10 Things To Do In California
On our 3 month USA Road Trip we drove through 11 states with a van and at the end we realized how much we love California! Driving down the highway 1 was such a great time and we created unforgettable memories. You all should know about these 10 things to do in California before planning your next vacation!
Today we want to tell you about our Californian Highlights
10 Things to Do in California
1 Drive the highway 1
Driving down the Highway was so amazing. We stopped at a lot of calm and beautiful beaches on the road. We enjoyed that it was not crowded like the touristy places.
2 Relax on the beaches in San Diego
San Diego is one of our favorite cities in the world! We had great beach days at PB and the weather was always perfect. We can't wait to be back there!
3 Enjoy the beauty of nature in the Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park is probably one of the best national park in the world. It is fun to go hiking and enjoy the good air in the nature.
5 Go to a Baseball Game
I went to my first Baseball Game a couple of month ago and it was really exciting. We had a lot of fun watching the LA Dodgers win!
5 Eat delicious mexican food on Taco Tuesday
You will get the best mexican food in California. On Tuesdays most of the mexican restaurants have a special called Taco Tuesday and they sell tacos really cheap. I love the free chips and salsa and the delicious food.
6 Cross the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco
San Francisco is a beautiful city and we had so much fun there. We will never forget crossing the Golden Gate Bridge after our photo stop there :)
7 Watch a stunning sunset
My favorite sunset was in San Clemente! We love watching sunsets and the sunsets in Cali are breathtaking...
8 Drive a bike at the beach
We drove our bikes in San Clemente at the beach as well as at a lot of other Californian beaches. It is so much fun to be right at the ocean and feel the breeze.
9 Go to a nice shopping mall
California has really nice shopping malls and good prices. Don't miss out on this opportunity!
10 Get the best burger and fries at In'n'out
In'n'out has really delicious and fresh burgers! If you want to eat something really fast, In'n'out is the best place. I like that the potatoes are cut right in front of your eyes.
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5 Reasons Why You Should Travel Croatia
Last spring we decided to pack up the car and travel Croatia for two weeks. We drove more than 2,000 km and visited many cities along the coast. It was one of the most amazing experiences in my life that I will never forget. If you are looking for a place to travel this spring here are 5 reasons why you should travel Croatia.
1. Croatia Is Beautiful
That's me in front of one of tallest waterfalls in Plitvice National Park
We found this cool little bridge in Trogir
The viewpoints of Plitvice National Park are breathtaking
The epic view overlooking the old town of Dubrovnik
The water in Primosten is crystal clear
2. It's Cheap
Gas is cheap for now....
Accommodation in Croatia is cheap and the views are unbelievable
PLUS our place came with a pool :)
3. It's Undiscovered
Karlovac is one of Croatia's best secrets and home to the Karlovaco Brewery
Slunj and Rastoke are less known and offer some of the best hiking in Croatia
Thats me chasing waterfalls at Plitvice National Park
4. The Food Is Delicious
The atmosphere is incredible
The food is delicious
And the beer is refreshing
5. The Locals Are Super Friendly
We were treated to dinner and dessert by two locals
They shared their home made liquor and played a few songs for us
And reminded me that travel is not about all the places you go.
It's about the people you meet and the memories you create with them.
Hope you guys enjoyed the blog. Feel free to leave a comment below and always remember to
Do what you love, do it often
and always travel with an open mind.
Jeremy
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San Sebastian Spain - Europe Trip
Day 6: From Paris to San Sebastian
We enjoyed a small but delicious breakfast Buffet in our Hotel in Paris before heading out to San Sebastian Spain. We had the famous french baguette and croissants 🙂
Our long journey to San Sebastian started at 10.30 am and we got sandwiches and baguette with french sausages for the travel.
Jeremy drove the first 4,5 hours and then we switched. After 10 hours of driving we finally got to san Sebastian, where we have an airbnb for one night.
We were so excited for our first Pinchos, which we found after a 5-10 Minute walk close to our accommodation. So we enjoyed a Beer, a Coke and good Spanish Food before we fall asleep.
