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Travel Photographer | Colombia
- October 28, 2025
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- by Allison
Only my SECOND trip to South America as a travel photographer, and I have been dreaming of Colombia for a long time. I love cities that are vibrant and colorful and I love experiencing new cultures and just wow – Colombia did not let me down. I booked a tour group that’s geared to a 30’s and 40’s age group, called Flash Pack. It was a bit more expensive than some group trips I’ve done in the past, but it was by far the nicest. Nicest hotels I’ve ever stayed at, the most things included, no additional add-ons or expensive extras once you get there, the most food included. I barely spent any money once I got there, and I would’ve never originally stayed at hotels this nice! So, I will absolutely travel with Flash Pack again. A link to my exact trip is here: Vibrant Colombia.

Bogotá, Colombia

After touching down in Bogotá and meeting some people in my group, we had dinner together for the first time at one of Colombia’s most famous night spots, Andrés Carne de Res, with an atmospheric evening of live music, local cuisine and performance art. Truly an experience to remember LOL – the performance art changes nightly and for us they were giving Lady Gaga monster vibes. On our second day, we started the day off with a graffiti tour around the city. We stopped for lunch at a local restaurant that’s part of the Mama Luz family — whose award-winning Ajiaco soup made her a Netflix documentary star. We ended the day at a local bar where we learned the infamous local drinking game (Tijo) that involves throwing a metal disc at a gunpowder target. While you’re drinking. Yes.

Guatapé, Colombia

VERY early the next morning we took a flight to Medellín – once the world’s most dangerous city, now a vibrant cultural hub – and started off the day by FIRST petting and feeding llamas and alpacas, a highlight for me. Then we were off to climb El Peñol de Guatapé, a giant ancient rock with incredible city views. With over 700 steps – we actually timed ourselves and taking our time we climbed it in under 17 minutes! So it’s not as crazy as it seems, it’s just high elevation so I was feeling that more than anything. Then we went into Guatapé for lunch and a wander, it’s one of the most colorful towns in Colombia filled with pastel-colored homes and lively waterfront streets. We shopped, we ate, we ate some more, we pet cute dogs, I truly loved this little day trip! One of my favorite stops for sure. And then to another epic part of the day: a cruise across Guatapé reservoir on a private boat to see the ruins of Pablo Escobar’s estate – an eerie relic of the Medellin drug cartel which disbanded in the 1990s.

Medellín, Colombia

Our first full day in Medellín started off with a visit to Communa 13 – a neighborhood once controlled by Pablo Escobar, with street art depicting scenes of peace and solidarity. We were VERY involved in some street performances, indulged in the local coffee (and affogato), and had lunch and a cooking demonstration with the local women at Las Berracas, a community project that empowers single moms and domestic violence survivors. For dinner, we got fancy and all went to El Cielo Restaurant, famed for the exquisite molecular cuisine, and we enjoyed the most insane meal I’ve ever had. It was actually so many courses I can’t even remember how many… something like 17 courses? Each one with its own unique presentation.

The next day, we traveled across the mountains to a family-run coffee hacienda where we learned about how farmers work in the plantations and all about how coffee is made. We then had a free day after that and a bunch of us chose to book a Pablo Escobar tour where we went to a few different locations and learned more about the history. We saw the memorial built for everyone who died during his reign (40,000 people), we saw the neighborhood that he built for the poor, and we saw the place that he died.

Cartagena, Colombia

We flew to Cartagena and wow wow wow. Not only is it a tropical vibrant colorful paradise but it is a VIBE. A sweaty one, but this city had such a different feeling than the others. We did a walking tour, we tasted exotic fruits, I went a little photo crazy, we ended the night at a rooftop bar, and then ended it again at our own hotel’s rooftop. This was by FAR my favorite hotel I’ve ever stayed in in my life so it deserves its own shout out. It’s called Open Social House Getsemaní, Cartagena. Go there. However, it was so hot in August, that even the pools felt like hot tubs LOL.

We had a whole free day in Cartagena so my new besties and I started with some shopping (which we all totally failed at because it’s daunting to shop in Cartagena), and made sure to try more local coffee and definitely found our favorites. We spent hours at the hotel pool, eating the delicious hotel snacks and drinks and being lazy. We spent the evening at a local rum tasting (ouch) followed by some of the best fast food tacos I’ve ever had in my life and then finished the night at a multiple-hours-long salsa lesson! We started on a rooftop, sweat our absolute lives away, learned the steps, and then went to a local bar and danced all night. I snuck away for the coldest shower of my life at the end of the night.

On our last day, we spent it exploring the Rosario Islands by private boat; an archipelago of 27 coral islands. We felt like we had our very own private island for the day, it was gorgeous. Swimming, eating, drinking coconut drinks, and forcing all of my new friends to buy friendship bracelets from a man selling them on the beach. Our final night we went out to dinner, ended on another rooftop, and then had to wake up in the morning to say goodbye to all of our people. I truly had the best trip, and I can’t wait for my next visit to South America.
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Croatia Travel Photographer | Koda Sail
- October 6, 2025
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- by Allison
I had the absolute pleasure of photographing a tour for my FAVEEEEEE travel company, Koda Sail, this summer. This was my third go around with Koda Sail, traveling the world with the best crew. They are a company with a “young professionals” geared age range, typically for travelers in their 30’s and 40’s, with less party-centric tours. Exactly what I’m looking for at my age! The one I specifically traveled on is called the Northern Explorer, which runs from Dubrovnik to Split. This trip included a one week stay on a boat, with a chef onboard, double rooms with your own bathroom, lots of included meals, activities, and even more optional excursions to add on like white water rafting, zip lining, etc. WHAT A WEEK. I traveled with my best friend and we started in Dubrovnik a day early, and finished up in Split and stayed a couple extra nights there, as well. This was my second trip to Croatia, but I got to see 5 new places, and do a WHOLE lot more than I did the last time I was there. Plus, seeing Croatia by boat is truly the way to do it.

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Cliffside bars, endless staircases, walking the historic city walls (hello, King’s Landing), eating lavender gelato, and discovering rooftop pool bars. We met our group here for the first day, and we were off for our sailing tour!

Korcúla, Croatia

For only the second stop, this turned out to be one of my favorite islands. It has a Venetian history, so TONS of Italian influences in this small island. The food was incredible, and so was the wine. We did a wine tasting, wandered the local shops, and watched the sunset. This place was SO charming.

Mljet National Park, Croatia

We rented bikes and rode around this entire island, or maybe even just part of the island, but we spent many hours exploring this stunning national park. The waters were SO blue it was almost unfair to the rest of the water in the world. We stopped for a swim, crossed a lot of bridges, had to carry our bikes a few times, and stopped at the end for a drink. Normally on the Koda Sail tour, you port over night in this island, but we had some inclement weather showing up, so our captain diverted us for the night and we managed to avoid the bad weather!

Makarska, Croatia

Because we didn’t stay in Mljet, we got to stay for two nights in Makarska, which, luckily, ended up being another one of my favorite stops. This island looks like something out of a dream. This is also the location where we had a lot of fun excursions including some family dinners, lots of free time to wander, shop, eat affogatos, and we even went zip lining in the mountains, as well as white water rafting. This was my first time zip lining and WOW, what a location to try it for the first time. White water rafting here was nice and (mostly) calm, too. We LOVED our guides for the white water rafting, we were laughing the whole day. At night, we ventured to this cool bar that was literally inside of a cave on the beach next to the port. I even ran into old travel friends and got to spend time with them here!

Bol, Croatia

Bol absolutely blew me away. We arrived at the most gorgeous sunny hour of the day and as soon as we walked away from the port, we found the cutest winery with sea-side seating, and some of the best rosé I’ve ever had. We walked all the way to the end of the island to sit on the beach, and then wandered back for dinner time which just so happened to be on the night of the weekly Fisherman’s market where local fisherman bring their catches and you can shop the stalls and choose your dinner. I’m not kidding when I say it was some of the best seafood I’ve ever had – and I live in a beach town!

Hvar, Croatia

Hvar had its own unique vibe compared to the rest of the islands. This one was a bit fancier, a bit ritzier, we heard a Kardashian was visiting while we were there. I had been told I’d find a lavender Spritz here, which turned out to just be a lavender gin drink, but I’ll take it, and it was 10/10. The food here was excellent. We hiked up to the fortress at the top of the island and took in the view. We visited beach clubs and shopped the local artists selections. Then hit the town for some adult beverages in the evening with the most convenient little walk back to our boat at the end of the night.

Split, Croatia

Split will always be one of my favorite Croatian towns. Truly, some of the best food of my life. I love getting a little rental from booking.com or something like that, it gives you the best local experience. We could walk to everything once we departed our boat (WHICH WAS VERY SAD, by the way, saying goodbye to all of our new friends). I had a few favorite spots to hit from last time, but mostly we found new places. Jadran Beach Club will always be one for me to go visit, though. The best beach bar and best swimming spot I’ve found because you don’t have to sit on a rock somewhere, you can rent actual beach chairs. We sat there and tried to watch for our boat to disappear into the distance. We found the BEST pizza outside of Italy. We shopped, we found Zara (hehe), we spent a last evening with our new travel buddies. And then for our very last day, we did a self guided food tour that left me incredibly full and incredibly happy. Thank you for another beautiful adventure, Croatia.

