Planning for a big trip can be a daunting experience for people. Where do you go to find the best deals? Which sites are legit? Which hotels are the safest to stay in? What if my flight is delayed? What if it is cancelled? Understandably, most people do not enjoy the intricacies of planning a big trip and preparing an actual itinerary.
The new year is almost here. Like most, we have been dreaming of the new places we will visit in 2020! We may or may not have already looked up some deals and/or created future itineraries (of course we have! lol). While you may be wondering where to visit but not in the mood to do the research just yet, we have done some of the legwork for you!
Let’s dive right in to our picks of 7 destinations for 2020!
Marrakech
Having just spent a week in this Moroccan city, it was only natural that our first recommendation would be Marrakech. The city has so much to offer; from the vibrantly chaotic Medina, to the beautiful, peaceful Jardin Majorelle. One can easily get lost in the many alleyways filled with riads and locals. You can even take a quick day tour to the Agafay desert where you can hike the Atlas Mountains or interact with the Berber community. No visit to Marrakech would be complete without trying one of their local dishes; a tagine – which can come in a variety of meats or veggies. This budget-friendly city will have you feeling like a baller thanks to how inexpensive everything is!
Planning for a trip can be a daunting task for many, but we’ve always enjoyed the research and planning aspects of all of our trips. However, no amount of planning will prepare you for the type of situation we encountered at the very start of our current trip.
We arrived to Miami International Airport just over 2 hours before our scheduled departure. We misread our itinerary from Tripmasters and went to the Lufthansa counter. When we hand our documents to the representative, he stated he could not locate us, or our flight. A bit of dread spread over us, naturally.
The representative called over a coworker who helped him figure out that, although Lufthansa did have something to do with the trip, it was actually being operated by Eurowings. We felt relieved that we hadn’t been bamboozled somehow. However, now we had to make our way to the Eurowings counter, which was at least a ten minute walk – with all of our luggage in tow.
This week the deals are taking you to Africa, the Caribbean and to our northernmost state; Alaska!
When we first arrived in Venice, I was ecstatic. I had been dreaming about visiting this city for years and I was finally making that dream come true. As soon as we stepped outside of the train station and onto the steps of the city, I was in awe. Venice was more beautiful than I could ever imagine. The photos I had seen previously had not done it justice.
Taking it all in, I let out a long sigh of relief to finally be there. The tourists were busy taking pictures, while the locals were going about their business. I could see the gondolas from where I was standing and immediately longed to be sitting in one. I could also see the Ponte degli Scalzi bridge ahead of us.
Not that long ago, the majority of the world was not privy to obscure and far away lands like Slovakia or Estonia. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone in your orbit who had been to Budapest, let alone Bratislava, Slovakia. How many people did you know who had whitewater rafted in Jaco, Costa Rica? Now, with the onslaught of #travelgoals, you have tons and tons of “wanderlusters” who make it their mission to go to the places that “no one” has really been to. In doing so, they turned so many places into tourists traps.
Gone are the days of real wander and meaningful travel bucket lists. Social media is saturated with accounts galore dedicated to the #travellife. Sure, we’re guilty of it ourselves here at OMPT. However, during some of our most recent travels, we have found that desire once more to be in the moment. We stopped taking so many pictures for our social media accounts, and decidedly took them for ourselves. You’d be surprised at the amount of photos we have from our last major trip; South America, which we have yet to share online – and that trip happened nearly 5 months ago!
When people think of Europe, they think of the major countries and their popular cities. While visiting the main tourist attractions that Europe has to offer is sure to be a treat, don’t lose out on the possibilities and charm that the lesser known cities and towns have to offer.
During one of our multi-country trips we ventured out to Slovakia’s capital; Bratislava. An hour’s drive from Vienna, we embarked on a day tour of this quaint and charming city. We were looking forward to seeing what this capital had to offer.
After arriving a little over an hour ahead of our scheduled tour, we walked towards Hviezdoslavovo Namestie. A tree-lined plaza with restaurants, bars and embassies; this was the perfect location to begin our tour.
We decided to have a quick breakfast before meeting our tour guide. We headed to one of the plethora of restaurants in the vicinity and thanks to doing this tour in the middle of the week and the lack of clientele, we were seated pretty quickly. The dishes were light and fresh, the ambiance was warm and thanks to our table being next to large windows, we were able to watch as people came and went through the streets.
When we first set out to plan our epic European itinerary, we thought going to Barcelona wouldn’t be an issue in terms of a language-barrier. Boy oh boy, were we wrong!
Lets start at the beginning of the planning. Eldris was looking into things to do in the other cities we were going to be visiting and preparing her excel sheet (yes, she does excel sheets! more on that in a future post LOL). I started my research on the first leg of our trip; Barcelona.
We all look forward to seeing that one famous monument or architectural marvel and some of us even plan out the perfect photo-op. However, when we finally get to our desired location, we encounter a throng of tourist trying to take the same photo-op as we are.
You start to panic a little. You came all this way, perfected your pose and all of these other tourists are standing in your shot! Frustration may start to set in at that point. We’ve been there, plenty of times.
One of the most popular sites in the world is the Leaning Tower of Pisa. There are so many potential Instagram-worthy shots you can take with some of the craziest poses possible. Imagine getting there super early to beat the crowds, as we did, and finding out that the other tourists had the same idea! We literally spent most of our time trying to take the perfect shot and let me tell you, it is NOT easy!
Despite the plethora of people, we made the best of our time at the Tower and came out with some decent photos lol.
Ultimately, the best thing to do to get the perfect photo-op is to not stress it so much. There will always be tourists around. Find your angles and take the shot. You’d be surprised how many amazing photos you can take when you aren’t trying to perfect them or waiting for people to get out of your shot.
The memory that photo will preserve will always be worth it.
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