Pictures from my 1 week trip to Nicaragua.
Flew into Managua on spirit for $120 (rip) and flew out of Liberia, Costa Rica for $189 on JetBlue. The border crossing was surprisingly easy by public transport. Spent day 1 in Leon seeing the city and volcano boarding. Days 2-4 were in Granada(easily my fav city) which is pretty along with a day trip to Apoyo lagoon. Day 5-6 were for Ometepe island which may be the most place I’ve ever been and day 7 was San Juan del sur and bus to Costa Rica. Whole trip including flights was under $600. Super affordable great food great people and a great time. Don’t listen to the travel advisory felt super safe here and would highly recommend.

Pics 1-5 Leon
Pics 6-11 Granada & Apoyo Lagoon
Pics 12-17 Ometepe Island
Pics 18-20 San Juan Del Sur

Pictures from my trip to Poland. I don’t know why more people don’t visit here, truly has everything. Also some of europes best food in my opinion(the polish donut is 🔥), and a surprisingly affordable country to travel. Also really cheap vodka lol. Spent a few days in each of these cities except zakopane which I did as a day trip from krakow. Pics are from thought the year as I went multiple times since I loved it so much. Super easy to get to from anywhere in Europe and recommend to anyone visiting the continent.

Pics 1-5: Krakow
Pics 6-8: Zakopane(the polish side of Tatras)
Pics 9-12: Wroclaw(most underrated city in Europe)
Pics 13-16: Gdansk
Pics 17-20: Warsaw

I had 10 incredible days in Laos, and it's by far the most underrated country I have visited. Most people visit neighbouring countries like Thailand and Vietnam, which are more commercial and touristy, but miss out on this absolute gem.

Pic 1: Sunset from Phadeng Peak, Nong Khiaw (Highlight of my trip)

Pic 2: Our campsite for the night

Pic 3: Nong Khiaw during the day

Pic 4: Phadeng Peak Hike Starting Point

Pic 5: Kuang Si Waterfall (Best waterfall I have ever seen)

Pic 6-7: Luang Prabang Town

Pic 8: Nam Xay Viewpoint

Pic 9-11: Vang Vieng during sunset

Pic 14 : Patuxai Vientiane

Pictured from my visit of March last year to Moldova. Took the Soviet overnight train from Bucharest to Chisinau, then explored Chisinau for a day seeing all the main sites and visiting Old Orhei Monastery in the countryside. On my second day I visited Transnistria, the modern day USSR controlled by Russia, which was fascinating. This included bender which had one of the coolest castles I’ve ever seen & the capital Tiraspol. On my last day I did a self guided brutalist architecture tour of Chisinau before taking a cheap Wizz air flight out. All in all its super affordable(I spent less than $40 a day), has interesting history and definitely worth visiting if your into Soviet history + brutalist architecture.

Went to Czech Republic this past April as a part of a larger trip with other surrounding countries. This country was the highlight of Central Europe for me. Aside from Prague, did day trips to the medieval towns of Kutna Hora, Cesky Krumlov and Karlsteijn Castle. Amazing architecture. I particularly loved the international cuisine you could get in Prague, aside from the traditional Czech restaurants. Now onto the photos:

1. Cesky Krumlov: Overview of town

2. Prague: Charles Bridge

3. Prague: Charles Bridge

4. Prague: Main Square

5. Cesky Krumlov

6. Prague: St. Vitus Cathedral

7. Karlsteijn Castle

8. Prague: Vlata River

9. Prague: Charles Bridge

10. Prague: Astronomical Clock

11. Cesky Krumlov: Main Square

12. Cesky Krumlov

13. Prague: Old Town Hall

14. Prague: Old Jewish Cemetery

15. Saints Peter & Paul Basilica

16. Prague: National Museum

17. Prague: Kafka Head Rotating Statue

18. Kutna Hora: Bone Chandelier

19. Kutna Hora: St Barbara's Church

20. Karlsteijn Castle

I took a short six-day solo trip to Morocco at the end of March this year.I flew into Fez, where I spent some time exploring the impressive maze of narrow alleyways and beautiful mosques. I then booked a day trip to Chefchaouen, which I found surprisingly relaxing and peaceful. From Fez, I flew to Marrakesh (flying was cheaper than taking a bus). I spent the afternoon and the following day wandering around the expansive and chaotic Medina. During the last two days, I took day trips to the Atlas Mountains, visiting villages at the foot of the mountains, and to Aït Benhaddou, which I found somewhat underwhelming.