I am available for hire for all travel companies worldwide, this is what I am truly passionate about – traveling the world, exploring new places, meeting new people from different backgrounds, and taking pictures of everything along the way.
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Travel Photographer | Peru
- February 26, 2024
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- by Allison
Two weeks in Peru was an insanely life-changing experience. I never thought I’d be able to see such a variety of places all in one country. It was my first time visiting South America, and it was my 28th country! I started out in the capital, Lima, in a big city, which is not at all how I envisioned Peru, but it was stunning nonetheless. I went to the mountains and got snowed on, I went to the jungle and sweat my life away, I visited cities, tiny villages, I truly saw every different variety all in one trip. It was pretty magical. When I was originally planning this trip, I wanted to do it all DIY with a friend and hire a car and just adventure around ourselves, but when I started looking into it, everything was so spread out and so far apart, and honestly, the idea of driving in a foreign country where I can’t understand the road signs or how the locals drive, is just all a bit much for me. So we booked a tour group, and I’m so glad I did. I tried a new tour company on this trip, and while I did truly love it, and it even included like 4 additional flights while I was there, it’s not something I would want to book solo. I’d definitely want to make sure I was booking with a friend so that I had someone to hang out with, since the tour ended up being primarily retired couples in their 60’s. Wonderful people to travel with, but I was happy to have a buddy! The company was called G Adventures, and they plant a tree for every day that you’re on the trip, as well as include activities on your trip that give back to the local community. I LOVED that.

Keeping my phone connected on my trip without paying Verizon’s $10/day plan, I used Airalo for my phone plan! It’s an app you download and it creates a digital SIM card for your phone, and you can go in and choose the country you’re traveling to and book a MUCH CHEAPER phone plan for your trip. I can’t recommend it enough. You can try it for yourself HERE!

Lima, Peru

We flew into Lima, and arrived at night the first day. So all we did was walk around our neighborhood of Mia Flores, and get acquainted with the area. When we woke up the next day, we walked the whooooole day, just exploring and eating all kinds of delicious foods in our area. I really loved Lima. A totally different vibe than the rest of Peru, but not in a bad way at all! Big city vibes, tons of food options, a lot more westernized than the rest of the towns we visited. Still not a lot of English-speaking, but we were able to get by just fine.

Cusco, Peru

We took a flight from Lima to Cusco with our new tour group, and immediately upon stepping off of the plane, I started feeling altitude sickness for the first time in my life. Cusco sits at about 11,000 feet in elevation, so it took a minute to get used to! Taking it easy on your first day there is my best advice, so you can acclimate. We walked around the city on the first day and explored. We were also warned to not eat the street food, and to be very cautious of food choices in this town, as it’s known to cause food illnesses from improperly cooked items or fruits and vegetables washed in the bad water. Luckily, we didn’t get sick. We also drank a lot of the local coca tea which is supposed to help with altitude sickness. On our second day in Cusco, we had one of my favorite days. We went to a women’s co-op where they used the fur from llamas and alpacas to weave many different items like blankets, clothing, bracelets, etc. They hand-dye all the fur with natural ingredients, and they made us tea and showed us the process. It was incredible to watch! I did a lot of shopping there, and felt like it was the best place to spend my money on the trip. We got to befriend llamas and alpacas and feed them! After that we headed to another local community with 12 local families worked together to make pottery. They taught us their process for that, as well as how to make empanadas, which were of course incredible.

Ollantaytambo, Peru

This town was easily one of my favorites. Located in the Sacred Valley, it was the most charming little village. Winding roads and alleys, dogs everywhere, the smallest town square with adorable little restaurants. We only spent one night here as it was our way into Machu Picchu, but I just loved it here. We also did a hike here that was a straight 20 minutes hike directly UP, but once we got there, we saw the view of the entire town. STUNNING.

Aguas Calientes, Peru

This was the town that everyone stays in to get to Machu Picchu. It is only accessible by walking, or by train. The time that we were visiting, there had just been some protests happening by the local workers, about ticket sales of Machu Picchu. The trains had been shut down, and if we wanted to get to Machu Picchu we were going to have to walk, with all of our luggage. It was going to be something like a 10k. But thankfully, the protests stopped at the last minute and we were able to take the train in! This town is clearly just a tourist stop, with not a whole lot to do. It was very small and very walkable, but so LOUD to sleep in that it wasn’t the best. The food was good, and there are hot springs that you can go visit. But mostly it’s a lot of little touristy-trap kinds of shopping. We spent one whole day in Aguas Calientes before waking up early the next day for our adventure to Machu Picchu! But that was plenty of time in this town.

Machu Picchu, Peru

WHAT AN INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE. We started super early this day, somewhere around 7am entry into Machu Picchu. We walked around for about 4 hours there. It wasn’t a super challenging hike aside from the first 20 minutes of straight steps up. But once you do that, you’re walking mostly flat surfaces the rest of the way. We chose the most challenging path because it has the best views, so I totally suggest that. Machu Picchu sits at about 8,000 feet in elevation so I didn’t feel the altitude up here at all. What an amazing thing to be able to walk through one of the 7 wonders of the world. I can’t even put it into words.

Rainbow Mountain, Peru

This was hands down one of the most challenging hikes of my entire life. While I don’t claim to be an athletic person at all, I am decently young and able, and this was HARD. The hike itself was not that difficult, as far as physical fitness goes. Mostly it was a slow incline, on a dirt and rock path. The final 20 minutes or so are a drastic incline, and that part was definitely the hardest. But the worst part is, you are dropped off by bus after a 2 hour drive straight UP a mountain, at about 15,500 feet elevation. You then end up at 16,500 feet elevation. Just starting out the hike, I could hardly breathe. It was like the wasn’t enough oxygen to breathe into my lungs, and my legs felt like I was walking on the moon or something. But as long as you go slow, stop frequently, breathe, drink water, eat snacks, it’s completely doable. As soon as I got to the very top, I cried in relief and happiness, and immediately saw two llamas dressed up ready to take photos with me. WORTH IT. While this was incredibly difficult, I’m so glad that I did it, and I recommend it to everyone. What a view.

Puerto Maldonado, Peru

When I tell you that I had no idea what to expect when I packed my things up and prepared to head into the Amazon jungle for the next couple days, I mean it. I love nature and new experiences, but the jungle was WILD, y’all. A flight into an airport with two gates, a two hour drive down what the locals called the “road to hell”, a two hour boat ride down the river, and we were there. The first night, I saw a tarantula in the wild at night. And our room was basically just a screened in porch, complete with a whistle on the wall to blow in case of emergency. Meaning, if a large jungle animal enters your room in the night. I slept inside of a bug net, in the 95 degrees, and 75% humidity. We jungle hiked, had no electricity, and saw SO MANY CREATURES. My favorites were definitely the monkeys. Lots of parrots, scary things, capybara, and one night time river boat cruise to look for white caiman. Nothing can beat the silence of the jungle and the ability to watch the stars on the boat at night. It was such a great experience, but I was ready to head back into the city after two nights!

MONEY: getting local currency before you go is always the best idea to avoid scams or overpriced exchange rates. It was very handy to have their currency on hand when wanting to shop at small stores, and even in credit card friendly areas like Lima, the service industry staff ALWAYS asked us to at least tip in cash. Some places the card machines stopped working, some places had no wifi or even electricity.
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Travel Photographer | Turkey with Koda Sail
- August 21, 2023
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- by Allison
I discovered the travel company, Koda Sail, earlier this year when I traveled to the Maldives on a one week island hopping tour, and I had SUCH a great experience, that one trip in 2023 wasn’t enough! So this summer, I went on their one week sailing tour around Turkey, and I even got the chance to photograph it for Koda Sail! Combining two of my favorite things in the world: photography and travel, I hopped on board our boat in Fethiye, Turkey, and waved goodbye to land for a majority of the next 7 days!

The trip I chose was called Lycian Dream, which follows a western route of Turkey along the Mediterranean Sea, starting in Fethiye. On the first day, we wandered around Fethiye before our tour started. Turkey was already so welcoming and charming, it was already off to a great start. Including finding the most delicious frozen watermelon drinks, highly recommend. We shopped, ate food, and of course, bought pool floats to bring on board. Another essential if you book a sailing tour! We boarded our boat, took off, and got to know the rest of the travelers! We had 13 on board, and I was the only American! Which I loved. I think the best part about travel is making international friends and experiencing new cultures with them, while also learning about each other’s cultures! We had a GREAT group, and our first “family dinner” on board blew us away. That may be the best part: every meal is cooked fresh for you on board by a local chef, and every meal is seriously 10/10. Not only do you get 3 full sized meals a day, but there’s also “tea time” around 5:00 every day with snacks, coffee, and tea. As well as a full bar on board for drinks to purchase! You just run a tab for the whole week and you pay at the end, super simple, and good prices!

Each day consisted of new views, new bays, multiple swim stops, delicious meals, adventurous hikes up mountains that always resulted in epic views and totally worth the sweat, and a whole lot of laughter with your crew and your group. Some of my favorite parts were: the opportunity to go paragliding off of a 6,000 foot mountain (a very specific leap that over 60,000 people travel to Turkey for every year), swimming in a blue lagoon, swimming up to Cleopatra’s Bath Bay – submerged ruins of an old Hamam, walking around the town Marmaris and enjoying a night out with our group including the most beautiful rooftop bar, spotting turtles in the wild, taking a family mud bath, an evening at the beach, a cooking class on board with our amazing chef, lots of wine, and watching the sun set at St Nicholas Island.

Turkey was a place that I knew very little about going into the trip, and it absolutely blew my mind. I loved it even more than I expected to, and I think my favorite part was waking up each morning on the boat, and walking upstairs to see what view I would be seeing this time. I loved all the different bays, the towns, the FOOOOD. And I am so grateful for my group, and our guide, and our boat crew. I can’t wait until my next trip with Koda Sail!

Keeping my phone connected on my trip without paying Verizon’s $10/day plan, I used Airalo for my phone plan! It’s an app you download and it creates a digital SIM card for your phone, and you can go in and choose the country you’re traveling to and book a MUCH CHEAPER phone plan for your trip. I can’t recommend it enough. You can try it for yourself HERE!
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Travel Photographer | Italy
- August 3, 2023
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- by Allison
So, Italy is just an absolutely special place to me, and to get to return to a country I love so much, 7 years after my first visit, just proved that I waited too long in between. This country was my first ever European visit and it changed my life and sparked my genuine love for travel and exploring new places in the world. I love the people, the language, the old buildings, the colors, the food, the culture, the coffee. I love it all. I’m like a kid in a candy store in Italy. I get a lot of people asking for recommendations when they start planning a trip to somewhere I’ve visited before, so I wanted to put together a little list of helpful tips and some of my favorite locations!

