In a professional setting, I often get asked about my “favorite” places in Spain. And it is not always a question I look forward to during client consultations.

Why?

My answers to this question rarely help guide clients. As someone who has lived in Spain for eight years, I have the luxury of having Spain at my fingertips. Naturally, my travel preferences will be quite different from those of a client who is coming to Spain for a two-week trip.

But since this is my personal Substack, I wanted to write about some of my unfiltered Spain travel faves.

These are just a few of MY Spain MY way picks!

(Please note, when relevant, I linked some select posts from the Spain Less Traveled blog. My company’s blog contains useful information for travelers to Spain.)

Mallorca (way) off season

My favorite time to be on the island of Mallorca is in February. Call me crazy, but I prefer off off off off season.

Why?

Mallorca is popular with various groups of travelers and tourists. The island gets incredibly crowded during the Summer months (and Spring and Fall now too). So much so that it is often impossible to park near the island’s best beaches, most beautiful sites, and in the small towns. There are traffic jams, and cities such as Palma de Mallorca are so crowded.

No thanks.

Therefore, MY Mallorca is Mallorca in the winter. Yes, the weather can be iffy, even terrible. Think less sunshine, cold, and yes, rain. Last time I went, I had a full day of cold rain. And sure, some places, such as hotels and restaurants, are closed for the off-season.

But it still beats fighting the crowds.

Instead, in February, I find the island to be peaceful. Getting around is easy, and parking is no problem. Towns like Valldemossa, Alcúdia, and Sóller aren’t packed with wall-to-wall tourists. You can walk into a restaurant in most cases without a reservation. And the prices are so much more reasonable for everything - hotel, rental car, flights, etc.

And in February, although I can’t sit on the beach (which isn’t one of my favorite activities anyway), I can hike, admire the scenery, walk along the calas and coasts (without a million people), and just enjoy the peace.

This may not suit many travelers or tourists, especially those looking for sun and sand, but Mallorca in February is the version of Mallorca I prefer.

From the Spain Less Traveled blog:

Mallorca, Spain

Poppy chasing in the Spring

For this one, you need access to your own vehicle and a lot of patience.

My favorite thing about spring in Spain is the fields of red poppies. They are just so beautiful against the backdrop of Spain’s signature blue sky.

And one of my Springtime traditions is going to find these poppy fields. For me, that means hopping in my car and driving north, to the other side of the Montes de Málaga. And once there, getting off the main (and even secondary) roads, favoring the backroads.

Some of my areas to do this (not giving away exact roads) are in the Subbética de Córdoba, the Poniente Granadino, and the Serranía de Ronda. If I have more than a day, I often head to rural Jaén or rural Cádiz provinces. Or even up to Castilla-La Mancha.

These poppies dot the roadsides, but for me, the prize is finding fields of these beautiful poppies. It’s just so Spain in the Spring!

(These poppies can be found all over interior Spain. But since I live in Málaga, these are the places I regularly go to see them.)

The neighborhoods of Madrid

My Madrid is not the Madrid in the guidebooks or on the packaged tours.

Sure, I love the Prado, but I have been there, done that. Plenty of times. All of the other major museums, too. I personally find the Palacio Real (royal palace) over the top and overrated. Not my scene.

As someone who used to live in Madrid, I avoid Puerta del Sol like the plague, likening it to Times Square (NYC) or Fisherman’s Wharf (San Francisco). And I only go to Plaza Mayor if there is some sort of special event or I need to cross through to get from the Rastro (flea market) to another part of the city.

Nope, none of this is MY Madrid. Instead, MY Madrid are the diverse neighborhoods of Madrid.

When I am craving Indian, Moroccan, or Senegalese food, you will find me in Lavapiés. Lavapiés used to be Madrid’s “immigrant” neighborhood. These days, it is gentrifying, but you will still find shops and restaurants owned by immigrants and family of immigrants. Lavapiés is also known for being a bastion of leftist activism, which is so evident in the street art found in the area.

Did you know that Madrid has a Chinatown? Usera is one of the outlying neighborhoods and is where you can find some of Spain’s best Chinese and Chinese-fusion food. It is a fun and totally different side to Madrid.

If I feel like going to one of Madrid’s best markets (and no, that is NOT Mercado de San Miguel), I head to Mercado de las Maravillas. Located in the Cuatro Caminos neighborhood, north of the center, this massive market carries a lot of Latin American products. When I am craving Venezuelan food, this is where you will find me.

Then there are the areas that I just love strolling around. Leafy (and wealthy) Barrio de Salamanca. Chamberí, which is just so pleasant and charming (and has my favorite plaza, Plaza de Olavide). And of course Ibiza, with its old city charm and outdoor dining.

Closer to the center, Barrio de las Letras is one of my favorites. During the golden age of Spanish literature, many famous writers lived here. These days you can find famous Spanish literary quotes inlaid in the streets.

And although I’d never choose to live there again, Malasaña is where I officially rented my first Madrid apartment as a resident. This hip artsy neighborhood is a lot of fun. I just find the old Madrid architecture enchanting.

Further out of the city limits, you have leafy parks, forests, and even mountains. There are small villages in the region of Madrid, historic castles, wineries, and so much more.

This is all MY Madrid. Not touring the Palacio Real or eating overpriced tapas at Mercado de San Miguel.

From the Spain Less Traveled blog:

Madrid travel guide

Madrid off the beaten path

Spending weeks in Córdoba

The three major historic cities on the typical Andaluz travel circuit are Seville, Granada, and Córdoba.

Córdoba is my favorite.

Why?

I mean, as a lover of Islamic architecture, the Mezquita (mosque) is just jaw-dropping. Those arches are hypnotizing. I always find something new in the ceilings. And the details are just so intricate and intense. The fact that the Christian architects who built their cathedral right on top of the mosque saw the beauty and the need to preserve what they were destroying was rare.

(In fact, Córdoba’s mezquita was built by the new Umayyad Emirate in Andalucía. The family had previously ruled Damascus. When I was in Syria, I saw this strong connection to Córdoba and felt an overwhelming rush of emotion. The world is much smaller than we are led to believe.)

But Córdoba is so much more than the Mezquita, and so many visitors miss the rest. For me, the Judería (old Jewish quarters) always makes me emotional. There are a few reasons for this:

1. I see the harmony that Jews and Muslims used to have (and should still have), living side by side, building amazing things together. We really are the same people, and that is evident in Córdoba.

2. I am related to Córdoba’s most famous Jew, Moses ben Maimon, aka Maimonides. Really. The surname is one very present in my mom’s family, and we traced our roots back. So every time I go to Córdoba, I go to greet my fam. (I wrote more about this deep connection here. Warning: this piece is political and clearly states how I feel about certain issues.)

For me, the Judería is so much more than the quaint streets and shops for tourists. It is where I have a deep history.

Córdoba has a large historic center, and Mezquita and Judería only make up a small fraction of it. That is where most who are only spending a day or two in Córdoba stop. But there is so much more!

Córdoba’s entire centro histórico is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Meaning it is extremely well preserved and has strict guidelines as to what can (and can not) be built there. Walk 500 meters away from the Mezquita and Judería, and you’re in a locals’ part of the historic center, where you will see people who actually live there going on with their daily lives. This, unfortunately, is something you won’t find in every historic district in every Spanish city.

The neighborhoods are charming. Mazes of whitewashed houses, flowers, little plazas (placitas), local shops, and bars.

I know a lot of visitors take a day trip to Córdoba (tragic), but I can (and have) spent weeks in this charming city just… existing.

Not to mention that I have been going to Córdoba’s annual La Fiesta de los Patios practically every year since 2015. The festival itself has changed a lot and has become increasingly more popular. But I still have my secret ways for navigating it without the crowds, and it’s a special treat every year. And it requires at least four nights in the city (for me).

From the Spain Less Traveled blog:

Córdoba

Festivals of Spain

An epic (and endless) roadtrip (or series of roadtrips) through the North of Spain

By the “north,” I am referring to the regions of the Basque Country, Cantabria, Asturias, and Galicia. Just to clarify.

Every year, especially in the summer, visitors from overseas flock to the Basque city of San Sebastián. It is no surprise that San Sebastián was basically built to be an opulent resort city and has attracted visitors for decades. It is a beautiful little city with nice beaches and what many consider to be the best food in Spain. After a few days in San Sebastián, “northern Spain” is checked off, and onward they go. Whether that’s a train to Madrid or Barcelona or a flight to the south of Spain.

San Sebastián is lovely, but it is not really for me. It’s crowded and overpriced.

Since I have the luxury of time in Spain, I have done many epic multi-week roadtrips through the regions of Northern Spain. And every time, it is an immensely enjoyable experience.

Let’s work east to west and start with the Basque Country. Bilbao, not San Sebastián, is my favorite Basque city and one of my top Spanish cities. I actually considered moving to Bilbao a while back I love it so much. Bilbao has an industrial past, and that footprint is still very much there. But these days, Bilbao is hip and artsy. This is in big part thanks to the Guggenheim Museum, which created an art renaissance in Bilbao. It’s a proper city with a real soul, and I just love it.

Basque Country is full of beautiful mountains and coastal areas too. Hondarribia, just across the border with France, is one of my favorite small towns in Spain.

The area has a rich history and a language of its own that is not related to any other language on this planet. Traveling in the Basque Country is always such a fascinating experience. And for me, that goes well beyond San Sebastián.

Let’s head west to the next region: Cantabria. Cantabria is close to my heart as this is the part of the country where the Casusos, my adopted Spanish family, is from.

Cantabria often gets overlooked completely. Travelers headed between the Basque Country and Asturias (read on) often literally speed right through Cantabria on the freeway. But Cantabria deserves so much more.

Santander is the capital city, and it is different from any other city you will find in Spain. In the 1940s, a fire destroyed much of its medieval (old) city center. Instead of recreating that vibe, Santander took the opposite direction, going stately and grandiose. Opulent buildings line the streets and plazas of Santander’s privileged coastal position. The city also has a cool arts scene and a food culture that Spaniards from other regions of Spain regularly travel to seek out.

Cantabria is more than its capital city. You have gorgeous stretches of coastline and amazing hiking and outdoor activities in the Picos de Europa (Cantabria side).

Also, I should note that I don’t personally “do” caves (hello, claustrophobia!), but Cantabria has some of Spain’s best caves. Not for me. My clients love these, though!

The next region over to the west is Asturias, which has the nickname of Paraíso Natural (natural paradise). And this is no lie. More beautiful coastline and the Asturian side of the Picos de Europa would be enough to be awarded this nickname. But there’s more, wild nature reserves, lakes, inland cove beaches… Asturias really is an outdoor paradise!

