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an honest look at life on the road

Travel plans for 2016 revealed!

Happy Travel Tuesday!

I’m so excited to be co-hosting it with Bonnie Rose for the next couples of months! For the new visitors (hello!), I thought I’d start with a brief introduction so we can get to know each other. :) About two years ago, I quit my job as a civil engineer to travel the world with my boyfriend (D on the blog) for an indefinite amount of time. As I now find myself navigating life as a full-time traveler, I find it equal parts exciting and terrifying, but I have not looked back since! On this blog, I document our travels (food is a big part of it!), talk about life on the road, love, and even share my artwork!

I thought it’d be fun to kick off my Travel Tuesday co-hosting stint with an overview of our travel plans for the year!

D and I are the kind of people who plan our travels way in advance. As much as I wish we could be the “play it by ear” kind of travelers, our budget doesn’t really allow for that. I have to at the very least have flights and accommodations booked. I like knowing that we have places to stay. And plus, the earlier you book, the better chance you have of snatching up the best apartments in the best locations at the best prices. I would hate to wait too long and be stuck with either the really expensive ones, or the ones way out in the boondocks.

So this means that even though it’s only mid-January, we already have our travel plans for most of the year already! Here’s what’s in store for us this year:

Mid January – Mid March: a little solo adventure in Malaysia

view from our airbnb in KL

view from our apartment window in KL!

We just arrived in Kuala Lumpur last Friday! I’ve been interested in Malaysia for a while (for the food, duh) so I’m excited to have made it here. I plan to be in KL for one month and Penang for another.

Now, if you’ve noticed, I said “I” because I will actually be traveling solo the majority of the time in Malaysia! D is only here with me in KL for two weeks, before flying back to Taipei. This is the first time I will be traveling alone (don’t freak out, mom)! While I was in Los Angeles last summer (which didn’t really count as solo travel because I was never actually alone), D was by himself for about 7 weeks and he ended up really enjoying the experience. After some discussion, we agreed that it would be good for me to have the same experience and learn to care for myself on the road. I’m all kinds of nervous and excited for it!

But I won’t exactly be friendless the entire time, because I plan to meet up with blog friend CL (Real Gunner), a local Malaysian from KL who now lives in Penang! He has generously offered to drive me from KL to Penang (I’m so grateful that I won’t need to figure out that journey on my own!), and show me around the island. I’m expecting a lot of good food, CL!

If this works out well, we may be splitting up for solo trips every year. We don’t always have the same interest in destinations, after all. :)

Mid March – End of April: Back to Taipei, again

back in taipei

I know I keep on using the same few pictures for Taipei, but honestly, Taipei is kind of an ugly city, and Taipei 101 is the only landmark and pretty building

After my solo experience in Malaysia, I will be flying back to Taipei to rejoin D. Once again, we’re at the same airbnb rental. I’m missing my little adopted home already! I will promptly visit my favorite cafes, eat stinky tofu, and drink bubble tea. I also look forward to hanging out with the friends I made there again and maybe even take a couple of trips. Perhaps a trip to the east coast and a return trip to Jiufen?

May – September: Europe again, baby!

Again, we have cashed in the Chase Sapphire Preferred points we had accumulated over the past year for two free flights to Europe and back! Spending our summers in Europe seem to be the norm for us now (I know… that sentence just sounded incredibly pompous), and this time, we will be there for a whole 5 months, our longest stay in Europe yet!

Oh wait, Hong Kong first – Before we fly to Europe, we’re stopping in Hong Kong for a week. Because flying out of Hong Kong is always the lowest pricing.

hong kong mongkok

we will be staying in this Mongkok area again!

Now, when we went to Europe last summer, I can say with certainty that practically all the destinations were chosen for the food (actually almost anywhere we go is mainly for the food). So it’ll be a surprise to you then that this time, our European destinations are chosen mainly based on cost and a little something known as the Schengen Agreement.

Our US passports only allow us to be in European Schengen countries for 90 days out of a 180 day period, but we can be on the continent for longer if we stay in some non-Schengen countries. Makes sense?

So after some debating and research, this is the plan we came up with:

Tallinn, Estonia, 4 weeks (Schengen) – I just like the sound of Estonia. It sounds like a fairytale. I’ve heard good things about Tallinn and this is one of D’s dad’s favorite cities! We also plan to take a quick jaunt over to Helsinki from here, checking off one more country!

