California Coast Road Trip
After a delicious dinner with Jeremy's family, we started our California Coast Road Trip in the late evening in direction San Diego. We don't know yet where our path will lead us and we thought it'd be best to plan it as we go.
So we drove along the Pacific Coast and stopped at about 11pm close to the pier in Huntington Beach. We parked the Van and went to sleep.
Huntington Beach
Our first night in the Van was good, but I had to pee so bad 😂 After waking up, we took our bikes to ride to the pier and along the beach. It is so perfect to wake up at such a beautiful place on earth. The fresh air feels so good.
we love to ride our bikes to the beach
It is very beautiful in Huntington Beach, a really nice town to spend a little time, play volleyball or go surfing. We enjoyed one hour walking at the pier and watched the surfers in the ocean.
Huntington Beach, California
Orange County
Jeremy's uncle lives in Orange Country, so we thought it would be nice to meet him. We stopped for a few minutes at the Fashion Island. I love the malls in the USA and the perfect weather in California.
Fashion Island, Orange County
Jeremy's uncle recommended us the Shake Shack at the beach and it was time for my first American burger with some traditional french fries! It was so delicious and the ocean view was incredible!
burger time at the Shake Shack in Dana Point
We had a great day with his uncle and made an italian dinner at his house. After sleeping one night in Dana Point, we made our way down to San Clemente, which was only a 20 minute drive.
San Clemente
Wow, San Clemente is one of my favorite cities in California so far. You should definitely go there when you are on the West Coast! We arrived there and I fell in love with this place!
We had to get the van checked so we brought it to PepBoys. We were thinking what we could do in the next hour till the van was ready. Jeremy loves his Rainbow Sandals and their factory is in San Clemente, so we took our bikes and drove there and I got myself a nice pink pair too.
Rainbow Factory in San Clemente
Hanging out in San Clemente
Waking up with the sound of the ocean, having a little breakfast picnic at the beach is just amazing. We are having a lot of fun, chilling at the beach and watching the surfers.
Relaxing at San Clemente Beach
This photo of the incredible sunset was taken on our first evening in San Clemente. We love this place soooo much :)
San Diego
After a few nice days in San Clemente, our next destination was San Diego. Jeremy lived there for a couple of years so he knew pretty much everything cool to do. We drove by his old work and spent an hour at Solana Beach. We had a delicious California Burrito and enjoyed it with a perfect view.
We played a little basketball and that was for sure the basketball court with the best view I have ever seen! Jeremy is such a good player, an older man with his little grand daughter was so impressed because he made so many shots.
Basketball at Solana Beach
In the afternoon we drove to Pacific Beach and relaxed a couple of hours on the sand.
beach time at Pacific Beach
Jeremy wanted to show me Coronado Island so we spent the afternoon there and saw a beautiful sunset.
sand castle at the beach, Coronado Island
We spent 3 days in San Diego and rode biked along beach. One night we even went to a San Diego Padres Baseball Game.
great day at PB
Living in a Van is not always easy but it is a great experience and there is no better place to have a nice lunch than at the beach!
Lunch at Mission Bay
I knew Baseball only from the tv and I did not think I that I would like it. The San Diego Padres Game was my first Baseball Game and it was really fun! We saw 3 homeruns and even the game took longer than 4 hours but it was not boring at all. We were happy that the Padres won.
After 8 beautiful days of enjoying the good life on the West Coast, we finally went back to Jeremy's dad's house to repair his surfboard. I think I might want to learn how to surf on this trip too.
stay tuned :)
USA Road Trip
Hey guys,
we are starting our USA Road Trip tonight and we are so excited to see more beautiful destinations in America.
While i was still in Germany, Jeremy bought an awesome Dodge Van 2 month ago, we remodeled it and now we are ready to travel the world again :) I can't wait to be on the road again!
Jeremy changed the floor in the Van, installed great led lights, made us a nice bed and i was responsible for the decoration :) So we went to IKEA to give it the final look.
