Ryan & Laura of Round We Go
As told by Ryan
We're both from St. Louis, but met on a beach in Destin, Florida. I went to study abroad in Ireland and Laura came over to visit and we traveled through Ireland and Scotland. Laura studied in Spain the following year and I ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Stories
Valentine's Day inspiration from travel blogging couples
Ryan & Laura of Round We Go
As told by Ryan
We're both from St. Louis, but met on a beach in Destin, Florida. I went to study abroad in Ireland and Laura came over to visit and we traveled through Ireland and Scotland. Laura studied in Spain the following year and I ...Vagabond Tales: Snorkeling with irukandji, one of the deadliest animals on Earth
"This guy over here has been tagged three times mate."
The dive instructor on our Whitsunday Islands cruise peels off his neoprene gloves and shows us a slight scar located just above the knuckle of his right thumb.
"Luckily every time they got me it was in the ...Hiking across Mordor in Tongariro National Park
There aren't many places where you feel the urge to wear your wedding ring around your neck and begin dodging fictional forces of evil.
New Zealand's Tongariro National Park, however, is exactly one of those places.
As anyone who has been to a movie theater in the ...Vagabond Tales: Swimming with elephants in Thailand
Anyone who has visited Thailand will recognize the word Chang.
The national beer of Thailand, the over sized green bottles are found everywhere from the markets of Chiang Mai to the bars of Bangkok's Khao San Road. In the Thai language, however, Chang does not mean ...Budget travel tips from the girls of Sixpenny Globe
Last year, recent college graduates Kelsey Ogden and Kristen Refermat set off on the adventure of their lives -- a four-month, 12-country backpacking trip -- armed with two packs, four cameras, and a desire to document the ups and downs of traveling on $30 per day.
The ...Stand up paddling with stingrays in New Zealand's Murderer's Bay
Though Captain James Cook was the first European to set foot on the islands of New Zealand in 1769, he was not the first European to "discover it". That honor would belong to Dutch explorer Abel Tasman who sailed past the country while navigating the Southern Ocean for ...Vagabond Tales: Is sandboarding better than snowboarding?
Contrary to what you may believe, the ocean in Peru is not very warm. In fact, it's not warm at all. It's freezing.
Other than desert outposts in the northern reaches of the country where it's still possible to surf in boardshorts (Mancora, Vichayito, etc.), the ...Kaikoura, New Zealand: Surfing, seals, and seafood
"The chowder isn't the type you have back in the States" I am warned.
The brunette woman working the oceanfront seafood cart has detected my accent and is concerned I won't like her steaming bowl of mollusks.
"There isn't much cream, just freshly made broth mixed ...Myanmar Misfortune: a visit to the fortuneteller in Yangon
The man who told me my unfortunate future, did so with glee. I quickly learned he had a proclivity for sustaining the last syllable of every sentence, like a Spanish-speaking soccer play-by-play announcer after a goal, or a game show host announcing I'd just won a ...Franz Josef glacier: Big icy tongue of the rainforest
"The Franz Josef Glacier is so singularly beautiful, so beautiful indeed, and centered amongst such vivid, exceptional, and picturesque surroundings that if it were situated in any other country than New Zealand it would have long ago been acclaimed 'The Most Beautiful ...Vagabond Tales: "The Governator is better, yes?"
Crossing borders can always be a bit of a hectic experience. There are long lines, scam artists, customs officials, new currencies, people offering to expedite your visa process for a fee, screaming children, rogue livestock, and occasionally people with guns. Dirty and ...Vagabond Tales: The strange food of Vietnam
Apparently, there are no sharks left in Vietnam.
This is not a scientific fact. It's based solely upon the opinion of my dive instructor in Nha Trang, a trendy resort town in southern Vietnam. While you may initially think this is a good thing, the sad reality is that ...The best walk in the world? Tackling New Zealand's Routeburn Track
"I keep wondering whether I really like tramping...the cold and the loneliness and the fear--do they outweigh the magnificence, the terrible impersonal glory of the mountains?"
-Charles Brusch, Poet-
14 miles is too far to walk when you're on vacation. And ...10 free things to do in Paris, France
While Paris, France, is not typically thought of as a budget travel destination, with some research and planning it is possible to visit the The City of Lights without spending a fortune. Just add some of these free and fun activities to your itinerary to help you save cash ...Life in Japan, from sushi's perspective
In Japan, conveyor belt sushi, or kaiten-zushi, is the equivalent of a burger joint or taco stand: a cheap, quick dining option for people from all walks of life. At kaiten-zushi establishments, small plates of sushi, sashimi, and other Japanese specialties are ...
Vagabond Tales: Nobody plans to visit a hospital in Uruguay
About the last thing that anyone wants to have happen on their vacation is to end up in the hospital. This much nearly all travelers can agree upon.
What's even more fun is ending up in a hospital in a country that speaks a foreign language, realizing your vocabulary ...A funny letter of complaint to an airline with an unusual response from customer service
Apparently, Southwest Airlines' passenger B.J. Schone had a rather unpleasant experience on his flight, or at least once he got off, as his brand new TravelPro suitcase had been damaged. Instead of taking the action that most people on a late-night flight home for Christmas ...Tips for road-tripping with your dog part 2: tips from commenters
I recently published a piece here on Gadling titled 10 tips for road-tripping with your dog. Somewhat chronicling my experience with hitting the road for 38 consecutive days with my 6 month old puppy, I thought through what made the trip work for me and compiled those ...Freedom to Roam: The Southern Alps by helicopter
No, the Southern Alps aren't in the south of France or Italy as the name may lead you to believe. Rather, they are 12 time zones away in a remote corner of the Pacific Ocean and form the spine of the rugged South Island of New Zealand. Home to National Parks such as ...Vagabond Tales: Lunch on Guilty Beach, Cambodia
Lunch on Guilty Beach was a tough meal to swallow.
If you look on a map of Sihanoukville, Cambodia, you'll find beaches such as Victory Beach and Independence Beach, but you'll find no such place as Guilty Beach. Regardless of what a map might say, unofficially, every ...