Bucharest, Romania, 4 weeks (non-Schengen) – Romania recently popped up on my radar as somewhere I would very much like to visit. I kind of have no idea what to expect, so any tips will be greatly appreciated!

Budapest river view

hello, beautiful Budapest

Budapest, Hungary, 4 weeks (Schengen) – we both fell in love with Budapest when we were there two summers ago. It remains one of my favorite European cities thus far. I’m so excited to return and spend a more proper amount of time there. We’ve already been in touch with our airbnb host from the last visit (unfortunately, she has since sold that apartment), and we plan to meet up over some food at our favorite restaurant we discovered last time, that has since become one of her favorites too! And of course, I’m also looking forward to relaxing at the baths!

szechenyi bath 1

Szechenyi Bath, here we come again!

Croatia, 6 weeks (non-Schengen) – Croatia needs no explanation, as it’s been raved about by travel bloggers a great deal. I know it’s mainly famous for the beautiful beaches, but I think we’ll mostly be in the landlocked capital of Zagreb as it’s more inline with our budget. But maybe we can fit in some beach trips.

Barcelona, 4 weeks (Schengen) – This is the splurge destination of this summer! Spain has been at the top of my European wishlist since I can remember, and I wish we could go everywhere! But transportation + accommodation costs are just too much for what we can reasonably afford. You tend to get a much, much better deal by renting for a month, so we decided on Barcelona (D has visited years ago and loved it). I would have preferred somewhere a little more traditional Spanish, but the flight out of Barcelona was the cheapest + most hassle-free. And anyway, I have never heard of anyone having anything bad to say about Barcelona!

IMG_0671

this was the only decent picture I found from D’s photo archives. This is the La Sagrada Familia in 2012. I can’t wait to see the progress now!

Okay seriously, aside from Budapest, I have no idea what to eat in any of these places! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

October: Tokyo, Japan and ??

Toyko at night

We already booked our flights to fly into Tokyo, but we still haven’t worked out the details as to how we will spend our time in Japan. I have mixed feelings about this since, as you probably read, I didn’t really love Japan, but D agrees with me that Osaka doesn’t exactly get the heart beating. He’s eager to show me Tokyo and make me see why he loves it so much, so I hope I’ll find the magic then too!

November – end of year: Back to Taipei for winter

Just like last year, we’re returning to Taipei for the rest of winter. I think after all the excitement of the summer/fall, we’ll be ready to settle down for a few months again in place that feels like home. I really do love this time of the year in Taipei.

Taipei skytrain

oh look, here’s a different picture of Taipei!

So this is what’s in the books for 2016. This year is looking like a good mix of the old and new. Just enough new destinations to satisfy the wanderlust bug, a couple of revisits of previously beloved places, and of course, also spending a good chunk of it in Taipei, just how I like it. :)

Do you have plans for this year already? Will our paths cross at any point? And let me know if you have suggestions for any of the places in Europe!!

And by the way, I just want to say that I’m so honored to be nominated to co-host Travel Tuesday for the next few months! This is one of the best and most active travel blog parties in the community! I thought it was pretty fitting to introduce you guys to my travel plans for my first post. I hope to bring you guys around the world with me by sharing about a new destination every Tuesday!

travel tuesday button

To join the blog party, just link up below!

1. SHARE a post about travel! Anything goes here… whether it’s trips abroad or local adventures, past travels or dream vacations, travel tips and tricks, or anything in between! Just make it about travel!
2. GRAB the lovely button above! And link back to your lovely hosts: that would be Bonnie and yours truly.
3. LINKUP goes live! Every Tuesday at 8 am GMT.
4. HOP around and meet new travel loving bloggers! Link up will be open for a few days, make sure to check back to visit some of the newer travel posts!

TIPS:
1. Please only one linked up post per blogger. Save other posts for future linkups!
2. The last Tuesday of every month will be a themed prompt if you want to join in!

See you guys soon! And if you’re new to my blog, please introduce yourself below too. I love new faces and making bloggy friends. :)


Comments

  1. I love how long you’re planning to stick around all of your destinations! Slow travel is my jam, too. I’m actually in Penang right now and will be here for at least two or three more weeks. Give me a shout if you want to meet up :) Good luck on your first big solo jaunt – you’re going to love it!

    • That’s so cool that you’re in Penang! How are you liking it? I won’t get there for about another 3.5 weeks. Do you think you’ll still be around then? I’d love to meet up!

