The Peak | Machu Picchu
The group’s excitement grew as we winded down the penultimate day of our hike. We were tired, but Machu Picchu was in our sights.
Author: Patrick
Plitvice Lakes and Rovinj
While we spent the first portion of our trip traveling by boat/ferry, our remaining travel would be over land. Today we would complete the first two legs of our drive, from Split to Plitvice Lakes National Park and finally to Rovinj, on the coast in the Istria region, where we would spend the night.
Split in a split second
We left Vis early to get the first ferry to Split, Croatia’s second city and a major port on the northern Dalmatian coast. Two of Takeoff would have the whole day to explore before our drive up the Istria region.
Cruising the Coast of Croatia (Hvar & Day 1 in Komiža, Vis)
The three hour ferry to Hvar felt more like a roller coaster ride as we swayed with the waves, but … Continue reading Cruising the Coast of Croatia (Hvar & Day 1 in Komiža, Vis)
Driving the Pacific Coast Highway
Driving the Pacific Coast Highway was on Two for Takeoff’s bucket list for quite sometime. So when we found cheap transcon flights for February, we jumped at the opportunity.
Scotland Food Adventure
When asked to consider the culinary contributions of Scotland, most people will likely think of haggis. To our surprise, Scotland delighted us with a vibrant restaurant scene fit for a foodie. As with all Two of Takeoff’s trips, we made food central to our adventure in a new land.
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Epic Kickoff
The overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai took just over 14 hours. We boarded car #3, nestled into our shared cabin with foreign couples and solo backpackers from across the world, and spent the time catching up on some reading. After a cozy night’s rest, we pulled into the Chiang Mai train station around 8:30am on Sunday morning and immediately hitched a ride to our bed and breakfast, located just outside the city limits. We walked inside the gates of Liam’s Suan Dok Mai and immediately fell in love – a plush pool was surrounded by palm trees, fresh greenery and beautiful flowers that made you feel like you were in a secret oasis – away from the hustle and bustle of city life. After shaking hands with our host Daphne, she led us to the open dining room area where I was finally reunited with my little brother, Ian, after nearly a year of being apart. He totally fit the bill of the traveling backpacker; a full beard, long hair and colorful wristbands from every country and memorable experience from his travels in Southeast Asia. We all sat down for a full breakfast, caught up on his latest adventurers and planned our day.
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Bouncing around Bangkok
Maggie and I woke up early Thursday morning to make some final packing adjustments and head to the airport. We opted to take the train to JFK to avoid commuter traffic. Security lines were short, so we found ourselves at our gate with plenty of time to spare before takeoff and headed to the lounge for some preflight champagne. The downtime was welcome, as we knew we had a long trip ahead of us.
Back to the skies
Maggie and I will be embarking on a new adventure in the next couple of weeks. More to come on that!
In the meantime, we wanted to recap our last big adventure: the ‘Round the World trip last fall.
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Hello Ha Long
We used our last day in Vietnam to explore the famed Ha Long Bay. As we would learn from our guide, “One has not visited Vietnam until they have visited Ha Long Bay.”
The trip from Hanoi would take three and a half hours each way over bumpy rural roads, busy with buses and motorbikes. Our guide, Minh, noted that it was a busy weekend due to an upcoming national holiday. When we arrived, the port was flooded with hoards of other tourists boarding boats, busily chatting in unfamiliar languages, anxious to see the national landmark. Frustrated with the crowds and the long trip, we made our way to our boat, wondering whether the effort would be worth it.