Day 7: San Sebastian Spain
We woke up at 9am and our plan for today is to explore the nice city of San Sebastian Spain. We heard so many amazing things about this city in the north of Spain.
We didn´t really like our Airbnb, so we wanted to find an accommodation for the night at first. So we drove about 15 minutes to a camping spot, which cost us about 5€ because of the toll roads in a neighbour city. Unfortunately there were only caravans so we kept driving back, but this time we avoided the toll roads. We got to take very amazing nature pictures. We drove along the beach. We found a nice little hotel on the hill, but it was full. She gave us the advise to camp in a park, where we could go after 8pm.
On our way back to the city, we had a coffee and checked on our phone for hotels or camping sites in and around San Sebastian Spain. We didn´t really find something affordable or which looked good and the price worth.
So we drove about 15 minutes to the old town center, where we had a lot of traffic.
San Sebastian Spain is a very popular destination and during the summer you are sure to run into traffic so plan accordingly.
To find parking was a very hard task. On the road we asked through our car window a taxi driver, which was waiting for the cars in front of him to move.
He told us it is very hard to find, but a little outside of the city center we could have luck. So we drove a few minutes through San Sebastian Spain and on a hill we found a good spot. It was about 20 minutes to walk back in the City, but that was ok for us. Jeremy asked an old man for the direction to the famous Beach La Plancha and the man told him to walk with him in the right direction. So we walked a little bit together and we found a nice little café for lunch.
We shared tortilla, calamares and bread.
After this nice break we went to the beach of La Plancha and we were so happy to be at the beach again. It was at the end of Mey, when we were in Croatia and the ocean felt so good.
The water temperature was perfect and we relaxed at the beach.
I am reading the book “Nur einen Horizont entfernt” von Lori Nelson Spielman. I loved the other book “Morgen kommt ein neuer Himmel” from the same author so much, which I was reading in Bali last summer.
The weather changed really quick and it started to rain a little bit. So we went back in the city center, talked to a nice lady and left a few of our Open Mind Travelers stickers there.
We had dinner at a little restaurant, which served the best food. Jeremy talked to the bar tenders. I think they were the owners too. They were impressed of Jeremys Spanish and called him one of them =)
Because we didn´t book a Hotel or Apartment, we drove back the windy roads along the coast to find a camping spot. It started to get dark and we set up our tend on a field with a view of the ocean.
We didn´t know what a crazy night this would be.
At midnight the storm came over us, we saw so much lightnings and heart the thunder. At 1.30 it was hailing and because the lightning was direct over us, we run in the car till it got a little better and we felt saver. Jeremy was hiten by hail at his head.
Read more about Spain on our destination Guide here: Spain Destination Guide
Camping France
After three great days in Germany, Holland and Belgium and a lot of driving we slept long and packed our things to leave Belgium in order go get to France.
We left Martin´s place at noon and had a four hour drive to Paris in front of us. It took a little longer because we want to see more of the nature and so we didn´t take the tall roads. But I think this is the best decision when you are traveling in Europe.
Because the nature looked so cool, Jeremy had the idea to camp one Night before we spend one or two nights in Paris.
On our way we found a camping spot which looked very good. Nobody was there, when we looked around and after a while somebody was coming who we could ask.
He said the door is open, we should just drive in and pick our favorite spot for the night, because it is not packed at all.
That was a great plan! So we drove to the little village two minutes away, bought a delicious french baguette and got food at McDonald, because the Restaurants were closed or didn´t look good :-/
Back at the camping spot we set up our tent and the mattress. At about 9.30 pm the owner of the Camp came and so we had to pay 14€ for the Night. We aktually thought it is for free, but 14€ was a very good price compared to the superexpensive Hotels in Paris.
The Night was ok, but really cold. Good thing that we had one sleeping bag, which we could use as a blanket. We are happy for the perfect spain weather, which is waiting for us 🙂
We Made it: Dubrovnik Croatia
Early in the morning we woke up in our nice apartment overlooking the ocean and had a good breakfast which I made. 🙂 After breakfast we drove the 10 km to the city center to explore Dubrovnik Croatia.