      • I’ll be here until February 12 I think. The date’s a little flexible! I’m loving it here – such a good vibe :) the only thing I’m missing are gorgeous beaches haha – I’m a sun worshipping kind of traveller! Would love to meet if you are here in time :)

  2. Sh*t! You are putting pressure on me to “perform”…

    I’ll give you a heads up first, in case you have not already known from my blog posts so far. I’m a biased a**hole who thinks Penang food is much too overrated and I prefer KL food a lot more even after all these years. So the places that I will show you in Penang, may or may not be what other local Penangites will tell you.

    • I’m sure anything you show me will be good! The suggestions you’ve given me in KL are already good! I don’t even know the difference yet between KL and Penang food, but I’d love to learn. :)

    • I’m nervous for it, but I think it’ll be a really good experience! It’s something I definitely need to try! And I”m just going slow with only 2 places, so I won’t be too stressed :).

    • How exciting that you’re going back to Europe too! Where will you be going?? I want to do Australia so badly, but as far as I know, it’s still expensive… so nope, not this year. :P

      • We’re off to Iceland, Berlin, Paris and maybe Copenhagen :D Haha, well actually the Aussie dollar is absolutely terrible at the moment – certainly not good for us when we travel overseas, but very good for many visiting Australia!

  5. Wow Anna, your plans for the year are so exciting!!! Malaysia is my favorite Asian country food-wise, and people are very helpful and friendly so I think it’s a good destination for your first solo trip, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!!! I’ve been in Estonia and Tallin is a very beautiful and interesting city. And you’re going to Barcelona, so cool! In September? I’m from Barcelona, I don’t know yet if I’ll be there later this year but maybe! It would be nice meeting you there :)

    • Oh I kind of wish you would be in Barcelona (I think we’re going to be there the month of September) so we can hang out… but I would also be so happy for you if you were to be gone for another fabulous adventure! And I know! The food in Malaysia is incredible already! The way to my heart is through my stomach, so KL is definitely growing on me!

  6. Ooh I’m so excited you’re going to all my favourite places in Europe (Croatia, Barcelona, Budapest; you just need to slot Greece and Slovenia in there now!) Plus I desperately want to go to Tallinn and Helsinki (almost went last year) so can’t wait to read about those too! And I’ll definitely be linking up to Traveler Tuesday now I know about it :-)

    • We’ll save Greece and Slovenia for another year, because too many destinations stress me out, and is more expensive. And plus, we need things to come back for. :) I’m so excited to be back to Budapest too… it’s one of my favorites too! And yes, I’d love it if you joined up! :D

  8. Exciting plans! We’re planning to visit Spain this year as well. Together with France, Portugal and Gibraltar. Maybe we’ll make it to Africa from there. We’re not planning to visit Barcelona, though. We have a road trip in mind :) The Tallin-Helsinki combo is a great idea (Finland is so beautiful!).

    • Your trip sounds so incredible, Joanna! I’m dying to go to Portugal too, but Barcelona won out for this year. :) And Africa!! That’s so exciting! Next time, I would love to travel slowly throughout Spain for a couple of months, and then hit up Morocco.

    • There’s nothing wrong with Osaka! We were just there for a month, and it gets a little boring for that long, lol. We were disappointed by most of the historical sites and attractions (we did really enjoy the aquarium though!). The Dontonburi area is fun, but it got old fast since we were there for so long. And just personally, I didn’t love the food too much either. But don’t like my impressions sway you! I’m sure you’ll enjoy it when you make it there!

  11. SO exciting! What a year ahead, I think all of your Europe stops sound amazing too :) I’m really excited for you to have some solo travel time too as I think it’s an amazing thing, and you get to learn so much. Congrats on co-hosting TT! :D

  12. Exciting to learn about you as the new co-host for Travel Tuesday! Looks like you’ve got great travel plans arranged. Croatia and Budapest both sound amazing and I love Barcelona and hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Also looking forward to reading about Malaysia and your solo travels, it’s a place I’ve been looking into recently!
    http://passportcouture.com

    • Thanks so much for visiting and say hi, Brooke! I think I will really like Barcelona! Everyone loves it, right? :) I’ve been in KL, Malaysia for about 4 days now and it’s slowly growing on me more and more! The food is really good because it’s such a diverse variety! I’m super slow and behind on blogging, so I probably won’t get around to Malaysia for a couple more months, but I’m excited to share about it!

