“Fine! But if anything happens I am going to kill you.” This was Danielle’s way of agreeing to try hitchhiking with me, and you can bet I heard this statement, or received the “look of death”, a few times during our ten days in Southern Ireland. Money was a bit tight, and we had a three night stay in Paris for our anniversary planned and we didn’t want to have to be on a tight budget then, so something had to give in our daily travel budget. Public transportation was outrageously expensive in Ireland and we obviously couldn’t cut out trips to the bars, so hitchhiking seemed to be a reasonable solution.

I’d hitchhiked quite a few times during my two and a half months in Central America at the beginning of this year, but Danielle had never even considered doing it. After some research, a few discussions with some new local friends, and a short trial run that involved being picked up by some grandparents on a way to a wedding, she eventually gave in to the reality that we were about to hitchhike across Ireland.

But this isn’t a story about our entire journey through Ireland. This is a story about the part of the journey that went wrong, because, well, that is the part that you want to hear about most right? It turned out that hitchhiking with a nice, cute, sweet looking girl was WAY easier than doing it by yourself, and we were usually picked up within five or ten minutes of trying to catch a ride. We’d caught rides with a mother and her ten year old daughter, some grandparents on their way to their nephews wedding (all decked out in wedding attire as well!), a student on his way back to university, and a 75+ year old women who had lived in the states for most of her life but had returned back to the mother country to be with her family in her old age. There was one day, however, when we almost were completely stranded…

We’d gone around the Ring of Kerry and were back in the city of Killarney. Our next goal was to go around the Ring of Beara, which is similar to the Ring of Kerry, but much less touristy and much less traveled. We were going to hitchhike the entire ring, stopping in small coastal towns each night to experience the true way of life in this part of the world. It was easily the part of the trip I was most looking forward to.

We set out and covered about 50 kilometers (35 miles) in under an hour, getting three different rides along the way. Things were looking good, and at the end of our third ride we were dropped at small stretch of road with beautiful lakes on one side, and the ocean and a B&B on the other. I was feeling lucky and decided we should keep moving on and simply walk the road as we tried to catch our next ride. This, unfortunately, was the plans fatal mistake…

After 30 minutes or so of no ride we came to a fork in the road. To the right, the coastal road and a few small towns. To the left, the mountainous road, and a shorter way to our end goal. I remembered the map I’d looked at that morning showing a small town the way of the mountainous road, and decided that would be both more scenic and more direct. I was right about the scenery at least…

Before we knew it we were in the middle of acres and acres of fields, farms, and hardly any houses. The views were stunning, and in hindsight maybe even worth the trouble we were about to face, but the cars passing by us weren’t the friendly Irish that we’d grown accustomed to catching rides with, most were tourists who had no interest in offering two strangers a ride. We walked on, with our bags growing heavier and the road getting steeper by the minute, as time slowly crept by. After over an hour and half we reached the “town” I’d seen on the map. It consisted of a closed post office and then a few houses scattered throughout the mountainside above us. No one in sight. No B&B for us to stop at. No directions to be had. No shelter from the storm that was rolling in from the ocean.

The wind began to whip and almost blow us over, as the worst rain we’d seen since landing in Ireland set in for the night. There we were standing in the middle of nowhere, with nothing to do but keep walking and try to catch a ride from any and every car that came past us. This continued for over an hour. We were completely soaked, freezing cold, and Danielle was starting to have some bad pains in her left foot. Road signs told us the next major town was five kilometers away, but seeing as how we’d already walked between ten and twelve kilometers, I just wasn’t sure if we could make it. I was started to get a bit frantic. I began throwing my thumb out for cars going in either direction. I’d abandoned the hope of getting around the Ring of Beara, and all I wanted to do was get us back to a dry, warm place to sleep for the night, even if that meant going back the way we’d came.

As I began to lose all hope and come to the realization we might be walking the remaining five kilometers a utility truck pulled off the road up ahead. I immediately thought to myself that maybe this was a local who might know where a close by B&B or some other form of cover might be. To my surprise when I got up to the truck the man was clearing out his front seat. He wasn’t stopping for some last minute work before his day ended. He was stopping to pick up the two soggy Americans who were stranded in the middle of his beautiful countryside. We graciously hopped in as he pumped up the heat and kept asking if Danielle and I were warm enough. I don’t think I’ve said thank you more times in a thirty minute span than I did during that ride. He offered to take us anywhere on the peninsula, as if his own plans didn’t matter. He drove us between 50 and 60 kilometers to the other side of the Ring of Beara, and dropped us off in front of a hostel. He was our saviour for the day. A complete stranger who we will never see again, but who we’ll talk about, and silently thank, each time we tell this story.

