We decided to visit friends in Cyprus and timed it with the Abu Dhabi Hash annual Rehydration run in Abu Dhabi, and ended the trip with an epic adventure to Saudi Arabia. We hiked, ran, scuba dived, and went canyoneering. It was special trip to see friends again and travel to the last of the Arab countries we'd yet to visit <3 Tomb of Lihyan son of Kuza at Hegra Pre-trip Notes (Saudi Arabia) Saudi visa: You definitely need one to visit! Oddly, there are multiple websites adve

When we told coworkers we were headed to the UK for vacation, their responses were, "Why?" "Do you have family there?" Well, turns out, there's loads to see :P Nick was to end up at a stag do in Bristol, so we traversed as much as we could of the southern parts of England, as well as Cardiff, Wales. It was honestly overwhelming when it came to planning, because there are just so many interesting things to do/visit. The countryside was gorgeous, and we're hoping we can make it

Ash had to go to Oslo for work, so she decided to visit Barcelona as a side quest since Nick had already seen it a couple of times. She saw as much Gaudí architecture (and other art) as possible in a short weekend layover before heading to Oslo for training! Roof of Casa Milà Pre-trip Notes Gaudí architecture: Popular for a reason, so Ash booked tickets to all those she visited in advance. Basílica de la Sagrada Família What We Did Barcelona Basílica de la Sagrada Família : F

We visited Panama City for a friend's wedding and had a blast. We'd originally had high aspirations to see a bunch of nature to the west, but we discovered the travel time and logistics quickly became a "thing." So, we stuck to Old Town and hung out with friends around areas of Panama we might not have previously considered. That ended up being really special for us and definitely recommend a visit to some of the islands to the north and south! San Blas Islands Pre-trip Notes

Actual paradise. Somewhere on our way to Anse Source d'Argent, La Digue Pre-trip Notes Accommodation: Can be expensive if you stay in a hotel/resort. But, there are lots of "self-service" apartments for rent, which makes it much more affordable. Food: FYI it is cheaper to do "take away" at restaurants rather than actually sit down. In general though, expect to pay much more than you usually do for food and drink as it is an island nation. Also, the fruit grown there will be s

Wanting to travel with Ashley's brother and his SO, we finally landed on meeting up in Turkey. We'd heard great things, and the trip still managed to exceed our expectations. The people are super friendly, travel/driving is easy, and the country is an interesting blend of Europe and the Middle East. If you're considering a visit, we honestly can't recommend it enough. Süleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul Pre-trip Notes Museum Pass : Economically, this worked for use since we planned

We'd been meaning to visit Doha since pre-pandemic. We finally set aside a weekend for a weekend trip, and we were delighfully surprised. While we wouldn't recommend much more than a weekend, we found plenty of stuff to do in the short time we visited. National Museum of Doha Pre-trip Notes Qatar had an underground rail put in for the World Cup. We didn't use it, but it's an option if it works for you! While more westernized than Kuwait, Ash still dressed conservatively to be

There are so many wadis to explore around the Arabian Peninsula, but this particular one was one we'd been keen to visit for a while. Complete with falaj walks, short swims, a waterfall, and good company, this is an adventure we think back on fondly. If you ever get the chance to hike a wadi, do it. They are all quite unique and mesmerizing in their own ways! Wadi Muaydin - Way in What We Did Wadi Muaydin: A lovely day hike in and out of the wadi! There was a bit of falaj wal

With its hundreds of endemic flora and fauna, Socotra is such a magical, almost "alien," place that we hope retains its atmosphere of beauty and wilderness. Nick had been wanting to go to Socotra a long before it became an Instagram hotspot. We started looking into it when flights from Abu Dhabi to Hadiboh opened up. After hearing the accounts of a few friends, we booked the trip...and LOVED it. It took a while to get around to this write-up, so some detail has been inevitabl

Our friends were getting married near Almeria; so we decided to do a prelude visit of the gorgeous region of Andalusia. The dynamic history of the area is highlighted in the striking mixture of Spanish and Islamic architecture. Alhambra - Nasrid Palace Pre-trip Notes Alhambra : BOOK EARLY! This fills up months in advance, so be sure to get tickets ahead of time. Parking : Can be a PAIN. We were constantly on the lookout for a parking garage, which largely was recommended by