The Van is so perfect. Jeremy did such a gread job with picking this one! We have everything we need in there: a nice bed, we bought stuff to cook in here and we are so happy to live with less!
Our first destinations will be a city on our way to San Diego! We are planning everything as we go!
Help us make our trip special and comment any ideas of good places in the US below.
Follow us on Instagram for daily updates and travel photos of our USA Road Trip :)
Heidelberg
The romantic city of Heidelberg will capture your heart! Heidelberg was hit during the 17th century, but rebuilt in the 18th century with a lot of amazing buildings. A walk through the old and narrow streets will stay in your memory forever! It is a beautiful small city in the heart of Germany with a lot of landmarks. The city is known for the historical Castle, the Alte Brücke (old Bridge) with the cute luck monkey and the Student Jail.
Heidelberg is one of the top tourist destinations in Germany,with more than 1 million visitors every year.
Things to do in Heidelberg
Heidelberg Castle
The Heidelberg Castle is the famous ruin, which was party rebuilt in the 17 and 18th century. You can walk there within 20 minutes or take the Heidelberger Bergbahn, a railway, which runs from the market square to the top of the mountain. Enjoy the nice view and the mystic atmosphere.
The Castle in Heidelberg is amazing!
Heidelbergs beautiful castle
Old Town Heidelberg
We loved going for a walk in the Old Town of Heidelberg, where the streets are narrow and the Houses are cute. There are so many things to explore. We walked by a nice old town market, where they sold fresh fruits and vegetables, german sausages and different specialities.
Market Heidelberg
Old Bridge
The Old bridge was built by Karl Theodor and is an old stone bridge crossing the Neckar river. It looks very nice, especially in spring and summer.
There is a little monkey with a golden disc sitting at the bridge. Rub the golden disk for good luck!
lucky monkey on the old bridge
Philosophers Way
This rough path got the name during the Romantic Period, because a lot of philosophers and professors walked their for the great views of the town.
Famous German poets got inspired by their walks on the epic path.
It is located at the Neckar River and leads through the vineyards.
Student Jail
This jail is not that strict than a regular jail, but miscreants students were kept there for a few days. The walls are covered with graffiti and arts. It was used from the 1780s until 1914.
Old University Heidelberg
The Old University is a magnificent historic building in Heidelberg. The Student Jail is located in the back of the University.
Hotel in Heidelberg
We booked the Exzellenz Hotel in Heidelberg and had a great stay there! The Hotel is the perfect mixture of the famous Jugendstil and modern art. Our Hotel room was really nice, the breakfast so delicious and we can highly recommend everybody to stay at the Exzellenz Hotel if you are going to visit Heidelberg!
Read more on our Blog Post about the Exzellenz Hotel
Restaurants in Heidelberg
Heidelberg has a lot of restaurants, bars and cafes, where traveler can get delicious food from different countries. The Exzellenz Hotel has an exzellent restaurants, called season, which offers high quality dishes!
Transportation in Heidelberg
We went there by car, but it is also possible to go by train or bus. In the Old Town, where are the landmarks are, you can walk or take the Straßenbahn, which is a railway.
Best Hotel In Heidelberg: Exzellenz Hotel Heidelberg
Heidelberg is said to be one of the most popular cities in Germany and we can confirm that this is a really beautiful city with tons of flair. We chose the Exzellenz Hotel Heidelberg for our 2 day city trip to Heidelberg and we were really impressed with the Hotel’s great location.
Exzellenz Hotel Heidelberg – the place to be
Old Bridge in beautiful Heidelberg
Exzellenz Hotel Heidelberg Entrance in a great location
The Exzellenz Hotel Heidelberg was renovated in the year 2015 and it satisfied us with the modern design and high comfort. The beautiful rooms are individually furnished, which we loved because it made us feel at home.
beautiful furnished hotel rooms with Haribo on the bed 🙂
new and very clean bathroom
view from our Hotel room
The restaurant “Season”, belongs to the Exzellenz Hotel Heidelberg is just around the corner along with plenty of parking spots. We were happy to have a parking at the Hotel because it is often hard to find parking in german cities. It was only a few minutes walking to the pedestrian area and to many historical landmarks of Heidelberg.
