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RauviTravels: My 2018 travel goal of flying around the world monthly

RauviTravels: My 2018 travel goal of flying all over the world monthly

I really think 2018 is and will always be the year I travel the most. For the whole 12 months, I never skipped a month going places may it be just somewhere in the United States or someplace elsewhere in the world. This year, I definitely checked so many things off my bucket list. And it was awesome! It was very exciting to visit some of the most beautiful and romantic travel destinations in the world. Furthermore, I just didn’t get to visit these places, I get to do a lot of fun adventures and stuff. I will always love the crazy and not-so-crazy adventures I have done in the last 12 months. Additionally, I appreciate the opportunity of meeting tons of wonderful people from all over the world throughout my journey. So, here is the breakdown on how I spent each month of 2018 traveling all over the globe. Since I have been to LOTS of places all over the world this 2018, I will have this blog in two installments. This first part of my 2018 travel blog will cover the places I visited from January to June.

My Monthly Travels: January to June 2018

January 2018

Inarguably, watching the epic ball drop at Times Square New York is almost on everyone’s bucket list. And obviously, it was on mine too. I watch it on TV each year and always wondered how does it feel to be actually there. Let me tell you, I was not looking forward being packed in sardines but I was definitely excited to do the countdown and witness the ball drop. I can’t begin to tell you how amazing my experience was and definitely the best way to welcome 2018. 

New Year’s Eve in Times Square New York

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    February 2018

Awww, the month of love….. it was a little bit of a struggle to find the most romantic travel destination to go spend the Heart’s Day. But in the end, I opted for an adrenaline-packed travel adventure in Costa Rica. I’m so glad I chose Costa Rica; it was not just romantic, it was a trip full of so much fun and adventure.

Valentine’s Day in Costa Ricacr7.jpg  cr2


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March 2018

March 2018 Spring break in Austin, Texas and Turner Falls, Oklahomaapril.jpgSpring break, YAY! And since my children are off school, I took them on a quick get-away in Austin, Texas. Our first stop, taking my them to commit their first ever crime, vandalism. Thankfully, it is ‘legal’ to vandalize and spray-paint the walls of Hope Outdoor Gallery. As a matter, it is considered a form of art.april2.jpg  

Our second stop is hiking at the beautiful Mount Bonnell. This place provides a spectacular view of Austin, Colorado River and its neighboring cities and hills.ap.jpg

My kids love the water so there is no way they will miss the fun at Lady Bird Lake. We ended our day having fun kayaking and canoeing at the lake. And trust me, it was too difficult to pull them kids out of the water. LOL.water.jpgwater1.jpg 

 Our last stop is a rainy and wet, yet  beautiful hike up on hills to get a good view of the Pennybacker Bridge, Lake Austin and Colorado River. Furthermore, it’s a good location if you want see a beautiful sunset.ap1.jpgap2.jpg

Turner Falls Hike

My 3rd time to visit Turner Falls in Oklahoma but it’s too beautiful it always feels like my first time.

April 2018

Known as one of the seven new wonders of the modern world in 2007, Chichen Itza has always been a place waiting to be checked off my bucket list. I have always been fascinated about Mayan civilization and ruins and I promised myself to visit them one day. And that finally came. In addition, I also went to visit the ruins of Tulum which is perhaps one of the most beautiful ruins I’ve ever laid eyes on. Another thing we did in Mexico which I truly appreciated was cenote-chasing. Mexico has tons and some of the most beautiful sinkholes in the world. I think another place in Mexico not to miss is Isla Mujeres. And lastly, we headed to Cancun and party.

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Pictures of Chichen Itza 

 

 

The Ruins of TulumLocated a little over an hour from Cancun is another beautiful ruins called Tulum. In Yucatan Maya language, Tulum means “wall”. It is believed that at one point in time, the site may have been called ZAMA, which means A City of Dawn partly because it faces the sunrise. Tulum proudly stands on a hill facing the east side of the Caribbean Sea. During its time of grandeur, Tulum serves as a seaport trading mostly jade and turquoise. Pictures taken at the ruins of Tulumtulum3.jpgtulum4.jpg 

 May 2018

Four years ago, I was so fortunate to spend my 32nd birthday in two of the most beautiful cities in the world, London and Paris. And I have to stay that I fell in love with Europe. It’s so romantic, classic and majestic. Thus I told myself that I will spend another birthday in Europe come high hell or waters. And I did. And again, it’s one of my most amazing birthday celebrations ever! It’s my birth month so YAY Europe! My 9-day birthday celebration in Europe started in Lisbon, Portugal, then flying to Greece visiting the city of Athens and the island of Santorini. Next on my birthday itinerary is a visit to the cities of Rome, Vatican and Naples. After 2 days of devouring the beauty of Italy, we then fly to Barcelona, Spain. Although almost a day was wasted due to a trip to Barcelona Police Station after my stuffs were stolen, we were still determined to move along and follow our itinerary. From Barcelona, we drove to Girona, Spain. Not a fan of the Games of Thrones but it was fun trailing its shooting locations in Girona. From there, we drove and cross the international border to this charming city of Perpignan, south of France. Lastly, we drove at least 4-6 hours (due to multiple stops for picture-taking), to Andorra La Vella, Andora, a small country sandwiched between France and Spain. So that’s how I spent my 36th birthday in Europe.

