Svalbard and Norway 2019 Have you ever said “let’s do it” for a vacation and then did it? Well, this trip to Svalbard and Norway was one of those trips. It did have some planning (clothing) and travel complications that I will cover in my blog posts. We spent 9 days total on this trip […]
Svalbard – Arctic bucket list destination
About Svalbard A few years ago I became interested in Svalbard. Svalbard is a Norwegian archipelago located in the Arctic Ocean north of continental Norway, about 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) from the North Pole. Svalbard is home to the Global Seed Vault. It’s also the northernmost year-round settlement on Earth (excluding research and military sites), […]
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Travel and Vacation are not the same
Travel is Not a Vacation Travel and vacation aren’t necessarily the same thing, though people often use them interchangeably. When we travel, people always ask how long are we on vacation. I usually respond with we are traveling not on vacation. I will explain the difference below. Travel Travel often implies a journey or experience […]
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Where I’ve Been
Where I’ve Been The map below shows where I’ve been. They are grouped by color based on where I have lived, visited, and have been in transit. Blue is where I have lived as an adult, green is where I have visited and yellow is where I have been in transit at an airport. Red […]
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Tavira – Eastern Algarve – Portugal Scouting Trip
Tavira I arrived in Lisbon around 5 PM and immediately headed to the rental car location at a hotel across the street from the airport. After a short wait, I was helped and received my car. Unfortunately, it was 6 PM on a Friday and raining when I left the rental location. The rental car […]
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How to see Europe on a budget
Europe on a budget I lived in Europe for 5 years and have returned 5 times since 2015 with my family. Europe has something for everyone, and you can experience a different culture every day. Do you hate planning every minute of your trip? Do you like flying by the seat of your pants? Below […]
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Norway 2019 – Lillehammer to Oslo
Svalbard to Oslo, Norway and Beyond 2019 After leaving Svalbard, Lillehammer was our next stop on our Norway 2019 trip. It was a short flight from Longyearbyen/Svalbard to Oslo, Norway. The first thing we noticed exiting the plane in Oslo is that -10C/14F felt like a heatwave. We had bundled up for the Svalbard weather […]
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Extreme cold weather clothing update
Cold Weather Clothing Update We have returned from our trip to Svalbard and mainland Norway. Due to limited space in our 2x 65-liter backpacks (boots and winter clothing require a lot of space), I had to leave some clothing behind. I had purchased a pair of cold weather boots and also borrowed a snowsuit to […]
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Tromsø, Norway 2019
Tromsø Tromsø was the first stop on our Svalbard and Norway 2019 trip. We had visited Tromsø previously; it was the starting point of our Eurotrip 2017 and we were able to see the midnight sun. Since we had to stop here on the way to Svalbard, why not make it a stopover? We arrived […]
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Preparing for an extreme cold weather trip
Why Svalbard? A few years ago I became interested in Svalbard, we now have a trip planned. Svalbard is a Norwegian archipelago located in the Arctic Ocean north of continental Norway, about 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) from the North Pole. Svalbard is home to the Global Seed Vault. It’s also the northernmost year-round settlement on […]
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