Our time in Ireland was as close to perfect as it gets. Much of this was thanks to the generosity of the Irish people who picked us up throughout our journey. During our ten days in Southern Ireland we…
-Were picked up by 11 different vehicles
-Hitchhiked over 200 miles (325 kilometers)
-Met 15 people who gave us rides
-Saved somewhere close to $400 in travel fares

Running a blog is hard work… No doubt about it. The last thing any of you potential bloggers want to worry about is hosting problems. I recommend checking out the best wordpress hosting article from my friend’s website to learn more about your hosting options. If any of you ever have any questions about blogging for me, please send me an email on my contact page.

So some of you may have noticed, I’ve been slacking off on my posts again. This happens at the end of almost every trip I take as I prepare to get back into the swing of life at home. This time coming home has had some added hurdles as I’m currently house hunting back in Orlando and also in the middle of launching a new company my brother and I are starting. It just so happens to be based online, so most of my internet time has been spent working on the other project.

I still have quite a few posts coming from our last month in Europe, including our time in Ireland, so more stuff from London, and a post or two from our quick romantic getaway to Paris. I’ll hopefully start getting some of this up next weekend, but I wanted to check in now and let you all know I’m still here!

As always, thanks for reading and telling others about my site. I am getting more traffic this past month than I ever have on the site, and it is all thanks to you all.

New York has to be one of my favorite cities, but hotel prices can really kill you travel budget. Find hostels in New York can significantly help you make the best of your money, so be sure to check online for the best deals.

People visit Belgium for plenty of reasons, but three of the most popular are waffles, chocolate, and beer. While I thoroughly indulged in all three, the highlight of my visit to Belgium was the latter. In fact, beer was the main purpose of my visit to Belgium in the first place. As I’ve eluded to in previous posts, I’m a big beer drinker, and I love trying beers from around the world and beers from small “micro” breweries who use the best ingredients and methods to make their beer. Belgium is known for beer in general, but specifically for their Trappist beers and their Lambik and Gueze beers.

The Trappist beers are a famous style of beer brewed by monks in different monasteries in the Flaunders area of Belgium. In order to label a beer as a Trappist beer it HAS to be brewed at one of these monasteries, and there are only 7 Trappist monasteries in the world that brew beer. The lambik beers are a traditional beer style of the area. Usually when making beer the brewer does everything in their power to keep wild yeast out of the process and everything used is sterilized over and over. When brewing a lambik it is the EXACT opposite and wild yeast is the only yeast used in the process. This wild yeast results in a truly unique “sour” flavor that has more similarities to a fine wine than the standard beer. The Gueze beers are simply a blend of different aged lambik beers.

Danielle and I’s first day in Belgium we were able to tour Cantillon (can’t-e-on), which is one of the only traditional lambik breweries left in the world. Their brewery is filled with century old brewing equipment, which is rare in the area because the Nazis would raid breweries during World War II and confiscate the copper equipment to be melted down. The tour around Cantillon was truly unique, and participants were told to “forget everything they know about beer” in anticipation of trying the famous lambik style of beer. I’d already had a few of their brews before so I knew what I was in for, but it was great seeing peoples eyes as they tasted it for the first time. To top it all off, after some chatting with the head brewery and owner of the brewery, I was poured a glass of beer from the “employees pitcher” and it turned out to be a super rare blend of beer that hasn’t been released this year. It was made with actual apricots and was absolutely delicious!

A few days later our trip brought us to the city of Vleteran, in the west Flaunders region of Belgium. Vleteran is probably most known for the Sint Sixtus Abbey, a traditional Trappist monastery, and one of the seven Trappist breweries in the world. In fact, Sint Sixtus has been voted as the “Best Beer in the World” by multiple publications all over the world. Their beers are in such high demand that a small 11.2 ounce bottle will sell for as high as $50 in the U.S. After an amazing self guided tour around the monastery and the surrounding grounds I was lucky enough to walk away with close to two cases (40 beers!) for just a couple of dollars each! These beers came in very handy about 20 minutes later when my friends car got a flat tire in the middle of freaking nowhere!

