In early 2016 we started planning an Asian business class trip to take advantage of the points required before the forthcoming American Airlines miles devaluation. During planning we settled on...
Blog posts from International Travel
2016 Travel Overview
Previous years-in-review – 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009 Some of our travel stats for the year: 82k total air miles on 11 airlines: American Airlines, Southwest, British Airways, Cathay...
Auckland: Winter Gardens and heading home
Because breakfast at Dear Jervois the previous morning was a bit of a disappointment, I picked a new place for dinner this morning, Mary's. Closer to the hotel and located in a completely...
Auckland: waterfalls and parks
Since we had stayed in the Ponsonby neighborhood on a previous trip, we already had restaurants in mind and decided to return to our favorite breakfast place, Cafe Jervois. I ordered the smashed...
Auckland: rental car debacle
Unfortunately, the good vibes we had been feeling on the South Island left us after landing in Auckland. We had a pre-paid reservation for a 'meet and greet' agreement so I was hoping to see someone...
Marlborough: mussels and Cable Bay
After checking out of the hotel at 10am and packing up the car, we walked into town to do a little shopping at the local souvenir shop. On our way out of town we stopped at one last winery before...
Marlborough: wine tasting, day 2
The weather today was quite random - sunny and calm one minute, windy and raining the next. A good day for indoor wine tasting! Lawson's Dry Hills - Our first stop of the day, we just beat a large...
Marlborough: Picton and Queen Charlotte Drive
Awoke to a morning shower, so we were in no hurry and waited out the rain. Eventually, we headed north out of town to Picton and after scaling the viewpoint near Bob's Bay we drove north along the...
Marlborough: wine tasting, day 1
We woke up in a Nelson to a rainy morning but we had scheduled wine tasting for this day so no big deal. First we finished packing, then called all family members to wish them a Happy Thanksgiving....
Nelson: wine tasting on Thanksgiving Day
After sleeping in a bit we headed out on foot to pick up snacks at the grocery store and explore Nelson. Eric went into the city center to check out some gardens and I picked up a tea towel with...
Nelson: kayak trip to Abel Tasman
Our big adventure for the day was the "Heart of the Park Explorer" hike and kayak trip with Kaiteriteri Kayaks in Abel Tasman Park. We were picked up at the hotel at 7:25am. I was a bit worried when...
Wellington: botanical gardens & coastal views
Since breakfast was good the day before, we returned to Sweet Mother's Kitchen. Eric got scrambled eggs on toast and I got a flat white with an order of beignets and the breakfast burrito. Service...
Wellington: day trip to Martinborough
After a great night's sleep and feeling a mild aftershock while laying in bed, Eric got up to work out and I caught up on computer stuff. For breakfast we walked over to Sweet Mother's Kitchen where...
Wellington: flights & arrival
After a fairly long 12.5 hour flight from LA in AA's Main Cabin Extra seats we landed in Auckland. I got pulled out of the automatic immigration line (again) because of the angle of my face...
San Sebastian: food & drink
As with most places in Spain, we found San Sebastian to be absolutely delicious. One thing I had to get used to was that ordering wine at most of the pintxo bars was done at the mercy of the...
San Sebastian: sights and beaches
Our first night in San Sebastian we spent avoiding drunk teenagers in the Old Town by walking across the bridge to the Gros district. Tasty food was found, along with peace and quiet and this view...
San Sebastian: where we stayed
For the San Sebastian part of our trip we wanted to be near the old town (for all the wonderful pintxo bars), but not necessarily in the old town (due to noise). We eventually found El Concha...
Bilbao: sights & museums
We spent a considerable amount of time walking around Bilbao. We only bought one 24-hour metro pass during our three day stay so most of our exploring was done on foot. Our room wasn't ready when we...
Our Itinerary
2025 Trips
Tampa Bay, FL (Jan)
Buenos Aires, Argentina (Feb)
Villa la Angostura, Argentina (Feb)
Bariloche, Argentina (Feb)
Iguazu Falls, Argentina + Brazil (Feb)
Miami, FL (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Mar)
Boston, MA (Apr)
Kathmandu, Nepal (May)
Bhutan (May)
Slovenia (Sep)
Treviso, Italy (Sep)
Bologna, Italy (Sep)
Turin, Italy (Oct)
2024 Trips
San Diego, CA (Jan)
Sarasota, FL (Feb)
Madrid, Spain (Mar)
Valencia, Spain (Mar+Apr)
Palma, Mallorca (Apr)
Croatia (May)
Long Island, NY (July)
Faroe Islands (Aug)
London, UK (Sept)
Puglia, Italy (Sept)
Matera, Italy (Oct)
Rome, Italy (Oct)
Mosel Valley, Germany (Oct)
Frankfurt, Germany (Oct)
London + Manchester, UK (Dec)
2023 Trips
San Diego (Jan)
Orlando (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Apr)
Northern Italy (Apr)
NC Mountains (May)
Long Island (Jul)
Wisconsin (Aug)
Chicago (Aug)
Oak Island, NC (Sept)
Brooklyn, NY (Sept)
Bordeaux + Rugby World Cup (Sep)
Castilla y León (Sep)
Seychelles (Nov)
Willamette Valley (Dec)