The highlights of the trip: The mosques of Fez and the tanneries, which are truly unique. I also loved Chefchaouen, where no one really bothered me and I could actually walk around in peace. In Marrakesh, the only place that really stood out to me was Jardin Majorelle. The main highlight of the entire trip, however, was the Asni weekly market, where we stopped during our day trip to the Atlas Mountains. It was one of the most authentic, vibrant, and bustling markets I have ever seen. Another thing that surprised me was the food, which I found surprisingly good and inexpensive.

Moving on to the negatives. Everywhere around Fez and Marrakesh, I was constantly hassled by vendors, and even more so by people trying to show me the way or claiming that a street is closed. The latter was particularly common in Fez, especially around the tanneries, where at least five people tried to show me the way and be my guide. The solution is pretty simple. I tried to avoid eye contact and ignore them, which usually worked. If it didn't, a simple but firm la shukran ("no, thank you"), repeated if necessary, always did the job. But do expect some disappointed or angry looks and some swear words here and there. Unfortunately, that is just how the situation is and you have to constantly make sure that you are not going to be scammed.

And finally, the photos:

1: Tannery in Fez

2: Asni weekly market, Asni

3: Fez

4: Chefchaouen

5: Asni weekly market, Asni

6: Chefchaouen

7: Ben Youssef Madrasa, Marrakesh

8: Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque and University, Fez

9: Koutoubia Mosque, Marrakesh

10: Jardin Majorelle, Marrakesh

I'm glad I visited Morocco and got to see everything on my itinerary. It's a vibrant country with amazing natural landscapes, architecture, culture, and food. If I decide to return, I'll definitely take more time and visit the desert and explore some of the less touristy spots.

My second time to Venice but this time around I was lucky enough to have a Veneziani take me around the city. The city is historic & beautiful - especially when the weather is great.

There’s a lot of problems in the city and a lot of it has to do with the way tourists behave and the lack of respect for the city and its rich culture. There’s decay and some areas have the stench of a stagnant lagoon. It’s filled with tons of scammers and mindless souvenir shops but it also has some of the most stunning architecture I’ve ever seen. Some of it is breathtaking.

There are some fantastic Osterias if you’re willing to put in the effort to navigate this maze of a city. Osteria Al Cicheto was my favourite serving great cicchetti and wine to pair with. Look for cicchetti spots over pizzerias. Use google maps to find them but also double check the place to see if it’s filled with tourists or locals - chances are if it’s flooded with tourists, it’s probably a trap. Venitian cuisine is world class - creamed cod with polenta was my favourite dish.

I do think it’s important to temper expectations before visiting. I had built up this great image of Venice in my mind and I was super disappointed the first time I stepped into the city. Went with a clear mind this time with the goal of actually giving it a good go and I ended up enjoying it.

Try to head out early morning or later in the evening when the streets are empty and you don’t have to shove your way through a sea of other tourists.

I’d recommend booking a hotel in Mestre and travel to Venice train or bus because hauling luggage through the streets could be back breaking.

Writing up this report as I couldn't find a lot of accurate information on current conditions for Iguazu Falls, which has been receiving record breaking water flow levels due to El Niño over the past month. Hubs and I visited both the Argentinian and Brazilian sides on Oct 26 & 27 (today), truly once-in-lifetime experience for us!

