to the blog
Welcome
Categories
to the blog
Welcome
to the blog
Welcome
Hike Travel Teach
Volunteer Reflections
Fails Travel Prep Zion
Asia Trip
Categories
Hike Travel Teach
Volunteer Reflections
Fails Travel Prep Zion
Asia Trip
Categories
Hike Travel Teach
Volunteer Reflections
Fails Travel Prep Zion
Asia Trip
Spontaneous travel is my specialty!
Heyyy! I'm Aly, an expat living and teaching in Thailand. Check out recent adventures in the teaching, travelling, and hiking realms.
Spontaneous travel is my specialty!
Heyyy! I'm Aly, an expat living and teaching in Thailand. Check out recent adventures in the teaching, travelling, and hiking realms.
Spontaneous travel is my specialty!
Heyyy! I'm Aly, an expat living and teaching in Thailand. Check out recent adventures in the teaching, travelling, and hiking realms.
Wander
Making travel blunders
& learning from them
since 2015
often
My Travel Style
Planned Chaos
Embrace the chaos. Love the mishaps. Enjoy the moment.
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I read somewhere once that if you consciously remind yourself to be thankful proactively instead of retroactively, it heightens your experience tenfold. I practice this on every trip, through every experience.
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By nature, I am a planner, but I embrace the unpredictability that only comes with travel. I've never been satisfied with less than a month to explore any country - as many blogs and "how to" guides you find pre-departure, there are always a few hidden spots that only locals know about. I always leave room in the itinerary for these places and I am rarely disappointed.
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Mai Pen Rai - A Thai way of life essentially meaning "no worries, everything is okay".
01. Pinterest & Instagram
My first step when planning any trip is to flock to Pinterest for inspiration. It's hard not to see the images and not instantly think, "I want to stand there and see it with my own eyes." In Pinterest, I make boards for each
individual country and then group them together in one doable trip. On Instagram, I follow tags and places for inspiration and normally it helps me with places to stay and things to see.
03. The Perfect Word Doc
Years ago, when I was planning a trip around Asia, I had about three weeks of idle time in my office at school between final exams and grade
submission. Since I had just spent a week fumbling around a clumsy grade submission Excel sheet, I was very much in an organizational mood.
I created a very simple chart in a Word document and I have used it for every trip that I have planned since.
04. Skyscanner & Hotels.com
The first things I usually book is my flights. Since this is usually the most expensive lumpsome, I like to get it out of the way
(and set the trip in motion). It is also nice to find the best deal by changing days, being flexible with timing, and having
multiple airports to choose from. Though Google Flights is quite good, nothing beats my old standby -
Skyscanner.com. At the beginning of my planning process, I will have around 10 tabs open to different
skyscanner searches, trying to plan the cheapest and shortest flight.
02. Blogs of Previous Travellers
Through Pinterest, I am directed to the blogs of travelers before me. I never find a person who thinks exactly like me, so I usually combine a
bunch of ideas into one of my own. Blogs usually highlight the random expenses that can nickel-and-dime you on a trip as well as help set a
general outline and the ease of travel from point A to point B. I fall in love with each trip twice: once as I read the stories of traveller before me
and I picture their adventure and once during my own experience.
The
Planning
Process
Tips & Tricks
I would not be able to afford nearly the amount of travel I do without having
my Capital One Venture card. I put everything on that card (rent, utilities, gas,
food) and use it as I would a debit card - while still being smart about paying
it off. With miles earned in 2018, I am able to fly Bangkok TH - Durban SA -
Cape Town SA - Atlanta USA using nothing but miles.
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Hotels.com/venture has been clutch since I got the card. Using this site in conjunction with my
Venture card allows me 10x the miles with each hotel purchase, plus you get a free night with every 1
0 stays! I have a 3-month long backpacking trip coming up and have 40+ nights booked which means I will get
4 free nights very soon. Through work, I was staying at Marriott affiliate hotels and earning double with each booking. I
would book through Hotels.com/Venture, earning the 10x miles as well as racking up nights toward a free stay with Hotels.com. When I got to the hotel, I would give them my Marriott member number and earn points within their program as well, baby stepping my way to a free night with Marriott as well.