The cities and towns of Asturias also deserve a mention. Its capital, Oviedo, is one of my favorite smaller Spanish cities. It has a gorgeous medieval city center and one of my favorite food streets in Spain (Calle Gascona). But Oviedo is not on the coast. Gijón answers that call as a gorgeous city on the Asturian coast. And speaking of the coast, Asturias has coastal towns like no other. Some of my favorites are Llanes (where I like to base myself when I go to Asturias during the summer), Cudillero, Luarca, and Llastres.

Finally, tucked away in Spain’s far northwest corner, just above Portugal, is Galicia. Galicia is practically like a whole country in its own right, and I really think it needs at least two weeks to do it justice.

Since this post is about my Spain, I am going to skip over Santiago de Compostela. But don’t worry, as Galicia’s most popular destination, you will find plenty of information about it.

A Coruña and Ourense are my favorite Galician cities.

A Coruña is coastal with this vibe that I always really enjoy. The city has the longest seafront promenade in Europe, and walking the urban coastline is really enjoyable. A Coruña also has the oldest Roman lighthouse in the world and this neat architectural style that incorporates glassed in balconies. As a vegetarian, I’ve had great luck with the food in A Coruña, which is not always easy in smaller Spanish cities.

Ourense is just a gem with a series of hot springs that are within the city limits. Some are harder to find and access than others, but it always feels like a fun adventure. And I think Ourense’s historic center is beautiful.

Aside from cities, Galicia is full of more nature, more small towns, and some of the most stunning Spanish coastline. It is no coincidence that my favorite Spanish wine varieties, Godello and Albariño, come from Galicia. And you have not lived until you’ve tried smoky San Simón da Costa cheese.

This is just the tip of the iceberg for Northern Spain. And it’s why I think the north deserves several trips.

Pro-tip: If you only have a week and want to see the north, focus on just one region (or in Galicia’s case, just part of one region.

From the Spain Less Traveled blog:

Basque Country

Cantabria

Asturias

Galicia

Extremadura: Spain’s old timey wild west

Extermadura. A region you basically never see on packaged Spain tours. The extreme west of Spain is in some ways frozen in time. In my opinion, the pueblos of Extremadura paint a current picture of what life was like in Spain from years past.

So naturally, I love this region.

The extremeño accent is so thick that even native Spanish speakers have issues understanding it. And the culture and traditions of Extremadura run as deep as this accent.

As a non-meat eater, I can not partake in Extremadura’s best-known contribution to Spain’s culinary scene, the jamón. But Extremadura produces wonderful cheese and wine, which I will happily indulge in. And in the spring and early summer, Extremadura harvests my favorite fruit - cherries! They are delicious, local, perfectly sweet, and juicy. I live for cherry season every year!

And because of those cherries, Extremadura has its own cherry blossoms! No need to fly to Tokyo, just drive to Valle del Jerte.

I always have the best time in Extremadura. Staying in paradores, wandering through medieval cities such as Cáceres, enjoying time in nature, randomly finding new pueblos, this is all part of my Extremadura experience.

And although I have planned a handful of Extremadura road trips for clients, this is one of the least-requested regions. I won’t lie when I say I kind of want to keep it that way.

From the Spain Less Traveled blog:

Extremadura

Paradores of Spain

Teruel, the most unknown provincial capital

Ask many Spaniards about Teruel, and might not know where or what it is. Seriously. There is a common phrase here in Spain, “Teruel existe,” which means “Teruel exists.” The reason for this? Because even a lot of Spanish people forget about Teruel or don’t know much about it.

Tucked deep into the Aragón region, the province of Teruel is quite remote. With rugged mountains, it forms a natural barrier between itself and the outside. The provincial capital, Teruel (city) is probably one of Spain’s least-visited cities.

So of course I wanted to investigate!

Many years ago, my Spain Less Traveled colleague (and dear friend) Carlos and I rented a car in Madrid for a long weekend road trip to Teruel. Being architecture nerds (he in fact, is an architect by trade), we were excited about the Mudéjar and Modernista architecture we’d find in the city. And being travel professionals, we had a whole route of the province planned out, including hotel visits, pueblos, and special experiences that our clients would love.

What we found was amazing. The city had such a vibe! We obviously fell in love with the architecture, but found so much more than that. The people are loud, friendly, and so welcoming. No one spoke any English, so I was 100% forced to use my Spanish (which I love and is rare to find these days).

Not to mention that the countryside and pueblos outside of Teruel are worthy of a multiday road trip in the region. We saw the most beautiful fall colors and some of Spain’s most stunning natural wonders.

I really want to go back. Getting to Teruel from Málaga would be a haul and a multi-day road trip, but I hope to plan something soon. Maybe next Spring?

From the Spain Less Traveled blog:

Zaragoza (Zaragoza is the regional capital of the Aragón region)

These are just a few snippets of MY Spain

Living in Spain full-time since 2018, these are just a few of my favorite spots in Spain. This list is by no means all inclusive of everything I love about Spain travel. But it’s a sample and a small tidbit to tell you where my Spanish heart is.

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Let me help you plan your trip to discover YOUR Spain!

My Substack community doesn’t totally overlap with my professional (Spain-niche) communities, so it would be remiss if I didn’t mention that I work directly with clients to help plan their trips to Spain.

My company, Spain

As a travel planner, I started Spain Less Traveled, a travel company specializing in customized Spain trips. Through consultations (on Zoom and email) and full itineraries, our clients go on curated private vacations, discovering Spain on their terms.

I’d love to help you plan your dream trip to Spain too. Here is more information on the services that my team and I offer:

• Fully curated Spain itineraries (our full package)

• Spain travel consultations (on Zoom)

• Spain travel consultations (via email)

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

YOUR turn… tell me a little about YOUR Spain!

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Paris is my favorite city in the world.

There. I said it. People often assume that Madrid or San Francisco (or probably now Damascus) would be my favorite city in the world. But no, it’s Paris.

And I realize Paris is basically one of the most touristed cities in the world. But that is not my experience with Paris. Paris was never a one and done for me.

I have a long history with Paris. For one, it was the first European city I ever visited on the trip I planned for my family when I was a teenager. Quickly, I fell in love with Paris.

Then, about a year and a half later, when I was still in high school, my parents sent me on a summer study abroad program in Paris while they were getting a divorce. The actual fact is that I sort of blackmailed them to be able to partake in this program, but it worked. I spent a glorious summer in Paris living in the 16th (which is basically where Paris’ one percenters live), having an age inappropriate relationship, and exploring as much of Paris, and surrounding areas, as I could when I wasn’t in class.

While I was in university, practically all of my friends studied abroad in Paris (I went to Japan for this, another story for another time), so I ended up in Paris to visit. Some university students go to Cancun for Spring Break, but I consistently went to Paris.

Since I loved the city so much, I always found myself back in Paris. During a trip to the UK, I missed Paris so much that I took a side trip over on the Eurostar. In my 20s and most of my 30s, every time I traveled to Europe, I eventually wound up back in Paris.

My memories of Paris were almost all amazing. By then, there was nothing more I loved than waking up and starting the day in Paris. And my love for Paris was cemented for life.

My Paris is probably not your Paris

(Especially if you’ve only been to the city a handful of times. And that is ok…)

My Paris is not touristy Paris. It’s not check off boxes Paris. And it’s not first-time-to-Paris Paris.

For example, I have absolutely no desire to ever step foot in the Louvre again (Don’t get me wrong, I love art, but hate looking at art in overcrowded spaces, being pushed through). I’ve been there, done that, at least five times and I no longer go when I am in Paris.

Same goes for D’Orsay although I love impressionism.

I have been to Versailles, exactly twice. Once when I went with my parents on that first trip to Europe and once when I studied abroad in Paris. No need to go again. Ever.

In fact, it is very rare, even to this day, that I take a day trip out of Paris. I often have big plans to do so (for example, Provins is high on my list), but I never want to leave Paris while I am there.

During my visits to Paris, I repeatedly ignore the existence of the Champs-Élysées (and most of the 8th, though about a year ago I did go to the Dior Gallery).

I don’t have a curated list of places to eat that are on the tourist circuit. I’ve never been to Pink Mamma or La Jacobine. And I don’t go see Moulin Rogue.

There is no need to go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower, ever again. And dining in a Michelin-star restaurant IN the Eiffel Tower is 100% not for me. Nope.

If I go to Montmartre, I go to the back streets. Never the area in front of Sacré-Cœur. And honestly, on my past 4-5 trips to Paris I have completely skipped Montmartre.

And Uber? Why? I make use of Paris’ walkability and amazing public transportation system. I still know the metro like the back of my hand, and do not understand why so many visitors insist on Ubering around the city.

You do you, boo. No judgement if these things are your Paris. But they’re not mine.

What is my Paris?

My Paris is waking up in the 11th and going for my first coffee and pain au chocolat for the day.

My Paris is visiting flea markets (and buying things I don’t think I need until I need them, like the beautiful Persian rug I bought to add to my collection). And popping into every local market, boutique shop, and antique shop that I see.

My Paris is quite literally walking across the whole city, from the top of the 18th to the bottom of the 14th, stopping at anything that piques my curiosity along the way (and with plenty of stops for coffee, baguettes, cheese, and sometimes wine).

My Paris is eating my way through the various diverse cuisines from people who are very much a part of the fabric of the city. Lebanese, Vietnamese, Syrian, Laotian, Cambodian, Algerian, Ivorian, Senegalese and more. Embracing Paris’ magnificent diversity is really part of my Parisian experience.

My Paris is choosing an arrondissement (during my last trip, it was the 12th) that I am not super familiar with and wandering, again stopping for anything interesting that I find.

My Paris is taking the metro or even RER and getting off at a random stop to look around and see what I can find locally.

My Paris is admiring the architecture and taking 1,500 photos of the iconic Haussmann buildings. And wandering the small streets and taking 1,500 more photographs of anything that catches my eye.

My Paris is finding out what’s on in the city. Whether it’s a special exhibition, a cool light show, a popup, or something hipster happening in a reclaimed space. And taking advantage of these types of events.

My Paris is a stroll in the Bois de Boulogne, not far from where I used to live. Or walking the hills of Parc des Buttes-Chaumont.

My Paris is chatting with Parisians. No, they don’t bite. And yes, they get an unfair reputation. I’ve been met with nothing but kindness (and even compliments on my French) in Paris. To find this, you need to get away from the checklist sites.

My Paris is catching up with friends who still live in the magnificent city. And looking at real estate ads (and sending vibes that I will one day win the lottery) to find my own Parisian dream (more on that later).

My Paris is taking advice into account about restaurants and cafes from my friends who actually live there. Not travel blogs, travel guides, influencers, or Paris travel groups online. I often use my friends’ recommendations as a roadmap and stray off to find more in my Paris.

