Wanderlust: Travel Goals

My goal in life, money-wise, was always to make enough of it to live comfortably and travel every year. And today, after extensively discussing travel and living abroad with several people, I decided it was time to get organized on my travel goals, at least for the next 10 years. I’m setting up a plan to save extra money every month for a travel fund, research the places I want to visit and deals/prices to make it happen. I’ve been already cutting my expenses to the bare minimum (I really don’t need cable tv), and i’ve been doing some extra photography on the side, to help up with my travel-fund goals.

This year, I have two trips planned: Southern Utah and a road trip in California. I’ll be talking about those soon, but in the meantime, here are my goals for the next 10 years:

International:

In the next 10 years, I’d like to visit at least 3-5 countries I’ve never been to, with the following being on my top 5:

Photos: Japan | NZ | Canada | Scotland | Thailand

(Also on the list, but maybe we’ll shoot to go to all those in my 40s: Germany, Australia, South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Greece, Turkey, South Korea, Czech Republic, Iceland)

Japan is definitely happening in the near future. I already started saving for it, and I have an idea of hoe much money I need to make it happen. I’d like to make it a 2-week trip, with at least 2 or 3 days dedicated to Disneyland Tokyo. I’m also very curious to see all the temples and historical sites in the country, and not really high on my list of priorities is Tokyo, actually. Except, I’d love to go shopping for all sort of cool things, and to spend a couple of hours at a Cat Cafe. New Zealand is somewhere I’d like to go and spend some good time at, maybe doing a road trip through the islands, like my friend Adina from Gluten Free Travelette did. I’d love to go see all the places that Lord of the Rings were filmed at (#nerd), and to enjoy the sea, of course. And, Canada! I can’t believe I live so close to it, and yet, haven’t visited. This is definitely on the short list because it will be very easy to make it happen. I might even make it to Vancouver before Japan. But I’d also like to go to Quebec on the other coast. Scotland is another top spot on my list, especially Isle of Skye, who has some striking landscapes. Thailand is last, but not least. I have a friend who lives there, and I’d love to visit her and see all the beautiful sights of the country.

And I’d love to revisit some of my favorite stops in Europe, from when I went when I was 14:

Photos: London | Venice | France 1 & 2

I know they are the top 3 cliche places to visit in Europe, but what can I say? There’s a reason why they are so popular, and I’d love to make my way back to all three. I’d also love to explore much more of England than I did when I was only 14 and a little tied up to my group to be able to go anywhere I wanted. For example, we never made it to Stonehenge, one of the places I most wanted to visit at the time, because the driver didn’t feel like driving us there. I was so sad about it, I’ve longed to go back to go check out that place. And to revisit so many of my other favorite cities I’ve been to on that trip: Oxford, Brighton, and of course, London. At least when I was in England, I was there for 3 weeks with plenty of time to explore, but the rest of Europe was a blur. Two days in Paris, with a quick sightseeing tour where we didn’t even stop at the attractions, except for the Eiffel Tower. I, with a couple of other friends at the time, vowed to go back with our significant others some day, so Mike, let’s get on with this! lol. And Venice, ah.. I even wrote here some other day how I wish to go back there on a photo trip, to just enjoy the city for a couple of months and take pictures.

In the USA:

I’d also like to add some more US travel to my itineraries, I feel like there’s so much of this country for me to see yet:

Photos: Hawaii | DC | Alaska

I have been dreaming of a Hawaii vacation for years. I’ve been trying to find a friend who’d be willing to go, but due to costs and how much time off we’d need, it’s been kind of tricky. So  Hawaii has been postponed indefinitely, but if anyone feels like going in February next year, let’s make some plans. I’ve been to DC for a conference, so I only had a day to sightsee, and I’d love to go back and actually spend time in all the museums. Alaska ia also a place I’d love to visit, big expanses of striking landscape is kind of my thing.

I also made a quick Google Maps to place virtual pins on all places I have visited and or lived so far. I hope to expand on it in the near future.

View Been there, done that in a larger map

You can check out my travels on my photography blog.