Let me start by saying, the first ten or so days of my trip were pure chaos and it started off with a huge delay in getting here (I’m literally still in Italy as I write this), I lost a whole day in Bologna, and honestly, I cut it way too close to missing the Harry Styles concert that I LITERALLY planned this trip around. So my first advice? Make sure you’re staying at your first location for at least 3 days so you don’t have to miss an entire town in case of delays! Another fun issue I experienced was the loss of my luggage for the first time. I existed without it for like… 4 days? And honestly, it’s going to change the way I pack for trips forever. I learned I can absolutely exist with less clothing than I usually bring, a carry on and a back pack will work just fine, and it will fit safely with me on the plane. And even in my attempt at under packing, I still could’ve done less. Just bring detergent and commit to doing laundry a few times, it never took away from my trip and TRUST ME when I say you will thank me later when you’re carrying all your luggage up and down flights of stairs in crowded train stations, boarding trains with chaotic amounts of people behind you waiting for you to stash your bag somewhere, and climbing up 4 flights to your Airbnb. That, is Europe, in a nutshell.

Keeping my phone connected on my trip without paying Verizon’s $10/day plan, I used Airalo for my phone plan! It’s an app you download and it creates a digital SIM card for your phone, and you can go in and choose the country you’re traveling to and book a MUCH CHEAPER phone plan for your trip. I can’t recommend it enough. You can try it for yourself HERE!

Bologna, Italy

I started my trip (so late) in Bologna, I met a group of friends there who had very much beat me there. I didn’t arrive to our Airbnb until 3:30 am the first night, when everyone was sleeping, and got all of like 3 hours of sleep after a 30 something hour travel experience that was supposed to only take around 16 hours originally (I also got to witness a lady get tackled and detained at an airport! I’m telling you it was eventful!) and without my luggage. I woke up the next morning and instead of being brought to life by the joy of my first morning in another country, I was busy having to find basic essentials like a pair of shoes other than the tennis shoes I was wearing on the flight, and things like that, and this was the day of the Harry Styles concert, so time was limited. I missed breakfast, ate the tiniest lunch because of stress, and then we were late getting to the show so I also skipped dinner, was running on exhaustion fumes and pure adrenaline, cried my eyes out at the Harry show, and immediately wished we had chosen to stay an extra day in Bologna. I basically saw nothing there and it was so charming I wish that wasn’t the case. Another night of less than 5 hours of sleep and it was our first day traveling via train to the next town. Now let me just begin by saying that once you have it mastered, train travel in Italy is AWESOME. It’s super efficient, super affordable, and actually really easy AFTER you figure it all out. I learned the hard way that I didn’t have it mastered yet after almost losing my friends on a platform and nearly missing a train, and then later not realizing there were multiple stations in Rome and I got off at the wrong one. But anyway, just download the Trenitalia app, it’s the easiest way. Then everything is in your phone digitally (you need data though) and you don’t have to worry about misplacing a physical ticket or getting your ticket validated before entering the train. If you have a physical ticket and you don’t validate it, you will get fined when they come around to check tickets! And yes, just about every single train, they did come around and check. A lot of people try and skip out on the costs and just hop on and pray they don’t get in trouble, but in the summer they absolutely check. Sometimes they checked even as we were exiting the train outside on a platform.

Cinque Terre, Italy

We arrived in the stunning northern coastal towns of Cinque Terre, which is known for its iconic colorful buildings spread out over 5 little tiny fishing villages along the Gulf. They are little, they are packed, and they are REALLY that cute in real life. We chose to stay in Riomaggiore for two nights. Again, I think at minimum when you’re traveling without a tour bus or anything, you should stay everywhere at least 3 nights. We were so tired and so hot from moving so constantly and I felt like I just got my bearings in each town and then we were off again. I still had a wonderful time and I’m grateful I was able to fit in so many places, but ooooof it’s exhausting!

We did a pesto making class at the restaurant Nessun Dorma and it was SO MUCH FUN! This restaurant is located in Manarola, facing the incredibly gorgeous and colorful view, and it’s normally a line that you have to wait in for hours in the sun to get a table, but if you book the pesto experience (€80 per person) then you get a guaranteed spot, you get lunch, you make pesto (best pesto I’ve ever had – it’s from this region originally!), you laugh and drink a lot, and you get to keep your apron and a bottle of wine! It was definitely one of my favorite things that I did so I highly suggest it! You can book right on their website.

We hiked up the 380+ stairs one morning to another one of the villages, Corniglia. This was my second time visiting Cinque Terre and this was the only village I didn’t visit last time, and as much as the stairs were absolutely killer, I’m glad I got to see this town too. I wish we had more time to walk around and shop, it was so cute. The other two towns are Monterosso (best beach to lay at all day) and Vernazza. It’s really worth seeing all 5, and you can take the train between towns and they’re all only 5 minutes apart. You can also hike the towns and I would like to return (not in mid summer) and do that one day! Pro tip: bring water shoes, as all the beaches are rock beaches and it HURTS your feet!

Florence, Italy

After two very warm nights in Riomaggiore, we took the train into Florence. We got word on the way that my luggage had been found, but I was already actively on my way to Florence – even farther from my bag. Once we got there I had to leave and train back to Bologna, and I was so sad to lose a full day in Florence, my favorite city. But I was still traveling for another 3 weeks so I just really needed that darn bag. Once I got back to Florence (with ALL MY THINGS!!!) I found us a rooftop bar with a sunset view directly next to Duomo, my favorite building in the whole world. The rooftop bar was called View on Art and you should absolutely go for sunset if you’re ever in Florence. And then we actually stumbled upon a restaurant that we literally picked out by how cute it looked in the street, and it turned out to be one of my favorite meals of the whole trip. And the worst part? I didn’t even get the name of the restaurant. But any dish here involving truffles is a great idea.

The next day, one of our friends flew back to London, and two left for Rome, and just one friend and I stayed to do a Vespa tour of Tuscany! I didn’t think it was a scary idea until we started practicing and watched multiple people crash the Vespas, hurt themselves, and when I tried, I was very shaky and terrified. LOL. But I still got to drive a Vespa, even if it was brief, and I still got to do the half day adventure riding in a convertible through the Tuscan countryside, taking photos, stopping at a local estate for a fresh pasta lunch, wine, and of course, more photos. We made friends with an Australian couple and an American couple, and had such a blast with our driver, Chris. I still think this was worth every penny even though I chickened out of driving the Vespa for 50 something miles! I figured I should just keep surviving instead of risking my life for a Vespa ride hahaha

Best sights in Florence: duomo, Ponte Vecchio, and literally… all the food you can get your hands on.

Rome, Italy

After, again, not nearly enough time in Florence, we were off to meet our friends in Rome. We got off at the wrong train station, but we made it just fine anyway, and our Airbnb was literally a block away from the Colosseum. In just one day I managed to squeeze in some delicious pizza, pasta, the colosseum, the pantheon, and the trevi fountain. And I didn’t even walk as much as the last time I was there!!! Rome is cool but I had already been there before and it’s just chaos in the summer so I opted to only do one day there. I was super excited to try a restaurant over next to the Pantheon that came highly recommended by the one and only Stanley Tucci, but they were so full they couldn’t fit our group of 4 in even after we waited in line before they opened.

Salerno, Italy

We headed down south after Rome to the STUNNING Amalfi Coast. When we first started looking up places to stay, it was ridiculously expensive and very booked up in all the main towns like Positano and Amalfi. So I did some research and I found a town called Salerno, which is even farther south than the rest of the towns, and you can take a train direct from Rome or Naples! The other towns require a train to Naples and then either a ferry or a long terrifying drive by public bus or VERY EXPENSIVE private transfer, and that just didn’t sound like what I wanted to do. You can also stay in Sorrento as a home base and ferry into the towns, but I had already been there before and I wanted to stay somewhere new. From Salerno, you can take a €32 round trip ferry to Positano, and spend the whole day there. Same with Amalfi, and for even less €€. So that’s what we did!

My friends left after day two, and I stayed solo for the next 5 nights in Salerno. I will say, it is the most NOT English-friendly town I stayed in so far, but everything has been totally manageable! The people are much more local, and while there is still plenty of tourism, it’s a lot less chaotic than both Positano and Amalfi. Salerno is still vibrant and there is night life and all the restaurants close down between 3:30 and 7:30 for a mid day break. The food is incredible and even when I go into a place where no one speaks English, we can communicate enough for me to place an order and then say “gratzie” when I leave!

From Salerno, I scheduled multiple boat activities, because the best view of the Amalfi Coast is from the water. One day I booked a whole day private boat tour (with just two families on board with me) which paused for multiple swim stops at private beaches or just out in the middle of the water, and stopped for 1 hour each in Amalfi and Positano. I used those hours to wander the streets and take photos and also sweat my life away in the mid afternoon heat. Summer in Italy is no joke, I expected it to be way less hot and humid than North Carolina and I was incorrect. Jumping into bodies of water is key for survival. Anyway I had the best day on the small boat and visits to these bustling little towns.

As I write this I am getting ready for bed and tomorrow is my last full day in Salerno, and I’m so sad to go. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time here and I’ve actually really loved the solo travel part, especially that I’ve just stayed in one town and haven’t been going going going between cities. I have favorite restaurants, favorite waiters, favorite meals, favorite gelaterias. I love to wander the pedestrian path and to take a book and sit under the walkways of gorgeous blooming trees at the marina, and walk to the free sand beach about 20 minutes away. I love the pizza and the pasta most of all.