A little confession (another one)

The one Paris tradition I always do on my first night back in Paris?

Go see the Eiffel Tower sparkle. From my secret location in the 16th. You won’t find me in the Champ de Mars. Nope, I have my quiet spot where I watch the twinkling lights of Paris’ most recognizable landmark and celebrate being back in Paris. Back in my favorite city in the world.

(Though I will confess to once being on a small, boutique, privately owned boat in the Seine. That was an amazing ET sparkle experience.)

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My next Paris

People who know me well often ask me when I am going to Paris next.

I try to visit at least once a year these days. Thankfully, there are plenty of direct flights from Málaga. I’ve even taken the train from Barcelona one time when I was in Cataluña. Living in Europe, I can visit my favorite city in the world often.

My next trip to Paris is scheduled for October. With Kelley and Marin. They have never been to Paris with me.

And I am very much looking forward this trip. But I’ve already warned them, if they want to see the sites and the museums, I will ditch them to do MY Paris. And meetup later or in the evening.

Because even for my friends who have not been to Paris as many times as I have, I am not playing Paris tour guide to the big sites.

They understand. And that is one of the reasons we travel so well together.

“But why don’t you just move to Paris?”

Great question, and there are a few answers.

For one, I have Spanish permanent residency, and I am close to being able to apply for Spanish citizenship. Moving to France would sort of jeopardize that.

And of course my work is in Spain.

My French is A2 at very best. Sure, I could learn it, but there is something to be said about being able to use the language of the country you’re in for everything and be self-sufficient. I am there with Spain and Spanish.

But really the big answer is I don’t want to ruin Paris by living there. Once you live somewhere, you realize the big differences between travel and real life. I want to keep Paris my special travel destination, my favorite city. I don’t really want to put a damper on it by living every day life there.

Maybe one day I will change my mind. RafifJ and I have talked seriously and not so seriously about moving to Paris.

Tell me about your Paris…

Or are you a Paris hater? No judgement (at least on the surface, but I do secretly judge people who say that hate Paris. Especially after visiting just once).

If you are, I implore you to dig deeper and find your Paris. There is just so much more to the amazing French capital that the influencers and guide books don’t mention. Because honestly, they may not know. Or, because of mass tourism, they may not care to dig deeper since many go into Paris with a checklist.

And do you love Paris like I do? Tell me about YOUR Paris. Who knows, maybe I will get some ideas for my next trip!

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Here is a short list of some of the best decisions I made about travel.

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Spain - revisiting as an adult

It is not much of a secret anymore than on my first trip to Europe as a teenager (the first trip I planned), I fell madly in love with Paris but Madrid was sort of “meh” for me.

It took me 20+ years to get back to Spain, and I am so glad that I went back. As an adult.

In my mid 30s, Spain was a completely different experience for me than my first trip there in my teens. I fell in love with Granada, Córdoba, Bilbao, and yes, Madrid. In fact, the entire country cast some sort of spell on me.

A strong enough spell that I started spending six months out of the year in Spain. Ninety days in, 90 out, repeat. Before the term “digital nomad” was officially coined, that is exactly what I was with my remote US-based travel job. That afforded me the flexibility to travel all over the country (repeatedly).

In 2017 I quit my last corporate job and made plans to permanently move to Spain. That move to Madrid happened in 2018. My family was surprised that I chose Madrid to be my first official Spanish home, given my first impressions of it in the 90s. But since I opened my mind and revisited it, I discovered my deep love for Madrid.

Although I no longer live in Madrid (I am in Málaga city these days), I still have unconditional love for it. And I go back regularly, usually once a month for work and to see friends. Plus, I own a Spain travel planning business where I share my love for Spain (and Madrid) with my clients.

Giving Spain and Madrid a second chance in my adult years changed my life in more ways than anything else, and I am really glad I rediscovered the country as an adult.

Peru - going to the actual Amazon

The Amazon is a vast area, and often in travel guides and on tours, the part of the Amazon. that is recommended is nowhere near the Amazon River.

For example, in Peru, I could have gone to the “Amazon” by road directly from Cuzco after Machu Picchu.

But for me, that didn’t seem like the best option.

So instead I took the last week of my Peru trip to make my way back to Lima, fly to Iquitos, and take a two hour boat ride (down the Amazon River) to get to the lodge.

Once there, I did amazing rainforest hikes, swam with pink dolphins in the river, went fishing for piranhas (and thew the fish I caught back), saw so much wildlife including monkeys and birds, and met locals living in communities along the Amazon.

As a child, I had read so much about THE Amazon, including the river, and being able to spend time in the heart of the region was such a treat. I am glad that I did not compromise that experience for ease of travel or simplicity.

Egypt - taking a dahabiya instead of a large Nile boat

I actually have to give this one to my friend Yosmar, who started to plan a trip to Egypt and then invited me along.

She did a ton of research and gave a few options for the portion of our trip where we’d be sailing down the Nile.

We could do one of those big Nile cruises. Or we could go on a dahabiya, which is a traditional Egyptian boat with sails. The dahabiya was much smaller, with a maximum of 12 passengers. Much smaller than those cruises that carry 100s, if not 1000s, of people.

Plus the dahabiya could dock in smaller places along the Nile including villages and even sandbars. And on the dahabiya, we’d have a full-time Egyptologist.

Of course a dahabiya is a lot more expensive than the generic boats that cruise the Nile, but we agreed that it was a much better option. So we booked a three night dahabiya cruise as part of our Egypt trip.

Seeing the (sorry) ugly boats on the Nile, I was so glad we made this decision. The food was home-cooked and excellent. Our Egyptologist on board was fantastic. And the other passengers were likeminded travelers.

When we docked at some of the smaller places along the Nile, ports that the larger ships couldn’t access, it felt like we had the Nile to ourselves.

My friend #1 piece of travel advice for anyone going to Egypt is to just book the dahabiya. It is a uniquely Egyptian experience, and you will have a fabulous time on the Nile between Luxor and Aswan.

Munich - seeing the Eras Tour again

Ok fellow Swifties, this one is for you.

Living in Europe gave me the special opportunity to see Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour at not inflated prices.

I managed to score a face value floor ticket for one of the Madrid shows. That was easy, hop on a train, go see the show, crash on my friend Carlos’ sofa (because hotel prices were outrageous) and go home to Málaga the next day.

It was great. Except that since I am short, I couldn’t see the whole show from the floor. It also left me wanting more. (“…and the crowd was chanting MORE!”) So I looked up the future European dates and found that I could fly to Munich and stay at a hotel for two nights, all for free, with my travel points.

Since I have amazing ticket karma, I managed to get a seated ticket, again, for face value.

Now one problem. I had been to Munich before. Quite a few times, actually. And it is not my favorite German city. But who cares what city it is??! It’s Taylor Swift, and it’s the Eras Tour, so of course I went!

And that time, surrounded by 70,000+ other Swifties, I had a blast in Munich itself. And of course being seated and getting to see the entire stage show for the greatest tour on Earth was pretty fab too.

Thanks TayTay for getting me back to Munich!

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Tanzania - splurging on the hot air balloon ride

When I did my big sub-Saharan African overland trip, it was my second time in the region and I was trying to work with a budget. Africa, especially East Africa, and budget do not always translate well, so instead of five star tented camps, I went with G Adventures on one of their more budget trips. I was the oldest person in my group, but it didn’t bother me.

Although it was tempting to “upgrade” every night (and we are not talking five star upgrades, just to semi-permanent lodging so I wouldn’t have to pitch my tent every night), I did it sparingly. Again, budget.

But the one thing I did splurge on was the hot air balloon ride over the Serengeti, and to this day, that was one of my most memorable travel experiences.

Slowly drifting above the Serengeti at sunrise and watching the animal kingdom wake up from above is something I will never forget. It was so peaceful. And seeing the vast Serengeti from that vantage point was one of those travel “pinch me” moments.

Was this a budget experience? Absolutely not! The balloon ride cost several hundred dollars. But in the end, after grumbling when I handed my credit card over to process the charge, I have zero regrets.

Lapland - picking THE best spot for the Northern Lights

Seeing the northern lights had been one of my dreams for a long time. With the invention of Instagram, places such as Rovaniemi started to market themselves as “Aurora Borealis hotspots.”

But look at a map. Rovaniemi is barely even in Lapland (at the southern edge), and is a city with city lights. Light pollution can really hinder an Aurora Borealis experience.

So instead of going with the hype and booking a glass igloo in Rovaniemi, I did meticulous research and found an amazing place called Aurora Holidays all the way up in Utsjoki, Finland.

Not only was I pretty certain that I’d see the northern lights, but the ethos of Aurora Holidays was very much in line with my sustainable travel ethos. Plus it was woman-owned. Perfect!

My time at Aurora Holidays was magical and epic. Not only did I see the northern lights, but Joey and played under the Aurora Borealis in an empty field until 2am, getting a spectacular show!

I loved Tiina (the owner), Aurora Holidays and Utsjoki so much that a few years later I went back, this time with Kelley and Marin. And my second time there was just as amazing as my first. We actually saw the Auroras all five nights!

(Who are Joey, Kelley, and Marin? They made the cut for the small list of people I can travel with well. You can read more about my travel gang cast of characters.)

Doing research and not going with the first shinny option was key in optimizing my northern lights bucket list item!

Syria - waiting to go with a dear friend

Speaking of my travel gang cast of characters… let me reintroduce you to RafifJ, who is not only a dear friend, but was my key to being able to travel to Syria.

Syria had kind of always been high on my travel list because of a family friend who married a Syrian man when I was a child (they are now divorced). But going was a bit daunting. Then 2011 happened, and it was pretty much out of the question. When the revolution started, I was in Argentina and I remember kicking myself for not traveling to Syria prior. Would I ever get to go?

Fast forward many years (and this is just a quick synopsis). I moved to Spain (Madrid). Then I ended up moving to Málaga. I met RafifJ, not as soon as I moved, but in due time. RafifJ is Syrian-American and we became good friends. She had not been in Syria since the revolution for various political reasons. On 8 December 2024, the Assad regime fell and Syria became free. RafifJ started planning her first trip back to a free Syria. Of course, I started begging her to take me one day. After something like five visits that she did, she agreed it was safe enough for me, and we planned a trip to Syria. This was literally days before the US/Israel - Iran war broke out…

But we went.

And I can honestly say that the experience was life-changing. Not only was it the most meaningful trip I’ve ever been on, but I really got to see and understand Syria through RafifJ’s eyes and the eyes of her super cool, amazing activist friends.

So although I did not know it in the early 2000s, pre-2011, but “waiting” to go to Syria with RafifJ was the best Syria travel decision I made. It is so cool how the pieces just fell into place.