Nachos Quest: El Chubasco, Park City

I know, I’ve been slacking off on my Nachos Quest. And even though I have had some nachos since my last review, the last one I had got me sick for a week, so I really didn’t feel like revisiting them and sharing them with you (so you’ll see no review from Cafe Rio’s nachos on this blog). But let’s move on to more interesting topics: the El Chubasco Mexican Grill in Park City, UT. This restaurant is an old favorite, thanks to their fantastic salsa bar. Really, half the time we go there we joke we’ll just order chips and try out all their salsas. But no, we always do order something more substantial to eat, and we are never disappointed. So this time I decided to order their nachos, and I was not disappointed!

I got the vegetarian nachos, which are always my favorite. For the cheesy part of the nachos, they had queso, which in general is not my favorite, but their queso was good. I did dump another 3 containers of pico de gallo, because the more tomatoes and onions, the better! I could have gone back for even more pico de gallo, but I contained myself, and just dumped another bunch of Chipotle sauce (another favorite). So overall, those nachos were really good, but so were the burritos and tamales I have ordered there before!

Price: $ (less than $10)

Presentation: 3 out of 5

Taste: 4 out of 5

Restaurant’s Ambiance: 4 out of 5

New Blurb Designer Templates

A few weeks ago, I was offered an early bird trial of Blurb’s new Designer Photo Book Templates and I of course said, Yes! Now that I have my finished product in front of me, I’d like to share how fun and easy it was to create this beautiful looking photo album! If you have recently taken a fun family trip or want to remember a great birthday party, head over to Blurb and create one of their new Designer Books using the code DESIGNMYBOOK and receive 20% off your order! You can thank me later!

Offer Code: DESIGNMYBOOK | What it’s good for: 20% Off Designer Book Templates only* | Expires: 3/31/

*Fine print: Get 20% USD, AUD, CAD or EUR off your Blurb Designer Bookify product total up to $150. Offer expires March 31, 2013 11.59pm local time. May only be used once per customer and on books created by you. May not be combined with any other coupons, volume discount or applied retroactively to previous orders.

Travel Archives: Fernando de Noronha

[Download High Res Map]

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while now. About 10 years ago, I visited one of the most beautiful islands in the world, the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago in Brazil. It’s true it’s been a while, but I still have vivid memories from that trip. Today I’m sharing the highlights of the island, and I hope you’ll be adding this destination to your “places to visit” list!

A few basics to get started:  Fernando de Noronha is a 21-island archipelago, 220 miles offshore from the Brazilian coast. They have a small airport, with daily flights to and from Recife and Natal.  The main island is only 7 square miles, and a population of 3,000 people. Since it’s such a small island, the locals have a lot of regulations to make sure the island remains the paradise it is: only a limited number of tourists can visit the island daily; you pay a fee for each day you stay on the island, and that money goes toward conservation and research funds in the island; there are very few hotels, and the ones they have tend to be expensive, but most of the locals have rooms in their houses they rent out to tourists (I did have to share a bed with my mom when I went, but the room was clean, the breakfast was delicious, and our hosts were very nice people). Upon arrival in the island, all tourists have to attent an intro session where you learn about the island and the rules to follow to help maintain its eco-system. All this work is pretty impressive, and reason why this is probably my favorite destination in Brazil.

I visited Fernando de Noronha with my mom, in July, which is the off-season since it’s “winter” in Brazil (but that up north, it never gets really cold). My first thought when our plane cleared the clouds and started descending towards the island is that I was landing in paradise. The view from the plane is just breathtaking (so get a window seat!). For the rest of this post, I’ll share memories and pictures from the trip (taken by me or my mom, all in film) and share a few of my favorite spots from Fernando de Noronha! 