Towards the end of our stay we had ANOTHER truly unique opportunity when I befriended an employee of another brewery I am a big fan of. He mentioned he had to go in unexpectedly to help label some bottles because they were a bit behind. On a whim I offered the help of a couple nice Americans in exchange for some free beer. Yes, I did ask Danielle before I offered her assistance. She wasn’t entirely thrilled but she knew it would be a cool experience for me so she went along with it. Just another reason why I love her so much! Surprisingly they said they’d love the help and we were able to spend the day learning quite a bit about the brewing process while sampling the beers we were helping with. In fact, we got a chance to sample a beer with a 26% alcohol content to start the day at about 10:20am! At the end of the day we left the brewery with a case of beer each and a new appreciation for the craft of brewing!

There were countless other unique experiences both beer and non beer related, and I think Danielle and I can both say that Belgium is a truly unique country and beer is quite a large part of the culture. Even if you aren’t a beer fan I’d highly suggested giving some of the Belgian beers a try. Here are some quick “beer stats” from the trip!

Final Stats of the Trip
Breweries Visited: 4
Beer Stores Visited: 9
Bottles of Beer Brought Back: 112 (oops, didn’t plan that!)
Days of Manual Labor for Free Beer: 1 (Danielle loved this day!)
Number of Beers Consumed: Absolutely No Idea…

While spending a weekend in the English countryside, Danielle, myself, and a friend of ours took the opportunity to visit the Roman City of Bath, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a tourist hotspot for people from around the world. The city of Bath was literally created as a thermal spa during the Roman rule. After the fall of the Roman empire the city developed into an economic center for the wool industry. In the 18th century a few nobles in the area decided they wanted to make Bath one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and they set out creating fantastic architecture and renovating and refurbishing the already existing Roman buildings and baths. The result was an astounding display of Roman, Gregorian, and medieval influences throughout the city, creating a beautifully displayed lesson in the history of the region. During our visit we walked throughout most of the city center and were able to take quite a bit of this in. Here are a few shots from the City of Bath!

The Royal Crescent is a highlight of the city, and was my favorite piece of architecture there. Unfortunately some slight wind and a lack of a tripod made it impossible to do a panoramic shot, but this side angle gives a slightly perspective of the size and grandness of the crescent.

The city is full of waterways, fountains, gardens, and parks providing plenty of picturesque views.

One of the more beautiful gardens in Bath.

The Bath Abbey stands tall in the center of the city right next to the baths themselves. In fact, on the right hand side of this photo you can see a dark sign. This is actually the entrance to the Roman baths, and although you can’t quite make it out here, there is quite a large line built up to enter the baths.

This right here is probably the only negative of Bath. The crowds… Granted we went on a Saturday during the busiest month of the year, the reality is, Bath is a tourist attraction, and if you want to experience its beauty, you will have to take the crowds with the beauty as well.

You can easily visit Bath from the city of London, so next time you take one of the many london flights available, make plans to visit the beautiful countryside and city of Bath.

After spending two weeks in Belgium last month, I can easily say that Brugge was my favorite area of our visit. At the same time I can say it was easily the most touristy place we saw as well. With that being said, if you are fortunate enough to visit the beautiful city of Brugge, you should try to schedule it for a weekday! Below are some photos from around the city. Enjoy!

The town is known as “Little Venice” and has a river cutting through the city throughout.

The Brugge Tower stands in the city center and is one of the main attractions in town. If you saw the movie “In Brugge” this was the main tower featured in the film and this is sure to come up once or twice during your stay.

These last three photos are of some of the bridges scattered about Brugge, which make for quite the photo op. The last shot was taken at Lover’s Lake at dusk as the daylight faded away.

Fortunately we arrived in London already knowing a few people. Entering a city like London with no one to “take you by the hand” can be quite a daunting ordeal. Luckily not only were we taken by the hand, but we were invited to places to see and do things we probably would never have experienced. One of those such things, was spending a weekend in the English Countryside, in the Cotswolds just easy of Wales.

Life is lived differently in this little corner of the world, there is no doubt about that, and it would pain me to try and find very many similarities between suburban Orlando and the English countryside. In fact, the only one that jumps to mind is the fact that both there and at home we have to drive to get anywhere because there is no public transportation and everything is far away!

We spent the weekend wandering the streets of small cities, traveling through the hilly countryside, visiting castles, and frequenting pubs throughout the towns. It was incredibly surreal and honestly quite perfect to be somewhat removed from the reality of London for a short break of the fast pace.