  13. Sounds like you have a great year of adventure plan! I’ve heard so many amazing things about Estonia, but I haven’t been there yet. For Romania a lot of my friends say that there isn’t too much to see in Bucharest, but Transylvania is amazing with lots of castles. A friend of my is from Sibiu and says that I have to visit. I’ve only been to Cluj in Romania which is closer to Hungary and more of a university town. I’m super jealous you’re going back to Budapest! Can’t wait to see what you get up to there.

    I’m going to Spain this year too! But not at the same time. I’m headed there in March and to the south. No Barcelona for me this time, but hopefully I’ll get a chance to go at another time.

    • Ooh I’ll be looking forward to hearing about your Spain trip! The south is where I wanted to go. But it was more expensive flying in + out, and train transportation there seemed too expensive to us. So, another time for me!

      We haven’t booked anything in Bucharest yet, so there could still be the option of changing it up. Wow, Sibiu looks AMAZING!! I’ll have to try to convince D… as I think he’s pretty set on Bucharest for some reason.

  14. I’ve never planned that much traveling in advance.. so I definitely need to look into Chase Saphire so I can get points and travel for “free.”

    • Cashing in points for long distance flights is the best thing ever! It’s why we can go to Europe for the summer. :) Get the Chase Sapphire Preferred. I believe that’s the one with all the points and travel benefits (including no foreign transaction fees!).

  15. AH, I’m so excited for you!! I totally agree with you, Taipei is definitely not a looker compared to other cities, but I love the grittiness of the buildings! It’s so cool that you stay in a country for an extended period of time. If I got to travel, I would love to do just that, so I could really soak up the culture. I think four weeks is the perfect amount of time to really understand a place.

    • Yeah! We’ve found that 4 weeks works best because it’s long enough to get to know the place, and we also get a really good discount for staying that long. So it comes out to be cheapest too!

  16. Wow, you have such an exciting year planned! We were in Barcelona in September and I loved it. There are so many great day trips you can take- to wine country, costa brava, and the monastery up in the hills! You’ll love it.

    <3 Have Ashley, Will Travel

  18. So it is a little crazy how much you guys have planned, but also very exciting! I’m so impressed that y’all have been traveling for this long already. I’m trying to meet my mom in Spain in July – we’re thinking Madrid (and I’m hoping she’s gonna cover the apartment!) and I’m beyond pumped because I’ve never been and you hear so much talk about Spain. And I’ll be sure to check in with you when I’m over on that side of the world, because the food in Malaysia sounds amazing.

    • We only have the flight to Europe and into Japan booked, but we’re still working out the accommodations. I’m just so scared of waiting too long and then it really messes up our plans if people decide to book one random weekend within our month period, on an airbnb I have my eye on. Haha, I’ll cross my fingers for you that your mom will cover the apartment in Madrid. I look forward to hearing about how you like it!

      And yessss, let me know if you’re going to come to Malaysia anytime before mid-March! :D

  19. Yay!! Congrats on co-hosting :) also holy shit, Anna. That’s a lot planned for this year! We may not be able to stay friends out of pure jealousy!! But in all honesty, I’m so excited for you/wondering if you’re going to be anywhere near Germany when I’m going in September. Please say yes!!

  20. Romania- eat the Papanasi. It’s a donut-style dessert and it is AMAZING.

  21. Your travel plans are amazing! I should get a Chase Sapphire card fast. I use a credit card to accumulate miles but they do not seem to accumulate that fast. I once had enough miles to buy a ticket to Brazil and that was great.

    • Get the Chase Sapphire Preferred, as I believe that’s the one with all the points and travel benefits (including no foreign transaction fees!). You get a ridiculous amount of free points for just signing up, and even more for adding another person as an authorized user… so these free points right there is practically a free flight! We charge all our airbnbs to the card, and that gets us 2x points, so we grow them pretty fast. And it’l be even better if you can somehow charge everything (like all your payments, bills, etc.) to the card, so you can accumulate points faster. I should really write a post on how we use the card, haha!

  22. I can’t tell you how much I completely envy your organization! Ian and I don’t even know where we’re going in March. I may just have to steal some of your destinations for our 2016 travel wish list. Happy travels in the new year, and congrats on co-hosting Travel Tuesday on Twitter! ;-)

    • We’re still looking at accommodations, so these aren’t all penned in yet! But it’s pretty much what we’re going to stick to. I wish we could be less structured, but it’ll just stress me out more! And I’m so determined to snag up the best apartments in Europe this time! I can’t wait to see where you two decide to travel to this year!