Two Brothers Island is the postcard of Fernando de Noronha. Just do a quick google search, and you’ll be overwhelmed by a similar image from the one I shared above. No surprises, though, it is one of the most breathtaking views in all the island. It was a highly anticipated stop on the tour we did on our last day in the island. We started it on Sancho Bay, where I had  to descend on a very narrow staircase encased in rock, where I couldn’t see the bottom of it. No idea if it has changed since then, but that was part of the reason why this area is so beautiful: it’s so hard to access it. After descending the staircase (I have a fear of heights, it was not easy, but this was worth conquering my fear for), we spent some time at Sancho Bay, before heading out to the main attraction: Porcos Bay, where you can view the Two Brothers Island in their best angle. I am trying to think of words to describe how amazing it was to enjoy the beach at this spot, with this fantastic view to admire. The beach was very rocky, which I personally prefer, and with warm water. I’m pretty sure our tour guides let us enjoy this beach for a long time, but I remember it felt like it was not enough. I don’t know if you have the option to explore without tour guides and groups, but if there is, and you have plenty of time, I think it would be an ideal spot to do it.

Atalaia Beach is a top spot on the island for snorkeling. But here’s the catch: you cannot let your foot touch the bottom of the ocean while you are snorkeling! The reason behind it is, and I’m paraphrasing here, to not interfere in any way with the eco-system in that area. Anyway, here’s another confession: I’m scared of fish. So I was pretty nervous about this part of our trip, but since it’s supposed to be one of the cool things to do in Noronha, I went ahead and did it! And it is true, it might have been my best time in the island. I don’t snorkel or scuba dive, so having my head under water while breathing through that tube for a good chunk of time was a new thing for me. And it really helped me be, well, immersed in that place. While under the water, everything was just so quiet and peaceful. You’re just floating in it, and all the colors of all the fish and sea life swimming around you… I’m no poet, but you get the idea. Worth every anxious moment. And here’s the thing, I wasn’t on a “good” place when we went on this trip. So a lot of my memories on the island are very contemplative and a little melancholic, but in a good way.

This is another classic Fernando de Noronha must do, a boat ride to see the Dolphins. The boat ride is fun even without the dolphins, because you get to check out the island from a different point of view from the one you might have before (if you didn’t arrive by boat). But hey, I won’t lie, the dolphins are cool, albeit cliche. And of course nowadays with a digital camera you can actually get a decent picture of a dolphin. With my analog camera, this is the best I got (out of 8?).

This is another of the island’s postcards, the Morro do Pico. That rock formation is a little over 1,000 feet tall, and you can see the two brothers island peeking out in the distance too. I think this is one of the first places we went when we got to the island!

This area is also pretty close to the island’s “downtown” area with restaurants, bars, and nightlife. You can see on the map, the little area marked as Cachorro Beach (Cachorro translates to “dog,” by the way), which is the place where everyone converges at the end of a long day of diving, hiking, swimming, etc. Cachorro Beach is also the hot spot to see the sunset.

Well, those are all the highlights, but I had other pretty images to share from the trip, and some of them I don’t remember exactly where they were taken at, or what you’re looking at in the picture. Film cameras are fun, though!

Disclaimer: it’s been 10 years since I visited Fernando de Noronha, so not all of my information may be correct. The intent of this post is to get you excited about visiting this amazing place. If you have been recently, and would like to help out with details, please feel free to leave a comment below!

Nachos Quest Continues: Little Anita in Albuquerque, NM

I had big plans for this road trip through the US Southwest, and my plans included loads of Mexican food, and preferably, nachos. And my first (and last, snif snif) opportunity to do so on our trip, was in this small, diner-style restaurant I spotted as we were searching for our hotel in Albuquerque, New Mexico, after grueling 10 hours on the road. And, oh, excuse me the unappetizing cell phone photos that illustrate this post. Have I mentioned the 10 hours of driving yet?

Anyway, we got to our hotel and they did not have our reservation in the system yet, so we decided to take a dinner break, and headed back to that Little Anita I had seen on the way. The reviews on Foursquare were all pretty good, so we decided it was safe to give it a go. Plus, a restaurant with my name in it? Never mind that is completely redundant, since Anita basically means “little Ana” in Spanish already, so “Little Little Ana” it’s kind of silly, but maybe that’s what the owner was going for. I don’t know. But I ordered my nachos, vegetarian too (I’m not one to take risks eating meat when I need to travel the next day, you never know). They sounded great on paper: “Crisp, hot tostada chips topped with refried beans, melted cheddar cheese, jalapenos, black olives, and diced tomatoes. 6.95.” How to say no to that?