Some notable favorite restaurants:
- Caffé Moka is my favorite little breakfast/coffee shop/snacks whatever you need. It’s so gorgeous inside and very Italian speaking only but they were always kind to me and I LOVE the coffee & pastries there – also the cheese omelet!
- Al Dente Spaghetteria for absolute fantastic spaghetti dishes of all kinds, I had the caciao e Pepe and it was 14/10
- Gli Esposito Pizzeria for the most fun waiters and mind blowing pizza and pair it with a €5 glass of house vino
- Burger Bar Cargo for if you need a break from all the pizza and pasta and want a yummy burger (veggie friendly ones too, I really enjoyed the veggie burger!!) and some French fries
- Zero Healthy Bar & Poke for a little fruit & veggie refresh when your body is feeling too heavy from the carbs. I actually went like… 4 times. I tried it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Açaí bowls, fresh smoothies, poke bowls, yummy avocado toast, and once for dinner I even got a salmon plate that was completely delicious and had sooooo many veggies with it. Sometimes I just neeeeeed that on a trip to make my belly happy.
Where did I stay solo? I’m not opposed to hostels but that wasn’t really a thing here. I found that airbnbs were too expensive for just me, that’s much easier when sharing with friends. So I found a little B&B called Casa Castagna B&B. It’s basically like… an apartment complex that has a shared kitchen like a hostel and she will cook you breakfast (if you want it) and then it has a few rooms down one hallway. I will say the first few nights were great but it the walls are incredibly thin – so there was a lot of noise, not from the street, but from the other guests. I would’ve had no problem with her early morning cooking (you hear her in the kitchen) because I’m an early riser anyway, but some nights I’d get in late and then still be woken up by 7 or 7:30 by the noise. But then a family with small children came yesterday and the noise level has increased significantly. I can hear every conversation, every fit from the toddler, and if they hadn’t shown up, I would’ve had a much better experience! So it’s definitely risky, I’d probably stay here again and just hope I don’t get any toddler neighbors again! The location is really walkable to everything, a 10 minute walk from the train, 10 minutes to the ferry, 20 minutes to the beach, 2 minutes from endless restaurants and cafes and bars on the pedestrian street.

Positano, Italy

We spent one full day out in Positano at a beach club all day, lounging in chairs with table service, living the life of luxury, and honestly I had the best fish and chips of my life there. We chose L’Incanto Beach Club and it was €40 per bed, with a minimum of 2 beds. So if you go solo you would be stuck paying for two, sadly, but it really was worth the price. The beach is so clear, the views are literally something out of a dream, and the aperol spritz’s just taste better on the beach when served by very handsome local Italian men. The fish and chips I got that I will dream about forever, was at La Brezza, a restaurant right on the corner at the port that one of the locals suggested to me! Always trust a local.

“The entire town is built around the cove of the sea. It looks like an amphitheater, enjoying the performance of the ocean.”
One italian summer

Amalfi, Italy

While I only drove by this by boat many times, and did one stop over for an hour there, I didn’t get to fully immerse myself in this town. It was absolutely charming but it was like Positano in the way that it was over packed with people in the summer and so very hot it was challenging to walk around without feeling like passing out! I just wandered the streets and enjoyed some locally made lemon gelato and took some photos and hid in a few shops for a break from the sun. It wasn’t as expensive as the shopping in Positano, but I definitely preferred the brighter colored buildings and charm of Positano more. I have a feeling if I spent more time there I would’ve loved it more, though! I needed more than an hour. And the beach clubs there looked lovely, too, and I’m sure they cost less than Positano.

Conca dei Marina, Italy

The other boat tour I booked was on Airbnb, a sunset sailing cruise along the coast. It was supposed to be a 3 or 4 hour event, but then our captain Fabio was feeling generous and we were gone from literally like 4:00 pm until 1:00am. I didn’t get back to my B&B until 1:30. But it was the absolute best experience that I did. I was on board with just a sweet pair of American women, and then a couple who live in Australia. We cruised the coastline in the evening, which already gave me a way different view than I had seen before. Listen, I’m a photographer, I’m a sucker for some evening light. We boated past Māori, Minori, Amalfi, and a few others. We stopped at a beach only accessible by boat, called Conca dei Marini, and we pulled up and had dinner there, at a small family owned restaurant while the sun set over the water. That was when the couple on our trip suddenly got engaged!!!! We stayed for so long, toasting Prosecco, and more Prosecco, and explaining to the locals that we did not in fact want to go with them in their boat but we wanted to return to our captain – LOL. Then the hour boat ride home under the stars and the full moon may have even been my favorite part. With a belly full of gnocchi and Prosecco, and peach wine, and the sparkling lights of the beautiful towns, I was in heaven. I’ll link this Airbnb experience here because it’s something I think everyone should do.

The magic of Italy seems to be in its ability to connect some time out of time, some era that is unmarked by modernity. There is so much peacefulness in being present, right here.
One italian summer

Currency

Euros are the accepted currency all over Italy. And while they are getting more credit card friendly, cash is still king here. It’s faster and more efficient most of the time. It’s easier to pay at restaurants, taxis, street shopping, etc. so I suggest always keeping cash on you in this country.

Trains:

Download the Trenitalia app and get all your tickets there. The train stations names are in Italian so you’ll have to figure out your locations before you can book. For example Florence is actually “Firenze” etc. There are different classes of train tickets, if you’re just going a short distance of an hour or less, the cheapest ones are just fine. They’re a little more chaotic to board and search for a seat but it doesn’t really matter if you’re only on it very briefly. If you have a longer distance, the upgrades are pretty cheap (maybe €10-€20) and you get a reserved seat in the other classes, and some even feed you! I did this on my trip from Rome to Salerno and it was totally worth it! The seats even reclined and I got a pre packaged box of food and drinks! The tough part: finding your train and the correct platform. The app will tell you which platform but be sure to look at your train number over the destination, it’s not like at an airport where you find it by your final destination. Read the signs at the train station and find your train number and it’ll tell you which platform. Sometimes the platform can change even 5-10 minutes before the train arrives, so keep checking! Once your train get there, if you do have a reserved seat, look on the train for the correct cabin number before entering, I didn’t do this the first time I had a seat and I got on at cabin 10 but my seat was in cabin 6 so I had to walk through 4 different sections full of people with all my luggage. And then finally, make sure you get off at the correct station – LOL. There are two stations at Firenze and Roma, make sure you’re at the right one!

In two days I leave for Turkey to embark on a one week sailing tour with Koda Sail as the photographer for the trip, so I can’t be TOO sad that I’m leaving Italy. Stay tuned for a post about Turkey, next!
Travel
Travel Photographer | The Balkans
- May 1, 2023
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- by Allison
Attempting to keep up on my travel blogs – I never finished talking about my tour around The Balkans last summer! I did a whole blog post on Croatia – because it was so wonderful it deserved its own post instead of being crammed into one huge one about 6 different countries. But basically, I booked a group tour through Contiki called the Best of the Balkans (Split to Split), where I traveled around the Balkan region of Europe! I started a few days early, solo in Split, Croatia. Then ended another few days after the tour, solo again in Split. But this post is really here to talk about all the countries I visited in between circling back to Croatia again! The Balkans are unlike any other area I had been to in Europe, before. It has the same charm, absolutely, but these countries are so different and unique. In this post I will cover:

Kotor, Montenegro
Budva, Montenegro
Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Belgrade, Serbia
Budapest, Hungary
Lake Bled, Slovenia
Ljubljana, Slovenia

Keeping my phone connected on my trip without paying Verizon’s $10/day plan, I used Airalo for my phone plan! It’s an app you download and it creates a digital SIM card for your phone, and you can go in and choose the country you’re traveling to and book a MUCH CHEAPER phone plan for your trip. I can’t recommend it enough. You can try it for yourself HERE!

Kotor, Montenegro

After hitting Split and then Dubrovnik in Croatia, we moved onto Montenegro. I knew VERY little about this country going into this trip. And it surprised me in such a good way. We started with a little day trip to Kotor, Montenegro, on our bus ride to where we were staying in Budva. We only stayed briefly, but Kotor was wild. Apparently they worship cats here, and we unintentionally stumbled upon an entire cat village while we were walking around, complete with tiny little cat houses and everything. But mostly I was just blown away by how this town looked like it had been pretty much built into the side of a mountain. We spent our time having lunch, wandering, finding delicious gelato, and then it was back on the bus to head to Budva.

The currency accepted in Montenegro is Euros, which is easiest for me to use, because it is so similar to the US dollar.

Budva, Montenegro

Now, Budva just absolutely blew my mind. Not only was our hotel incredible, but it looked like I had stepped back into Mykonos, Greece. No joke, it looked just like a small little Greek town inside of our hotel. But the hotel was HUGE. It was called Hotel Slovenska Plaža. If you go, stay there. I swear. You could walk to the city center in 15 minutes, and the hotel goes right up to the beach. The buffet for breakfast and dinner was excellent as far as buffets go, too. And very big! The breakfast was always my favorite.

Our first evening, we spent having drinks together as a group on the little rock beach behind our hotel. It was nice, you could go buy drinks from one of the many carry out stores nearby and go sip them wherever you wanted, so we just hung out by the water and it was beautiful. Most of the group went out to a club, which was also only a 5 minute walk from our hotel, but I was old and sleepy and went to bed early. It was a very safe town and I felt incredibly comfortable walking around at night there.

