The Travel Tag! (30 Questions)

1. Where are you from in the world?
I was Born in New Jersey, USA, but I spent my childhood in Holland. We moved back to the states when I was still young, but we still moved around a bit. I guess I consider my "Hometown" Mt. Airy, MD since that's where I spent my high school years!

2. Have you been overseas? When/Where?

I have! I actually have been to over 20 countries in the last 4 years, but when I was little we traveled to even more places! Some of my favorites are:  Spain, Ireland, Germany, Holland, South Africa, Thailand and Singapore!

                                       

Blankenburg, Germany

3. Do you prefer summer or winter? Why?
I guess Summer, but Christmas trumps all! Especially in Paris! I love Christmastime in Paris - oh and Barcelona too!

4. Summer or winter fashion?
Winter - I'm all about the boots.

5. Where is somewhere you would love to travel to?

I'd love to go to Iceland, Japan and so many more places

6. Name your essential makeup items for the beach
Sunscreen!

7. Are you currently saving up for a trip?
We are getting ready to book our honeymoon to Portugal this fall!

8. Do you like/dislike travelling?
Absolutely LOVE it!

9. Name a place in the world you would love to shop.
I'm honestly not a big shopper.

10. Who is your favourite beauty guru and where do they live?

Zoella - Brighton, UK

Ingrid Nilsen - California, USA

11. What accent in the world is your favourite to hear?

Australian

12. How many countries have you visited?
More than 20

13. Why do you travel
I've always traveled and it's just a part of me!

14. Favourite city or country?
Barcelona!

15. Most memorable experience abroad?
Probably swimming with elephants in Thailand or bungee jumping in South Africa

16. Best item purchased abroad?
I got some awesome soccer shoes in Barca.

17. Advice for those who want to travel but think they can't?
Just start saving! I promise you can do it :) 

18. Travel accessory you always pack?
Adaptors and converters
19. Can you recite your passport # from memory?
No... probably should though

20. Preferred method of travel: planes, trains or automobiles
Probably airplane because it's fastest, but I love trains too.

21. Top 3 Travel items?
Converter, Good walking shoes and a camera

22. Hostel or hotel?
I love hostels!

23. Are you a repeat visitor or do you explore new places?
I would absolutely be happy to revisit places, but I want to explore new places as much as possible!

24. Do you read up on your destination for culture, history or safety or do you wing it?
I absolutely do! Did you know you can be caned for spitting gum on the streets of Singapore?? Research people!

                                 

                                                                      Singapore

25. Favourite travel websites?
Lonely Planet, Hostelworld.com

26. Where would you recommend a friend to visit? City and why?
Barcelona! Soccer, food, beautiful architecture! LOVE IT

27. You're leaving tomorrow, money is no option, where are you going?
Probably Australia and New Zealand.

28. Favourite landmark you have visited?
Leaning Tower of Pisa, Eiffel tower or Notre Dam.

                        

29. Beach holiday or travel/explore holiday?
Travel and explore! But I do enjoy a good beach day

30. To travel is to...

adventure

I own a travel company called MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com and would love to help you coordinate your next adventure!

Here's where I got the questions! http://www.fashionarttravel.com/2014/09/the-travel-tag-30-questions.html

Safari in Pilanesberg

I've always wanted to go on an African safari, so naturally it was a top priority for us while we visited South Africa. Of course, we wanted to do it responsibly and ethically. We had no interest in hunting, so we opted for a reserve. The animals are technically enclosed, but you would never know it except for when entering or leaving. We drove around for hours and hours and never saw a fence. It was pretty spectacular!

We had the chance to get up close to all kinds of beautiful animals! We had a wonderful time and got to ride in an honest-to-goodness safari jeep. 

We managed to catch some elephants getting a drink! We were a ways off, so the picture is a little blurry, but still rather impressive. So cool!

This guy came right up next to our jeep! We would stop whenever we saw an animal and the driver would pull around for us to admire the beautiful animals.

We even got to see some cats! We caught some lions on the prowl. Hard to tell in this photo, but definitely some lions. It was pretty awesome. We also got to see a cheetah eating its prey! Didn't manage to get a photo of that one.

We had an amazing time on the safari. They even stopped half way through for a quick bathroom break, some beers and a snack. Truly a memorable experience and I'm so so so glad we were able to fit it into our schedule! 

Don't forget! I can help you with your dream vacation, too! Check out my travel company at MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com!

Elephant Reserve in South Africa

While in South Africa, we were lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit the Knysna Elephant Park. It  was a beautiful reserve where the elephants are treated very well and get to live in HUGE pastures. So huge that you can't even see the fence.

That thing in the background isn't actually a fence. It's where they go to stand if they want to be fed. It keeps them from stealing the whole bucket of fruit that tourists hold to feed them.

My sister is a veterinarian and absolutely loves elephants, so it was a dream come true for her!

We even got to feed the elephants! They really liked grabbing fruit out of our buckets. 

There were also scientists sitting and observing our interactions, which was neat. I think it's amazing these gorgeous animals have somewhere safe to live and eat tasty treats.

Overall, this experience was amazing and I'm so glad we had the chance to meet these beautiful elephants! 

Don't forget! If you want to learn more about my travel business, visit MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com.

Thailand Adventures (Swimming with Elephants!)

Hello!

I'm sorry for the delay in this post - it's long overdue, I know.

So as I'm gearing up for my next adventure (more on that later) I was looking back at my Thailand pictures and realized I never made a post about it!

Our trip to Thailand was probably one of my all time favorite travel experiences. We only had a few days in Bangkok, so Sky and I made the most of it. We hired a tour company, as coordinating a car and organizing certain activities would have been nearly impossible on our own.

We flew in Friday night and made it to a rather ritzy hotel - the toilet had like 20 buttons! It was incredibly cheap for the quality, but welcome to Thailand.

The next morning, after a fun asian breakfast, we were off for a day packed with adventure! Our first stop was the River Kwai.

The bridge actually has a really cool history and we enjoyed learning about it from our guide!

Next up was the floating market which was actually incredibly cool. We literally rented a boat and floated up and down buying snacks and cool knick knacks. And it was SO beautiful to boot!

The food was delicious and we both had a blast!

Then we made our way to what was surely the highlight of the trip - swimming with elephants! Now I do want to specify here, we went to an elephant sanctuary in the middle of the jungle. These elephants are well taken care of by their trainers, called mahouts. It was beautiful and we were so lucky to have been able to visit with these beautiful animals.

Schuyler, King of the Jungle (one of the Mahouts made him a crown!)

Posing for the tasty orange!

Me and my elephant!

The best water fight in the world!

Look at that jungle!

Oh and I got to backflip off an elephant... so that was amazing beyond all belief

Swimming with elephants was SO FUN but also quite the work out! We headed back to the hotel absolutely exhausted

The next day we took some time to explore some temples. These were beautiful and so fun to explore. My only negative experience was with the rather shifty street vendors (telling you certain attractions were closed so they could give you a tour instead etc.). We had a blast and even got to ride in a tuk tuk!

Overall, Thailand was phenomenal and I 1000% would love to go back!

Lots of love,

Lena