while admiring all of Old Town’s beauty. If walking isn’t your thing, you can hit up one of the many restaurants and bars in the area, or you can even make a delicious decision to stop into one of the few gelato shops in town. Mmm!
For a fun, reasonably priced night out head on over to Latino Club Fuego where you can drink and dance until the wee hours of the morning. Head over to Gil’s Cuisine and Pop Lounge for a more expensive, posh night out. Gil’s is an Old Town hot spot where you can wine and dine on their open air roof-top dining/lounge area. The views cannot be missed, but the prices sure can!
Depends on what you like to do!
All night long…
// February 18th, 2010 // 13 Comments » // Travel, Trip Preparation
Many people have asked us the same questions over and over again… “Where are you going on your RTW Trip?” and “What route will you be taking”?
Well, the truth is that we don’t really have an actual planned route around the world. We’re not interested in planning our whole trip out from A to Z. We want to take it day by day. We like to call this type of traveling “itinerary-less traveling”. We might not have a plan that’s set in stone, but what we DO have is a list of eight must-see countries that we need to check off!
EgyptThe land of Ancient History. The kings, the tombs, the pyramids, the temples, the deserts, the culture, the environment and the atmosphere. All of the above were factored into our decision to visit Egypt. After contemplating back and forth about where to start our RTW trip, we decided to do a quick Kayak search for flights to Egypt and we found a great deal [BOS-CAI] for ($600/pp!) We knew that this deal wouldn’t last long so we jumped on it!
A country that I didn’t get to visit when I traveled Europe in 2008, and a country that Liz has always dreamt of visiting. The sun, the sea, the people, the food and did I mention the sun? You see, Liz is someone that I categorize as a “tanaholic”. You know, someone that is completely obsessed with the sun! She would have no problem spending her days soaking up the rays. Me? Not so much. As much as I love the sun, I love to get out and explore. Considering that Greece will be one of the most expensive places that we visit on our trip, we plan to only spend about two weeks in this expensive country. We will most likely spend a few days in Athens, and then take a ferry to one or two of the many beautiful Greek islands.
ThailandSigh… THAILAND. We have heard nothing but GREAT things about Thailand and we’re really looking forward to spending a lot of time here. Assuming it’s as beautiful as it’s portrayed, we will probably end up staying here until our visas expire! To be honest, we’re looking forward to Thailand the most for a million different reasons. The culture, the food, the adventures, the activities, the wildlife, the islands, the beaches, the diving and the outrageous bargains that can be found on accommodations, food, adventure activities and more! Thailand is known to be super beautiful, super friendly, and last but not least super CHEAP!
LaosWe’re still learning about this somewhat unknown country called Laos. We had never even thought about visiting Laos until we saw this incredible video called “The Long Way Laos” from our new travel blogger friends Aaron & Georgie from HappyTimeBlog. After watching them tear through Laos on a motorbike we were hooked! As an avid motorcycle enthusiast/rider myself, I was instantly jealous of their trip through the mountains of Laos. If and when we make it to Laos we’ll be sure to give our new friends a shout out for the recommendation.
VietnamVietnam is another country that we hadn’t really thought about visiting. It wasn’t until after doing a little bit of research on places like Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh, Nha Trang, HaLong Bay, Hue, and more until we decided Vietnam would be a place that we were interested in visiting. I’m also hoping that we’ll be able to rent a motorbike and explore the outskirts of this beautiful country.
MalaysiaFrom the Petronas Twin Towers of Kuala Lumpur, to the beaches of the Perhentian Islands. Malaysia is a destination that we’re pretty excited to travel through. We haven’t done too much research on Malaysia as of yet but we have heard that the assortment of cultures and foods is out of this world. At the moment we don’t plan on spending a whole lot of time in Malaysia but hey, you never know! After Malaysia we plan on traveling south by train to Singapore where we will fly to our next must see destination, Indonesia!
IndonesiaWe’re really looking forward to visiting Indonesia. Mostly because we plan to veg out here for as long as our visas allow us to. We’re hoping to do accomplish ALL of the following things during our visit to Indonesia: attempt to learn how to surf, go snorkeling, go diving, hike Mt. Bromo, explore the islands on scooters, fall fast asleep in our bungalow hammocks, catch a few Balinese sunsets, and simply just R-E-L-A-X!
AustraliaAn expensive, yet must see country on our list. We’re thinking about renting a car and driving along the coast until we reach Sydney. We’ll see what happens! We hope to be able to dive the Great Barrier Reef, drive along Great Ocean Road, visit a national park or two, see the Sydney Opera House, photograph some wild Koala’s and Kangaroos, and maybe even reconnect with few Aussie friends that I met back when I was traveling through Europe!
Well, we’re not sure. It will all come down to what our finances look like once we’re ready to leave Australia. If we’re still hungry for more and we decide we can afford to travel on then we’ll most likely head over to South America before heading home. Only time… (and money) will tell!
With just about 3.5 months until departure, we dream of the day that we’ll begin a new chapter of our lives and we look forward to see where in the world the wind will take us.
// February 3rd, 2010 // No Comments » // Photography, Travel, USA
In summer of 2009 we were fortunate enough to host my family from Ireland at our home. We took them into Boston for the day and here is a pictorial from our adventure in town.
George Washington Equestrian Statue – Boston Public Gardens
Bubbles…
Buildings of Boston
Hopping along
Fishy at the New England Aquarium
New England Aquarium
Shark!
Glass Patterns
My cousin riding the carousel
My cousins awaiting the next round of fountains
Slippery!
Fountain Chaos!
// February 2nd, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Photography, Travel
I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.
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