The second day was my favorite day. We found out that for only 10 euros a person, we could take a little boat out to the island called Hawai. Yes, we went to Hawai in Montenegro. And honestly, it was even better than I imagined. We spent a majority of our day out there, because once we arrived we discovered that it actually had sun beds for you to lay on (I believe it was 10 euros for the day) unlike all the PACKED beaches we walked by on Budva, we would never have found even 4 chairs near each other, it really was swamped in the summer. So Hawai was the way to go. Not only was the beach amazing, but there were restaurants too. You could grab drinks or snacks and take them back to your beach chair, or you could go sit at one of the restaurants for awhile. There was even a DJ at one spot! Highly suggest bringing water shoes for these beaches, as most of the bottom is rock and painful on your feet. In the evening, we walked to dinner in Old Town and it was so cool. Tiny little street bustling with people. We followed signs for a Secret Garden and enjoyed a cold cocktail there. I could’ve had more than just 2 days in Budva, but it was time to head to the next country in the morning.

Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Next up was a quick day stop in Mostar, Bosnia. A very tiny little town, where basically the entire thing looks like one big castle, with big stone pathways (SLIPPERY WHEN WET, but also slippery even when NOT wet. But if it’s raining and you go, holy cow, watch out), and complete with a spot where people jump off of this beautiful old bridge into the water below. I was far too afraid to jump off the bridge, but it was so fun to stand there and watch for awhile. We mostly did some shopping in the quaint little stores, complained about the heat – we were there midday in August), and stopped for a “kabob” which was basically just a big beautiful pita sandwich that was to DIE for. I’m vegetarian so when I asked for the sandwich without the meat the man shook his head at me and said “……it won’t be very good” LOL. But I promise, it was.

The currency accepted in Bosnia is the Bosnian Mark, but also a majority of places would still accept Euros here, and credit card was not commonly accepted.

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Another place that I really didn’t know much about aside from there being a recent war (in my lifetime!) but again, I didn’t really know anything about it. Well, the FIRST thing we did was head into the city and sit down and learn more about the war that happened between them and Serbia in 1992 to 1995. It was crazy, to be standing in a place that this happened to recently, and hear from people who experienced it in real life. We walked through a portion of the actual war tunnels that they had dug to get people out of Bosnia safely. They were so small and cramped, I couldn’t imagine fleeing my country with all my belongings on my back in a tunnel that I couldn’t even stand up straight in. Then when we were walking around the Old Town, you could see bullet holes in many of the buildings, it was crazy. I really enjoyed the city center, though. Endless shops and local goods, local artists, really good food, REALLY GOOD BREAD. Hookah was all over the place and so were cats. We took a cable car up to where the bob sled track from the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics were hosted and we were even able to walk along the tracks and take photos! We ended the day with a local brewery with our group and then a delicious local dinner with everyone. We learned that we were in town for the ending of the Sarajevo Film Festival and it was packed with people and apparently some celebrities that we did not get to see! One of the coolest things we got to do here was have dinner in a local person’s home, someone who was there for the war. Our host was only about 4 years older than me, and she can remember everything that happened. It was so wild to hear about someone’s own person version of the war and how it affected them.

Belgrade, Serbia

What a strange thing to head right to Serbia directly after being in a country that most of their tourism involved telling us how horrible the recent war was, so it made me almost not even want to go to Serbia! But we only had a one night stop over before we headed to Budapest. So honestly, we didn’t even do much. I definitely felt a little more uncomfortable in this country than I had previously, but again, I think it was mostly just because of all the history I learned the day before. We got in in the evening, on a gloomy day. We walked around some cool old castle things (the usual) and then headed into the city center for dinner. This was literally all we did in Serbia, but I genuinely had one of the best meals there and sat around for HOURS with my new friends, getting bottle after bottle of local wine, and just laughing and enjoying ourselves. It was weirdly one of my favorite dinners. Annnnnnd we had no idea what we had in store for us the next day. Just wait.

The currency in Serbia is the Serbian Dinar, but since we were only here one night, we did not get any cash out, and we just paid all together on one credit card (for the ease of the restaurant) for our dinner and wine.

Budapest, Hungary

Now. We were traveling by private coach. On a bus with 40 people. Our drive to Budapest wasn’t supposed to be anything too crazy, maybe about 5 hours normally. However, we were warned by our tour manager that because of the amount of tourism in the summer, the last group that they had driving over the border from Serbia to Hungary ended up getting stuck on the bus at the border for 8 hours. Just waiting in line for that long. We were terrified, but thankfully we knew about it ahead of time and they made designated stops for us along the way for bathroom breaks and to purchase allllll the snacks before we got to the border. Turns out, we couldn’t even have been totally prepared for what happened. We beat a record that day. Our bus was stuck in line at the border for ELEVEN HOURS. No exaggeration. We timed it. After the first 4 hours or so, we decided to all hop off the bus – it was standstill traffic – and bring a bluetooth speaker out there and we taught each other every possible line dance or choreographed dance we could all think of. The Australians taught us some fun ones, we taught them some traditional ones that Americans do, we played lots of music, sang lots of songs, ate lots of snacks, we watched Shrek on the bus. Then we watched Shrek 2 on the bus. We played games. We ate more snacks. We filled up our bus toilet that was only to be used for emergencies. And then we couldn’t use the toilet at all anymore. It was A DAY. But honestly? One of the funniest memories. It’s one of the days that I will absolutely never forget. I don’t even know what advice I can give you to avoid this from happening to you other than maybe don’t go in August? LOL

So we lost a full day in Budapest. We were supposed to do a night time boat ride and drink champagne while we rode past the Parliament Building. Thankfully, I had already been to Budapest before, and I’ve already gotten to do that exact thing. So I felt pretty lucky that the one town we missed some precious time in was one that wasn’t brand new to me. But wow, I love Budapest. We wandered the Central Market Hall which is one of the largest indoor markets in Hungary. You HAVE to try the local Hungarian fried bread (there were definitely stalls in the market that had it) called Lángos. It’s topped typically with sour cream and cheese but you can pick from a variety of toppings. It’s incredible. This time I got to check out the famous thermal baths, we went to Széchenyi Thermal Baths, and it was AMAZING. It was packed, but I didn’t care. There are multiple baths to choose from, it even started raining on us when we got there and we could still go inside and use some baths in there while we waited for the rain to pass. We ended up being able to do the river cruise that we had intended to do the first night, and we were all very grateful for that! We had a group dinner that night at a place called Trabant Pressźo and they were some of my favorite cocktails on our entire trip, and I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the food, too.

The currency accepted in Hungary is the Hungarian Forint. It will absolutely feel like play money and they come in huge increments – for example, 10 USD translates to 3390.44 HUF. So you feel like everything is wildly expensive, but honestly, for a big city, Budapest is incredibly affordable.

Lake Bled, Slovenia

Our first stopover on our way to Slovenia was a cute town called Lake Bled. I had seen photos of Lake Bled, and while they were already stunning, they don’t even do this place justice. It didn’t really feel real? Like it was so picturesque I had to keep reminding myself that it was real. We walked around the lake for quite awhile, stopping for photos along the way. We only stopped for an hour or two to see the lake, and of course try the Bled Cream Cake we heard so much about. And yes, it was delicious.

Slovenia also accepts Euros as their main form of currency!

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Another town and country that absolutely shocked me, in such a good way. Another country I really had no idea what to expect because I didn’t really know anything about it. But I was excited to explore for that reason. This town was visually stunning, but also more modern than I expected it to be! A city full of pretty, big, tall buildings, lots of canals and bridges. Amsterdam-esque in that way but also totally different. I had the best day shopping around all the local European chain stores that we don’t get in the State, as well as cute little local spots. The first place I had iced coffee on the trip. Always a plus. It had dogs EVERYWHERE. Another plus. It had cable cars you could take up to the top of the town, there was a winery up there where they let us sit in a private cellar, there were dragons everywhere (I don’t know… it was their thing), great food, great drinks, very safe place. One of my favorite moments I had was out to dinner one night, we chose a small Italian place because we’d had a LOT of the traditional Balkan meals at this point and we were ready for a change up. The sweetest thing was that our waiter could not stop talking about how much he loved Slovenia and how happy he was that we were here. Their love of their own home is amazing. Slovenia is a place that I would ABSOLUTELY return to. Just all around good vibes, good views, and a surprisingly CLEAN city, too. Probably because it isn’t as popular as some of the major European tourist destinations. If you are EVER in this region in a neighboring country, please take the time to come to Slovenia. Also, if it helps, you pronounce it “loo-bee-ahh-nuh”
Travel
Travel Photographer | The Maldives
- April 24, 2023
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- by Allison
As a photographer who works for themselves, it’s a pretty big advantage to be able to take off work whenever you’d like to. People ask me all the time how I get so much vacation time, and let me just clarify – I work really hard to make it happen. I bust my booty when I’m home, and I work like a crazy person in order to take time off. I also do not get paid when I take time off, unless I am able to book a shoot while I’m on my trip, which is not always a guarantee. It’s challenging to market yourself in a country where no one has ever heard of you. BUT – if you work hard when you’re home, and take vacations in between your busy wedding schedule, you can make it happen if you prioritize it.

The Maldives always seemed like a far fetched dream, first, because they are just SO FAR AWAY from the United States. Second, because I always just assumed that I couldn’t afford it. But here’s how I did two weeks in The Maldives on a budget!