1st Stop: Portugal

2nd Stop: Greece

3rd Stop: Italy

4th Stop: Spain
5th Stop: Andorra


6th and Final Stop: Andorra

June 2018

Perhaps the most unique and eerie country I’ve been is Iceland. I feel like I’m in Mars; it is so beautiful it is almost un-Earthly. Additionally, I checked off my bucket list of living in a camper van for days. It was so much fun. 

 

RauviTravels: My 2018 travel goal of flying all over the world monthly

RauviTravels to 6 European countries in 9 days

It has been 3 years since the last and the first time I’ve been to Europe and I thought it was high time to go back. And when is the perfect time to visit again? Of course on my birthday just like the first time I went to visit Europe.

Thankfully, my awesome boss (though reluctantly) said YES to my 10-day vacation request. YAY! So how did I visit 6 countries in 10 days? Continue reading to find out. This blog will briefly explain how I did it.

(1st DAY)

On May 10th, I left Boston Logan International Airport for Athens International Airport with an 18-hour layover in Portugal landing at 6:05 in the morning of May 11th. With my quick stop in Portugal, I was able to explore its capital city of Lisboa (Lisbon) and its neighboring town, Sintra. And it was amazing!,/.

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I thought it was misspelled at first but no; Lisboa is the Portuguese word for Lisbon.

Some of the MANY pictures I’ve taken while in Portugal

(2nd DAY)

I left Lisbon Airport at 11:50 on May 11th and landed Athens at 05:45 in the morning on my birthday. YAY! Without any further ado, I spent my 36th year on Earth exploring the mystical city of Athens. Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday, happy birthday…. Happy birthday to me!!!!

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Some of the pictures snapped while exploring the mythological city of Athens.

(3rd DAY and 4th DAY)

At 5:15 in the morning of May 13th, RauviTravels flew to one of my dream destinations, the island of Santorini. Yay!!!!

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Beautiful sunset in Santorini.

I actually contemplated on visiting Santorini at first as I initially decided on seeing the Grand Canal in Venice. Unable to make a decision on my own between Santorini and Venice, I opened a poll on Facebook and let my friend decide my fate. And Santorini it is!

(5th, 6th and 7th DAY)

I bid farewell to Athens on May 15th landing at Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport (Rome) at 10:10 in the morning. Rome and Naples did not disappoint me, not at all. It was what I have always imagined it to be, BEAUTIFUL and HISTORICAL!

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(7th DAY)

Again, with great sadness, I had to say goodbye to Roma, Italia so I could say hello to my destination, Espanya landing Barcelona at 5:00 in the afternoon on May 17th. With Spaniards colonizing most part of the world, including my native country, Philippines, I’ve always been told that my paternal side of the family (originally from Zamboanga) are partially Spanish descents. Go figure! Without hearing my ‘exotic accent’ first, people in the US would often mistake me as Colombian/Portuguese/Hispanic before guessing I’m an Asian. But sadly, the country that I’ve always curious to visit caused my greatest mishap in this whole entire trip. That part of my story would further be explained on my next blog. Hint: I didn’t plan on going straight to the police station as soon as I landed Barcelo Airport nor planned on buying stuffs from head to bottom.

(8th and 9th DAY)

I originally planned on exploring Girona and Costa Brava but sadly, I had to take the latter out of my itinerary due to the unfortunate event I experience as soon as I landed Barcelona. But the cool thing is, I was able to explore 3 countries in a day as I drove crossing the borders of Spain, France and arriving Andorra at 9:00 in the evening on May 18th.

Our plan is to wake up very EARLY on the morning of May 19th to explore more of Andorra but I guess the ‘trip exhaustion’ finally took a toll on us waking up very LATE instead. So it was really a quick stroll in the beautiful capital city of Andorra la Vella to make it back to Barcelona for our 6:00PM flight back home.

The beautiful city of Andorra la Vella

 

Lost in this charming city of Perpignan in Southern France

(10th DAY)

American soil finally…… If my boss would see these pictures, he would certainly joke that that it was me crashing down to a depressive state after a 9-day manic episode, LOL. It was a tiresome 9-day alright but I would not have it the other way. It was an amazing trip and I would love to do it again soon!