  23. Oh my god Anna… I’m so envious of the year you have planned… it all sounds so exciting! Barcelona is one of my favourite cities and Budapest is one I’be been really looking forward to visiting!

    I unfortunately don’t have any travel plans this year (yet!); but there are a few long weekends / public holidays coming up here in India so let’s see! Looking forward to following all your adventures in 2016! :)

    • I’m so glad to hear that so many people love Barcelona! Even if you don’t have plans yet, I’m sure you’ll make some in no time, because you manage to travel so much even with a full time job! Maybe you can plan for a trip to Budapest in July? ;)

  24. What an exciting year! I wish I could swap lives with you! Barcelona is one of the cities I’ve been dying to visit. There are lots of good food in Penang for sure.. I love the food there so much! But my husband is always too lazy to drive up to Penang from Singapore.. Wish I could join you there. #TravelTuesday

    • I just saw that you’re based in Singapore, that’s so cool! Awww, I would love to have some company in Penang, but I don’t blame you guys for not wanting to drive all that way! I’m looking forward to the food there! :D

  25. Oh my goodness what an amazing year of travel plans!!!!!!! Seriously! All the destinations sound fun, although honestly I know nothing about Estonia, haha! Do you and D just sit and look at a map and point out the countries you most want to visit? (besides the whole Schengen thing- which this expat knows nothing about lol) So so cool. I can’t wait to see all the places and foods you try this year! ;)

    • I have no idea what the food in those countries in Europe will be like, but I hope it’s not just meat and potatoes, lol! I think we mostly pick our places because we hear other people talk about it. But really I think I’d be okay with visiting anywhere because it’ll all be new and exciting!

  26. I’m definitely jealous of your summer – I was in Barcelona in 2004 and would LOVE to go back! but I’m happy you’ll be around Taipei for more joint adventures :)

    • Me too! Half of me can’t wait to go back to Taipei already… but I hear that the weather is like practically freezing now, so I guess I should be happy that I escaped it!

    • I’m excited for this year too! Hopefully I can be better with blogging this year and document most of it. I still have SO much from last summer that I never blogged!

    • Everything you had looks AMAZING!! I’m looking forward to paella and the cured meats! And I totally forgot about sangria! I can’t wait to get there and eat now. I pinned your post for future reference when I get there!

  30. I am so jealous of how much travelling you are fitting in this year! It’s amazing. I’ve got two trips in the diary so far, but hopefully more will crop up throughout the year. I look forward to keeping up with your adventures :-)

    • We just work off of laptops, so it’s definitely easier (and cheaper!) for us to travel like this. I’m sure you’ll find plenty of opportunities for getaways throughout this year! :)

  31. WOWOWOWOOW I’m so jealous of all of your travel plans! I don’t know if I can keep following your blog ….. well I guess I can just try to live through you. So excited to see ya as a co-host with Bonnie! Budapest is one of my favorite cities in Europe and I also love those baths! We’ll have to talk a little about what you need to eat in Barcelona :D

      • Look who’s talking, missy! You’ve been traveling so much recently too! Yesss give me your Barcelona suggestions when I get closer to the date! I would love to stop by Madrid for a day or two, but I’ll have to see how much it’ll cost. I looked up some train prices in Spain (because we were planning on going to a bunch of places at first) and I was surprised that it was pretty expensive!

  32. Wow, what a year you have ahead of you! I think that’s really cool that you’re trying out a solo trip. I never travel completely alone, though I’m used to spending the days by myself and then meeting up with my hubby / a friend(s) in the evening when traveling. I have been totally intimidated to travel solo for a while, but now I’m at the point where I’m comfortable enough in my own skin to give it a try one day – I think it would be a great experience to have.

    And Budapest — love that place, so jealous!!!! Can’t wait to read more about all these fantastic destinations :-)

    • I love Budapest too, and can’t wait to return!!

      Haha, as it turned out… I only traveled solo for one week before changing my solo plans and flying to Beijing to be with my family! But I really did enjoy my solo week, and will definitely try to plan another solo trip! It is a really good experience… I loved being able to do whatever I wanted hehe. And I guess I’m kind of a loner because I enjoy my own company, lol!