The lobby of the art nouveau house is furnished very inviting and cozy. The breakfast buffet is in the great atmosphere in the lobby and for the rest of the day where they offer coffee and pastries.
The staff of the Hotel is nice and friendly. They have city maps at the reception and can help you plan your exciting day in Heidelberg.
The modern restaurant “Season” serves seasonal dishes. At the moment they have venison, which is perfect for the cold month. The amazing atmosphere invites to end the day with a glass of vine, champagne or german beer.
Our stay at the Exzellenz Hotel Heidelberg was outstanding and we can highly recommend anyone to book this modern and first class Hotel.
Check out more information about the Exzellenz Hotel and book it here: Exzellenz hotel Heidelberg Heidelberg
We love the Exzellenz Hotel Heidelberg!
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Why I Love Cruise Trips
I did so many backpacking trips and i love it to have a backpack on my shoulder, take a bus, train or flight to the next destination without knowing where I will sleep the following night.
Everything turned out very good and I never really made bad experiences on backpacking trips.
But I also did several cruise trips in the last couple of years and I have to say, I Love traveling by ship as well.
Some of you think cruises are only for old people, it is super extensive and everything is planned out for you. BUT NONE OF THAT IS TRUE!
I want to tell you why I love cruise trips and what great opportunities you have:
1. Every day a new destination
Depending on the tour you decide to book, you can stop every single day at another great harbour and go on exciting adventures! I did 3 cruise trips and visited following amazing destinations:
North America Tour with AIDA (15 days):
New York, Bermuda (Hamilton), Bahamas (Nassau), Miami, Port Canaveral, Baltimore, Washington DC, New York
on our way from Hamilton – Bermuda to Nassau – Bahamas
beautiful sunset with the skyline of Miami in the background
Canarian Islands Tour with AIDA (8 days):
Teneriffa (Santa Cruz de Teneriffa), Gran Canaria (Las Palmas), La Palma (Santa Cruz de La Palma), Madeira (Funchal), Lanzarote (Arrecife), Fuerteventura (Puerto del Rosario)
balcony cabin, AIDA LUNA
Eastern Mediterranean Sea Tour with AIDA (8days):
Turkey (Antalya), Rhodos (Rhodos), Kreta (Heraklion) and through the Suez Canal to Egypt (Port Said, Sharm El Sheikh)
taking photos of the surrounding islands on deck
2. Easiest way to see many places in a short periode of time
As you can see above, I saw a lot of different cities, islands and states in every single cruise tour. I loved that I had to do nothing to come to new places every day, just relax on the ship and wake up at another harbour.
Often you have only 1 or 2 weeks of vacation time, which is not really enough for backpacking trips. Cruise ship are a great alternative, believe me 🙂
another day, another harbour 🙂
3. You have everything you need on the cruise ship
A cruise ship is like a huge hotel. Of course it depends on the ship and the company you choose, but I had really nice ships with everything I could wish for:
- pools and jacuzzis
- different restaurants and bars
- shops to spend some money for clothes, jewelry, decoration for your home, etc.
- casino
- 4D movie theater
- library
- theater
- spa with ocean view sauna
- beauty salon to get a new hair style
I loved spending time on the ships, I felt so free in the sea. Having a balcony cabin, hearing the sound of the ocean and see the sweep of the sea was awesome!
I need pools when I am on vacation
Pool deck on the AIDA Luna Cruise Ship
4. It is a comfortable way of traveling
Compared to backpacking, where you go to new places every couple of days as well, traveling by cruise ship is super easy and comfortable. You don’t have to worry about how to get to your next destination, bargaining for good prices and spending time on finding a new and good accommodation.
