Traveling: Planning a Trip to Peru

April 18, 2013April 18, 201311 Comments

My blog is a food blog. I know this, you know this, we all know this, but it’s also a little bit about me. And you want to know something about me?

I love to travel.

To me, traveling is more than just a set of experiences. It’s an enormous privilege that I’ve been lucky to have a large part of my life. Starting with going to Guatemala every summer as a kid, then having my parents tote me around with them on various trips (Brazil, Europe, Caribbean), then learning to go places on my own (like Argentina and India). Even just since I’ve had this blog, you’ve followed me to:

Mexico:

I went to Chiapas for a week to work on a project while in Grad School. I didn’t tell my parents I was going, because I thought they’d freak out. That’s one of my biggest regrets. Not the trip, but the not telling my parents part.

Rome:

I went to Rome from January til June of 2011.

I worked at a UN Agency and ate too much pasta and Nutella. There were also a few side trips, like Amalfi

Tuscany

China:

Last year I took a 2 week trip to China, and it was pretty awesome.

This time, I’ve got the travel bug again.

Two weeks ago, I bought a plane ticket to Peru. Last week, I booked a 4-day trip on the Inca Trail.

So this time, instead of just giving you a lighting recap like I did with China. I’d like to document the trip planning experience for myself to remember and for the world to know.

I think a lot of people have this idea that traveling is too scary, or too expensive, but honestly with some saving strategies, I think anyone can take a fun trip. I’m not Mr. Money Bags. If I can take a trip, you probably can too. It just takes some planning. So ready for some tips?

Where was your last destination? Where are you going next?

Mini Road Trip: Grand Canyon

March 25, 2013March 25, 20134 Comments

Doesn’t seem like bloggers are always on trips? Maybe it’s just the blogs I read? But seems like they’re always fluttering around the country.

Aside from my trip to China, I haven’t really gone anywhere for a while.

This weekend, I decided to be one of the cool kids and went on a semi-last-minute trip to the Grand Canyon.

That’s about 7 and a half hours way from Orange County, CA.

Left on Friday, got back on Sunday.

Clearly, I did a lot of looking. I also ate some Buffalo Jerky… tasted like beef jerky to me…

There were also some super cool Native American ruins.

with tiny doors…

And some two-door not-so-native American relics…

Totally worth the drive

Easter Weekend

April 26, 2011April 26, 20112 Comments

Easter weekend was a four and a half day weekend for me, and it was great.

The weekend started Thursday at noon, when Lis and I left work early and headed to the airport for Ibiza! This also marked the end of countdown to Ibiza. Success! Well, I didn’t gain weight, even lost a kg haha! Although it didn’t really matter because it was wayyy too cold to be in a bathing suit.

After arriving in Ibiza and spending about an hour looking for our hotel, Lis and I made it! We had a great 1 bedroom apartment with a view of the sea!

Only 29 Euro per night! That’s what happens when you go to Ibiza in the low season. Know what else happens?

It’s cloudy and gross. But we were still happy!

Know what else happens? No one is there. You end up being the only ones at the bar and the only ones on the dance floor. Good enough for us.

The rest of our time in Ibiza was spent walking around.

Surprisingly, we only ate one meal out:

We shared a hamburger, paella and patatas bravas. We like to mix the Spanish and the American… but really that’s the first time I had seen a burger on a bun since I’ve been in Europe. Truth be told, I miss veggie burgers.

Sadly, we had to leave Ibiza on Saturday. Just our luck, the sun decided to visit Ibiza as we were leaving.

On Sunday morning, I woke up bright and early and headed to the Vatican. I had a ticket for the Papal Mass on Easter Sunday. Can you really pass that up?

There were tons of people and I really couldn’t see anything. Luckily they do a good job of projecting sound in St. Peter’s Square.

I had never been to a mass in Latin before. Kinda nice.

The rest of the weekend I was pretty much a bum. I think that was needed because Sunday night I fell asleep around 6pm and woke up the next morning at 9:30am. Let’s just say I was pooped!

Then today I made up for all the chocolate I didn’t eat for Easter when my office mate brought in a huge bag of chocolate eggs.

Definitely needing to hit up that gym I dropped major $$$$ for!

Mexico

October 18, 2010October 18, 201010 Comments

Sometimes we all do things we regret. This week I did a few, or maybe just one.

I didn’t tell my parents I was going to Mexico.

Big mistake.

They freaked out after not hearing from me for days. My mom called the Cornell Police Department to report me missing. It was a fiasco.

But I don’t regret going to Mexico. It was pretty much amazing.

I seem to have anxiety attacks prior to flying, but luckily I had delicious Ghiradelli Chocolate from Foodbuzz Tastemakers to calm me down. Definitely don’t regret eating those.

I also don’t regret spending my fall break doing research.

I met interesting people.

Tried interesting things… like Pozol… Corn and Cocoa beans milled together, then made into a dough that is then dissolved in water to make a thick drink.