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On yet another hazy day in Yangon, we headed up the road to the main train station (the same one that would carry us off days later on the overnight Yangon-Mandalay train) to board the Circle Train, taking us in a circle around Yangon’s “suburbs” and then back into the city.
Because most locals can’t afford apartments in the city proper, the vast majority lives in the suburbs but finds work inside the city. This Circle Train is the preferred method of transportation in and out of the city as traffic can get pretty brutal (and, of course, you have to own a car or motorbike). So, riding this Circle Train provides an unspoiled glimpse into local life away from the [...]
The gleaming, gilded pagoda is your first spectacular view of Yangon on arrival, dominating the city’s skyline and commanding your instant attention (especially at night time!). Up on a hill, this 2,600 year old Buddhist temple is a sight to behold, towering over Myanmar’s largest city and reminding you of ancient times while connecting you to a very real, present-day Yangon. The number one site in Yangon (and probably all of Myanmar) is known as the Crown of Burma and is the country’s most revered shrine, a sprawling temple that boasts eight hairs plucked from Buddha.
Although legend holds that the stupa is more than 2,600 years old, some historians believe it [...]
Korean Airlines Business Class Lounge Tokyo Narita International Airport Terminal 1, Gate 26 7:45am – 8:50pm
For our 1 night layover in Japan following our flight from Chicago to Tokyo on ANA, we stayed at the Radisson Narita that I booked using Orbucks that I earned from booking other flights and hotels over the past few months. The hotel was fine, but the shuttle service ran every 60-70 mins. For us, this meant we’d need to err on the side of caution and take the earlier shuttle the morning of our flight to Yangon, which resulted in a decent chunk of time at Narita.
I checked my Priority Pass app to see which of the Tokyo lounges participate and found that, of [...]
Yangon is a city in the throes of growing, busting at the seams with young locals eager to learn more about the world outside its borders and more tourists than ever before.
City streets are filled with street eats, smiling faces and bright colors.
Myanmar welcomes about 1 million tourists each year and, compared to its neighbor Thailand’s many millions of annual visitors, that’s a drop in the bucket – but, only a hand full of Burmese cities and towns are set up for tourists and Western hotel chains have barely scratched the surface of the country (we think that’s a good thing). So, while Thailand’s many [...]
Our first international flight of our first journey felt like it might never arrive when we booked it a few months ago, but, like all things time related, it was here in a flash. Our first segment, from Chicago-ORD to Tokyo-TYO was merely a stopover on our way to Yangon, Myanmar-RGN. Because ANA has only 1 daily flight to Yangon (around 11am), there’s no international arrival from the US that would allow us to catch it.
As we headed to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, we were musing that this was actually both of our first west-bound trip across the Pacific Ocean. We have flown Hong Kong to Chicago and Tokyo to Newark before, but never the opposite direction. The best [...]
Jeffrey and I have packed our bags + stocked up on malaria prevention pills… we’re off to the see Southeast Asia!
We’ve just embarked on a round-the-world journey where we’ll be home-basing in cities around the world to get a feel for life as a local. We’ll be sharing our experiences — the once-in-a-lifetime moments + some of the mundane, every day ones, too — here on our blog and we’ll continue to share travel deals + tips on how to travel for FREE (or really, really cheap).
A little while ago, we found that searching for deals online coupled with some strategic planning could help us get around the world for free. But, since most people don’t know that [...]
Our first two nights were scheduled in San Diego, but we landed at 8:45pm (11:45pm Eastern Time), and had to rent a car and get to our hotel. We crashed into bed and tried to rest up for our packed day ahead.
One of my best friends had plenty of wonderful things to say about her time at Coronado Island, just a quick 10 minute drive from downtown San Diego, so we chose to stay on the island rather than in the downtown area. Once we’d decided to stay on Coronado, I had to choose from the handful of hotels there. The famous Hotel del Coronado was a bit out of our price range at $400+/night, so we settled on the El Cordova Hotel just across the street. It is an old mansion [...]
On the eve of Jeffrey’s & my big Asian Adventure, I wanted to spend some quality time with my mom before Jeffrey and I packed up and headed out for months.
Disclaimer: I’m an idiot and haven’t signed up for the referral to make any money off any of the below credit card offers. This is this genuine advice as I see things. I have both of the cards listed below, however, take my advice with caution: I’m far from an expert on financial/credit matters, but happy to help where I can!
My mom had just applied for the US Airways Premier World MasterCard over Thanksgiving, so she received the Companion Certificate in the mail in late December. A little more on the [...]
Everything about the W Retreat & Spa Bali Seminyak was fun, lively and the perfect place to begin our honeymoon. As I’ve covered in a previous post about the hotel (you can read it here), our very own pool villa was everything I always wanted in a honeymoon + more.
But, when we ventured away from the private pool and quiet oasis of our villa, the rest of the W always had a lot going on and plenty to experience. There was always a lively party, plenty of Balinese culture to take in and rum drinks overflowing by the pool – no matter what time of day or night. Much of the crowd was always gathered at one of the two on-site restaurants, so this post will [...]