WEEK ONE: All-Inclusive Resort $1500 USD for 7 nights

Let me start out by saying, upon my very first Google searches for all-inclusive resorts in the Maldives, I realized this place was EXPENSIVE. The over-water bungalows you always see in photos are actually in the price range of $8000-$14,000 USD per night. No exaggeration. So I was on a mission to find a resort that didn’t take a year’s salary to book for a week. I found one, which honestly, I’m not even going to name the resort, because I wouldn’t stay there again, so I’m not going to suggest it to you all. But I will just say, it’s entirely possible to stay at a resort on a budget, but you absolutely get what you pay for. Mine was visually stunning, I felt like I was living in a beach jungle for a week, and the pool and staff were amazing. The rooms were private individual bungalows (NOT over water) with a sunrise beach view, and outdoor bathrooms. Which I loved. But in March, it wasn’t exactly busy season for them yet, so the resort itself was dead, which meant that a majority of the water activities that you could book during the day weren’t even happening because they didn’t get enough people to sign up. And my resort only had the ONE restaurant (a buffet) to eat at for every meal for 7 days. So, I don’t think I needed 7 whole days in the same place, with the same food the whole time, with nothing to do but lay by the pool and have some drinks. I would’ve loved a little more variety in both food and activities. Luckily, I traveled with 3 friends, so we had each other to stay entertained, but we definitely counted down until our second week when we booked an island hopping tour! I still had a great time at the resort, but if I were to do it again, I would’ve splurged a bit more on a nicer resort, or hit up a neighboring country like Sri Lanka, and explored that before hopping over to the Maldives for our tour. One of the highlights that we did at our resort was going on a dolphin cruise, where we saw HUNDREDS of dolphins swimming out in a cove near our resort, and that was SO cool.

Keeping my phone connected on my trip without paying Verizon’s $10/day plan, I used Airalo for my phone plan! It’s an app you download and it creates a digital SIM card for your phone, and you can go in and choose the country you’re traveling to and book a MUCH CHEAPER phone plan for your trip. I can’t recommend it enough. You can try it for yourself HERE!

WEEK TWO: Koda Sail Maldives Island Hopping Tour $1550 for twin share, with an early bird discount

The second week was easily one of my favorite weeks of my entire life. I faced many fears on this trip and did things I never really imagined I’d do…… ever. I have done a LOT of group travel in the past, mainly with large tour companies like Contiki and EF Tours. And honestly, I love all my group trips. But this one was just DIFFERENT. Koda Sail is a company who’s target audience is aimed at “young professionals” meaning the age range is a bit older than the other tour companies, and a little bit nicer quality than the others as well! The group was smaller, with a maximum of 20 people, which also kept it small and more personal. But the locations we stayed and the activities that we did were really what took it over the top. And our guide was INCREDIBLE. We even had the owner of the company come on our trip with us, so we got two awesome people instead of one. Some of the highlights from this insane week:

– Stayed in Dhigurah for the first 3 nights, a local island small enough to walk from one side to the other. Definitely felt like stepping back in time, but this was our home base for some amazing water adventures, and we were only a 1 minute walk from the beach.
– Had a rooftop dinner by candlelight our fist night with the group
– A full day out on the water searching for whale sharks (they didn’t come out for us, they were too shy)
– A fresh seafood lunch setup on the beach
– Snorkeled with many ocean creatures like bright colorful fish, manta rays, sting rays, and even nurse sharks
– Had lunch in the middle of a sandbank in the ocean
– Explored a shipwreck under water
– Went scuba diving for the first time
– We got day passes to two different resorts, one was 4-star and one was 5-star, and both were incredibly epic, and I wish I had stayed at one of those instead of ours the first week! One was called Centara Ras Fushi and the other was Amaya Kuda Rah
– Stayed on the island Maafushi the last 4 nights, which was my favorite island, and the most “western” meaning you could find a variety of food, mocktails, and fun water activities to book every day. Our hotel was great, we could walk to everything, there was fresh squeezed juice everywhere you looked, and a very safe environment to walk around morning or night.
– In my spare time, I enjoyed floating at the beach (bring water shoes, the coral is ROUGH on the feet) and I tried parasailing for the first time!

Important things to note about visiting The Maldives: it is a Muslim country. This means that you (especially women) must bring clothes to cover your shoulders, chest, and knees at all times, unless you’re out on a boat or at a resort island. Alcohol is completely illegal anywhere outside of resort islands. So you cannot just stay at an Airbnb and be able to have drinks on your vacation. You can ONLY drink at resort islands, or in some more “westernized” islands, they may have a “party boat” offshore that you can take a smaller boat out to, and enjoy a few drinks before coming back to your island. We also traveled in March, during Ramadan. Which meant that all the locals could not eat or drink during daylight hours, and they adjusted all of their store/restaurant hours to match that. A lot of the time, we couldn’t shop or find places to eat during the day, because it was all closed. Another little trick we learned during our first week traveling on our own without a tour group, is that the resort islands definitely have a monopoly going on transportation to and from their islands. Once we landed in Malé (the main airport), we then had to take a tiny plane out to Gan, get picked up by our resort staff in a speedboat, and take a boat for another 20 minutes until we got to our resort. That cost us an additional $350 USD each, and we had no control over our flights that they booked for us, and our group even got split up because they decided to bump 2 of them off of our tiny plane at the last minute and put them on the next flight available, with no warning. So pay attention to the location of your island and how you will be able to get there, and factor that price in before you book. It may just be easier to stay on an island closer to Malé and pay a little more for the resort. Also, just book with Koda Sail. They literally handle all transport for you, included in the price already. No questions or additional fees there at all.

All in all, it was easily one of the best experiences of my life. On my way there, it took me 30 hours of flights just to get to Malé airport, and that was before the additional flight and speedboat ride to the resort. On the way home, it took me 24 hours in flights and a 2 hour drive home. It was absolutely worth it, though, and I can’t recommend Koda Sail enough. Check out the other tours they do, too! They also do sailing tours around Croatia and Turkey!

UPDATE! I forgot to mention! CURRENCY! A very important part of international travel. This blew my mind, but the most widely accepted currency in the Maldives is the US dollar! I was shocked to learn that, and it made it so convenient for us. Sometimes, if you paid a small local shop in American dollars, they may give you back change in Maldivian Rufiyaa, which I would just turn around and buy myself small things like snacks and waters with before I left, because you cannot exchange any Maldivian currency in the US. So you may as well spend it if you get it. They DID accept credit cards at many places, but as usual, cash is king and makes it much simpler, especially if you’re traveling in a group who would prefer to do separate checks with credit cards. That will take forever, IF they accept credit cards. Another strange thing I learned is that they also would NOT accept a bill if it had ANY rips at all. So don’t bring your beaten up old dollar bills, they will turn you down. Maybe not everywhere, but someone rejected a $100 because it had the tiniest rip. So bring fresh ones from the bank, your life will be much easier. Also, when shopping, they do barter a bit! Nothing like the intensity of some places I’ve been, like Morocco, where they will literally chase you out of a store arguing with you, this was much calmer. I’d simply ask if I could get two for a better price, and usually they would. So keep that in mind as you buy souvenirs!
Travel
Travel Photographer | Croatia
- February 20, 2023
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- by Allison
In August 2022, I had the absolute pleasure of touring the Balkan region of Europe for the very first time. I hit 6 new countries in one trip, and, as always, it was life changing. I can’t express enough how much I adore exploring a new country, especially ones like these that I had never experienced before. Croatia will go down in history as one of the most unique and incredible places I’ve been. I have officially crossed off 25 countries on the map after this trip, and every single check mark was perfect. I did the Best of Balkans tour from a travel company called Contiki. If you’re between 18 and 35 years old and you want to travel and get out there, but don’t want to go solo? This is the perfect thing. It’s how I’ve seen so many countries over the last 7 years and made so many international friends. I’ll be aging out later this year, and I’m super sad about it, but it’s taught me so much I needed to know about international travel. And set me up for a lot more comfort in traveling solo and planning my own trips, too.

Instead of making a blog post about all 6 countries I visited on this trip, I’m putting Croatia in its own post, because I spent the most time there, in different cities.

I arrived in Split, Croatia, as my first stop. I arrived a day before my tour started, which I’m learning that I prefer, to give myself a day to rest and catch up on jet lag, and accommodate myself with the city. Split was incredibly welcoming. It was summer, and it was on the verge of rain, and getting dark out, as I ventured out for the first time to go meet up with a few new friends who were to join my trip tomorrow, and the place seriously felt like a big warm hug. The streets were full of people, but not in an overwhelming way, in a way that showed how much life there was in this place. The people were friendly and kind, The man who I was renting my room from for the night had carried my large bag all the way up to the top of the stairs. I had all kinds of hilarious and heartwarming interactions with the owners of the local places when I stopped for food or for coffee. One of the coffee shop owners even reached across his counter to hug me. I even befriended the tattoo artist I went to later on my last day of the trip, and taught her my favorite place to get a drink! I liked Split. It made me feel like a local and it was so easy to get my bearings in this place. While a lot of the streets look the same, you start to get your feel of the place right away. Also – the beautiful marble streets are SLIPPERY when it rains. I learned this many times. Favorite things to do in Split:

– Wander the “Riva,” their lively boardwalk right along the water with restaurants and bars.
– Charlie’s Bar – we discovered alcohol in bucket-form here and it changed the course of the rest of our trip to always be on the lookout for buckets. Literal sandcastle buckets full of tasty drink. It was hilarious and wonderful.
– Lobster Tattoo – where I went and got my tattoo on my last day! 10/10 experience and it looks STUNNING, I’ll include a photo below!
– Head to one of the beaches! Keep in mind that water shoes are almost necessary at a lot of these places, the places that you’re swimming are tough on your feet, I was VERY grateful to be traveling with a pair of Teva’s for those purposes. My favorite beach hangout was the Jadran Beach Bar. Loud music, plenty of drinks, and a great view out over the water. Not my favorite spot to swim but the vibes were great to hang and lay in the sun, here.
– My hotel on my last night in town (we circled back to Split again at the very end) was called Prima Luxury Suites and it was affordable, I had my own room with the best shower I had YET on the entire trip, and it was walkable to EVERYTHING and I seriously felt like a local there. I absolutely loved that spot! I would stay there again in the future. No included breakfast or anything like that but it didn’t matter when you were just footsteps from the city.

Keeping my phone connected on my trip without paying Verizon’s $10/day plan, I used Airalo for my phone plan! It’s an app you download and it creates a digital SIM card for your phone, and you can go in and choose the country you’re traveling to and book a MUCH CHEAPER phone plan for your trip. I can’t recommend it enough. You can try it for yourself HERE!