Ever since moving to the UAE, we've wanted to see the baby turtles near Ras al Jinz. Instead of going to the actual reserve (we'd hear mixed reviews on crowds and turtle treatment), we stayed in an Airbnb in Ras al Hadd just to the north. We knew it was quite the haven for turtle breeding, but there were WAY more baby turtles than we expected. It's definitely worth a visit, especially if you can keep away from large groups of people <3 What We Did Tiwi Bimmah Sinkhole : Fun (

We visited Budapest for a friend's birthday, which later turned into a surprise celebration of her and her boyfriend's engagement <3 Hungary was safe, clean, full of life and culture (architecture, art, music, ruin bars)...we hardly scratched the surface. It certainly lives up to the hype! Hungarian Parliament Building Pre-trip Notes We read that taxis regularly scam tourists, so we used the Bolt ride share app with no issues. We only had a tough time hailing a ride when we

We went to Salalah for Nick's birthday, and it totally exceeded our expectations. We were particularly surprised that most of the people visiting were from the GCC! It's a refreshing contrast to the rest of the Arabian Peninsula. Wadi Darbat Waterfall What We Did Accommodations: Anantara Al Baleed Resort - We were upgraded to a villa, and it was AMAZING. We didn't do much at the resort aside from breakfasts and dinners (the food was incredible), but the villa's private pool

2023 has been a year of catching up on visiting "places in the region." So, we went to Sir Bani Yas Island for Ashley's birthday. It was the middle of the summer, so rates were cheap and not many other souls braved the heat. The island exists naturally, as a salt dome has created it over time. Sheikh Zayed made it an animal reserve in 1977, which started with a program for repopulating the Arabian oryx. Since then, several new animals have been introduced, offering a really u

We visited Jordan and Lebanon with some of our awesome UAE friends. Rock climbing in Wadi Rum was our objective, but our shared love for travel and connection made this trip extra special for us as we visited several other locations. We had always wanted to visit Jordan (specifically Petra because of Indiana Jones), but we jumped at the opportunity to add in Lebanon when our Lebanese friend offered to show us around the country. From the dramatic, arid monoliths of Jordan to

Some friends posed the question, "Who wants to join us in Dublin for St. Paddy's?" That's how it started. From there we tacked on a few extra days to see some sights we missed on our trip to Ireland in 2018. Giant's Causeway What We Did Dublin St. Paddy's Day Pub Crawl: One of our friends put together an amazing custom pub crawl with fun challenges at each stop! The parade got in the way of some of our plans, but we improvised just fine; the floats we could see were really un

We stopped over in the City of Light for one day and two nights on our way back to Abu Dhabi. It was so Ashley could stop saying to me “yOu nEVeR ToOK mE tO PaRIs” the last time we visited France. Avenue de Camoens Pre-trip Notes Public transportation: With Google Maps and a little patience, Paris was pretty easy to navigate. It was a little confusing at first, but we got the hang of it. Uber: We should have pre-ordered one for our departure flight because we couldn’t hail on

“No bad views.” Norway is a country absolutely plagued with natural beauty. Fjords, mountains, glaciers, lakes, valleys - It has it all... This is one country to which we will definitely return for more hiking, outdoor rock climbing, and troll hunting! Trolltunga Pre-trip Notes Transportation Trains Oslo airport -> Oslo Central Station: Got tickets for this at the airport - cheap and very easy! Oslo Central Station -> Stavanger S.: Booked this one in advance, as we heard it’s

Egypt is hands-down a physical manifestation of structured chaos. Between the incessant honking, pedestrians confidently darting into the street, and pervasive tourist scamming, it was an assault on the senses. We can see why many westerners don't include Egypt on their favorite country list… However, over two weeks we slowly began to respect and embrace the madness, and recognized the ancient beauty that draws so many visitors. Thousands of years of a civilization’s evolutio

In need of another weekend away, we ventured south this time. Across the Tropic of Cancer into the Rub' al Khali (Empty Quarter), deep within the Arabian Desert, where sand dunes are commonly 200 - 300 ft tall. Our destination was the Qasr al Sarab desert resort (by Anantara). Even though we only visited for 36 hours, we filled our time with desert activities and day-drinking at the pool. It was a surreal experience, hanging out poolside in the middle of massive dunes. ​ To h