Parking in not easy to find in Dubrovnik, especially not on Pentecost Sunday. In Dubrovnik Croatia you have to pay for Parking every day of the week but Jeremy found a tiny spot along the road that was probably the only free parking spot in the entire city. We had to walk a short distance down a a hill to the main part of town. We passed a pretty beach called Benji Beach, and arrived in the old town Dubrovnik Croatia. Behind the chruch in the narrow streets, we found hidden opening that lead to a secret cove in the city walls with a tiny cafe. After sitting on the rocks, enjoying the sun and cliffdiving, we walked throught the City and back to our car.
That night we prepaired a Croatian/German dish for lunch and we spent the afternoon relaxing by the pool.
For dinner we had a homemade noodle salad with croatian meat. After dinner we left to visit the next village called Cavtat. Cavtat is beautiful. We spend the evening walking around the port and eating an ice cream.
Vacation Dubrovnik
We slept in this morning and after breakfast we packed our things in our quite, ocean view apartment in Podaca. We had such a good afternoon with the croatian couple the night before but it was time to get back on the road – Vacation Dubrovnik
So we said our goodbyes to Marija and her husband, gave hugs and we were off to our next destination.
After crossing the boarder into Bosnia we stopped to have lunch in a little grill restaurant in the small village of Neum. It was a good thing that we were allowed to pay with Croatian currecny, because we didn’t have a chance to stop and get Bosnian currency. After feeling fit and full again we continued on.
Vacation Dubrovnik
We crossed the Bosnian boarder back into Croatia and we soon arrived in our vacation Dubrovnik. The Coastal roads offered such a fantastic view which was what we expected to see when we planned our road trip and it was a great first impression Dubrovnik. We drove further down the coast, past the city center to find more afordable apartments.
The third Apartment we visited, was perfect. The name is Marnic Apartments. We could not imagine anything better and it is properly the nicest one of our whole trip. The apartment was huge and it had an awesome ocean view, a great terrace and a beautiful private pool. The inside of the apartment was fully loaded with a good bathroom, a great shower a double bed and nice sofa that you could turn into bed. The apartment also came with a very new kitchen where we cooked every day of our Stay. It was perfect!
Actually the plan was to see Dubrovnik in the evening, but we were so impressed with the nice, quiet Apartment with the perfect view, that we enjoyed the evening there. We only left to get groceries in the next village and cooked and relaxed on our Terrace.
Croatian Hospitality
After visiting the beautiful cities in the north of Croatia we were not particularly impressed with Split. The city center is run down and probably not the safest so we decided that one night was enough and continued on.
On our way we found a small Pizza place called Domina in the center of Nikola-makarska. We spent about 2 hours there enjoying an order of their delicious pizza.
After lunch the plan was to drive all the way to Dubrovnik but the weather was so bad that after two hours of driving we decided to look for an apartment. We saw a sign off of the road in Podaca advertising available apartments so we decided to stop and check it out. The apartment was absolutely beautiful and it had a balcony that overlooked the ocean. The owner Marija did not speak English or German but we managed to communicate and negotiate a price on her hand held calculator.
After settling in to the apartment we met Marija’s husband who is a carpenter and makes his own chairs and terrace furniture out of wood. He invited us to try some of his homemade liqueur and he showed us his work shop. We were all sitting together on the terrace and he and Jeremy began taking turns at playing his guitar. Marija’s husband sang croatian songs for us and Jeremy shared some of his American music.
Later a family friend by the name of Raoke came to visit, he spoke English and German which made everything easier. He brought olives out of his garden and wine for us to try.
We were the first guests in Marija’s apartment this season and her husband wanted to make dinner for us. We got so delicious croatian saucages and bread and Marija made palatschinken for desert. We Will Never forget this perfect croatian afternoon.
