What are your travel indulgences? Champagne at night? Hot tea every morning? Perhaps a pedicure or a truffle from a nearby chocolaterie?
When my dear friend Margo from The Travel Belles invited me to join her blog carnival on travel indulgences, I was happy but also momentarily stymied.
I confess I’m not much of a posh traveler. By the time I get somewhere I’ve usually spent most of my money on a plane ticket, hotel, and rental car, and have every other penny budgeted for food and whatnot.
But as I thought about it more I realized that indulgences don’t have to cost a lot of money.
They can be very simple, small, FREE things that delight your heart, please your eye, and charm your stomach.
When I first started traveling, I would always bring a piece of home with me – usually in the form of a tablecloth that I would immediately drape over those ubiquitous small round tables you find in most hotel rooms. It instantly made the place cozier and “mine”. I’d also get up early while most folks were still tucked up in bed and go for long walks to see what I could find. And I love to take naps on hot afternoons when lines are long and streets crammed with folks rushing hither and thither.
Here are a few other indulgences I like to make part of every trip:
Boat rides.
I’m a sucker for boat rides. Whether it’s hiring a creaky old fishing boat for a jaunt around Alcatraz or catching a high speed ferry to Capri, I’m in!! I love being out on the water, the wind tossing my hair, sun browning my shoulders. All the stresses of travel melt away as I bob along. If you split the cost with an obliging friend or three, the trips are downright cheap. I’ve paid about $5 to be rowed across a turquoise lake in Slovenia, $2 for an ocean trek in Greece and about $7 to board a fishing vessel for an island tour in Croatia.
Good food
I rarely spend money on expensive souvenirs, but I’ll happily plunk down money for a memorable meal with lovely folks. My brother Ryan taught me long ago not to rely on guidebooks or hotel pamphlets for restaurant choices, but instead to turn to locals for recommendations. I ask them where they’d go for a special dinner or date night and I’ve never been steered wrong. If I can’t find someone to ask, or I don’t speak the language, I start my search around lunch time. I look for places that are filled with locals – a sure sign of good eating – and make sure to arrive early enough that night to get a table for dinner.
Scarves.
I adore scarves. The brighter the better. I don’t have a house full of cuckoo clocks from Germany or statues from Rome, but I have $2-$10 scarves from Ireland to Bosnia and they make me happy. They’re cheap, small and easy to pack, and gorgeous yet practical. I wear them year round and drape them over lamps or spread them along tabletops, and each time I see one I smile inside and remember the people, the country, the food and memories of that trip.
And how about you? What indulgences do you have that make your travels extra special?
Happy New Year, dear ones!! I hope your year is off to a wonderful start. 🙂
I am tucked up on the couch at my brother’s apartment in Amsterdam sipping coffee and looking out at birds soaring over the gabled rooftops. It’s my last day in Amsterdam and soon I’ll have to finish packing. I already hugged my brother good-bye, Mums and I yoohooing to him from the window as he peddled his bicycle to work like a native Dutchman. It’s been a beautiful trip and I’m so very, very grateful.
New Year’s Eve was extra special for my family this year because my brother Ryan chose it as the night to propose to his wonderful girlfriend, Melissa.
He hired a gorgeous, old, wooden canal boat (see below) and proposed to her on the canal where you can see seven bridges all lit up beautifully. Even the swans obliged by swimming past at the appropriate moment, making it even more romantic.
After the proposal (she said YES!) my family and some close friends joined them on board and continued on a wonderful nighttime cruise, stopping at various fantastic restaurants along the way where our captain went ashore and brought out piping hot dishes. It was fabulously fun!
The happy couple was positively BEAMING!! 🙂
After dinner, two desserts, champagne and coffee, we headed over to a friends’ house for a fabulous New Year’s Party with splendid expats from all over the world. A few minutes before midnight we clambered up several flights of precariously steep stairs to the rooftop terrace to cheer wildly at the fantastic fireworks display going on all around us.
Melissa had warned us it would be like a war zone and she wasn’t kidding! It was INCREDIBLE! Fireworks went off all over the city, above us, beside us, in every direction, popping like mad. We couldn’t stop laughing in sheer amazement at the beauty and cacophony. I took a video for you that gives an idea of what it was like:
It was a wonderful night spent with dear people I love to bits.