We went to the Argentina park yesterday and only the lower falls walkway was available to visit. We were initially bummed out about it until we actually saw the walkways above the falls - the water was right up to them at times, very sketchy! Made sense why the shut down quite a bit of the park, altho frustrating this was not updated on their website. For anyone visiting - Upper Falls & Devils Throat walkway are closed. Tons of coatis and monkeys running around, absolutely delightful.

Went to the Brazil side today and the primary walking trail is completely open except for the section that juts out into the water, pic provided for context why. Saw the boats were running from one of the companies but they couldn't get far in to the Brazilian side as the water was wayyy too powerful, didn't seem worth it. If I had to only pick one side to visit I would go with Brazil at the moment, still a comprehensive experience! We did get very wet on the Brazilian side, Argentinian side needed a raincoat but not as bad. Saw many tegus, couple coatis. Of note - I booked the 10:30am time slot, we got there around 9:15am (bus left at 8:30am from Puerto Iguazu) and had no issues with them letting us in early.

We took direct busses from Puerto Iguazu to both parks via Rio Uruguay, easy! The bus to Brazil did not stop at Brazilian customs both ways (just Argentinas), I guess if its a day trip they don't seem to care? Was a non-issue for us anyway. Both busses weren't full so we also had no issues with the bus leaving us behind like I'd read online, only a couple of minutes total and we were back on our way! Super straightforward.

Added comparison pics - the obvy deluge pics are mine, first pic is from WestEnd61 and the one of Salto dos Hermanas I pulled from TripAdvisor.

Overall it wasn't the experience we were expecting when we booked, but happy we got to see the falls at such a unique time, wildly powerful!

I'm really starting to think the entire rental car industry is shit.

Used to be loyal to Hertz, mostly because I got a discount through my employer, but then ran into issues with them messing up my reservations so I jumped to Avis.

For the last 2 or 3 years I had zero issues with Avis, till this current trip to San Diego....

I had to go to Avis three times in three days.

Reserved an EV, arrived, they had no EVs, offered me a gas car and would comp my gas, fine. Come to find out by comping my gas they meant that I could return the tank empty and they wouldn't charge me. Turns out that it had transmission issues.

Returned it to the airport, they tried to charge me for the comped fuel but argued out of that. They STILL had no EVs so they gave me a sportage hybrid, and again offered to comp my one tank of fuel. Fine.

Drive off the lot and make it to my hotel. Get in the vehicle in the morning only for the tire light to turn on. Found out there are 5! Screws in the left rear tire, so unless the road between the airport and hotel is secretly a construction site, I'm willing to bet those screws arent from me. Changed the tire and brought it back...AGAIN.

There were no employees checking in the vehicles, so I just left it. They charged me $111 for less than 1/4 tank of gas...that was supposed to be comped.

Offered to give me a Chevy Suburban... pretty sure that's the polar opposite of an EV...tell them I want an EV and at the very least I want a hybrid... magically they find an Ioniq 5. Great. Pull off the lot, not only is there a vibration in the steering wheel, the rear suspension rattles over every crack and bump in the road. I want to return it, but I'm pretty sure my wife will murder me if I go back to the airport AGAIN instead of enjoying vacation.

I feel like I'm not asking for anything over the top, an EV that isn't massively broken...but apparently that's not a thing Avis can pull off.

Spent about a week in Luang Prabang, Laos in February.

Photos in order:
1-3 Luang Prabang night market
4-5 alms giving at sunrise,
6 - Kuang Si Falls,
7 - Phou Si at sunset
8 - 11 wandering around the old town

I showed up with basically no plan and it worked out. It’s way quieter than I expected, even with all the travelers around.

It’s not as touristy as Thailand or Vietnam but there are a lot of backpackers, and tbh it felt like a good balance. Plenty of guesthouses and cafes, but you still see locals doing their thing, monks walking around. It doesn’t feel like everything’s just for tourists, yet, anyway.

The alms thing at 5:30am was cool but kinda awkward, lots of tourists crowding the monks.
Phou Si at sunset is packed, but still worth the climb.

Food was great and cheap. Get the laap and sticky rice. There’s a street food alley behind the night market where a full plate was like $2.