Krka National Park
In the morning we went into the city of Zadar to grab breakfast before heading out to Krka National Park. We sat down at a nice little Croatian restaurant where they advertised a “delicious English breakfast.” We both ended up passing on breakfast all together and ordered the Spaghetti Bolognese. I know you might be wondering, Spaghetti for breakfast? But after seeing the picture of the English breakfast I’m sure anyone would have done the same.
Towards the end of our breakfast we noticed a crowd of young people in matching shirts gathering in the streets. I wanted to know what it was all about so I asked one of the guys in the crowd. He told me the students in Croatia celebrate the end of a school year by having a food fight. The students divide themselves up into separate groups that wear different color shirts according to their class and participate in the event. By the afternoon the small food fight turned into all out war. Some students were being ambushed with flour bombs and egg launchers. I even saw a group of students armed with ketchup and mustard squirters shooting crazy into a crowd of their peers. The food fight was all in good fun and very exiting to watch. I had to dodge a few flour bombs myself while capturing the footage on my go pro. Luckily, both of us survived the battle free of any stains.
We left Zadar around noon headed for Krka National Park, the second national park of the trip. We arrived at the park shortly after 3pm when most of the visitors were on their way out. We followed the main trail which was an easy 4 kilometer hike to the big waterfall. When we finally arrived at the falls I was completely blown away. Krka’s waterfall is absolutely massive. Made up of 17 smaller waterfalls the Krka waterfall is easily the coolest thing I’ve seen so far on our road trip. We spent about an hour swimming and relaxing around the falls before getting back on the road.
Our final stop for the day was scheduled for Split. We made it to Split around 9pm and drove around the city center looking for accommodation. I read so many great things about Split during our research of the city and wasn’t expecting to have much trouble finding a place even at such a late hour but boy was I wrong. We must have checked out a dozen places but every place we checked was either super sketch or ridiculously out of our budget. We ended up finding a small apartment 5km outside of city and called it a night.
Vir Croatia
We started our day a little before noon and drove to Vir Croatia. A long bridge connects Vir Croatia to the mainland to make it easy for people to cross over without having to board a ferry. Upon arrival we stopped at a small cafe and met a few locals that told us where to find the best spots on the island. Unfortunately most of the places in Vir don’t serve food until 3pm so we picked up a few things from the local bakery to hold us over.
After exploring the island some more we decided to pick a spot on the east side to relax. We spent a few hours snorkeling and lounging on the beach. The water in Vir Croatia is so clear and and there are so many good spots that often we had a whole beach to ourselves.
Later we ate dinner at an small place in Nin called Pizza Palace. The food was excellent and like most restaurants in Croatia, the prices were cheap. After dinner we walked around the old town. We saw a nice church courtyard and a very cool stone bridge.
Plitvice National Park
Since we arrived so late the night before we got out of having to pay for a Plitvice National Park parking day pass which can be pricey during the high season. The entrance to the Plitvice National Park was about a 5 minute walk from our car so we were already off to a good start. The price for students is about 11 Euro and it includes bus rides through the park and one ferry ride. Online we found advice on which was the best route to follow but if you want to avoid the massive crowds follow our route and you will have the best views of the park with the sun always in the perfect spot for photos:
Start early to avoid the crowds and begin your day by taking the bus from Parking Lot 2 to STR 3
Hike to P2 and check out the small rivers, lakes and stunning views from the highest part of the park.
From P2 take the ferry to P3 and stop for lunch. The kitchen doesn’t open till 11:30 so be the first in line at 11:15 and you can have first pick at the meat fresh off the grill.
By noon the park is packed so try to make your way to the Big waterfall before 1pm when the sun is at the highest point in the sky to see a cool rainbow effect in the waterfall.
Close out the hike by walking the rest of the way to Parking Lot 1 and hop on the bus back to Parking Lot 2
The whole hike should take you 6 hours, give or take a few, and plan to be back by 3pm because the heat is brutal in the summer.
We left the park at 3pm and were set on reaching the coast before sundown. We arrived in Zadar much faster than we expected so we stopped in the city center to explore a little bit. We enjoyed a couple of Zadar’s famous pizza sandwiches and made it to the beach house before 8pm just in time to witness our first beach sunset of the trip.