And I am going back again this year. Twice.

Uzbekistan - a replacement for my canceled trip to Iran

Oh and speaking of Iran… if I have just one bucket list country left on my travel dream list, it is Iran. I am obsessed with Persian architecture and Persian culture.

Everyone who has visited Iran has raved about it, and I decided that I was going to plan a trip to Iran myself.

Long story short, it had to be cancelled. Politics, governments, etc ruined my plans for Iran.

So after a few days of wallowing in my pity party, I got proactive. Where else can I find fantastic Persian-style architecture? All roads led to Uzbekistan, so I quickly pivoted and booked a G Adventures trip starting in Tashkent.

Uzbekistan is NOT Iran, but I had a wonderful time and it was a valid replacement trip. In fact, Uzbekistan is somewhere on my list of my favorite countries I’ve traveled to.

Yes, the architecture was amazing. Those deep blue madrasas in Samarkand, Khiva, and Bukhara brought happy tears to my eyes. But there was so much more to Uzbekistan. The culture. The people. Tashkent itself (such a cool and underrated city!). Uzbekistan was also the country where I officially started collecting rugs.

For all those reasons, I have such fond memories. The replacement trip worked out quite well for me.

(Iran is still very high on my list. And as grim as times are now, I know I will get there one day.)

The Caucuses - using a travel planner to customize a trip just for me

As a professional travel planner, I know what my strengths and my niche are. When I started planning my trip to the Caucuses (Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia), I knew right away that I needed the help of a professional.

These countries were all new to me, and there were some complicated land borders. There was so much to see and do in each. And let’s be honest, since I plan trips for a living, and planning this one was right in the middle of my busy season, I did not have the time to devote to planning my own trip.

So after a bunch of research for Georgian travel companies, I hired another boutique business called Georgian Holidays to plan my trip.

Just like I do for my clients, they listened to my interests and preferences and put together a beautiful customized 2.5 week trip that started in Azerbaijan, went through Georgia, then onto Armenia, and back to Tbilisi (Georgia) to fly home.

It was seriously one of my best trips ever. It felt truly tailor-made for me, and 100% highlighted my interests (Silk Road nerd here…).

So key takeaway, use a professional travel planner who specializes in the region you are visiting. And hey, if you’re coming to Spain, I’d love to help you plan your perfect trip!

Guatemala - treating myself to five-star luxury at the end of a not-so-great trip

I spent a month in Guatemala and I did not enjoy my time there. It did not even fall in the middle. Nope, Guatemala was pretty much a the bottom.

There were a lot of factors that led to this. Some had to do with what was going on in my life. For example, I was long-distance dating a man in Asia, and just really wanted to be there. Plus I had already decided that I was moving to Spain, and part of me wanted to be in California submitting paperwork and making that happen.

But some had to do with Guatemala itself. I found the nature boring and dirty. My time at Lake Atitlán was lackluster. I did not enjoy my base in Antigua. The food didn’t do it for me. And I had a real problem making connections. Oh, and I was sexually assaulted on a bus, which can obviously turn a so-so travel experience into an awful one.

Though there were a few cool moments, such as the Mayan ruins of Tikal and the city of Flores. But in reality Guatemala just did not mesh well with me.

By the end of my month there, I was so ready to just be done. In reality, I should have thrown in the towel earlier and changed my return flight back to California to depart earlier, but I am stubborn.

Toward the end, I was supposed to go to Honduras, but there was civil unrest there, and roads were blocked. Being stuck anywhere after Guatemala was my nightmare, so I canceled Honduras and headed back to (ugh) Guatemala City early.

And that is when I decided it is time to treat myself. So I booked one of the fanciest, poshest five star hotels in Guatemala City and indulged. It was four days of room service, spa treatments, one of the most comfortable beds I’d slept in (especially given the conditions of the places I stayed while I traveled in Guatemala). I think I left the room twice. Which for me, is unheard of. If there is a city, I usually want to explore it. But nope. In this case I just wanted to lounge in luxury and try to forget about the past four weeks of my life.

When it was finally time to depart, I boarded my flight to California with a huge grin. I was beyond ready to say adiós (and not hasta luego) to Guatemala. And in reality, my five star hotel stay saved me at the end.

Tell me… what do you think of my best travel decisions?

What do you think of this list of great travel decisions that I made? And what were some of your better travel decions?

Let me know!

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Sometimes my Spain Less Traveled clients are almost embarrassed to admit that they want recommendations for shopping in each city they’re visiting. It’s almost like shoppers feel shamed with all of these carry on only and pack lightly travel trends.* And of course “buy nothing” is such a buzz phrase these days. But there is no shame.

(*I do always recommend trying to pack as lightly as possible, but not to the point where it completely hinders your travel experience)

As for me, shopping has always been a big part of my travels. There’s nothing that I love more than checking out markets, galleries, and boutique shops in cities around the world.

A few years ago, I bought a flat here in Málaga, Spain. That bolstered my love for shopping whilst traveling. Instead of going with one style, I wanted my apartment’s decor to be an eclectic mix of things I bought all over the world. I also got a lot smarter about my purchases, and stopped buying cheap, mass-produced souvenirs.

Things I bought in Damascus

To give you an idea of what kinds of things I seek out, let me first list my Syrian shopping haul. The reason I want to highlight this particular trip is that I felt like I was a smart shopper, buying pieces that really complemented my style, and walking away when I felt “meh” about something.

Sometimes I tend to overbuy, and in Syria I feel that I was making all around better choices.

RafifJ and I had a fantastic time shopping in Damascus (she has similar shopping habits, another reason we travel so well together). Together, we went to the main souk (probably at least 20 times) and just about every antique and specialty shop in old Damascus.

Since I am so proud of my Damascus shopping haul, I wanted to detail a few special items I bought there:

• An antique rug that made me lose my breath when I first saw it. It proudly lives under my dining room table now. Literally, when the shopkeeper at the antique shop unfurled it, I gasped. (Also, this was toward the end of my March/April trip. RafifJ and I must have looked at 100s of rugs during our three weeks there.)

• Table cloth, which I ended up using for my desk because it was just too much with the rug under my dining room table.

• Handmade Syrian cotton towel from Hama which makes me look forward to using it after I shower.

• An oil painting depicting Old Damascus that I currently have hanging up in my bedroom.

• Computer bag made of traditional Syrian fabric. It fits well, holds all of my computer/work stuff, and can be cross-body.

• Two silver rings including a traditional puzzle ring which is so much fun to undo and solve again.

• Scarves, the pictured one I am obsessed with.

There were also a few other small items. I would say that my Syrian shopping was a success.

What I am constantly looking for

Obviously, if a country or region is known for a specialty item that would be perfect for my home, I am on the lookout for that. But there are a few constants in m my global shopping. Not all of these are for my apartment.

Rugs

My guilty (and expensive) pleasure is that I collect rugs. At least from countries that are known as rug producers, but over the past several years, I basically visited a lot of rug making countries.

I love rugs. Their stories. Their patterns. Their colors. Their sheer craft(wo)menship. I also do not love the floors in my apartment, and still have not had them changed, so rugs are the perfect solution.

My rug collection comes from:

• Uzbekistan. Where I got my first rug.

• Paris, where I found a gorgeous Persian rug in my colors at the flea market. It was an unexpected purchase, and getting it home in my small(ish) bag was a challenge.

• Azerbaijan, where I got this gorgeous runner for my hallway.

• Georgia. I actually ended up buying two small rugs there, and in the grand scheme of my rug collection, they’re not my favorites.

• Armenia, I got a large, traditional rug that I still have not decided where to put it.

• Jordan. I did not intend to buy a rug in Jordan, but I found a beautiful one, again in my colors, that fit perfectly in my bedroom.

• Syria, my favorite rug, antique, the largest rug I’ve bought (the one I wrote about above).

So far I have resisted in Türkiye, but considering I will be spending a lot of time in Istanbul this autumn, I may succumb. And if you are wondering why I don’t have a Moroccan rug, I’ll just say that Morocco does not produce my favorite rugs.

The reality is, I probably do not need any more rugs. But they are my expensive habit.

Tableware

By tableware, I mean anything I can put on my dining room table. Or in some cases my desk.

Tablecloths seem to be some of my favorite items to bring home. But now that I have four in rotation (two from Syria, one from Morocco, and one from Georgia), I need to stop with the tablecloths unless I find something amazing.

But placemats and decorative items for my table are still very much on the list. I got a cool collection of placemats in Syria, but a girl can always have more.

Ceramics

Ceramics shops always lure me in. And I love handmade pottery from various countries (and regions in Spain, as many Spanish regions have their own style, which I highlighted in my guide to shopping in Spain.)

These days I am super thoughtful about any ceramics purchases. Because I have so many and because they are hard to get home*, I’ve limited my ceramics purchases.

(* I’ve started packing ceramics tightly in my packing cubes, between clothes. Knock on wood, but I’ve never had anything break.)

Paintings, prints, and watercolors

Oil paintings for my walls are another thing I seek out. Especially when in a city with architectural beauty. I often look for paintings with these types of scenes. Right now these live on a wall in. my bedroom, but I eventually want to move this collection to my living room.

Speaking of covering my walls, I also look for prints and watercolor paintings. The prints also tend to be cityscapes. But for watercolors, I vacillate more toward nature.

When I bought my flat, it had a lot of bare walls, and covering those is fun.

Blankets and towels

The first time I went to Türkiye in 2006 (Or was it 2005? I can’t remember the exact year, but at that time it was still called Turkey) I fell in love with Turkish towels.

Then, years later I moved to Spain where no one has a dryer and really needed to change up my towel game. So the next time I was in Türkiye, I picked up a few sets of towels. For those who don’t know, Turkish towels are amazing. They’re big, soft, and they dry quickly. Plus they come in a variety of colors.

Once again, I upped my towel game in Syria where I bought a really special towel for myself (sorry houseguests!)

And I have a few blankets from various places. My favorite has moved around the world with me is an llama wool blanket from the market in Otavalo, Ecuador.

Jewelry and scarves

I don’t love buying clothes when I travel as I tend to basically wear the same thing every day. But I still like to “wear” my travels out, so jewelry and scarves are items I seek out.

Scarves are perfect to compliment outfits, especially travel outfits. And I love nothing more than the story behind my scarf collection.

Unique jewelry is another item I seek out, though I have stopped buying so much. Again, the stories my jewelry box has are epic.

Magnets

This one is difficult, but I have started becoming much more conscientious about it.

In the past, I would buy a ton of magnets just for the sake of buying magnets. And I’d always have too many.

Shockingly, in my apartment, I have yet to decorate my fridge with my travel magnet collection.