After Split, we headed off to Dubrovnik. I was excited about this because I am a Game of Thrones fan, and I know that King’s Landing is basically just Dubrovnik. It was pretty cool to walk around and actually recognize some places, including walking down the same steps at Cersi when she did the naked walk! Fun fact: did you know Croatia had to update its laws about public nudity because of that episode? Tourists try to walk down the steps naked all the time, so they had to change the laws! LOL. Dubrovnik was a ridiculously magical place, unlike anywhere I’ve ever been before. You basically just start out by entering a castle, but the castle is an ENTIRE CITY. It’s also stupidly expensive because it’s grown so popular. Don’t expect to pinch your pennies here. I went to a club one night (a club inside of a castle) and I think one mixed (literally vodka soda) was somewhere around $20? I much preferred a nice drink with a nice view, but if you love clubs, Dubrovnik is your place.

Favorite highlights of Dubrovnik:

– We started with a sunset cruise along the water, and it was the best intro I could’ve asked for in Dubrovnik. It picked us up right outside our hotel, fed us dinner, gave us wine in paper cups, and gave us the perfect group bonding before a night out.
– The next morning was one of my favorite activities of the entire trip: after a quick walking tour around the city, we hopped into kayaks and paddled ourselves around King’s Landing. We went all the way out to a blue lagoon, got out and swam, cliff jumped, then hopped back in and came back to land for lunch. Those are just some views you cannot experience from land.
– With the rest of our day free, we took the cable car up to the top of Dubrovnik and took in the views, which is another thing I highly recommend doing. You can either hike or cable car, and let me tell you, the cable car got me there in just a few minutes. LOL.
– After the views we wanted to locate one of the epic “cliff bars” aka Buzabar (there are multiple). The one we found HAS to be the coolest one, unless they are just all that cool, but I was blown away. Not only was it insanely hard to find the entrance (that was on purpose) but once we did, it was like our own secret spot to enjoy a cold beverage and watch the sunset, while honestly just attempted to not fall down the cliff.
– We ate delicious Italian food that night for dinner at a place I will never know the name of, and that was really all the time we had in Dubrovnik. I always want more time in the places I go, but I love being able to see as much as possible. So the next morning, we were off again.

From Dubrovnik, we continued onto Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Hungary, Slovenia (all of which will get a separate blog post), and then we circled back to Croatia again to finish off the tour. Our first stop back in Croatia again was Plitvice National Park and the Krka Waterfalls. Plitvice gave us somewhere along the lines of 4 hours of hiking after a long night out drinking the night before. We had all been in better places physically, but that doesn’t stop you on trips like this. You don’t miss out on these things. We picked what we thought would be the easier hiking paths, only to discover we actually took the most difficult one, so we turned around, but not after hiking to what felt like the very top, anyway. LOL. Doesn’t make any of this place less beautiful. We stayed in this super tiny town (I don’t even know what it was called) just for one night before we headed back towards Split for our last night together. Things were getting bittersweet with our new travel pals and realizing the fun was coming to an end. We called our quaint little hotel in the country “Grandma’s house” because it looked and smelled like a Grandma ran it – along with full taxidermy animals set up like they were in the middle of a poker game in the lobby. We left Grandma’s house with a little stop over to see the Krka Waterfalls which were also stunning, but I definitely remember a lot of bees trying to eat my food, and so many people it was less enjoyable, but again, still stunning. And SUCH easy walking paths this time, much smaller than Plitvice. But, I definitely preferred the views of Plitvice.

Another trip well spent, and more info on the rest of the countries coming on another post soon!
Travel
Travel Photographer | Amsterdam, Netherlands
- June 27, 2022
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- by Allison
I’ve visited Amsterdam before, actually a matter of like, 3 days before the world shut down in March 2020 and I was nearly a permanent resident by accident. And while I loved it at the time, the world was a little overshadowed by what was happening and travel got pretty scary pretty fast when the travel ban hit and I was STILL IN EUROPE. But this time was SO different. I spent 7 days there, pretending I was a local. Picking out where I would live. Where I would work. Typically on my trips to Europe, I hop around from country to country, never staying anywhere for longer than 3 days, trying to see as much as possible while I’m over there. I do a lot of tour group travel, and I will go over how wonderful those trips are on another post. But this one is all about a solo stay in Amsterdam.

I spend a lot of my time responding to DMs on both my personal and my work instagram, asking me about my travels and recommendations of where to go/where to stay when people go visit. While it may be challenging for me to keep up especially when I’m swamped with weddings, I am going to try to more consistently blog about my trips so that I can direct people to these posts instead of coming up with a list every time someone asks me. Also I’m always happy to relive my experiences in these incredible places. So here goes nothin!

Keeping my phone connected on my trip without paying Verizon’s $10/day plan, I used Airalo for my phone plan! It’s an app you download and it creates a digital SIM card for your phone, and you can go in and choose the country you’re traveling to and book a MUCH CHEAPER phone plan for your trip. I can’t recommend it enough. You can try it for yourself HERE!

March 2023 | Amsterdam, Netherlands

The trouble with international flights to Europe is that you’re always leaving America at night, flying on a red-eye, and landing in a foreign country bright and early (like 7am) and have a FULL DAY of exploring to do, so you basically have no choice but to jump right in. And if y’all are as terrible at sleeping on planes as I am, it’s always a struggle the first day. I find it best to plan to go a day before you want to accomplish anything (or a day before your tour starts, if you booked a tour group), since the first day I’m basically a zombie trying to figure out jet-lag and also usually staying awake for over 24 hours. So the first night, I sleep like I’m in a coma. And it’s always glorious.

I landed before 7AM in Amsterdam and had most of the day to wander around, unable to check into my hostel, and also wait for my friend to meet me from London later that evening. So I dropped my bags at my hostel (most of which will allow you to drop your bags and put them in lockers or a locked storage room – for free – before check-in, and many will allow you to check-in early, but depending on availability) and walked around all morning/afternoon. I discovered that my hostel, City Hub, was walking distance to SO MUCH and I familiarized myself with my neighborhood immediately. First of all, City Hub is SO unique. You stay in pods, with shared bathrooms, and it’s a completely unique experience. It’s not for everyone, but I absolutely loved it. If you’re traveling with just one other person or solo, this place is AFFORDABLE, comfortable, and located in a great spot. Some day I want to go back and stay on a house boat, but those are harder to find and more expensive and often come with a roommate.

I barely had to use public transit because of the location of my hostel, but when I did, it was very easily accessible and once you figure out the busses, they’re totally worth the day-pass (I believe it was 8 euros for a full day use, if you’re planning to use it often that day and explore a lot. They are VERY easy to use and takes you to every different neighborhood, then it’s worth saving yourself the extra steps since you’ll still walk SO MUCH). Also, Amsterdam is a VERY COMFORTABLE place to be alone in. I was never in any kind of fear for my safety or well being at quite literally any time of day. And I’ve been hyper-aware of this in other countries, so I promise I’m not just oblivious. I know what to look for and to hold onto my bag, but there were ZERO times when I felt that I was in any kind of danger to be even pick-pocketed. Maybe it helped that I was there in March before tourism really really picked up for the year. Or maybe Amsterdam is just very relaxed and wonderful.

I found the cutest breakfast spot across from my hostel called The Breakfast Club, I walked the streets before 10am only to learn that Amsterdam sleeps in. It’s SO quiet there in the mornings before noon. The city takes their time doing everything. I love the laid back vibe and how everyone commutes on their bicycles. It’s almost unbelievable how many bikes you see. There are entire parking garages dedicated to just bikes. Also – important note. Watch out for the bike lane. It looks like another extension of the sidewalk sometimes and the bikes DON’T STOP so watch out! I spent many hours in total on my trip being afraid that I had yet again accidentally wandered into the bike lane. LOL.

I walked through the neighborhood Jordaan, which is maybe one of my favorite areas in town. Tons of small independent shops and restaurants, and very quaint and quiet streets, it felt more residential. I unintentionally stumbled upon the Anne Frank House and saw the insane lines waiting for it to even open. I still have never done the tour of that house but I know this is one of those that you need to book before you get to Amsterdam as it will be full by the time you get there. A lot of museums you can purchase tickets the day-of but I found on this trip that most places preferred booking in advance, especially after covid. Same with restaurants – try making reservations even if it’s the morning-of!

The only tour that we scheduled on our trip was a 6.5 hour guided tour to Volendam, Edam, and Zaanse Schans. They are neighboring Netherlands towns, and VERY unlike the city feel of being in the heart of Amsterdam. Edam is where they make all the fancy cheeses (and yes I sampled 36 different kinds of cheese in one day). Volendam is a sweet little fishing village on the water, known for their fish & chips and yes I tried it and it was amazing. And then Zaanse Schans is the tiniest little town where people actually do live (I want to say there were something like 30 houses?) and it was full of big gorgeous windmills! I’ve seen photos like this of Amsterdam and never knew where it was located. We watched them demonstrate how they make the classic wooden clogs, too. It was a SUPER affordable tour, and while we picked the windiest, chilliest, gloomiest day to do it, I’m still so glad we did. You can find the actual tour I took HERE! Photos below:

Another highlight of my trip was an Airbnb “experience” that we booked, which was just a simple canal tour on a boat. It was just a privately owned boat but it was a 2 hour experience and it was open bar (plenty of wine and beer to choose from), and the captain was incredible. Just a sweet older gentlemen named Robby who enjoyed his life in Amsterdam and was happy to share it with travelers. I learned a lot of interesting info about what it’s like to live in the houseboats there and we saw inside a few of them as we passed by. MUCH more glamorous than they may appear from the street. He stopped and got us fresh bitterballen (a MUST TRY) from one of the restaurants (although my favorite that I tried was definitely from the bitterballen shop inside of Foodhallen) – which were delicious and he will also get you vegetarian ones if you ask! They are traditionally made with shredded beef. My friend Megan and I ended up befriending people on the boat and showing a sweet older couple from Miami where the original “coffee shop” The Bulldog was after our boat ride before we headed off to our dinner plans. The ride was comfortable even in the cold because he had glass ceilings and heated pillows and plenty of blankets to pass around. And it was a beautiful view for photos when you’re actually in the middle of the canals.