When you have the time to relax and sleep, other people are working to bring you safe to the next harbour and this is the captain and his crew 🙂
5. Best food from all over the world
The cooks on the AIDA cruise ships were fabulous. Every new harbour big trucks came and brought fresh and delicious food. The cooks created dishes from all over the world and everything is so tasty!
We had more variety of food than in every hotel I stayed before.
I still dream about the awesome mexican food and the best chocolate fountain with the freshest fruit sticks I have ever had in my life 🙂
AIDA LUNA melon sculptures
6. It is clean
Not every country has the same cleanness standards, which is absolutely ok. The AIDA cruise ships were perfect clean and I had nothing to complain about. Sometimes I really appreciate it when I don’t have to worry about a clean bed, the shower and unknown animals.
I did every cruise trip with AIDA and I really loved it My dream is it to go on a caribbean cruise on day and explore Grand Cayman & Jamaica.
Do you have experiences with other cruise ship companys?
I would love to hear your stories and routes in the comments.
Love,
Ina
My Travel Bucket List
I want to share my travel list of my dream destinations with you today. I love traveling to new countries and citys. I think you grow so much, when you jump into new adventures and try to figure it out by yourself. It was so scary when I traveled alone for the first time and to overcome the fear of the unknown made me stronger.
Here is my Travel Bucket List to inspire you and give you ideas for your upcoming travels:
1. Trek to Machu Picchu
2. Go on a safari in South Africa
3. Fly with a helicopter over the Grand Canyon
4. Sleep a few nights in a glass floor bungalow in Bora Bora
5. Diving in the Philippines
6. Cuddle a koala bear
7. See the white and blue houses in Santorini
8. Kiss a Dolphin
9. Visit Japan in Spring
10. See the Northern Lights
11. Admire the Great Wall of China
12. Sleep one night in the Marina Bay Sand in Singapore
13. Ride a camel in the desert
14. Take a cooking class in México
15. Go on a boat trip on the Amazonas in South America
16. Watch the Sunrise in Cape Verde
17. Travel to Grand cayman Island
18. Do a Cruise Ship Tour through the Fjords in Norway
19. Travel to Nepal
20. Get a great photo of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio De Janeiro
21. Drink a San Miguel in San Miguel, El Salvador
22. Go diving in the Galapagos Islands
23. See spinner dolphins at Waianae Bay in Hawaii
24. Relax in the infinity pool of the Hanging Gardens Hotel in Ubud, Bali
25. Go on a road trip through Ireland
Check out our Travel Guides
Trésor D'Angkor Villas & Resort: The Dream Hotel in Siem Reap
We came to Siem Reap to go to the famous UNESCO world heritage site Angkor Wat and had a gread time there! During our Cambodia Vacation in Siem Reap, we stayed a couple of nights in the amazing Trésor D'Angkor Villas & Resort and had such a great experience there. We would love to go back there soon. The Trésor D'Angkor Villas & Resort is one of my favourite Hotels in the World ♥
I love this Hotel
After a few busy days in Cambodians Capital Phnom Penh, the Trésor D'Angkor Villas & Resort feels like Paradise! The Resort is about 2 km outside of Siem Reap, which makes it perfect. We are staying in the pure nature with beautiful butterflys, away from the noisy city.
The Trésor D'Angkor Villas & Resort has 9 Villas with 18 rooms. 2 Rooms have a private pool. In the middle of the resort is a beautiful garden with a saltwater pool. Around the pool are many relax chairs with comfortable matrices and sun umbrellas and 8 relax chairs inside the nice pool.
View from the roof top
The beautiful furnished lobby is surrounded by a nice little lake with fishes inside. That means there are almost no Mosquitos, jippii :) When we arrived, the staff welcomed us very friendly and we got a delicious welcome drink and a cold towel.
Entrance of the Trésor D'Angkor Villas & Resort
Next to the lobby is the restaurant, where the guests enjoy a very tasty breakfast buffet and optional lunch and dinner.
