Winter is the finest time to daydream of summer travel, and it’s also the prime time to plan your summer stay. For most, Florida will do, but it’s far more rewarding to think within more enthralling parameters. I traveled to northern Italy a few winters ago, and while my experience was well cultured and unforgettable, I knew that a summer in Southern Italy would be in my ideal future. Locals will tell you that there’s a drastic difference between northern and southern Italy, from agriculture to accents and that it’s worth your while to explore the differences. Southern Italy is also one for the eyes. With colorful homes stacked on hills and waves crashing along the shoreline all day and night long, it’s picturesque. Because the coastal region of Italy is flooded in ripe fruit and vegetables, as well as fresh food from the sea, you’re bound to find delectable dishes all over the southern region, promising to please your palate every time, making southern Italy a great destination this summer! “In Italy, they add work and life on to food and wine.” – Robin Leach Written by: Backpack Britt
Hello. I’m Brittany, and I like to travel. I enjoy sharing photos and telling stories about the places I’ve been and the experiences I’ve had. After graduating college, I backpacked Europe alone. Some would say I’m a bold traveler, but I feel like I’m just getting started. I tend to attract colorful situations, so I hope you enjoy what you read!
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The holidays may be over but the winter, especially for life in Chicago, is just beginning. I’ll miss the sun’s soul warming beams as the day in daytime dwindles down to a few insufficient hours, but winter also has a calming effect on me. Every winter, I shut my eyes and imagine somewhere warmer, new to me, exotic even. Then the process begins. This year, I’m committing to Bangkok. After booking my trip and tours of Thailand, I know I’ll have something nice to look forward to all winter long: the new faces, the soothing seas, the local food, and the freshness of a new location. And that in of itself is enough to warm my soul and drive me through winter. So while you’re dwelling in your winter blues, keep your life interesting by broadening your horizons in Brazil, Costa Rica, Australia, even the north shores of Hawaii will ignite your inner nomad’s curious mind. You’ll be giving yourself a great reason to love winter. Thanks for reading! “One must maintain a little bit of Summer even in the middle of Winter.” – Henry David Thoreau Written by: Backpack Britt
Hello. I’m Brittany, and I like to travel. I enjoy sharing photos and telling stories about the places I’ve been and the experiences I’ve had. After graduating college, I backpacked Europe alone. Some would say I’m a bold traveler, but I feel like I’m just getting started. I tend to attract colorful situations, so I hope you enjoy what you read! Happy Holidays Travelers! It’s that time of the year! Christmas lights, holiday spirit, caroling, and yes, holiday shopping. We’ll sit and rack our minds about what gifts are suitable for our family and friends, and we all end up with socks. But what is the perfect gift? A gift that will show them how much you appreciate and love them, something both unforgettable and worthwhile: Travel! I’m a pretty easy person to shop for, and honestly, I am pleased with a good pair of holiday socks, but my favorite gift is incomparable. It’s the gift of travel. Most years, my dad will help send me on a trip somewhere, and every year, it’s memorable. I take my little sister on weekend getaway trips for her birthday, and every year, it’s memorable. And the best part is looking back and remembering where we traveled the last year, what we did, and the fun we had. You’ve probably heard that travel is the only thing that you buy that makes you richer, and any traveler will tell you, it’s true. Thanks for reading! “Travel is the only thing that you can buy that makes you richer.” Written by: Backpack Britt
Hello. I’m Brittany, and I like to travel. I enjoy sharing photos and telling stories about the places I’ve been and the experiences I’ve had. After graduating college, I backpacked Europe alone. Some would say I’m a bold traveler, but I feel like I’m just getting started. I tend to attract colorful situations, so I hope you enjoy what you read! Hi Travelers! The holidays are before us Thanksgiving is just a week away! Families will soon be reunited, and you better believe airports will be packed! I love me some winter travel, but if you don’t like the airport chaos, alleviate the stress by arriving earlier than usual. They say 2 hours prior to your flight will get you where you want to be, but I’d recommend arriving 3 hours early (at the very least!) during the holiday months, and if you are traveling international, add an hour to that time. It’s a safer bet, and you’ll find that you’ll need that extra time in the security line! I’d also recommend using bright colored luggage. Reason being, there will be a higher than usual amount of luggage in the baggage claim, so you’ll want to not only be able to identify your luggage easily, you will also prevent others from mistakenly snagging your bag for theirs. Just a couple tips for the holidays. Happy traveling! Thanks for reading! “Travel makes the heart grow fonder.” Written by: Backpack Britt
