Travel Budget: a long weekend in Portugal

After spending just over a week in Morocco, we took advantage of a long layover in Lisbon on our way back home to the States. We only had 3 days/3 nights in Portugal, yet were still able to visit two major cities. It's a lot to cram into a short period of time and was quite the whirlwind, but we loved every minute of it. 

Whenever, we have the opportunity to do a long layover in a new place, we take it. And this proved to be the perfect way to visit the country of Portugal on a Budget because we didn't have to worry about the most expensive travel cost...the flights. Here's a breakdown of our real life budget for a weekend in Portugal below...

15 cities. 6 countries. 23 days.

What an incredible whirlwind! 

It has always been the plan to take a BIG trip after finishing up with grad school. And I've been planning and saving for this graduation trip for years, all without even knowing where we were headed. 

We had a unique opportunity with having the time to travel this summer (that we will probably never have again) and we wanted to take advantage of it. We were torn between Asia, Northern Europe, and South America initially with no idea of which direction to take. The logistics of Asia just weren't working out though and at the end of the day, we opted for the activities in Europe over South America.  I mean, how can you beat spending your days touring castles, walking cobblestone streets, and soaking in the most amazing history? 

I have so much to share from this amazing adventure of a lifetime and literally thousands of photos. I've honestly been a bit overwhelmed with where to even start. I've decided to kick things off with an overall overview of our entire trip itinerary below. Then I will do recaps on each country/city, including our travel budget per country, followed by our overall budget for the entire trip. Sound like a plan? Ok, let's jump in. 

Congaree National Park

On our way home from Florida, we decided to break up the drive with a stop in South Carolina to visit Congaree National Park. 

Touring through the swamplands of the South may not be at the top of everyone's must see list, but we loved seeing the bald cypress and swamp tupelos. And bonus points that we spotted an 8 foot alligator and some wild boar while hiking through the park. 

Gators in Gainesville

Back from Gainesville Florida with a trip to visit my little sister. This was the most impromptu and spontaneous road trip and I love that I had the option to do this.

While I was in grad school, I missed out on so many special family moments...birthdays, anniversaries, holidays. But something that I really hate having missed was moving my little sister into college. I remember giving this girl baths and reading her stories, and it hurt my heart that I couldn't be there to see her get started off in college. Since I have quite a bit more free time these days, I made it a point to head down for a visit. On a whim, Tom and I packed up the car, grabbed the pup, and made the 10+ hour drive down to Florida all in one day. 

cooking tajine in Fes Morocco

There is nothing like dinner with a view and it's even better when you prepare the food for yourself. 

Throughout traveling Morocco, the food was amazing so one our last evening there, I knew that we had to do a cooking class to learn how to make some of these dishes for ourselves.

I found a family owned Moroccan restaurant that also offered cooking classes. We were invited right into the restaurant's kitchen and taught 3 different dishes...that we then enjoyed on the roof. This was the perfect last meal in Morocco and now we can recreated this authentic meal and experience for ourselves. 

Cuba Travel Budget 🇨🇺

Ah, Cuba on a Budget! You may have heard that Cuba is a cheap destination to visit. And that is both true and untrue. We went to Havana to mark a very special occasion with deciding to visit our 5th country together to celebrate 5 years of marriage. So we definitely spent a little extra and splurged on a few things on this trip, but still stayed on a budget. Let's take a peak shall we? 

Trip Length: 4 days & 3 nights for 2 adults 

Travel Dates: August 2018 

For simplicity, I've listed all costs in American dollars. At the time of travel 1USD was equivalent to 1CUC. Keep in mind that all totals listed below are for two people. 

A Great Big Southwest Adventure Road Trip

Here it is. A great big post all about our Great Big Southwest Adventure Road Trip! Every year, we head out to spend some time on the West Coast. And our 2018 adventure took us on a week long road trip through Nevada, California, and Arizona. 

I've been sharing bits and pieces from this road trip for a while now, but here is our itinerary with links and budget all in one place. 

Oh, these Havana nights

Happy Saturday!

I'm trading in my normal crazy weekend routine of studying for a night of board games with my in-laws. I know ya'll. I'm a total party animal. But it got me thinking about the last time I was staying out late on the weekend like the true 20-something that I am. And that was just a weeks ago during our trip to Cuba because the only more beautiful than the hot vibrant days in Havana were the fun inviting nights. 

Havana-Day 4

Our last day in Havana. 

I feel myself getting upset all over again. It's been nice to blog about our time in Cuba because it's been allowing me to relive the entire experience, but now I have to relive our last day there. And I don't want to. Is it possible to be homesick for a place that's not your home? Because that's how I feel about Cuba. 

pretty palm springs

Oh Palm Springs! 

You are without a doubt one of my favorite places in the world. When I realized that this city was so close to our planned visit to Joshua Tree, I knew that we had to make a side trip here because Palm Springs has always been on my wishlist. But what was meant to be a half day detour quickly turned into two full days. 