I was on NH7 today SFO-NRT and it was cancelled for mechanical reasons. All PAX waiting at the gate were rebooked and given hotel vouchers if needed, but the plane departed shortly after it's original scheduled departure time.

I at first thought if it would arrive after NRT curfew it would be a problem, or loads of miss connections that it would be easier to rebook in SFO, but it's landing less than 90 minutes late, so most connections would have been made.

What kind of tech problems could let the plane fly back empty vs just getting a repair in SFO?

The live flight: https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/ANA7

I was a big Europe person for years until I found Asia, it’s just more of my speed: efficient, peaceful, and fascinating to me now. But many places to see in both, and love Europe still of course. Just an opinion. What about you? Your personal best experience

I spent last weekend in Athens with a friend. It was so nice to get some sun and warm weather and we had a great time. We had three full days to explore the city and went mainly on foot. We visited the main sights, did a walking tour, went down to Piraeus and the beach and indulged in some great food. The portions were hug though! And soo much meat. I was also surprised by the many wild turtles roaming in the parcs. And since I have never visited a Greek Orthodox church before, this was very interesting to me. I especially liked the many smaller ones strewn around the city.

Although we enjoyed our time, it will not be a city I want/need to return to and 1-2 days would have sufficed to see all the major things. Sadly our last day was a very rainy one, otherwise we would have loved taking a boat trip to one of the islands. I was also a bit disappointed by the flea market, which was mostly not a flea market at all imo.

Image 1: Parthenon on the Acropolis

Image 2: Changing of the guards at the Parliament which was really interesting to see. It looks more like a dance. I'm also digging the shoes with the pompoms

Image 3: Votsalakia beach

Image 4: Monastiraki square

Image 5: Meat vendors in the Central Market

Image 6: Olympic Stadium, which was part of our walking tour. Our guide told us lots of interesting things about the history of the Olympic Games.

Image 7: Dionysius Theatre as seen from the slope of the Acropolis

Image 8: Hadrian's Gate

Image 9: Plaka quarter, where we just walked around a while. Nice but also really touristy. Lots of shops and restaurant that very obviously cater to tourists and all sell more or less the same thing.

Image 10: Panagía Kapnikaréa Church

Image 11: Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens

Image 12: one of many wild turtles

Image 13: Flea market starting in Monastiraki square

Image 14: Moussaka and lamb shank (here at Bandiera's)

Image 15: Sunset

Image 16: Mikrolimano

Image 17: Gyros platter (here from The Greco's Project), which I had twice. Really good but very filling.

Image 18: Palm tree alley in the botanical garden. One the nicest places we visited because its was really well kept and very tranquil.

Image 19: Frozen Yoghurt (from Yogu Lab). I love Frozen Yoghurt but it's not very popular where I lived and this shop had a huge selection.

Image 20: View over Athens from the Acropolis

Hi,
I went to Rome with my 10-month-old in May 2024. It was super sunny and hot, and there weren't many tourists, so it was super peaceful and enjoyable. We could explore the city at our own pace without dealing with huge crowds. It was such a lovely experience, and I'd definitely go back.
PS: If you’re planning on bringing a baby, ditch the stroller for going out to eat, a lot of restaurants don’t like it since they usually have minimal space. You can bring it to museums though

1. Colosseum
   
2. National gallery of modern and contemporary art
   
3. National gallery of modern and contemporary art
   
4. National gallery of modern and contemporary art
   
5. Royal cafe, in front of colosseum
   
6. La Tavernetta 29 da Tony e Andrea
   
7. Trevi fountain
   
8. Colosseum
   
9. Centro storico
   
10. Centro storico

Hello, I am going on a year-long exchange trip as an American high schooler, and I am stuck between Italy and Spain. I love both cultures and history; I am genuinely stuck. I have not been to either before. Please help me solve this dilemma. Thanks!

I went to Tokyo for a 3-day work trip, so I didn't really have much time to explore, but I managed to go around Shinjuku and Asakusa!