Hello. I’m Brittany, and I like to travel. I enjoy sharing photos and telling stories about the places I’ve been and the experiences I’ve had. After graduating college, I backpacked Europe alone. Some would say I’m a bold traveler, but I feel like I’m just getting started. I tend to attract colorful situations, so I hope you enjoy what you read! Hello travelers, Valentine’s Day may seem like a bit of a ways away, but this is actually the time to start booking trips in order to receive reasonable fares for a nice Valentine’s Day getaway. A good traveler knows being prepared is one of the most important pieces of traveling. So maybe you want to get away to Costa Rica when it’s still chilly wherever you will be in February. Maybe send your parents on a trip to the Caribbean? Maybe you want to be romantic like the movies and leave the country for Paris or Rome? Whatever trips you have up your sleeve (see what I did there), Green Earth Travel wants you to know that you should begin your trip planning just a few months in advance. Like now! Then you’ll have something nice to look forward to in the winter. Thanks for reading! “A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for” – John A. Shedd Written by: Backpack Britt
Hello. I’m Brittany, and I like to travel. I enjoy sharing photos and telling stories about the places I’ve been and the experiences I’ve had. After graduating college, I backpacked Europe alone. Some would say I’m a bold traveler, but I feel like I’m just getting started. I tend to attract colorful situations, so I hope you enjoy what you read! If you haven’t heard, Green Earth Travel is now booking tours for the Vegan Italian Festival for the month of July 2015! The vegan tours will take you to the Amalfi Coast. Each tour stars 12 special guests all month long. This Italian tour got me thinking about Italy and the time I traveled from Venice to Rome. Venice was my first Italian stop and originally, I did not plan to stick around until my train pulled into this glamorous city. It was the most unique place I had ever visited. Even the water taxis impressed me. Because Venice won’t be around forever, it’s a must see. Verona, the home of Romeo and Juliet, was a lovely city. I was fortunate enough to end up in Verona during their annual chocolate festival that takes place in the winter. The cobblestone streets were lined with vendors selling chocolate cameras, chocolate hammers and bolts, chocolate books, chocolate keys and locks...etc. Rome was Rome. It was a big busy beautiful city. You can walk a few blocks then Bam! You are looking at original Roman architecture amidst modern buildings. I learned that the leaning tower of Pisa is great, but Pisa is an even greater location for people watching. In fact, I enjoyed people watching more than I enjoyed the leaning tower itself. I stayed at a vegan yoga retreat in the mountains of Umbria, right outside of Tuscany. The owner prepared delicious meals including wine every day. After the first night there, it snowed. And lastly, there was Florence. Of course I marveled at the Statue of David’s thighs for over an hour and daydreamed about Michelangelo chiseling away. Thanks for reading! “I’m in love with cities I’ve never been to.” Written by: Backpack Britt
Hello. I’m Brittany, and I like to travel. I enjoy sharing photos and telling stories about the places I’ve been and the experiences I’ve had. After graduating college, I backpacked Europe alone. Some would say I’m a bold traveler, but I feel like I’m just getting started. I tend to attract colorful situations, so I hope you enjoy what you read! The Ebola outbreak has made international news, and all the information can be a little overwhelming. Thankfully, the CDC’s website is thorough, informative, and a great source for travelers. The CDC is warning travelers to “avoid non essential travel’ to Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone as well as alerting travelers to “practice enhanced precautions in Democratic Republic of the Congo.” They are also offering advice to students, universities, and humanitarian workers as well as providing guidance for airlines and offering free posters in the form of a PDF to any country. You’ll also find the health advisory for the public as well as advice for airline workers, i.e. exit screening protocol, and other print resources. The CDC is taking this outbreak very seriously which means you should too. Get More Information From cdc.gov Thanks for reading! “If at some point you don’t ask yourself ‘what have I gotten myself into?’ then you’re not doing it right.”Roland Gau Written by: Backpack Britt