But the truth is, when the nachos came around, not even the fact that I was basically starving saved them. I ate the entire thing, yet, but had little pleasure. I was more excited about the chips and salsa we had as an appetizer, because the salsa was spicy-y-y! I was happy, it had a great taste, the taste of “you are not in Utah anymore,” the taste of being away from home!

Overall, the nachos fell short. They weren’t bad, but I expected more of New Mexican nachos. And the late night, i-have-a-rock-on-my-stomach feeling was less than agreeable.

Price: $ (less than $10)

Presentation: 2 out of 5

Taste: 2 out of 5

Restaurant’s Ambiance: 2 out of 5

Best Moments of 2012!

Hello, hello! Wow, 2013 is already over a week old, and here I am, finally with two minutes to spare and write something about it. First off, I got recap by saying that 2012 was an AMAZING year. I mean, I’m sure there were sad or dumb things that happened, but they were overwhelmed by all the great things, and I’d like to share a bit of it.

1. I turned 30! And it wasn’t as bad as people made it sound it would be. I might even dare to say that the 30s are the new 20s! Oh goodness, yes, that sounds extremely silly, because 30s are better than your 20s. Sure, in your 20s you’re young, your metabolism is high, your skin tight, and your alcohol tolerance is something to boast about, but the 30s are SO much better. The independence you get, for starters, your own job, your own house, your own car (oh wait, still working on that one because buses are just so much easier and green), your own wardrobe (more on that later), and the paycheck is something to boast about to your 20-year-old self. She definitely did NOT make this much money. But I also love the tranquility this age brings. In my 20s everything was so fast-paced, late nights, intelectual conversations, parties, the constant need to be on motion at all times. It seems I like the tranquility of my 30s better. Dinner parties that end before 10 pm, friends to go have coffee with at all odd hours in the day, good afternoons spent with books, putting puzzles (ahem, legos) together with the boyfriend. This whole “in bed by 10″ is just so much more me.

2. I traveled a lot! I mean, I didn’t go very far, but I stepped outside my state quite a few times this year, and this is something I’ve been dreaming of doing since I started college. It was my goal in life, really, to have a job that would help me afford trips. What else does a girl need besides great travel pictures? And planning for my next trip is always fun, something to look forward to when the days drag. Anyway, to boast about my traveling this year… I started the year by spending 10 days in Florida with the boyfriend, where we visited all my beloved Disney World parks (I was a cast member there for an internship once, and still love the place dearly) and the new Harry Potter theme park within Universal (big nerd, I know). Then not much long after, Mike and I drove the 6 hours to Las Vegas to watch Noel Gallagher in concert. And then there were the long summer months, stretching and lazying around… And when Fall was finally here, a friend and I planned an impromptu Disneyland & South California trip (I call it impromptu because most of my trips take months of careful planning and researching, because I love doing that too), and spend 3 awesome days soaking the sun in California. And to top it off, my most awaited trip of the year: a two-week road trip to Austin, TX! We drove through Southern Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, and Western Texas, and then stayed a few days in Austin. We had big plans for the way back, but several snowstorm warnings made us just drive as fast as we could back home, so we wouldn’t get stuck somewhere with snow we couldn’t handle (and we still got at least 200 miles of really bad weather we had to drive through).

3. I spent a year without shopping! Yes! If you’ve been visiting me here, you probably already know about my other blog, Occupy the Wardrobe, where me and 4 friends started a year of not shopping in 2012 (to which I was the only one to go through all the way to the end, but I guess Vica was excused by being pregnant…). And it was an eye-opening experience. Not necessarily to my spending habits (which admittedly, are not really bad), but to how stuck creatively I was with my own clothes. So I started 2012 by getting organized, getting rid of anything that I didn’t wear or was just not flattering, and then proceeded to be super stylish in 2012 without buying anything new. Just to show you can be cool without owning the latest trends. But it was hard watching Spring roll by and not being able to buy any colored jeans!!!