These days, I usually pick out one unique magnet (and try to ensure that it is locally made) from each country I visit. Sometimes I break this rule and end up with a few, but I am getting better!

And a few things I don’t buy

• Tchotchkes (or for you non-Yiddish speakers, staff, nicknacks, random trinkets)

• Typical (and usually) made in China mass produced souvenirs

• Tee shirts with place names

• Generic mugs or shot glasses

• Hats (I never wear them)

Yes, I still buy gifts for friends when I travel

As a shopaholic, I can’t justify buying only for myself. So when I am on a special trip (ie not just a weekend away in the North of Spain or Berlin), I always try to pick up small items for my closest friends.

I’ve found that it’s easier to get a variety of the same thing, usually in different colors or patterns, and let my friends pick something once I get home.

My same rule applies for these gifts. I am looking for local made and unique to the destination. In other words, no one is getting shot glasses from Armenia.

A few examples of gifts I’ve brought home to my friends are cashmere scarves from Georgia, small bags from Cambodia, and pocket mirrors lined with traditional Syrian fabric.

My (photo) wall of travel

One of my favorite features about what I did to decorate my apartment is this giant wooden wall map I bought from a specialty company in the Netherlands (I did not buy it there, I had it shipped). It took my handyman friend and I well over six hours, but we hung it correctly on the wall to create a large world map.

Surrounding that map, I hang up photos that I printed from places I visited in uniform white box frames. These photos that I took while out seeing the world are really the best souvenirs.

I don’t have any printable photos from some of my early travels to places such as Japan and Australia, and I don’t feel the need to represent every country I’ve ever visited. But these days, I tend to pick 1-2 favorite photos that I took from each country, and nail them into the ever expanding wall of travel.

And my wall of travel is always a conversation starter. Every photo on it has a story, and I absolutely love when friends and family come over and ask about the cities and landscapes featured on this wall. It is also so special to me because I took every photo on the wall of travel.

This is a work in progress, and I still have a lot of wall space to cover.

And finally, a list of my favorite shopping destinations

This is in pure list form, but these are some of my favorite countries (and cities) to shop:

• Morocco

• Syria

• Paris

• Georgia

• Thailand

• Ecuador

• Buenos Aires

• Mexico City

• Tokyo

• South Africa

• Madrid

• And I have a thing for Christmas Markets across Central Europe (but sadly lately, the items sold at these tend to be generic and mass-produced.)

So tell me…

What are your travel shopping habits? What is your favorite piece you’ve ever picked out and brought home from a trip? What kinds of items do you seek out (and avoid)?

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When asked about my travels, the same places come up constantly. Places such as Syria, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Spain (where I live and still work professionally in the travel industry), Northern Finland (specifically Aurora Holidays in Utsjoki), Myanmar, Georgia, Jordan, Morocco, Buenos Aires, and Paris (which holds the title for my favorite city to visit in the world) tend to come up in conversation more often than not.

Sometimes I mention some of my least-favorite places that I’ve visited such as Guatemala, Belize, or China. No disrespect to people from these places, or people who love these countries, but I did not have good experiences.

But what about some of those places in the middle? Places I do not regularly bring up when discussing my travels, but that I do have some (or even many) good memories of.

In some cases, the weather didn’t cooperate. In other cases, whatever was going on in my personal life at the time made it hard to fully immerse and enjoy myself. Or another common thread was that I visited some of these countries directly after I came from a country I fell in love with, and there was an unfair disadvantage going into it. (This is precisely why I decided not to “tack” a week in Kazakhstan on after my first trip to Damascus).

Again, these factors are of no fault of these individual places.

So this post is about some of these countries. The places I don’t regularly write about or share on my Insta.

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Ecuador

Blue footed boobies on the Galapagos Islands

My trip to Ecuador was planned around the Galapagos Islands, which I adored. The Galapagos were incredible - different animals and different ecosystems on each island. The Galapagos were truly a trip of a lifetime!

After the Galapagos, I had about two(ish) weeks on Ecuador’s mainland. I went to Cuenca, Baños, Quito, Cotopaxi, the rainforest, and a few other places I can’t remember.

But after visiting neighboring countries on separate trips such as Peru and Colombia, mainland Ecuador didn’t do much for me. I think the weather also had a lot to do with it. I barely saw Cotopaxi because it was hidden by a cloud basically the whole time I was there.

Then there were the other specifics.

I don’t know if the Amazon just Amazon’ed more for me in Peru. Or if I preferred the Colombian cities to the Ecuadorian ones, but aside from a few distinct experiences (such as the market in Otavalo which was a highlight!), I just found mainland Ecuador to be a little lackluster.

Uruguay

Colonia, Uruguay

I did a multi-night trip to Uruguay when I was staying in Buenos Aires for a month.

It was fun. It was cool.

First, I took the boat from Buenos Aires to Colonia, which was a beautiful small city. I rented a cute retro bicycle and peddled all over town.

Then I took a bus to Montevideo, the capital, for a few nights. I enjoyed Montevideo, but considering I was based in Buenos Aires, after a few days I kind of just got bored.

In fact, often when listing the places I’ve been, I somehow forget Uruguay.

Maybe one day I’ll go back, but I probably wouldn’t make a separate trip for it.

Malaysia

Penang, Malaysia

My experience in Kuala Lumpur started off pretty terribly. I had a particularly scary incident as a solo female traveler in my hotel. So that kind of soured my time in Malaysia from the start.

I wanted to like KL more than I did, but it just ended up not doing a whole lot for me.

It also did not help that I sandwiched Malaysia between Sri Lanka and Myanmar, which were two countries I 100% fell in love with.

Then I headed to Penang and stayed in Georgetown, which sort of turned my time in Malaysia around. The street art was so cool, and the food was delicious. I took buses to beautiful beaches, some with cat colonies and just enjoyed a dose of island life. The people were lovely. Like truly hospitable.

After all of that evened out, Malaysia was fine. Not super memorable, but I didn’t have a bad time.

That said, it is not on the top of my list of countries to return to.

Estonia

Tallinn, Estonia looks like a fairytale. This was the only sun we saw there.

On a road trip of the Baltics with Kelley and Marin, the bad weather finally hit us in Tallinn, Estonia. We had gorgeous weather throughout Lithuania and for the majority of our days in Latvia (and the rain didn’t bother me much as I loved Riga). But grey, wind, rain, and cold greeted us in Estonia.

All in all, I liked Tallinn. Not as much as I liked Riga, but enough. But Estonia was the only country on that trip where we didn’t do any day trips. That was thanks to the weather. So I just don’t think I saw enough of it to have much of an opinion.

One thing I did love about Estonia was the efficiency. Everything is easy and digitalized. We did a “free” walking tour of Tallinn and had this amazing female guide who explained to us just how well everything runs in Estonia.

I am not going to lie, after years of dealing with Spanish bureaucracy, I thought about moving to Estonia. For the efficiency. But of course I didn’t.

Zambia

Sunset on the Zambezi River in Zambia

Zambia was basically the end of the road of my nearly month-long overland trip from Nairobi to Victoria Falls. After we crossed the border, it took us two overnights to get to Livingstone, the town closest to the falls, so I did drive across Zambia.

While I had a great time on the both the Zambian and Zimbabwean sides of Victoria Falls, it was so hard to come off the experience I just had. An epic camping roadtrip through parts of eastern and southern Africa.

I did the trip mainly for the safaris, which were bucket list items for me. And I had never seen such incredible wildlife as I saw earlier during that trip in Kenya and Tanzania.

So unless I find myself back in sub-Saharan Africa close to Victoria Falls, I don’t think I need to go back to Zambia.

(Side note: I also had to bribe my way out of Zambia when I flew out of Livingstone, but that is another story for another day.)

Austria

Vienna, Austria

Vienna is probably one of my least favorite European capitals. I personally found it a bit boring and pretentious. I also visited Vienna directly after Budapest, a city that I fell in love with (and want to return to).

So basically, I had horrible weather in Vienna and I was bored out of my mind. The food was overpriced and didn’t excite me. If I am being honest, I will say that I was so ready to leave Vienna three days earlier than I actually did.

I do wish I had explored some of the neighborhoods more, but even the hipster area that I was staying in did not do it for me.

Austria is not being judged based on Vienna alone. After Vienna, I hopped on a train to Salzburg specifically to go on The Sound of Music tour. It was my mom’s favorite movie, and one that I grew up with. Since my mom had only passed away a few years earlier, I thought doing something like that would bring me closer to the good memories of her.

The tour was fun, cheesy, and campy. Everything you would expect. And Salzburg was cute and quaint. And while it kept Austria off of my least favorite places I visited list, it boasted Austria to the middle for me.

Laos

Monks in Luang Prabang on doing their morning alms

On one of my big Southeast Asia trips, I flew into Vientiane, Laos from Siem Reap, Cambodia. I had high hopes for Laos having sampled Laotian food near my apartment in San Francisco.

When I started planning this leg of my trip, from Cambodia, many travelers told me to skip Vientiane and just to head directly to Luang Prabang. Being a city person, I didn’t listen and decided I wanted to see Vientiane.

That may have been a mistake. My time in Vientiane was basically one big downpour of rain. So much that I couldn’t see the city at all.

Then I started heading north, eventually planning to wind up in Luang Prabang. But I stopped in the backpackers’ town of Van Vieng, which was also a bad decision. At this point, I was nearly 40 years old, and felt like I was the oldest traveler in all of Van Vieng. Not to mention that the hotel I was staying in had a bug infestation.

So far Laos wasn’t really delivering.

When I finally got to Luang Prabang, I loved it so much that I ended up extending my stay there for nearly three weeks, waking up early to watch the monks, biking around town, and going to all of the temples. Had I only gone to Luang Prabang, Laos might have been on my list of favorite countries. But the areas south did not do much for me.

Leaving Laos was no joke either. I took the two day boat down the Mekong River into Thailand and on day two I had severe food poisoning that I got at the guesthouse in the tiny town the night before. Take my word for it, those boats are not the best places to deal with the repercussions of food poisoning.

Czech Republic (specifically Prague)

Full disclosure: I did not visit Prague until 2023, and that was my first time in the Czech Republic. Had I gone during the 90s or early 2000s, my experience probably would have been a lot different.

Prague is currently over-touristed and I hated adding to that.

Prague was another trip with two of my favorite travel companions: Joey and RafifJ. So that helped me enjoy my time in Prague, just being with them.

But I found Prague to be over-touristed and just a bit underwhelming. Sure, it is a beautiful city. And we made the effort to get out of the tourist zones and into some of the neighborhoods, which was cool.

That said, I would love to go back to the Czech Republic and actually see more of the country beyond Prague. I have a feeling I’d dig Brno.

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I just realized, many of these countries landed on this list because of one city. As a city person, this kind of surprises me.

