Galway, Ireland: Galway City Hostel Review

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Galway is a small town right on the Irish coast. My travels landed me in Galway for a couple of days where I stayed in a charming and warm hostel called the Galway City Hostel. If you’re thinking of staying here as a budget-friendly option during your visit, I suggest you read on!

St Maarten: Review of the Alegria Hotel

Ben and I stayed at the Alegria Hotel in St. Maarten during our trip to the Caribbean because of its awesome views and proximity to the airport. As some of you may know, St. Maarten is a great place to watch airplanes fly closely over your head on Maho Beach and what better way to see it than staying at a hotel that overlooks the beach!

Beaches to Check Out in St. Maarten

St. Maarten is an island in the Caribbean with absolutely stunning views and sights. If staying on the island, grab a rental car and explore many of their beaches to see what makes this island so special.

Killarney, Ireland: Review of the Fairview Hotel

My trip to Ireland involved a brief stay at the Fairview Hotel. It’s a boutique hotel in the town center of Killarney in Ireland and boasts a small town charm. There are about 2 main streets in town full of shops, bars, and hotels. It makes for a great, couple of days stay!

Dingle, Ireland: Review of the Dingle Harbour Lodge

Dingle is a small coastal town in Ireland towards the west. It is full of nature, beautiful views, and small hotels and bed & breakfasts (B&B). My travel adventures in Dingle took me to the Dingle Harbour Lodge, across the street from the water.

Hostel Booking Tips

Hostels are a very cost effective way to travel and can range from a couple of dollars a night to the price of a typical hotel room. They are a great place to meet other travelers while on your journey, share itineraries, and find bar hopping/travel buddies. To make the most of your trip, look beyond the price tag per night and try some of these tips for booking hostels.

Dublin, Ireland: Review of the Generator Hostel

During my stay in Dublin, I wanted to aim for a budget friendly getaway and stayed for a few nights at the Generator Hostel. For those of you who have Dublin on your list of places to see, here’s a review of the hostel for future travels.

Portland, Oregon: Review of The Nines Hotel

The Nines hotel is part of the Luxury Collection of hotels, which are part of the Starwood hotel chain. It is one of the highest rated hotels in Portland and by far the fanciest I have seen in town! As I have stayed here for a near weekly basis over a long stretch of time, I have much to say about how great this hotel is and how much of a second home it has turned into for me.

Portland, Oregon: Gluten Free Guide to Portland

For those who are on a gluten free diet, Portland can be an easygoing place to visit while adhering to eating restrictions. There are many places to eat that have gluten free options or have dishes altered to be gluten free.

Want to know how to stay gluten free (and not sick!) while in Portland?

Portland, Oregon: Review of the Westin Portland

After over a year of weekly travel to Portland, I’ve had a good share of staying in hotels night after night. It’s definitely a nice perk to business travel when you overlook the long hours of work. That being said, it’s about time for a review of one hotel on my favorites list in Portland. The Westin!

Getting Real About Travel: How to Travel the World and Not Quit Your Job

As a travel blogger, I get the opportunity to write about all the great adventures I have been on to share with the rest of the world such you guys. What’s even better is that I am not alone. There are a TON of other travel bloggers out there. If you take a look on Twitter or Instagram, you can easily find travel blog after travel blog. When I started out with travel blogging, I took the time to look through other travel blogs to get ideas and see where others had gone. At times this field of blogging can leave me envious and other times it leaves me motivated to get out there and see the world.

Cute Neighborhoods to Explore in the Silicon Valley

Living in the Silicon Valley can be quite different from San Francisco. The south bay population is more spread out and is home to some of the larger tech companies such as Google, Apple, and Facebook. As it is more spread it out and more family-oriented, the abundance of clubs, bars, and nightlife is far from what exists in San Francisco. However don’t let the quietness of the south bay stop you from exploring it!

Guide to Portland, Oregon

After having stayed in Portland for nearly a year, I guess it’s about time I write up a Portland travel series! I’ve had an interesting relationship with Portland as it is a place where I’ve lived the past year and beyond but also a place where I feel sometimes distant from the local life as work hours have extended long into the night. However in between my free time I have dabbled with checking out some awesome places and highly recommend visiting the town. There’s honestly a lot to offer here in its own special, Portland way.

Carlton, Oregon: Wine Tasting in Soter Vineyards

Despite living in Portland, Oregon for a year, my knowledge of the area is still unfortunately limited. The extent of my knowledge stops at the locations of the bars in downtown. I work late hours most days so it's hard to find time to visit a museum or see things that close at a regular time. However, Ben and I stayed for a weekend in Portland and went out to explore the vineyards.

Munich, Germany: Oktoberfest Travel Tips and Advice

Headed to Oktoberfest sometime in the future? Perhaps planning a trip but not sure how to get there? What is even there? Well this travel guide will hopefully answer all those questions and then some!

Munich, Germany: Oktoberfest for the Gluten Free and Wheat Free

Ah, Oktoberfest! The smell of beer and pretzel just absolutely radiates the air! The cookies at the stands look colorful and delicious enough to eat, though you probably shouldn’t since they’re hard as rocks. The food at every stand looks wonderful and smells amazing. However wonderful everything can seem, this can entirely be a stressful situation if you have wheat or gluten sensitivities.

Redeeming Alaska Miles for International Trips

I am proud to say that I had booked my flight for Ireland a couple of weeks ago. Yes, The Trekking Cat never stops trekking! While doing so, I also had to muddle through some pages on Google and figure out how to actually redeem my points. There aren’t many posts on how to redeem Alaska miles and so I figure this post can help some of you who are equally as curious and struggling with redeeming international flights with Alaska.

Munich, Germany: Test Driving BMWs with BMW On Demand

Ever wanted to drive a higher end BMW without going to a dealership and feeling awkward about test-driving a luxury car you’d never really buy? Besides, it’s not a real test drive if the salesman is trying to sell you the car every single minute of your dinky 10-15 minute ride. I’m sure a lot of you have been in this situation, and I have been especially. You want to test a nice car but the salesman either lets you drive it and harasses you about its features every minute of the drive, or they think you’re too broke because you look like you’re in college and just totally denies you a test run.

Baiersbronn-Tonbach, Germany: Dining at a Three Michelin Star Restaurant in the Black Forest

Back in the bay area (I would even say the United States in general), restaurants rated with a Michelin star have become a bigger and bigger deal among friends. These are a small number of selected restaurants that have been awarded stars in the Michelin Red Guide. A restaurant can be given anywhere from 1 to 3 Michelin stars with 1 being the lowest on the scale and 3 being extraordinarily good. The funny thing is that this started with the tire manufacturer, Michelin. The guide was intended to boost tire sales by convincing the public to take road trips and burn through the tires of their cars (to buy more tires) while dining at these recommended establishments.

Fuerteventura, Spain: Sheraton Fuerteventura Beach, Golf & Spa Resort Review

One major stop on my European trip was one of the Canary Islands, Fuerteventura. Although it’s owned by Spain, the island is actually located of the coast of the northern part of Africa, giving it a very interesting terrain. The island was formed due to volcanic eruptions, which created the land. The volcanic eruptions along with a lack of water inside the island makes the land mostly desert. However as it is an island, there is a plethora of beaches and sand dunes created from sands carried over from the nearby continent.