I've posted here and there about some of the things that we did while in Palm Springs, but I wanted to do one full post with everything from our time there because I love this posh laid back city.

Havana-Day 3

By our third day in Havana, we were starting to get such a great feel for the culture and people and way of life in Cuba. I was loving every minute of it and was ready for another full day in the city. 

friday favorites-cuba edition 08.24.18

Happy Friday Dear Ones. 

This week has been a crazy one with starting the one month countdown until I leave the dental school and head off on my away rotations. On a more relaxing note, I got to spend the first part of this week in Cuba. Since that was clearly a highlight of the week, I thought I'd share some of my favorite parts about Cuba. 

sunset at el morro castle

How often do you watch the sunset? Like really watch it. For me, evenings are normally a time swamped with doing all the last minute things before the day ends. I rarely take a moment to pause like this, which made it extra special to watch the sunset over Havana.

This was the perfect end to Day 2 in Havana. We had been running all over the city that day, fitting in all the adventures. This was a chance to take a moment to pause, wait, and just enjoy the bustling city from afar. 

Havana-Day 2

We were so excited for Day 2 in Havana and hit the ground running. This was our first full day in the city and with our delay on getting the trip started, it just felt so nice to have things finally moving along. We packed everything into this day and may have overdone it a little. In fact, I think that I'm going to have to break Day 2 into two different posts so that there isn't a complete photo overload. 

Havana-Day 1

There we were, standing at our gate, visas and passports in hand...ready to fly into Cuba---only to be turned away. We had planned to spend 5 days in Cuba, but lost an entire day with getting stuck in rainy New Jersey for 24 hours. Don't worry though, this story has a happy ending.  

The East Coast has been flooded with rain and storms over the last couple of months and we got caught in one. Our initial flight to New Jersey was delayed by several hours, but we still made it there in time to catch our connecting flight to Havana. Only, the airline had assumed that we wouldn't make it in time and had already removed our names off the flight passenger list. Tom was fuming and I just wanted to burst into tears as we stood there on time for our flight, but still had to watch it take off without us. And the nightmare wasn't over yet. We had to spend 2 hours on the phone with the airline and hours in lines at the airport before we finally got everything sorted out and were guaranteed a flight for the next day. In fact, I'm still dealing with the airline now, but let's not talk about that frustration. Instead, let's focus on the moment when we finally arrived in Cuba, so thankful to be in Havana.  

the great debate about visiting Cuba

I can remember the exact moment when I decided to go to Cuba. 🇨🇺 Tom and I were at a Cuban Restaurant in Philadelphia and I looked up from my plate and said "you know, we should go to Cuba while we still have a chance. Who knows how long the borders will be open to Americans". Tom nodded yes as he put a forkful of food into his mouth. And just like that, it was decided. 

day trip diaries: Phoenix

Visiting Phoenix, Arizona was a sweet unexpected treat during our Southwest Road Trip. After our time in Joshua Tree, we had planned to leave California and cross over into Arizona to spend a few days at the Grand Canyon before flying back home through Phoenix. So initially, our itinerary included nothing beyond a brief tour of the Phoenix airport.

But there was a change in the weather for the worst that made our plans to camp at the Grand Canyon not the best idea. Also, it felt like we were trying to squeeze the Grand Canyon in and this is not something that you want to rush through. Ultimately, we decided to save it for another trip and just head into Phoenix a little sooner since we were already booked with flights and a hotel there. We simply extended our hotel stay and spent 2 nights and 1 full day exploring the Phoenix area. It's not like us to change our travel plans last minute like this and be so spontaneous, but I'm glad that we did. 

the top of mount san jacinto

Wherever we were in Palm Springs, we could see the mountains. And we of course had to make our way to the top. 

 The city of Palm Springs California is located at the base of a valley, but is surrounded by mountains on all sides. You have the San Bernardino Mountains to the north, the Santa Rosa Mountains to the South, the Little San Bernardino Moutains to the East, and the San Jacinto Mountains to the West. We took the best route up to the top of the mountain with riding the world's largest rotating aerial tram up the top. 

desert oasis

After spending a day hiking through the desert in the hottest place on Earth, it was nice to stumble upon this hidden gem of a desert oasis in Palm Springs.

Pressure from the San Andreas Fault created underwater springs that support the palm trees in this area. It's kind of crazy to be wondering through the desert to suddenly happen upon a lush forest of palm trees.

camping in Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park...it's where the cool kids go. It's just an hour away from Palm Springs, California. And it's the perfect quick detour on the route from LA to Vegas. Never have I been to a place with so many hipsters and professional photo shoots. It's the place to be. But the true cool kids do this park just right with camping here. At least we think so. 

We spent 8 nights on the West Coast, staying in some pretty nice hotels, but nothing beat camping under the stars in Joshua Tree.