And finally, a disclaimer

The honest truth when it comes to travel is not every place is going to resonate with everyone. And that is ok.

Just because these places fell “in between” for me, I am not telling you to skip them. You may love Malaysia or Prague. You might hate Paris, Syria, or Georgia (gasp!).

We are all different.

Also, in each of these places I have beautiful moments, often centered around the people, the architecture, and the food. This was in no way meant to dismiss everything about these countries (and the city) I wrote about here.

Instead, these are just a few countries that fell into the middle of my travels for me. And some that I don’t regularly write or talk about.

Talk to me…

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with this list? Are there particular places in some of these countries that you loved that I should check out? And what are some of the “in between” countries you traveled to?

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There is no need for me to retell the story. If you need some background or context, here is a link to the Nakba Day Wikipedia article.

This is an important day to reflect, especially since there is an ongoing genocide. So I wanted to take a few minutes to write about how travel has furthered my pro-Palestine, pro-Jewish*, pro-peace in the Middle East, anti-Zionist, views.

(* Zionism and Judaism are completely separate. It is important to use the correct terms when speaking and writing about this. The same goes for Israel and Jewish. These words are not interchangeable. And yes, anti-Semitism absolutely exists. And it’s scary as f*ck.)

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Learning that it’s not really “a land without people for a people without a land”

The Israelism that I was taught to me during my childhood was so severe that I literally had no idea that the Palestinian people existed.

At Saturday School, we’d often be given tins to collect money to plant trees for Israel. We sang songs about Israel and were shown photos of the Holy Land, “our” Holy Land. Often, Israelis, including members of the IDF, would come to our temple and tell us all about how it is our duty to love and protect Israel.

I learned that Israel was a utopia. A beautiful country full of kibbutzes, happy Jewish people, and the only democracy in the region.

We were also told stories about the Arabs — who lived on our land, who hated us for no reason. But that was all we were told. That didn’t sit well with me, but I didn’t really question it.

For the most part, I believed the Israel story, at least to some extent. But something did seem sort of off.

As much as I loved to travel by then, I turned turned down a free “Birthright” trip to Israel. It seemed questionable (at best) that I and a group of kids from my synagogue were being offered a free trip to a land more than 7,000 miles away. I decided to refuse the trip, and did not fly to Tel Aviv.

And after my Bat Mitzvah, I sort of shoved my Judaism into a corner. I no longer attended synagogue, Hebrew School, or Saturday School at that point. Somehow, the beliefs I had been encouraged to adopt no longer resonated with me.

One day, during my junior year in high school, at a regular meeting of Amnesty International, we received an Urgent Action bulletin about the flagrant human rights abuses that Israel was committing against the Palestinians.

To be honest, I was floored. Why would the peaceful and happy Israel I had been taught to believe in do these awful things? And even more importantly, who were the Palestinians? I had never once heard that term. From my understanding at that time, there were a few Arabs scattered in the “land without a people for a people without a land,” but there weren’t other people in separate territories. Israel was just that… Israel.

What if I had walked out in protest that day, as did a few other Jewish students? But I trusted Amnesty International, and decided to stay at the meeting to learn more. And then I wrote to Yitzhak Rabin, and my Amnesty International chapter sent letters to Israel about the mistreatment of the Palestinian people.

I am sure you can imagine the conversation with my family that night. Denial. My mother said sharply, “KAREN! We don’t talk about “those people!”

Obviously, everyone in my immediate community had been hiding something from me my entire life.

From that day on, I started doing my own research. And what I learned was appalling — from Israel’s human rights violations, the treatment of the Palestinian people, and violations of international law. At the time, I didn’t know what I was becoming, but later learned that I am an anti-Zionist Jew.

Now, well into my late 40s, I continue to educate myself and speak out against Israel’s systematic injustice imposed on Palestinians.

For years, I kept a muzzle on about this, not wanting to ruffle feathers with my family, my friends, and my Jewish community. But these days, the muzzle is very much off and I am quite outspoken about my views. I’ve lost friends and have stopped speaking with certain family members over this deep political rift.

But I am not going to shut up about it. In fact, as a Jewish woman, I feel like it is my responsibility to speak out against genocide perpetrated by Israel. “Never again” should mean never again for everyone.

How travel helped me to overcome the Zionist brainwashing I received as a child

By my late teens, when I learned about Palestine, travel was already 100% in my blood. It really always had been, but my early European adventures, including the first trip that I planned for my family at 16, cemented that for life.

But let’s fast forward to many years later…

At this point, I am a seasoned world traveler. I’ve been to all six inhabited continents and have met people from all walks of life. I live in Spain, where I learned so much about my Sephardic roots — and that learning helped me embrace my Judaism as an adult. I have traveled all over the country, discovering different Juderías (old Jewish quarters), all with the same theme. They were literally right next door, if not integrated with, the old Muslim quarters.

Places like Córdoba and Toledo showed me that Jews and Muslims are one. We are neighbors. Together, we built great things. We should be friends, we should love one another. We should celebrate what we have in common.

Hanging out with my fam in Córdoba, Spain

It is also important to note that by this time, I had been to several Muslim-majority countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, and Uzbekistan. I always felt very comfortable in these countries. I loved hearing the Muslim call to prayer five times a day, and nerded out over Islamic architecture.

Chefchaouen, Morocco

But I had never been to the Middle East. Okay, minus the 48 hours I spent in Dubai on my way to Uzbekistan. That trip doesn’t really count. The point is, I still had not experienced the Middle East, an area that would become my favorite region in the world.

My first foray was Egypt. This was literally a few months after 7 October 2023, and many people advised me not to go. They were worried for my safety going into Egypt as a Jew, while a conflict was raging between Israel and Gaza.

I went anyway.

And I had one of the most meaningful experiences of my life. Not only did I not hide the fact that I am Jewish; I embraced it. As a part Sephardic Jew, you can trace my family’s roots back to Maimonides, who was born in Córdoba, Spain, and who died in what is now Egypt. I told my Cairo tour guide about my familial roots, and he arranged for me to get a private visit to Maimonides’ synagogue deep in Old Cairo (this synagogue is actually closed to the public). There, in the remains of that holy space with the preserved Torah, I cried tears of joy. I felt that I had finally come full circle.

The Torah at Maimonides’ synagogue in Cairo, Egypt

After spending some time in Egypt, my travels eventually brought me to Jordan, where I met many amazing Palestinians. Listening to their stories, I was reminded again and again that deep down, I am indeed an anti-Zionist Jew. My new-found Palestinian friends were among the kindest and most hospitable people I’d ever met. And the food, which was introduced to me as “Israeli food” as a child, was out of this world!

The genocide, Israel, the IDF, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the ongoing occupation, rife with human rights abuses, is absolutely infuriating. I want everyone to know that I am Jewish, and that I absolutely do not support any of the violence, misery, and genocide that Israel is perpetrating. My Palestinian friends knew: they could differentiate between Judaism and Zionism — something many of my counterparts in the West cannot do.

Beautiful Palestinian ceramics from Jordan. I brought a set home

Finally, and most recently, my travels brought me to Syria. If you have been reading my Substack or following me on Instagram for the past few months, you already know that my trip to Syria had a profound impact on me. In fact, out of the 77 countries I have visited, I can honestly say that Syria was my absolute favorite. And I already have plans to go back this year. Twice.

In all honesty, throughout all my travels, I have never felt more Jewish than I did in Syria. We got a private tour of the closed off areas of Beit Farhi, one of the original Jewish homes in Old Damascus. Right next door, sharing a wall, was the old synagogue.

On the Umayyad Mosque’s minaret, there is a Star of David. Talk about co-existing!

In Jobar, a Damascus suburb that was destroyed by the Assad regime, I visited the rubble of what might be the oldest synagogue in the world. I met Jewish families. And I bought Jewish antiques from Aleppo at a shop owned by one of Damascus’ Jewish families. I saw old Jewish artifacts such as mezuzahs, Passover seder plates, and Shabbat candle holders. Despite my pride in my Jewishness, though, I could not forget the imposing neighbor just a short few kilometers to the west.

Seeing the occupied Golan Heights from the top of the Cham Palace Hotel in Damascus brought it home to me again. You can literally see Syrian land that is Israeli-occupied. And passing some of the places that Israeli forces bombed in Damascus right after the fall of the Assad regime was a stark reminder that they have their eyes on expansion into Syria.

Once again, these sights forced my anti-Zionist beliefs to bubble back up. I was reminded, again, that speaking out is so important, especially as a Jewish person. It is indeed my responsibility.

Syria is not for the taking. The Israelis need to leave Lebanon alone (in fact, Beirut was supposed to be part of my Syria trip, but those plans changed thanks to the daily bombings and incursions into Lebanon) . And of course, Palestine needs to be free. From the river to the sea.

Because when you are the bad neighbor in the region, you can not continue to cry anti-Semitism and claim self-defense. Thankfully, the truth about Zionism is coming out.

On this Nakba Day, remember - “never again” means never again for everyone. Shalom to all.

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(Side note: I’m not a travel influencer with my 200 followers on my Insta. but I went to Syria in March with RafifJ. I loved it so much and had a lot to say about it.)

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Cafe culture in old Damascus. It is what it is and doesn’t need a travel influencer from the West telling you how it is done.

There are a few problems I have with this, and let’s be honest, with influencers in general. But this is specifically about male privilege and influencing.

First off, as men, they can prance through countries where women’s rights are extremely limited. They do not need to worry about proper dress, covering up, or really any customs that us women need to concern ourselves with. One Syria “influencer” recently posted a video of himself walking through Damascus in a pink tank top. And he wondered why people were starring. As a male, he could do that. But imagine doing that as a woman.

Then there is the issue of safety. I am not going to use Syria as an example here, because as a woman (traveling with another woman), I felt extremely safe in Damascus. However, I have seen white male influencers make reels about places such as the Central African Republic, strolling around the inner city of Johannesburg (South Africa), and riding with drug cartels in Colombia. There is really absolutely no way that women could safely do these things. Yet these men don’t understand that or have any regard for that.

Men just have that unspoken privilege of being able to just exist, while women need to worry about so many things.

We can not just pop into the Democratic Republic of the Congo and hitch a ride with a group of men.

These are the same influencers who often like to remind us that they’ve been to 130+ countries (even if it was just for an unspoken airport stopover or a fast jaunt across a border to check a country off the list). Bragging about how well traveled they are, like it’s a sign of who’s d*ck is bigger. Often this is a boys’ club that women simply can not be a part of.

Maybe my d*ck is bigger, at least it felt that way driving a tuk tuk in Sri Lanka

(Of course there is the issue of passport privilege, but as someone who does indeed hold a strong passport, I will leave that to be addressed by travelers with weaker passports, who really have to do the work.)

