Category: Travel

Stories and recommendations from our travels

Coimbra and Fatima

The next day, we said goodbye to Olga and Fernando and headed south to Coimbra, just a short ride on the fast train from Porto.  Coimbra appealed to me for a couple of reasons....

Porto View from Vila Gaia

Porto and the Douro Valley

After our long week cycling in Alentejo, our taxi came to the farmhouse to take us to the train for the next leg of our trip, up to Porto, Portugal’s second city and the...

Miradora Sao Pedro de Alcantara Lisbon View

Two visits to Lisbon

We began and ended our Portuguese journey with Lisbon. We started with a few nights to get acclimated and see some sights. Since we wanted to make sure we had enough time to get...

Sunset over the Douro River Porto

20 Days in Portugal

I’ve been dreaming about traveling to Portugal for years. I bought my first Lonely Planet guide right after I left my job in 2018. We visited Italy first, then circumstances kept us from going...

New Zealand Five Dollar Note

How to Find Penguins in New Zealand

When we first started planning our trip to New Zealand, I wasn’t thinking about seeing penguins. I knew there were some little blue penguins in Australia, but I always assumed if I wanted to...

Three Days in Auckland Waiheke Island Vineyard View

Three Days in Auckland

We end our New Zealand journey with three nights in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city. From Rotorua, we continued our journey north to spend our last three days in Auckland. But on the way,...