While there was absolutely NO shortage of incredible food in Amsterdam, there is one that I will never shut up about. A restaurant that I am SO OBSESSED WITH THAT IT GETS ITS OWN SECTION ON THIS BLOG POST: Loulou’s Pizzabar. I randomly found this on google during my first trip to Amsterdam in 2020, my friend Tammy and I loved it so much that in the 4 nights that we stayed in Amsterdam, we went back twice for dinner. So naturally I planned it into my trip this time around, even though it was NOWHERE near where I was staying or really anything we had planned to do. But we made the trip because it’s completely worth it. So, I have been obsessed with all things Italy and their style of pizza since I went to Italy in 2016. I have never again found pizza as delicious as true Italian pizza. Until Loulou’s. They are a very small restaurant and I have been turned away at the door without a reservation, so I highly recommend making one at least a few days ahead of time, as they book up and can’t fit many people at once. I cannot stress enough how worth it this pizza place is. I don’t know what to say other than GO! And don’t forget to pair your pizza with an Aperol Spritz.

Other highlights worth mentioning:

De 9 Straatjes – “9 Little Streets” – a quaint, picturesque canal-district area along 9 streets and the 4 main canals in Amsterdam, featuring vintage and designer boutiques and cozy cafes. I found that the shopping was a little pricey for me at a lot of the stores (not all!) but if you like designer stuff, this area is for you. And if you don’t, it’s still enjoyable to walk around and check out all the funky in-between shops! There’s some good food over here too.

Parakeet – purely a nacho restaurant, owned by an American! They do nachos WELL. This was something we stumbled upon purely based on how close it was to our hostel. A 5 minute walk, right in our neighborhood in Ood West. Not only are they EASILY the best nachos I’ve ever had, but the cocktails are right up there too. The staff made us feel so welcome we came back a second time. And the nachos…….. wow.

Massimo Gelato – also purely accidental in our findings of this place and simply because we walked directly by it on our walk home from dinner one night (there is ALWAYS room for gelato no matter how full you are) and this ended up being our nightly stop. Also. One of the flavors was fig & ricotta and I will never forget it.

Foodhallen – a GIANT food hall that we just so happened to be staying directly next to. It’s a whole building full of different food stalls to choose from – you can literally grab pizza from one place, guac from another, drinks from one of the bars, and don’t forget to hit the dessert place. I think I ate here like 4 times during my stay. Every food stall I tried was amazing, but the burrata sandwich I got from the Italian place was probably my favorite. Try something with burrata in Amsterdam, this place knows how to do cheese.

MOCO Museum – hands down my favorite museum in Amsterdam. It’s fun, vibrant, interactive, and modern. I’ve seen a few different installations here, my favorite being Banksy. This is a fun place for fun selfies with your buds. I will visit every time I go!

Van Gogh Museum – I didn’t go on this visit because I went the time before and it really is incredible. Absolutely worth the visit, especially if you’re a big Van Gogh fan. I got Starry Night tattooed on me in Amsterdam on my first trip. The only downfall of this museum is that his most famous works are not inside, so a lot of the work isn’t something you’ll necessarily recognize. But it’s a really cool exhibit showcasing his entire life.

Something I loved from the last time I went but also didn’t go this time: WONDR Experience – A selfie museum. Literally. It’s this giant warehouse of multiple different themed rooms to explore and take selfies in. Adult ball pits, slides, a music room, it’s really SO fun. Highly recommend partaking in one of Amsterdam’s famous “space cakes” about an hour before you arrive.

Vondelpark – just a beautiful park to walk around and there’s even a brewery in the middle to stop and enjoy a fresh beer on their patio and a little snack and honestly, great for dog watching. Another bit of info worth talking about – EVERYTHING IN AMSTERDAM IS DOG FRIENDLY. I mean everything. The public transit, the restaurants, everything. Nobody cares and you dog can literally sit in your booth with you at dinner. It’s amazing.

Moak Pancakes – I found this on my first visit to Amsterdam and upon my second visit, more locations had opened up! THE most epic pancakes you’ll ever have, as well as awesome ambiance.

Vegan Junk Food Bar – fun even for non-veg-heads. I like the location downtown better than the one I went to this time (near the red light district). Veggie burgers on pink and blue buns, lots of terrible fried food with crazy weird neon colors. The DRINKS are just as good, if not better than the food.

Red Light District – a STAPLE! It’s sad that you aren’t allowed to take photos while you’re walking through this street but it really is something everyone needs to see once in their life and it’s hard to explain without seeing it in person. Window after window of beautiful women trying to coax you up to their rooms. Sex workers are not shamed here, it is a CHOICE and a way of life, and many women make a VERY good living this way. Prostitution is legal in the Netherlands but not on the streets. That’s why prostitutes in Amsterdam stand up behind a window and have their own room.There are even churches nearby with daycare for the prostitutes to drop their children off before work. If a red light is showing in the window, it means they are open for business and currently available. If the light is off and curtains are closed, they’re with a customer. If a light is green, it means the person inside is transgender, or as one of my tour guides put it “a woman with a surprise” LOL. We were surprised to find out that there were even women in the windows in the early afternoon, but it’s the best to walk around late at night.

The Avocado Show – honestly just a fun touristy restaurant with very well-plated avocado-themed foods. After eating a lot of fried foods and cheese on my trip, my stomach was very happy to have some fresh veggies at this super cute spot.

Albert Cuyp Market – the largest open air market in Europe, it is set up every day of the week. Great booth shopping and easy gifts for people back home at very good prices. It’s in a very centrally located area so it’s really easy to get lost among these streets as you explore. THIS is the spot that has the absolute best Stroopwafels in town and I am not exaggerating. They are cheap, they are delicious, and they are worth finding. It is a simple blue & white cart, with a little awning over the top that says “Rudi’s Original Stroopwafels”. FIND IT.

The famous coffee shops: I tried many and I do think some of them are tourist traps, as I waited to have some brownies kick in only to have nothing kick in. So here are some of my favorite ones: Paradox in Jordaan for the best space cake, the place is simple and straightforward, no gimmicks or tourist traps. Prix d’Ami – very hip with neon lights and milkshakes to enjoy and security at the door and supposedly the biggest coffee shop in the world (although I just went to one as big as a WALMART in Vegas). The Bulldog is the first coffee shop in the world, and it is busy, but the line goes fast and it has great outdoor areas to sit and a great selection. Katsu is over by the Albert Cuyp Market. Nice spot to grab something and wander the market! And then my VERY FAVORITE that I actually didn’t make it to on this trip, but found in 2020 when I was there, was over by Rembrandt Square. Boerejongens Coffeeshop. It was the FANCIEST thing. The people inside wore bowties and white gloves. There was a door guy that looked like Morpheus from the Matrix. They gave you brownies wrapped in gold boxes and multiple options to choose from. SO cool.

Winkel 43 for the most amazing Dutch apple pies – I have never seen a place push out so many apple pies in the 30 minutes that I sat at the bar and devoured a piece.

Staring at Jacob – NY style brunch bar – huge portions and great food. Would be a GREAT spot to sit outside on a nice day.

All in all, this is a town that I would like to return to many more times in my life. I considered looking into what it would take to move here, but having a successful business in America is already pretty time consuming. I can’t imagine uprooting it again. And to another country. Where I’m not a legal citizen. Complications. But this place is worth experiencing, and I highly recommend. And don’t get me started on the beautiful European men. I think they’re just MADE better there.

For the best weather, I’d suggest March through September. But April through August are going to be packed with tourism, but that’s pretty common throughout all of Europe. It’s worth dealing with the crowds of people sometimes. I am a person who doesn’t like to be cold on vacation, and March is reallllllllly pushing my boundaries of cold in March. In 2020 I went in the beginning of March and it was a HUGE difference to this 2022 later in March trip. I still had to wear my winter coat most days, but comfortably and not miserably. The first time I went I had to buy an additional winter coat. However, keep in mind that tulip season is in April. That may be worth planning a trip around, as I’ve missed that every time! I’d like to visit in the summer some day, and live my best sundress life.
Travel, Weddings
Wilmington Wedding & Travel Photographer | Best of 2018
- December 31, 2018
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- by Allison
Let me just start out by saying how grateful I am to each and every one of my clients and friends who supported me this year. Starting my company over again in Wilmington has not been an easy accomplishment, starting from scratch in a town where I knew no one. Now I can say that I’ve met and worked with some incredible local vendors in the industry, and luckily I can call a few of those my friends. Not only have I worked with amazing teams to make wedding dreams come true, but I’ve also had the absolute best clients. I know I say this all the time, but I would not keep saying it if it wasn’t so true. They say if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. There has never been a sentence so true. My job has introduced me to clients that have turned into some of my closest friends in Wilmington, it has lead me to destination weddings that take me out of the country to beautiful places like St. Lucia, it has provided me with a reason to travel even more than I do normally. It brings me to fun projects like making a calendar of attractive men and beautiful dogs, it has introduced me to local businesses that I wouldn’t have noticed before, and it lets me get out all of my creative fixes. People judge you when they hear that you went to school for fine art, but I’m here to tell you that I’m the happiest I’ve ever been and it’s all because of the opportunities that being an artist gave me.

I’ve compiled a group of some of my favorite images, moments, and experiences from 2018, and I wanted to share that with you guys. If you have any recently engaged friends, please send them my way for 2019 and 2020 weddings!

Thank you to everyone who made it such a great year, and I cannot wait to see what 2019 brings.

– Allison