4. I learned to sew! And trust me when I say I didn’t think I’d progress this much in a year, but by the end of 2012 I already could tackle complicated projects like dresses and pants. I have a few new items on my wardrobe thanks to my newly acquired skills. And let’s not forget that it’s such a great way to decrease stress. This year I started working on a velvety-ish dress from a Butterick pattern, but I had a bunch of problem and already unstitched and stitched it back on a bunch of times, but I’m intent on making it look the best, so I’ll keep on it. Lately, the hem is giving me trouble, but fixing it shall be easy.

For 2013, I’m starting it light. No hardcore New Year resolutions, just one: to take more pictures. I did terrible in 2012, because I was taking so many pictures of me. But this year I want to go out more and take pictures outside. And I’d like to write more photography tutorials for beginners, little tips and tidbits that I have learned that would help improve the photos of people that are not really into photography, but would like to have their photos look good more often. I had to do so many self portraits this year, I picked up a few new things. Maybe I’ll do that.

Abandoned

Those photos are old, but I just stumbled across them (again, it seems I always go back to them) when looking for something for a different project. The place in the photos was a small part of my growing up. Here’s the story: my parents had a sailboat for most of my life (I think the first time I set foot in one I was 4 or 5, but dad you can correct me if I’m wrong), so spending time by the sea was a normal occurrence during our weekends. This abandoned place in the pictures, used to be an inn and restaurant in one of the main islands in the Angra dos Reis bay area, in Brazil. I remember visiting it often, I remember that the restaurant was expensive, the inn kind of fancy and isolated, and they even had an ape  in cage in the back (I’m sure that was illegal…). There would always be people out and about around there, and boats lining up on the pier. And then I grew up, moved away for college and didn’t return for a really long time.

In 2005, I think it was around Christmas time, I went back to that sailboat for one last time (not that at the time I knew it would be the last-last). When we arrived at that island, the inn and restaurant was just ruins. It looked like it had been there abandoned for decades, not a mere few years. It made me feel like that place never really existed, and that all my memories of there were just a fantasy. Did it all really happened, or was it just a trance hiding from me what the place was really like, a bunch of ruins?

Most likely is just that deterioration happens much faster in a tropical area, and so close to the sea. Nevertheless, the place has quite an interesting feel. Enjoy the images.

Enjoy the Silence – Sunset Beach, CA

I wanted to post just this one picture from my trip to California here. Just this one, by itself, just like this. I think the few hours I spent at Sunset Beach were very interesting ones. The beach was deserted, and the wind added a little of coolness to the air. I like the way the sand felt under my toes, and how cold the ocean felt once I stepped in it. But above all, I loved the complete silence from man-made sounds there. It was just the wind, the waves, and the birds. The birds, actually, would just fly and sit around pretty close by, enjoying the same wind and silence like I was. I miss being close to water. I don’t care about living at the beach, but I miss dipping my toes in the water, and I miss days like this, of complete silence and contemplation, just me and the sounds the ocean makes and nothing else.

But if you’d like to see more pictures from the trip, I have all of them looking all really pretty at my Photography Blog.

In Search of the Best Nachos: Taqueria Jo’s

I’m happy to announce a new category on the blog: nachos! For those of you that don’t know, nachos have quickly became one of my favorite things to eat. It’s usually the first thing I look for on the menu if I’m at a Mexican restaurant or at a pub, and one of the only things I’ll eat at my work’s cafeteria (not that the other options are bad, but the nachos my favorite thing they offer). In the hopes of finding out where I can order the best nachos, I decided to start reviewing them so I (and you!) can know exactly where to go for the best nachos.

Since I decided to start this series, the first nachos I got to try were in Anaheim, CA. We had lunch at Taqueria Jo’s, a Mexican restaurant in Downtown Disney. I had already eaten there on my visit to Disneyland in 2009, and liked the restaurant, but this time I was ready to order some nachos and review them!

