At 34 weeks pregnant, I just completed my last bit of travel until after the baby arrives. I’ve been traveling throughout this pregnancy, and thankfully it has gone extremely well. Each trimester has its own considerations, but the third trimester definitely brought the most challenges. Here are a couple of tricks and tips that I learned along the way.
Traveling while pregnant can be relaxing
Spring is a great time to visit Provence, particularly as the summers can be hot and busy. The area of Provence is essentially rural, but it does have cities such as Avignon, Nimes, Orange, Aix en Provence and Marseille. Some of the most attractive architectural features of Provence are the perched villages, situated on craggy hilltops where they were sited to resist the marauding tribes in the Middle Ages. The villages were built around castle keeps and wrapped in thick ramparts, from where they could keep vigil over the hinterland and even the coast to spot early invasions from the sea. Since the 19th century, many of these villages have lost their peasant communities, but more recently many have been restored by a new generation of artists, craftsmen and the influx of holiday makers.
Goult main street, Provence
Though I believe that this city has much more to offer than a weekend visit can expound, most travelers seem to allot 48 hours to this Udaipur. Only 5 hours from Jaipur, and less than that from Jodhpur or Ajmer, and an even shorter jaunt from the dessert oasis that is Pushkar, many backpackers pass through here, and for good reason – Udaipur, on the shores of Lake Pichola, is gorgeous.
Udaipur: Photo by Adena H.
Don’t miss out on Udaipur – check out my tripwolf guide to 48 Hours in Udaipur. Find where to stay, eat, shop and what to do in this simple guide. It’s available in the tripwolf app for iPhone or Android, or even as a print and go PDF.
For a town that produced possibly the biggest name in the English language, Stratford-upon-Avon is rather quaint and unassuming. When I first traveled to Shakespeare’s hometown on a high school trip about eleven years ago, I was rather taken by its small charm and Tudor-style buildings; revisiting Stratford this past winter revealed that not much has changed there in the last decade. So what is there to do in the birthplace of the Bard?
Hathaway Cottage. Photo by deannanmc
I have spent months traveling with nothing more than a carry-on suitcase. While this sounds completely mad to many people, it’s really not that difficult, as long as you make sure to pack right. Here are a few tips.
As with every part of wedding planning, it’s different strokes for different folks. Part of the deal of doing all that preparation is planning your escape after the big day – your honeymoon, of course, I didn’t mean an annulment…
Some people dream of the “big white wedding” and an equally lavish honeymoon. Others avoid the spotlight as much as possible, and plan a courthouse ceremony and a weekend camping in the Maine wilderness. The worst things can happen to those good people who book an all-inclusive vacation to some tourist-ridden hovel just to make it easy. So what about the rest of us? Those of us who aren’t afraid of making our own itinerary, or applying for a visa if necessary, and who just want a low-key vacation to enjoy their new, and very official, boo?
Here are my top 5 picks for a super chill honeymoon ~ tried and tested!
Next month I’m going to do something I haven’t done in a few years–actually, something that I haven’t done since 14 months before the birth of my second child. I’m going on a no-kids, no-husband trip to Amsterdam with an old friend for a girls’ weekend. Though my husband is my favorite travel buddy (nobody puts together an itinerary like he does) and I love showing my girls the world, I really need this little break to shake up my travel routine. But will my packing style change much since I’m packing for one and not myself plus two little kids? Actually…it won’t. Here’s a list of parent must-haves that benefit the solo traveler without taking up much daypack space.
What could be better than visiting The Eternal City? Gorgeous ancient ruins, high fashion, delicious food, fine art… smog, hordes of tourists, pickpockets, traffic, and big city grime. Whew! Sometimes, you need a vacation from your vacation. Where to head when you need to get away from Rome? Try the Roman Baths in Tivoli.
Thanks to the 2008 Colin Farrell film In Bruges, some people think that Bruges is a quaint little historical city that also doubles as a holding cell for the souls of the damned. I’m pleased to report that this is only half true: Bruges is quaint, historical, and almost comically pretty. If Disney’s Epcot World Village had a Belgium section, it would look like Bruges. As we were spending our trip headquartered in Brussels, we only had a few hours to spend in the Bruges but we could have easily done another day.
Belfry of Bruges
The Profile*: She is a freelance creative type who lives in a major European capital and has never been to New York. Her ideas of where to go include the Empire State Building and Times Square. That won’t do at all.
Where to go to explore New York City as a newbie without feeling like a tourist?