The breakfast buffet of the Trésor D'Angkor Villas & Resort consists of 2 warm dishes, like fried rice and Cambodian noodles, which changes every day. Then they have a variety of fresh fruits, different kinds of bread and croissants, cereals, marmalade, etc. Besides that everybody can choose a dish out of a breakfast menu. We enjoyed the breakfast a lot, it was very delicious!
The coffee and the variety of tea is very very good in the restaurant of the Trésor D'Angkor Villas & Resort.
The Sunset Lounge, which is on the roof top of the lobby, is the perfect spot to have a drink and watch the sunset in the late afternoon.
beautiful salt-water pool
The modern architecture of the villas and the whole resort is amazing, I really love this style.
The rooms are huge and very comfortable. They are furnished with a king size bed, a bench in front of it to sit on, a coffee table and a TV. Every room has a desk as well.
Huge rooms with everything you could wish for
In the room are tea and coffee-making facilities and complimentary water.
The room is divided from the huge bathroom by a curtain. The bathroom provides a very nice shower and a bathtube and you have a lot of space. I loved taking a bath and relaxing there.
They have a gym with garden with a great pool view as well. We didn't do sports, but it is definitely nice to have, if you are staying a little longer. Everything seems to be brand new and nice.
Gym with pool view
The resort offers their hotel guests to use really nice mountain bikes, to bike around Siem Reap and explore the city by yourself. We haven't had enough time, but we wanted to do it. I think this is a great opportunity to see a lot.
They have a shuttle service to the Town as well. This offer is really great. The lovely drivers brought us to the night market and picked us up at a settled time.
The staff is so friendly and helpful. We love the Cambodian locals, they are very good people.
The Trésor D'Angkor was opened one year ago and it is a magical place for me. I will definitely come back soon. This is the perfect place to spend a few relaxed days or weeks, to celebrate a anniversary or your honeymoon.
Find more information about the Hotel and book it here: Trésor D'Angkor in Siem Reap
Angkor Heritage Boutique Hotel in Siem Reap
The Angkor Heritage Boutique Hotel is a great 4 Star Hotel with a beautiful pool in the tropical garden. It is a place to relax and enjoy with a lot of opportunities around it. The Hotels has 30 well appointed spacious rooms and we can highly recommend it for familys as well.
We enjoyed 3 days there, relaxed at the pool, went for sightseeing to the Angkor Wat Temple complex, which is a UNESCO Heritage Site and had a really great time in Siem Reap!
When you walk in this beautiful Hotel, you feel like in a tropical garden. There are so many plants and flowers, it is really nice. This buddha statue is in the middle of the lot.
tropical garden
Our hotel room in the Angkor Heritage Boutique Hotel was very big and we felt like home there. Everything is arranged nice for the guests. The four-poster bed is definitely a highlight in the rooms and we slept so good there. On the wall in front of the bed is a TV hanging. The room is furnished with a desk and a coffee and tea station as well. We had everything we needed for our few vacation days in the Angkor Heritage Boutique Hotel in Siem Reap.
our huge hotel room
my dream bed :)
Another highlight of our stay in the Angkor Heritage Boutique Hotel was our huge balcony with a perfect view of the garden and the pool. We were sitting there often, talking and relaxing.
huge balcony with a view of the tropical garden and the pool
our nice view from the balcony
After a half day walking through the ruins of the UNESCO Heritage Site of Angkor Wat, we needed to take a break and relax a couple of hours at the pool. I loved that there were not so many people and I really enjoyed, that this hotel is a quiet hotel, 15 minutes away from the busy city center.
Our stay at the Angkor Heritage Boutique Hotel included a delicious breakfast buffet. It was set up very graceful and they had a good variety of food. When we are traveling I love to eat like a local, so I had noodle soup for breakfast in Cambodia.