One of the best things about exploring the eco-park Xcaret near Cancun, Mexico is the lack of boundaries between you and what you’re experiencing.
You will not find roped off areas or keep out signs. No one will shout at you for venturing off the beaten path. For the most part I loved this, but I admit I was a little startled to be walking along a stream only to look down and see a shark and a stingray swimming along only inches from my bare feet with nothing between us but air and a bit of water. Yipes!
I loved being able to not only look at these Mayan dwellings, altars and who knows what, but also touch them, ascend the steps, and duck my head to enter the tiny doorways.
In reading about the Mayans, I find them an interesting contrast of gentle nomadic hunter-gatherers and vicious warriors who stole their neighbors for human sacrifices. In spite of their brutality, their skills are undeniable and impressive. They created lavish temples and palaces without metal tools, developed astronomy, calendrical systems and hieroglyphic writing, and excelled as farmers, potters and weavers.
I was intrigued to learn that they cleared routes through dense jungles and festering swamps to build extensive trade networks with distant peoples. As prolific writers, they were distinctive in that they were the only ones in America capable of expressing all types of thought. They also chronicled detailed histories of their culture and lifestyle. Unfortunately all but three of their books were destroyed when Fray Diego de Landa, second bishop of the Yucat n, ordered a mass destruction of Mayan literature in 1562. I do wonder what stories those destroyed pages held.
What group of people in history are you most intrigued by?
After our gorgeous boat ride through Xcaret, an eco-archaeological park in the Mayan Riviera, we spent many happy hours wandering at our leisure.
Julio, our host from Royal Holiday, was a jolly and adventurous sort who joined us in donning life jackets, goggles and snorkels to float down an amazing underground river. I’ve never experienced anything quite like it. I confess I’m claustrophobic by nature and was a bit nervous about this venture, but I had the time of my life! The caverns are huge and I didn’t feel confined or scared. Occasional openings from above sent shafts of sunlight streaming down into the water, turning the river a glowing turquoise that sparkled magically. The river meandered through caves and tunnels, emerging into open air now and then along banks lined with tropical plants before opening into a broad expanse filled with brightly colored fish. It was marvelous!!
After we showered and got dressed, the sun dried us in no time and we were ready to continue our explorations.
Our next stop was an aquarium filled with all sorts of amazing moray eels, bright blue fish, and starfish and sea urchins we could actually touch. My favorites were the jelly-fish. Their diaphanous bodies and feathery tentacles are so delicate, undulating gently through the water.
I love aquariums. The unearthly light and wondrous creatures never fail to delight me and make me feel like I’ve been transported to another world.
Do you like aquariums? What are your favorite sea creatures to watch?
I love my creek very much. I love laying in bed with my window open, hearing it trickle under the blackberry bushes overhanging its banks.
Every time I go to the creek I see something new and beautiful. The other day it was towering stalks soaring up through the morning glories with these ethereal pink blossoms dangling from the tops. Do any of you know what they are?
Today I was delighted to discover the blackberry bushes covered in plump, ripe berries. I popped a few in my mouth, delighting in the sweet juices warmed by the sun.
It’s been dark and rainy here the last few days, and since I’ve been unwell, the crockpot has become my new best friend.
My latest favorite dish is Ginger Lime Shredded Pork over whole grain basmati rice. I made a marinade of carrots, ginger, garlic, Hoisin Sauce, Soy Sauce and red wine and basted a lovely pork roast with it. I slow-cooked the roast about 6 hours, turning it every 30 minutes to let those delicious flavors sink into the meat. Then I cranked up the heat a bit, added a cup of diced green beans and some lime juice and cooked it for another hour until the meat was falling apart and the green beans were cooked but still pleasantly crunchy. Oh boy – did my house ever smell good!!
What is your favorite crock pot recipe?
Ginger Lime Shredded Pork
Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil 5 medium carrots, sliced in rounds 4 garlic cloves, minced 4 green onions, minced 1 4″ piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 cup red wine 1/4 hoisin sauce 1 pork roast 1 cup green beans, diced 3 limes, juiced pepper and salt to taste Whole grain Basmati rice, prepared
Directions:
Set crock pot on low and add first 8 ingredients, stir until mixed.
Add pork roast and baste.
Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, basting with sauce every 30 minutes.
Add green beans and lime juice, turn crock pot on high and cook for 1 more hour.
Remove pork roast and let cool slightly, then shred.