Really enjoyed walking around Senso-ji Temple and exploring the streets nearby. The atmosphere was amazing, especially with all the little shops and food spots around.

Food was definitely one of the highlights of my trip. I tried monjayaki for the first time. A bit greasy and interesting taste but very good. Also had Pepper Lunch, which was suprisingly pleasant. I'd definitely recommend trying both if you get the chance!

Also went to Korea too would love to share it if anyone is interested

the photos were taken at tokyo shinjuku &asakusa (food are also from both areas)

If you had to rank the above solely in terms of beauty, how would you rank them from most to least beautiful?

I was waiting at the bus stop to take the 203 to the airport, which comes every 20 minutes. 10 minutes before the bus was scheduled to arrive, a taxi driver approaches everyone waiting and says that the bus stopped running and he could take them all to the airport. He beckons everyone over to his van, and surprisingly everyone except for myself got in. The taxi driver then looks at me and asks why I wasn't getting in when I said I'd just wait for the bus, he kept trying to tell me over and over that the bus wasn't coming. I told him I'd wait regardless and he got angry and left with everyone else.

The bus arrived on time and proved the taxi driver was just bullshitting. Just sharing this so nobody falls for this scam. I've seen similar taxi scams before in other cities so I knew not to fall for this but I was surprised everyone else at the stop got in the taxi.

June '25, decided to finally explore one of the prettiest routes in the world - NC500! The entire stretch is beautiful and has many campsites dotted across the coast. We dedicated 4 days for this - which seemed very less considering we had to also include half day to and from edinburgh. From here we drove straight down to Cornwall - bluest waters I ever saw. Plus point of traveling in UK? Brilliant roads with service points every few kms to rest and eat! Truly a trip to remember.

What's the most impressive megacity you've been to? I'm gonna visit Tokyo, Shanghai, chengdu, and chongqing soon.

Hello fellow travelers,

these are some of my pictures from my recent trip to Indonesia. What a beautiful country and amazing people.

I stayed for three weeks and mainly on the island of Lombok and one weekend on Bali. It was the perfect location to unwind and forget the stress of home. Indonesia is a country to visit more than once as it is vast and diverse. I'll definitely be back!

Also on my 10 hour layover I had to see the tallest building in the world which was an amazing sight, especially at night.

Picture locations:

1. Jakarta - PIK district

2. Jakarta - PIK district

3. Lombok - Kuta beach

4. Lombok - Mawun beach

5. Lombok - Mandalika circuit (MotoGP)

6. Lombok - Tetebatu rice fields

7. Lombok - Waterfall in Tetebatu

8. Lombok - Another waterfall in Tetebatu

9. Lombok - Selong Belanak beach

10. Bali - Petitenget beach

11. Lombok - Kuta

12. Dubai - Burj khalifa (10 hour layover)

Hello all I’m born and raised in Toronto and will be flying to Japan in December and I just had a question of how cold will it get? I’m not expecting like -20 or anything but like should I bring a winter jacket, bomber jacket or would a hockey Jersey itself be enough 😅? I plan on visiting the Simanami bike path, Kyoto,Osaka, Nagoya, Tokyo, Mt Fuji, Chiba and will be staying with my friend in Kashiwa.

Alsoooo I plan on walking from Kashiwa to Tokyo which will take 7ish hrs 😅 I’m just wondering will I be walking along the highway or just small towns and greenery?

we (mid 30s couple, no kids) are landing in Istanbul for work for 4 days and planning to expand 1.5 weeks additional in mid November. wanted to get recommendations for places to add (ideally within 2-3 hours of flying to reduce transit time). Currently considering Cappadocia (3) + Izmir or Antalya (3) + ?? (2 days). Also open to stepping out of turkey (return flight is from Istanbul though). Others- Greece (unclear which island) OR Prague/Budapest (we haven't been and get to see pretty Christmas lights before the holiday rush). thoughts? (italy/portugal add to travel time, and deserve their own trip hence dropped those)