Hello. I’m Brittany, and I like to travel. I enjoy sharing photos and telling stories about the places I’ve been and the experiences I’ve had. After graduating college, I backpacked Europe alone. Some would say I’m a bold traveler, but I feel like I’m just getting started. I tend to attract colorful situations, so I hope you enjoy what you read! In recent years, airplanes have been exposed and their filth, revealed. I pride myself on my outstanding immune system; I rarely feel under the weather. To that end, I manage to fly the air without bringing a cold home. After international flights, however, I’m not always so lucky. Let’s face it. With the small enclosed spaces on an aircraft, airplanes are germ infested and your likely to bring home an airplane cold after any given flight. Here’s some tips on how to be proactive and prevent catching a cold when you’re in the clouds. Drink plenty of H2O. This really goes without saying. Wear a face mask. One that covers both your nose and mouth. You may look like a hypochondriac, but hey. That’s okay. Wash your hands. After touching your seat belt, the overhead bin, the small table that folds out in front of you, the hand of the person you are sitting next to after your brief introduction to cut the awkwardness. Just sanitize. Trust me. Don’t eat the ice. Ice that just sits around also collects bacteria. Coliform bacteria. Order a juice, soda or purchase a bottle of water preflight instead. Bring a book. Or magazine. Or Kindle. Anything that will prevent you from flipping through the airline catalog and touching the seat pocket. Thanks for reading! “Travelers never think that they are foreigners.” Mason Cooley Written by: Backpack Britt
Hello. I’m Brittany, and I like to travel. I enjoy sharing photos and telling stories about the places I’ve been and the experiences I’ve had. After graduating college, I backpacked Europe alone. Some would say I’m a bold traveler, but I feel like I’m just getting started. I tend to attract colorful situations, so I hope you enjoy what you read! To piggyback off the last post, we thought we’d share some of our favorite free language translation applications we use when we travel to foreign lands.
Thanks for reading “For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return.” Leonardo da Vinci Written by: Backpack Britt
Hello. I’m Brittany, and I like to travel. I enjoy sharing photos and telling stories about the places I’ve been and the experiences I’ve had. After graduating college, I backpacked Europe alone. Some would say I’m a bold traveler, but I feel like I’m just getting started. I tend to attract colorful situations, so I hope you enjoy what you read! If you think you can travel without a basic knowledge of your destinations’ native languages, you should give it another thought. Westernization has definitely made an impact across the world. Travelers are aware that finding a locally-made souvenir is already a challenge. Even major cities have gradually and in some places abruptly adopted the English language so much so that native languages are losing their mystique while making it easier for English speaking people to travel all over. Last week, however, I had the pleasure of speaking with a tour agent about traveling southern Italy. Although there are islands i.e. Sicily that are easy to navigate due to their English application in their every day speech, many smaller cities within Italy are not as accommodating. In fact, to work for a tour agency, speaking Italian is not a bonus but a requirement. If you’re lost in northern Italy, as I was in Venice during an off season, you may not run into an English speaking Italian with a GPS. If you think about it, language is a beautiful cultural device, and we are fortunate that many countries and cities preserve their native tongues. If you are not a traveler, I want to emphasis the importance of learning a second language – especially if you plan to journey beyond touristy destinations or if you travel during an off season. Foreign languages are still alive! Just a tip Written by: Backpack Britt
Hello. I’m Brittany, and I like to travel. I enjoy sharing photos and telling stories about the places I’ve been and the experiences I’ve had. After graduating college, I backpacked Europe alone. Some would say I’m a bold traveler, but I feel like I’m just getting started. I tend to attract colorful situations, so I hope you enjoy what you read! |
AuthorWriter and Blogger Brittany Lucero studied both PR and Fine Art and graduated with honors at Reinhardt university. Upon completion of her certifications, and after saving funds earned from nanny and restaurant jobs, she took two months to travel Europe alone. Since then, Brittany has made her way to several countries, including Thailand, Iceland, Japan, and recently, Ireland. Through her experiences traveling, she discovered another passion of hers: whiskey-making. From the Bourbon Trail to Japan, she's explored this subject, and currently wears many hats in her role at a local, organic distillery in Chicago while still finding time to travel- of course. Archives
September 2017
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