One of the highlights of our stay was spending Sunday afternoon watching a polo match in a small town near my friends home. This was my first polo match, and we were lucky enough to come on the championship weekend, for the most anticipated match of the year. As an outsider, I can say, that polo is easily one of the most civilized, yet uncivilized, sports I’ve ever seen. On one hand, you have the crowd. They are picnicking, enjoying their champagne and wine, and politely clapping (no loud cheering here) after an exciting break of action or a great play. On the other hand, you have the actual game, that consists of eight men streaking across a field on horses going as fast as they can chasing a small ball to the point of collision. In addition to this they are swinging a long mallet at the ball and they are constantly knocking the hell out of each other and the horses over and over again for a total of 40+ minutes of play. I can honestly say, that if I can ever find live polo near home, I will GLADLY spend part of my weekend enjoying this truly entertaining sport.

I am far from a professional sports photographer, but I was able to catch a few shots of the action that I’ll leave you with, enjoy!

The backdrop of part of the “pitch” or field, was a small castle. How perfectly predictable right?

At the half the audience is invited out onto the “pitch” to help fill in the holes the horses hooves have made. This helps ensure that the ball doesn’t get stuck, and it is a time honored tradition that is part of almost every polo match.

And I’ll leave you with one last picture of the beautifully green English countryside.

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During a day tour around London we stopped and what was my fifteenth UNESCO World Heritage Site, The London Tower. The Tower of London was built almost 1000 years ago, in the year 1066. It was built as a symbol of Norman power after the Norman conquests took over England. The tower was used both as a defensive mechanism, and a place to garrison and execute criminals. Over the centuries additional buildings and fortification were added to the tower, further increasing its size and stature, as the surrounding area literally sat in its shadows.

Today the Tower of London is a tourist hotspot, and is open to the public most days. Besides being a piece of English history itself, the tower grounds house a museum and are home to the British Crown Jewels, which, in my opinion, are the highlight of the visit, as you are able to see two of the largest diamonds in the world up close and personal along with countless other jewels and gold creations.

Here are a few photos I snapped during our tour of the tower of London!

Another view of the outside of the present day Tower of London

Traitor’s Gate. For centuries criminals were brought by boat to the Tower of London to be executed on the green there. The list of people beheaded here includes many members of royalty and ex-wives of many kings.

Members of the Royal Guard patrol the tower grounds, keeping an eye on all of the sneaky tourists. Of course this is more of a tradition than anything else, and maybe it is quite an honor to be chosen to do this, but you couldn’t pay me enough money to do what these guys do. No facial expressions, no reactions to anyone, and hundreds of tourists taking your photo each and every day. At least this guy was roped off from the crowds. Others weren’t so lucky.

The White Tower. This is the original structure that was built in 1066 and stands today in the center of the grounds.

The museum offered quite a few displays, but this one was by far the most interesting to me. In a large display full of suited armor, sat these two specimens. The one on the right is easily eight feet tall, while the other on the left is no more than two feet. Apparently they sent both their giants and their children into battle.

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We have been renting here in London for over a month now and, although we’ve been out of the UK for about half of this time, we’ve had plenty of time to explore the city. At the same time, we could easily stay here for a year and never cover the entirety of the city. London is truly one of the world’s most magnificent cities, and here are some of our favorite major attractions so far.

The Borough Market

The Borough Market, located in the center of London near the famous London Bridge, is a highlight of the city for us so far, and we’ve gone back three or four times now. With numerous vendors spread throughout the Borough Market, and almost all of them handing out free samples, this a great place to grab a cheap, or even free, lunch and enjoy the hustle and bustle of London.

The London Eye

The London Eye is a staple of the City of London, and stands tall along the Thames for all to see. We were fortunate enough to be treated to a trip around the Eye for some magnificent views of the city. The see-through glass didn’t make for good photos, but were great for viewing. Below is a photo of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben from the London Eye, through the fiberglass of course.

The Houses of Parliament
You’ve already been introduced to the Houses of Parliament in the photo above, but it truly needs its own introduction. I was lucky enough to work with a girl whose boyfriend worked in the Houses of Parliament and was willing to give me a free “private tour” of the building. It was an awesome experience, and although I didn’t have my camera on me then, I’ve passed by a few times since then.

Here is a shot from across the Thames River.

And here is the famous Big Ben.

Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery

The National Gallery is an outstanding free museum in the center of London located on the Trafalgar Square. You can see the photo of the square above, full of people, with Big Ben looming in the background on the left.

The Tower of London

The Tower of London is one of London’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and was a great stop for us on our meanderings around London. So much so in fact, that I’ll be doing a post with photos and more info on Friday. The Tower has quite a bit of history behind it and is currently the home of the Crown Jewels.