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The gist of what I am saying is - pick a hotel brand, sign up for their rewards program and present it at check in, earning your first set of reward points. Book it through a third party website, like Hotels.com, and sign up for their reward program earning your second set of reward points on the exact same purchase. Finally, pick an airline that has worldwide affiliates and input your member number whenever you can, earning your first round of miles. Then, use a card like Capital One Venture that allows you to earn the miles based on money spent, no matter what airline, earning your second set of miles that you can use on any form of travel - planes, trains, hotels...
trip i've ever planned
one month. 5 countries.
amazing temples, ancient cities, a hot air balloon ride, a campsite on the Great Wall, a cruise through a UNESCO Heritage Site and so much more!
Travel Bucket List
North America
Yellowstone National Park, USA
Grand Canyon National Park, USA ✓
Canadian Rocky Mountain NP, Canada
Yosemite National Park, USA
Hawaii Volcano Park, USA
Havasu Falls, USA ✓
Europe
Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic
Stonehege, England
Plitvice Lakes, Croatia
Acropolis in Athens, Greece
Siene River in Paris, France
Vienna, Austria
Budapest, Hungary
Prague, Czech Republic
Cinque Terre, Italy
The Loire Valley, France
Bern, Switzerland
Swiss Alps, Switzerland
Warsaw, Poland
Sintra, Portugal
Vatican City, The Vatican
Rila Monestary, Bulgaria
Giants Causeway, Ireland
Pergamon, Turkey
Cologne Cathedral, Germany
The Dolomites, Italy
Lake Bled, Slovenia
Bernina Landscapes, Switzerland
Alexandria, Egypt
Santorini, Greece
Lofotan Islands, Norway
Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany
Amalfi Coast, Italy
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South America
Machu Picchu, Peru
Easter Island, Chile
Iguazu Falls, Brazil / Argentina
The Pantanal, Brazil
Quapaw Nan
Chichen Itza, Mexico
Galapagos Island, Ecuador
Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina
Lima, Peru
Cuszco, Peru
Lake Titicaca, Peru
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Asia
Danxia National Park, China
The Taj Mahal, India
Petra, Jordan
Angkor Wat, Cambodia ✓
St. Petersberg, Russia
The Forbidden City, China ✓
Hoi An, Vietnam ✓
Jerusalem, Israel
The Great Wall of China ✓
Ba Na Hills, Vietnam ✓
Mount Fuji, Japan
Trang An, Vietnam ✓
Prambana Temple, Indonesia ✓
Wudang Building Complex, China
Bagan, Myanmar
Hampi, India
Cultural Landscapes of Bali, Indonesia ✓
Malacca City, Malaysia
Penang, Malaysia
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, China ✓
Mount Huashan, China ✓
Eye of the Tiger's Nest, Bhutan
Ban Gioc Waterfall, Vietnam
Tam Coc, Vietnam
Sigiriya, Sri Lanka
Maldives Islands
The Dead Sea, Israel / Jordan
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Oceana
Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Uluru National Park, Austrailia
Te Wahipounamu, New Zealand
Cradle Mountain National Park, Tazmania
Lord Howe Island, Australia
The Blue Mountains, Australia
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Africa
Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa​ ✓
Boulder Beach, South Africa ✓
The Garden Route, South Africa ✓
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe / Zambia
Drakensberg Mountains, South Africa ✓
Avenue of the Boabs, Madagascar
Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
Marrakesh, Morrocco
The Most Epic
for my favorite places around the world
Shop 'til you drop at the fantastic Night Bazaar
Eat some delicious Khao Soi
Visit the highest temple in Thailand - Wat Doi Suthep
Shop, dine, and see the Whistler Village sights
Hike the high alpine in Garabaldi Provincial Park
Traverse mountaintops in the Peak 2 Peak Gondola
Dinner Cruise on the Chao Phraya River
Barter and haggle on Khao San Road
Visit the golden Grand Palace
HOW TO GUIDES
The Perfect Way to Travel
Volunteer
a lot of places trade work for room and board - some even throw in a few meals
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Animal Shelters
Teaching English
Diving Cleanups
During the school year, I usually stay in town and tutor
for some extra cash. The day after the semester ends
though, I am on a plane toward my next adventure.
Though I save a fair amount during the year, it is always
hard to travel with zero salary coming in. One way to combat this problem is to travel with the intent to volunteer along the way. I am a member at WorkAway where you can select the country you want to travel within, then filter down to the types of jobs you'd like to do. All correspondence is completed on the website and details can be made prior to your arrival. I've volunteered at countless dog and elephant sanctuaries, taught at many English homes, and even participated in reef cleanups in the Gulf of Thailand. Usually you can work for room and board but even if you are asked to pay, at least you know it is only going to further their funding for more great work.