Breakfast buffet
This is a great Hotel, a few minute drive from the city center and the night markets of Siem Reap. If you are planning a trip to Angkor Wat and Siem Reap check availability and rates for the Hotel here: Angkor Heritage Boutique Hotel
7 Things To Do In Khao San Road
Khao San Road is one of the Must-Dos in Bangkok. It is known as the backpacker street in Thailands capital city. In this road and the whole area around are a lot of Hostels, cheap Hotels, restaurants, bars and clubs. It is always fun to hang out there and meet new people!
This years they put up this funny sign with 7 Things To Do In Khao San Road:
sign in Khao San Road
- Visit Wat Chana Songkhram
- Check Out Khao San Museum
- Enjoy The Real Thai Food
- Get A Tattoo
- Relax With Thai Massage
- Buy Silver And Handcraft Art
- Rock The Night Out
- Visit the Wat Chana Songkhram! This temple is right across the Police Station at the end of Khao San Road. (in direction Mc Donalds, NOT Burger King ;) )
The temple is open from 6am till 6pm! To respect the culture and the locals, it is always recommended to wear pants or a sarong for girls and not to show legs or shoulders! - The Khao San Garden is the only museum in this street. This combines a museum with a library and a french cafe. Unfortunately we haven't been there yet, but I promise, we will go next time! (Tuesday - Sunday: 10 am - 9 pm)
- There is a great variety of cafe's, restaurants and bars in Khao San, where you can find delicious thai food, but western dishes as well. My favorite thai dishes are green curry, massaman curry and garlic chicken with rice! Enjoy the tasty food!
- There are a couple of tattoo shops, where you can make a memory of your amazing vacation in Thailand!
- The Thai Massages are sooo good! I haven't seen a street with more massage places than in Khaosan and the parallel streets. I love Charlys Massage: sitting there, enjoying a 30 minute foot massage for 150 baht and watching the people walking up and down the street :)
- Don't miss out on the great opportunity to buy Silver and Handcraft Arts in Thailand. They have a good selection of silver jewelry! I love to buy a new ring, which reminds me every day of a great holiday!
- Rock the night out! My favorite bar is the roof bar, where they have live bands every night! You can sit at the open windows with a view of the Khaosan Road, drink cocktails or the famous Chang beer and make new friends!
DO WHAT YOU LOVE, DO IT OFTEN AND ALWAYS TRAVEL WITH AN OPEN MIND!
Love,
Ina
The Sanctuary Villa Battambang - Our Hotel In Battambang
Our last stop on our Cambodia Tour was the nice little town called Battambang in north western Cambodia. We stayed at The Sanctuary Villa Battambang for 2 nights before we headed to Bangkok. This amazing hotel looks a little like a Khmer Buddhist Temple, which is very nice and makes difference .
All the rooms a beautiful villas with a terrace. The black furnished rooms look very elegant and we felt very comfortable there.
Our terrace at The Sanctuary Villa Battambang
elegant furnished rooms
It is great to have a lot of space in a hotel room. The bathroom was amazing, additional to the walk-in shower, our villa had a jacuzzi too. Every villa has a flatscreen tv and a dvd player as well.
Salt-water pool
The weather was sunny and we could enjoy our time at the nice salt-water pool. The comfortable relax chairs are perfect to read or chill and get a tan. I loved the nice trees and flowers around the pool. We saw a lot of butterflies.
The Sanctuary Villa Battambang has a great kitchen. The breakfast buffet at the outside restaurant was very tasty! They offered khmer dishes, western breakfast and fresh fruits with coffee, tea and different juices.
We also had a delicious lunch there. The table is set up very graceful. Before the main dish, the staff served us fresh and warm bread with butter. They made perfect khmer dishes, like the famous beef lok lak and chicken amok. I tried my first chicken amok there and i loooved it! It came in a little baking dish with a lid and was served very nice.
The staff of the hotel is very friendly and helped us planning our next bus trip to Bangkok. Whenever you want to go to the city center, which is about 5 minutes away by tuktuk, they call a tuktuk for you and take care of every matter.
It was a very nice stay in Battambang and we would like to go there again. Find more information about this beautiful Hotel: The Sanctuary Villa Battambang