Obviously, this post has barely scratched the surface of even the major attractions in London, let alone what the entire city has to offer, so I can assure you in the next few weeks I’ll post another set of photos from other famous landmarks in London

Want to visit these landmarks and more? Check out this site to help you find cheap flights to London.

Sometimes blogging can get in the way of traveling. It has always been my priority to travel first, and blog about it if I have the time and desire to do so. The past few weeks I decided to give myself a short break from blogging while I visited a few places in England and also spent two weeks in the wonderful country of Belgium. Belgium was one of the highlights of the trip for me, and man, they really do have some great beer. But anyways, here is what you have to look forward to.

In the last three weeks I’ve
-Visited six UNESCO World Heritage Sites
-Spent a weekend in the English countryside
-Visited the cities of Bath, Brussels, Antwerp, and Brugge
-Visited or toured five different breweries and blenders.
-Tried over 30 new beers I’d never had before.
-Attended my first ever Polo match.
-Crossed the English Channel, twice!
-And couchsurfed 17 out of 21 days.

Needless to say, I’ve got quite a bit to post about, and you can expect those to start popping up next week. As always thanks for your patience, and thanks for reading!

When people think Australia, the first city that normally comes to mind is the city of Sydney. With its famous opera house and stunning oceanfront location, Sydney will wind up on most travelers “to visit” list without much of a thought. This week’s “Top Ten Tuesdays” post breaks down the best things to see and do on your next visit to Sydney.

Sydney Opera House
The ultimate icon of Australia and cultural centre of the nation, the Sydney Opera house is a must see attraction – but better yet you can also go inside and experience some of the most varied and world-class musical performances. You will find blues, jazz, dance – and of course, opera!

Bondi Beach
Step out of the congested streets to join the Sydney’s residents, workers and visitors to the city on one of the finest beaches on the planet. Beautiful Boni is just a stone’s throw away from the bustling city – seven kilometres of white sand and azure sand await.

Royal Botanical Gardens
Originally the private gardens of the county’s governor during colonial times these Victorian gardens have been open to the public since 1831. They now house historic plant specimens going back to 1770 on its 34 hectare grounds. There are 45,124 plants in total from 10,960 different species so it may take some time to take in even the highlights of these splendid gardens.

Sydney Harbour Cruise
Enjoy a romantic fine dining experience while taking in one of the finest harbours in the world – framed by the skyline of a modern metropolis. Or simply book yourself into one of the sightseeing ferries that cruise Darling Bay, possibly with a glass of fine Australian wine to help you really relax.

St George Open Air Cinema
During January and February watch the greatest films of the silver screen by moonlight in the unforgettable location in the very heart of the city. There are premieres from Hollywood or art-house classics to be seen.

Nightclubbing
From trip-hop to grudge, drum and base to the underground party scene – Sydney has a well-developed clubland and a myriad of bands and DJ’s to choose from on any given night of the week. Sexy burlesque nights draw massive crowds and are becoming the signature acts of this vibrant town.

Sydney City Architecture Walk
Take in the bright lights and explore the back streets of this iconic city. You can take in the historic Customs House, the symbol of a nation – Australia Square Tower, which dominated the skyline when it was built in 1970.

Sydney Festival
Summer in Oz is from December to February so at the very height of the season, from January 8-30 the city’s very own festival opens. With music, theatre, dance, visual arts and talks from Australian and International performers this is an event not to be forgotten. Over one million people flock onto the streets to take part in this celebration of one of the Southern Hemisphere’s greatest cities of culture.

Koala Bear Sanctuary
Want to visit these hugely charismatic creatures in their natural environment? Watch them climb trees and laze about as only koalas can do. But even better than that, if you choose the right time you’re free to hand feed the cuddly critters as well as the kangaroos, dingoes, wombats, wallabies and emus that make their home here.

Martin Place
Australia’s very own Wall Street – this is the financial heartland of the country and an architectural gem. Building started in the 1860’s and the business district retains the same Victorian charm and swagger. With the benefit of pedestrianisation it is also clean and easy to navigate – just make sure to look up or you’ll miss out!

This post is by Leon Levy. Leon is a British writer specialising in travel, the environment and current affairs. He has a particular interest in the Middle East and South Asia. The content and photos of this post are not the property of BackpackingWorldwide.com but are used with permission.

If you are searching for accommodation options in Sydney, check out our Sydney Accommodation suggestions!