Then there is the epidemic, which truth be told plagues both male and female influencers, which is putting themselves at the center of the narrative. “Let me tell you about Syrian/Yemeni/Afghan etc history as I walk you through the streets with the camera on my face”. Really dude, you just arrived. How are you going to speak about the struggles during the Assad regime like you were there while showing nothing about the country except for your face? Are you going to mansplain the history of the country like you, yourself, have lived through the hardest times?

It all just seems so disingenuous. Like you are traveling to this lesser-traveled country to make yourself the center of the narrative, and meanwhile your follower count goes up and up.

Then there is the issue of promoted posts. It is so obvious that many of these influencers are getting free stuff such as hotel stays and meals, without always disclosing it.

To be fair, there are some travel influencers that I like. But, most all of them are female. For example, that_travel focuses on responsible and sustainable travel, and makes really solid content around it. Courtney of her.grand.tour does an amazing job focusing on the history, culture, and food of the places she visits. My friend Amy of senses_of_spain does these amazing reels talking about Spain’s cultural and historical intricacies, everything from the Phoenicians to lesser known Spanish festivals. All three of these women are 100% worth a follow. None of them make themselves the center of the stories from their travels.

And while we are at it, I guess I sort of Spain influence too, for my business Spain Less Traveled, but I always make my content about Spain, with little about me.

La Fiesta de los Patios in Córdoba, one of mine and Amy’s shared favorite Spanish festivals.

In many ways, travel influencing has kind of ruined travel. Places that get featured on big accounts get overrun with tourists. Expectations are not often in check (that old Instagram verses reality is real). And one person’s experience is not going to be everyone’s experience. Especially if that experience is coming from the perspective of a white man, the most inherently privileged population on this planet.

Honestly, I miss the days of guidebooks, travel sections in newspapers, and solidly excellent travel writers. That seems to be of an era past, and these days we are stuck with what the likes of the Nicks, Michaels, or Jacks (just for example) boast about on Instagram.

(Side note: part of the reason I really am enjoying Substack is because there are really good, solid travel writers sharing here. I am also committed to working on my travel writing too, I really want to share my stories from Syria and my other world travels from my heart.)

So tell me, how do you feel about this influencer culture? Anything you’d like to add?

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Beautiful Madrid, Spain

Travel has always excited me, and if I will say so myself, I am pretty damn good at it. It’s what I do professionally, so I sincerely hope so.

But this is my travel my way, and this Substack is generally about my personal travels. I will say that I’ve been doing a lot of personal (and other project-based) travel planning lately for myself. I have an exciting Summer and Autumn coming up, but I never really share my travel plans until I am actually traveling.

So I wanted to write about the first trip I ever planned. Because in so many ways, it made me who I am today, as both a passionate traveler and a travel professional.

Before we get started, may I remind you that this was the year 1993, well before the age of internet and online travel booking portals. And I was 16 years old.

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Ok, now that we set that premise, let me take you back to the early 90s. I had already fallen in love with travel, but up until then the only travel I had done was domestically in the United States and to Mexico and Canada. I was ready to go overseas. Europe was my dream, and I was super jealous of my classmate Katherine, who had recently returned from a winter break trip to Paris, Florence, and Venice with her family.

I continuously begged my parents to take me to Europe. My parents had already traveled to Europe. Before I was born, they went to Rome, Venice, Paris, and London. They were well-traveled for their time, so a family trip to Europe wouldn’t be completely out of their comfort zones. They were still together at the time, so I was slowly winning them over with my constant “let’s go to Europe” whining. As an only child, I could often manipulate the situation to get my way.

Finally after months of negotiations they agreed… we could take a family trip to Europe but I, their 16 year old daughter, had to plan the entire trip.

Challenge accepted. In fact, I was thrilled to take on such a project.

Before I started planning, I had to decide where to go. We only had about 10 days around Christmas and New Years, and as much as I wanted to go everywhere, even at that age I knew it wasn’t realistic. Since I was dabbling between taking French and Spanish at school, I really wanted to go to France and Spain. So I chose an even split between Paris and Madrid.

Paris was love at first sight

The first step was reserving our flights. Remember, this was the 90s. There was no Google flights, no airline websites, no online travel agencies. Nothing. So I the first Sunday after my parents made this “plan our trip” deal with me, I scoured the travel section of the Sunday newspaper (print!) and called up some travel agents advertising “low” fares.

Full disclosure, we ended up securing our flights with my mom’s friend who was a travel agent. She also booked our flight from Paris to Madrid. She was also able to recommend a few hotels. Since there was no internet at the time, I couldn’t really do much research on those, so I went with her suggestions.

Then it came down to the actual planning of what would do in Paris and Madrid. Keep in mind that this was my first trip to Europe, ever. So of course, the big touristy things were kind of a must. Again, with no internet, research back then looked different. So I went to the local bookshops and the public library and scoured the travel section for guidebooks about Paris and Madrid. This was before Lonely Planet was even publishing books about Europe, so I can’t remember what I ended up buying. Probably Foders or the like. But whatever it was, I did my reading. And marked it up, with notes and bookmarks. I had a good idea of what there was to do in Paris and Madrid before we arrived.

But since this was the 90s, unlike these days, we didn’t really need to reserve anything in advance. Not the Eiffel Tower. Not the Louvre. Not a day trip to Toledo from Madrid or Versailles from Paris. Nothing.

Once the trip was planned, the countdown was on. I remember sitting in my high school French class thinking “In 78 days I’ll be in Paris.” The closer the trip got, the more and more excited I became.

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Then it was departure day! As a child who was obsessed with airlines and aviation, boarding the DC-10 to Paris was so exciting. This was my first overseas flight after all! The plane was big, two aisles, and this was back when there was still a smoking section on the flight.

After what seemed like a really long time that also flew by quickly, we landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG!) in Paris. Going through passport control was kind of a blur, but getting my passport stamped for the first real time was so cool! We took a taxi to our hotel, a Mercedes I remember, and settled in to our room just off the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Not currently my preferred zone in Paris, but for a first visit, it worked.

The next 10 days were some of my fondest memories from my childhood. The trip that I planned was happening! I fell deeply in love with Paris and was a little “meh” about Madrid (my love for Madrid came in full bloom as an adult). We went to markets, monuments, on day trips, museums and more. I ate the best cheese and croissants I’d ever tasted in my life. We came home with a bag full of souvenirs and little gifts for friends and family.

My family in Madrid in 1993

Would I have changed anything about the first trip that I planned? Of course. For example, I did not love the location of our Madrid hotel. It was more in the business district than close to anything of interest to me at the time. And I wished we had spent a night or two in Toledo, as the itinerary was two big cities. Or perhaps gone to Seville or Granada in Spain instead of Madrid. But was it overall successful? Absolutely. And did I get a taste of how to plan travel? YES YES and YES!

It was that small taste of travel planning that really kickstarted my desired career path in travel.

Fast forward a few years later, after I finished university (and dropped out of graduate school because it wasn’t for me), I got my first travel industry job at STA Travel. Planning other peoples’ trips for a living, what a dream come true! And after that stint ended, when STA closed most of their North American offices, minus a year or two, I managed to stay in travel. Here I am today, running my own travel company (Spain Less Traveled) and planning my clients’ dream trips to beautiful Spain!

It really all came full circle.

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Update to this post: As of today, 13 May, I seem to have regained full access to Facebook groups including my own Travel Spain! community. Of course, this is welcomed. But it does not shift my mindset that relying so heavily on Meta for marketing is a slippery slope. I eventually hope to start a Spain Less Traveled substack (among other things). The fact that Meta can do this once, and knowing I am not the only group admin there impacted by these types of things, really does not speak volumes for Meta.

Here is the original post:

In late 2019, when I rebranded my old jill of all trades travel brand into Spain Less Traveled, I started a Facebook community called Travel Spain! to complement it. What I saw in other travel Facebook groups was a complete lack of in-depth knowledge about Spain, and I wanted to fill that gap.

We all knew what happened in 2020 and how travel came to an absolute halt. But I used the pandemic to build my audience and community through the Facebook group. Sharing beautiful photos and stories from Spain, I really tried to keep the hope alive that we will all be able to travel again one day. And once that day comes, that Spain will be super excited to welcome visitors back. And that I am the one who can help those visitors plan their dream trips to Spain.

It worked. Once international travel started to resume back to normal, the flood gates opened. My calendar was nearly fully booked, and I was working with a wide array of clients to help plan perfect Spain trips.

And I was and still am really good at it. I mean really damn good at it. The connections I make with my clients, the advice I am able to give, and my huge Spain travel knowledge base (and networking) really worked so incredibly well. I am super proud of Spain Less Traveled.

Of course, I continued to nurture and build my Facebook community to keep the flow coming in. I poured hours upon hours of work into it creating original content, curating posts, responding to questions, and just admining it to keep the spam and riff raff out. If I can say so myself, my content was solid. Helpful to first time visitors to Spain as well as repeat visitors to Spain.

The community grew organically, reaching over 50,000 members.

Then, one day last week, I sat down at my computer to do a few solid hours of work on Travel Spain! which included responding to posts (I had posted an “Ask Me Anything” thread a few days before). When I hit send on a comment, I got a cryptic message that said

“Your account is restricted. You’re temporarily restricted from commenting in groups until July 29 at 12:49am.”

What?!?! This had to be a glitch, right? Also, there was no way to challenge or contest this in any way. No one to reach out to.

When I went to the main page for Travel Spain! I simply got an error message that the page could not be found.

I quickly reached out to my admin team (which thankfully I have) and they still had full access to Travel Spain!, but they told me that ALL of my posts had disappeared. These posts that I spent hours upon hours curating and writing to help travelers coming to Spain. All my work, gone.

It is harder to reach my audience, and the Facebook group really helped keep the clients booking consistantely.

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It got worse. I have no admin access controls to the group that I built. And I can not engage or post in any way in ANY Facebook group. This is actually quite crippling. For example, I am hoping to sublet my Málaga flat for two months later this year. I can’t post it on any of the Facebook groups I’d normally use. I can’t comment or post in the Syrian travel group that I joined, that has the most up to date information about visas and open borders. I need a plumber in Málaga. I can’t post to the usual community group I would to source that information.

But back to my business group. By not being able to interact with my community that I organically built and put so much work, heart, and soul into, this is deeply impacting the bottom line of my business. Sure, I have a large email list (and I will be sending an email about this later this week, once I can get my professional thoughts down) and other marketing tools. But my Facebook group was a huge cornerstone to my reach and marketing. So whatever AI Facebook used to kill my access to all of their groups is killing my business. And of course I can blame myself for giving Meta so much power over my brand, but many businesses use FB groups and Meta like I do.

