Travel

Up until 2016, Andrew and I wouldn't have really considered ourselves travelers.  Domestic travelers I suppose, as flights to Denver and Chicago were fairly consistent.  Belize this past February marked our first 'international trip' as a couple, then followed by this move.

This past weekend was a three-day for Andrew (Columbus Day) so we jumped on Google Flights a few weeks ago (we love Google Flights - it lays out in a map format what airfares are to what cities, whichever weekends we are looking at) and saw that flights into Larnaca, Cyprus were dirt cheap.

We then snagged an Air BnB for roughly $40 a night, patted ourselves on the backs for finding such a deal, and then were like "Hmmm I wonder what there is to do in Cyprus."

More than you think.  

Northern Cyprus AKA Turkey

Quick fact on Cyprus: the island is divided North and South - The Republic of Cyprus occupies the southern part, and Turkey occupies the North.

The more we take trips together, the more we learn what works for us.  We aren't really the pair who will/can lounge on a beach for hours at a time, sitting still is harder for us unless we are winding down for the evening.

So last week I made a list of everything I thought we might enjoy there (Lonely Planet and Trip Advisor are my BFFs when it comes to planning trips).  We knew we wanted to see both North and South, so research had to be done as to what was involved with the border crossings, etc.

I'm not writing this as a "Why you should visit Cyprus post" but if you are curious, I recommend seeing both parts of the island, as they each have different 'feels' and a lot to offer.  We drove from the North to the South in roughly 2 hours, and the drive is very beautiful along the coast.  The country has everything from ruins, castles, beaches, hikes, wineries, even a brewery (which of course we found).

But really I'm writing this because I think traveling can be stressful, and it's important to find a balance along the way.  I'm usually one for schedules and itineraries, while Andrew is a bit more adventurous fly by the seat of your pants type of guy.  We are slowly finding a great balance right in between the two mindsets for trips, and I would say Cyprus was our most successful weekend away so far in regards to that.

Outside of the fact that Andrew quickly had to learn to drive on the left side of the road, and almost hit a pedestrian within the first hour.

I think a lot of people plan trips with friends and/or their sig other and envision a perfect, happy scenario.  It's never going to be perfect guys, there will always be curveballs when it comes to travel.  They will shut down border crossings and your phone (GPS) will die and your husband will momentarily have to talk you off a ledge.

 Just expect the curveballs, and it makes it a little bit easier.

We are by NO means travel experts, but it's just something that recently became pretty evident to me, and I wanted to share. With flights to Europe so cheap from Tel Aviv, we are definitely going to try to embrace quick weekends away as we find deals, so perhaps more travel posts to come?

Anyways, Happy Friday Eve!

Cheers -

Flying Funnies

Man oh man, I've just been a writing machine lately. I'm currently on AirTran's far from fabulous wifi, mainly so that I could get onto Spotify and catchup on some great country jams. I'm behind on music lately.

I realized while going through security in the Milwaukee airport this morning that sometimes I find myself doing borderline passive-aggressive things out of sheer entertainment. Example: I packed this guy in my carry-on, knowing damn well that it was larger than the however many ounce bottles they let us carry onto the planes these days....

I mean, it was either try my luck, or leave my favorite hair gel in Illinois. So of course the nice x-ray man pulled my gel off the machine and screamed,

"Whose stuff is this?"

"Mine!" I replied sweetly, with a dumbfounded look on my face. "Ma'am, do you realize this container is larger than the what we allow you to carry on?"

"No, I'm really sorry I didn't even realize that!"

"Well, we will go test it for hazardous materials, and if it's clear you can take it. Next time, please check it."

That I would do sir, if I was checking a bag.

These days I'm flying an average of just about once a month. I've got to work with what I've got.

While on the topic of flying, why is it that about 50% of pilots have precious southern accents? Not complaining, there's always something soothing knowing that the man who currently has my life in his hands has an accent. There's no explanation as to why, but that's just how I feel.

There's a badass 12 year old girl in the row next to me, flying alone. The flight attendant tried to put her basketball in the overhead bin, and she demanded she keep it under her seat with her. Then she was told to turn off her ipod for takeoff, and I literally watched her wait for the attendant to walk away, and then turn it back on. We had a solid 5 seconds of eye contact and she just glared back at me.  Not that I care, I never turn off my phone on flights, airplane mode is how I roll.

I sat next to a pilot on a flight to Denver once, and I watched him keep his phone on airplane mode for both takeoff and landing, so that's my justification.

Rebels.

Had to say goodbye to her this morning. We both cried a little. My wonderful mom of course stuffed my backpack full of food, including this special treat from Costco:

Pumpkin lover 4 Lyfe.

Electronics off, wheels down in D.C. in about 20 minutes. Hope you all are having a beautiful weekend. Anyone have any funny travel stories/habbits they want to share?

Cheers!