We were short on time, so we opted to order from the fast food side of the restaurant instead of the sit down side. The prices were also more budget friendly (but note that the actual restaurant is still very fair priced). I’ll be honest and say that I was a little turned off when I read the menu and it said it had cheese sauce as part of the ingredients, when I usually prefer fresh cheese that is then melted in an oven or similar. But in honor of research I ordered it anyway. I was pleasantly surprised then, upon my first bite, how good it tasted. The cheese sauce did make the nachos extremely soggy by the end of the meal, but at least they tasted good!

Other toppings I added were: black beans, jalapenos, shredded cheese, pico de gallo, sour cream, and mild sauce. I tend to prefer vegetarian nachos, by the way, so I skipped the meat (and saved $2). They prepare it right in front of you, pretty much like Chipotle and restaurants alike, and they had a few other options for toppings that I declined. The staff was very friendly, and the restaurant is pretty nice. We sat outside and enjoyed some nice sunshine and a cool breeze. It was very agreeable, and I can tell from experience that the sit-down side of the restaurant is just as nice.

Overall I enjoyed my nachos, they are probably a 4.5 out of 5 for fast food nachos. I recommend Taqueria Jo’s for anyone in search of good Mexican faire in the Disneyland resort area.

Price: $ (less than $10)

Presentation: 2 out of 5

Taste: 3.5 out of 5

Restaurant’s Ambiance: 4 out of 5

What about you? Where did you eat the best nachos ever? 

Wanderlust – Tokyo Disneyland

Photos via: jdhilger’s Flickr (worth the click)

Here’s the deal: I love Disney theme parks. In 2004, I was lucky enough to be accepted into Disney’s College Program and worked at Walt Disney World for two months. It was an incredible experience, and working for Disney was one of the best jobs I ever had (even though I was only a nightclub hostess). But since that eventful winter, I’ve turned into a big Disney enthusiast, and it’s not one of my goals in life to visit all Disney Theme Parks in the world (trust me, I have some other goals that are loftier, but today we’re talking about the silly one!). I can cross off my list Walt Disney World (been there 4 times), Disneyland (once, with a second visit planned for next year), and Disney Paris (but I need to go back because when I went I bought the wrong film and all my photos suck). So left to visit on my list are the Tokyo Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland. But I think Tokyo is the one I want to visit first, and you’ll see why.

First, Tokyo Disneyland has a park that no other Disneyland has: Disney Sea. That alone is the reason that made me go “ohmygawd I have to go there!” But since I decided I wanted to go there, I’ve been following Tokyo Disney tags on social media, and every image and story makes me even more excited about visiting.

Photos via: jdhilger’s Flickr (I’ve been wanting to buy his book with photos from Tokyo Disney, but I’m waiting for the non-iPad exclusive release!

Another reason I want to visit is the amazing floats they have on their parades. And look, the parades are usually my least favorite thing at Disney, it’s just an opportunity to sit down and relax for a hour. But in Tokyo I imagine I’ll need three extra arms to be able to photograph every single details. And might as well just buy tickets for four days, to visit the parks twice, since at least at some point I’ll be crazily photographing, so I can go back and enjoy it without a (big or several) camera attached to my hand (I’ll probably take a point and shoot at least, let’s be honest here people).

Photos via: oldpatterns’ Flickr

Then there’s another (and shallow) reason: the merchandise they carry is different (Gosh, I knew I’d sound silly the moment I thought of it). But really, those asians get all the cool stuff! Everything is adorable and cute, and there’s a lot of completely useless looking stuff, but here I am and I DON’T CARE because it’s cute and I’m loving it and spending the money ahead of time. So before leaving for Japan, remind me to save a lot. And sell all my possessions.

Photos via: dmorg888′s Flickr

Anyway, I hope you enjoy some of those beautiful images I got for you from Tokyo Disneyland. I’m hoping to have that trip happen sometime within the next 5 years, so fingers crossed. Anyone that has been to Tokyo Disney (or Japan) are welcome to leave me suggestions of things to do, see (and buy) on the comments. Or you can just gush along with me about how much you want to go now. Yeah, you do, even if you won’t admit out loud.