I have my theories about why this happened. And thinking about the why makes me more furious. I have not exactly been silent on my personal Facebook page about politics, my disdain for DTrump and Maga, or the situation in the Middle East. But the punishment for speaking out seems so unfair! Maybe that’s it, maybe it’s not. But all I know is that by restricting my account, Facebook is hurting my business and my bottom line.

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So maybe it’s time to pivot. Do something different. Start something new. Some of my closest friend really do think this could be a blessing in disguise for me. And maybe it is. But I am still beyond appalled that this happened.

And also, if you need help planning a trip to Spain, I’m still your girl! Have a look at Spain Less Traveled. I’d love to help!

Does anyone have any similar stories? Or do you happen to know of a human at Meta that I can actually get in touch with?

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You know how a song can take you right back to a place? That happens so many times with travel memories. The other day, I heard Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball.” Now, I am not really a huge Miley fan or anything. But I heard “Wrecking Ball” at a random cafe in Damascus, and was instantly transported back to Syria. An unusual song for that, but you can’t suppress memories.

I have come to realize how much the soundtrack to my trips impact my travel and my memories of the trip much later. When I am on the road, I always try to listen to some local music in the local language of the country I am visiting. I often end up picking a few favorite songs from various countries and add them to my never-ending playlists.

Therefore my music library is also full of Egyptian rap, contemporary Georgian folk music, a collection of Syrian and Jordanian “habibis",” Japanese pop, and other random tunes I picked up wandering around the world.

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But pop music, or whatever happens to be on in the country I am in, really sticks with me too. For example, while I was in Sri Lanka, both Ed Sheeran’s “The Shape of You” and Sia’s “Cheep Thrills” were popular there. So those songs will forever remind me of turning 40 at a bar in Colombo.

Sri Lanka

And when I did my big Sub-Saharan African overland trip with G Adventures, “Sorry” by Justin Bieber was the most-played song as we traveled from Kenya to Zimbabwe. (I was also the oldest person on that trip. And we also often belted out “Circle of Life” from the Lion King.)

The first time I went to Türkiye, Rihanna’s “Umbrella” was all the rage. I will never forget being on an Istanbul rooftop hearing “ella ella eh eh eh” blasting at full volume. Now, every time I go back to Istanbul I have to listen to “Umbrella” at least once while I am there.

And on our epic Croatian roadtrip, Kelley, Marin, and I blared Jay-Z and Kanye West (don’t judge, this was before he came a total whackjob bigot) out of our little rental car.

Or sometimes I inevitably bring my own soundtrack based on what I am listening to at the moment. Less than a month after Taylor Swift released her The Life of a Showgirl album, I was off to Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia. And if we are being honest, I haven’t stopped listening to it on repeat, so it was very much present in Jordan and Syria too.

The first time I visited Europe, when I was a teenager, “Mr Jones” by the Counting Crows was the biggest hit on the continent. And I heard it everywhere, including in a many Paris shops. U2’s Achtung Baby was also in heavy rotation then. (I actually am writing all about that trip, so stay tuned!)

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My travels in my teens, 20s, and 30s were also usually colored with an Indigo Girls backdrop. To this day, “World Falls” is still a song I take just about everywhere I go.

“This world falls on me, dreams of immortality, everywhere I turn all the beauty just keeps shaking me…” Yup, that pretty much sums up travel and seeing the world.

Do you have a soundtracks to your travels? Do various songs take you back to places you’ve been, even many many many years ago? Let me know!

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I left Syria 8 days ago and got back home to Spain one week ago. I am not going to lie, this week has been rough. It is hard to explain, but transiting from Syria to Spain, or Damascus to Málaga is difficult on so many levels.

So I decided today that I just want to write some fluff about some of my travels. I used to love doing that (and to be honest, I am sure that once I start, I will find that love again). So please excuse me while I probably sound like every travel blogger you love to hate, but here we go.

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Here are the countries I’ve enjoyed eating my way through the most

Caveat: I am vegetarian, and have been since I was 11. So you are not going to find descriptions of Spanish jamón, lamb kebab, or fresh seafood from Japan here. I also like simple food, I am not a Michelin-star prat. So this isn’t going to be full of tales of eating the food from top chefs around the world.

In no particular order…

Germany

Who thinks of Germany and food? Probably no one. But hear me out. In German cities such as Berlin and Cologne, thanks to immigrants, the food scene is amazing. Some of my best meals have been at Thai, Turkish, Lebanese/Syrian, and Vietnamese places in Germany.

As far as German cuisine goes, it’s really not my thing, but I do have a fondness for the bretzels. Mmm… carbs.

Plus, Berlin has the best vegan scene in the world.

So yes, I can easily eat my way around (urban) Germany.

Croatia

There was one standout in Croatia, which is why I am adding it to this list. I basically had the best meal of my life at Konoba Mondo in Motovun. The Istrian Peninsula is a truffle-producing region, and my cheese on truffle on cheese on more truffle pasta dish did not disappoint.

Yes, I realize this was just one meal, but it was fucking delicious enough to put Croatia on this list.

Italy

Italy goes without saying, and for many years I would take the quick flights to various Italian cities just to eat.

Italy is a vegetarian carb lover’s wet dream. Pizza, pasta, pizza, pasta, pizza, pasta repeat. Plus you have the regional specialty pastas which are often vegetarian and always amazing.

The important thing about Italy is to go to the correct region to eat. I am not a fan of Florentine pizza, so instead you will find me in Naples eating pizza. Just as an example.

This ain’t the Olive Garden. Italy is the real deal.

Georgia

So confession, I think I basically started planning my trip to Georgia because of the food. I had eaten at a variety of Georgian restaurants in various cities around the world, and decided I just needed to go to the source.

Again, Georgian cuisine is not one that is inherently vegetarian friendly, but there are plenty of delicious vegetarian options.

After I returned from Georgia, I don’t think I could ever go back to Khinkali served anywhere else.

And then I added Azerbaijan and Armenia to that trip, as you do. But Georgia won out for food.m. By far.

Myanmar

When I lived in San Francisco, my favorite restaurant was this place called Burma Superstar. Tucked deep into a local residential neighborhood north of Golden Gate Park, Burma Superstar served up uniquely delicious food from Myanmar. Tea Leaf Salad (faceholenowplease…), this perfectly fried sesame tofu, and so much more.

On one of my extended Southeast Asia trips, I decided to fly to Myanmar for the temples, the nature, and of course the food. As my flight was landing in Yangon, a military coup broke out, but I decided YOLO and continued on with my trip.

Myanmar is one of the favorite countries I’ve ever visited, and the food played a large role in that (as did the Burmese people, so lovely and hospitable). I got to try all of my Burma Superstar specialities in their homeland. Did not disappoint.

(PS- if you find yourself in San Francisco, go to Burma Superstar. You’re welcome.)

Thailand

This is so basic and obvious, but Thailand is one of my favorite countries to eat my way through.

Thai food is one of my favorites in the world, and I do miss living in a place that had amazing Thai restaurants on every corner. But then you go to Thailand and…

I’ve been to Thailand several times, on various trips. Somehow I always end up extending my stay so I can can continue to eat. From the street food to the night markets all of the amazing restaurants in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Thailand is a feast.

Syria

Saving the best for last, as you do.

I have always loved Middle Eastern food, and the food I ate in Syria was Middle Eastern food on steroids. After Amman, I though I had the best, but I had not yet met Damascus. Once I ate my first dinner in Damascus, I sort of knew it was all over for Amman’s food scene.

Honestly, I could live off meze plates alone, preferably served with fresh mango juice and a nice after dinner shisha. Take me to the Malki Cafe and Restaurant now please. But then there is Syrian breakfast. And maybe you have not lived until you’ve had a fresh pide at R House. Or the spread at the Cham Palace Hotel. Or the jubnah (cheese) zaatar manouche almost anywhere.

It felt like I died and went to food heaven.

I do not cook, but I even brought back some zaatar to try to replicate Syria’s delicious flavors at home. At least I’ll go back soon.

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BUUUUUT….

I also really dig travel with closely selected friends who I travel well with. The thing is, I don’t travel well with just anyone. Actually, if we are being honest, I don’t travel well with most people. I have sort of a unique travel style which probably does lead best to solo travel. And if we don’t travel well together, or I don’t think we will, I will say no.

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So here are my travel partner dynamics and why it works:

“The STA Travel Nature Bitches,” aka Kelley and Marin

In Córdoba, Spain!

Back when I was in my 20s, fresh out of university, I took a job at STA Travel in Berkeley, California. Being a travel company, everyone who worked there were travelers. We were also young and broke, but in what STA did not pay us, they financed our international trips. Friendships were formed.

Marin was actually my boss. And I met Kelley on a free trip that we won in Istanbul. Soon after, Kelley transferred to the Berkeley office, and an instant bond was formed between Marin, Kelley and I.

Fast forward many (many) years later, the three of us still plan epic trips together. And travel so well together. Our dynamic works really well. When any of us needs independence, we happily go our own way for a few hours. We never run out of things to talk about and laugh a lot along the way. In fact, “nature bitches” was coined on an epic roadtrip through the Baltic States, on a beach in Latvia.

Marin and Kelley still live in California. And these days Spain is my base. But whenever we start a trip together, it’s like no time has passed.

Top epic trips taken with Kelley and Marin: Our Baltic States roadtrip, ferry to Helsinki, ending at Aurora Holidays in Utsjoki for some time under the Northern Lights. And our Croatia roadtrip, where we drove across the Istrian Peninsula blasting Kanye West (before he came out as an anti-Semite Tr*mp supporter).

Next trip: I think another Spanish roadtrip will be happening soon.

Joey, my platonic life partner

Under the Aurora Borealis in Utsjoki, Finland

I met Joey at an Indigo Girls concert in Nashville in 2001. We weren’t instant friends (which I take full blame for), but when he moved to California a few years later, we basically become inseparable. Joey did not work in the travel industry like yours’ truly, and had not traveled as much as I had (then anyway).

Our first “international” trip together was a series of hilariously events gone wrong to Rosarito, Mexico in my plum Honda Civic. It was crazy, memorable, and we still talk about it.

Years later, he came to Spain several times to spend several months with me, and we took some epic trips together.

Joey and I travel well together because we don’t give a fuck about how many photos we take, how slow we walk through a city together, or how many times a day we eat. If I get up early and he needs more sleep, I just go out on my own and text him to meet me later. We also pet every cat we see, and have a penchant for riding around on trams and buses in cities, to see parts of the city we’d never really see on our own.

Top epic trips taken with Joey: Berlin, where we spent like 3 hours at the East Side Gallery taking photos, London, where we ate every type of Middle Eastern food we could find and saw the Indigo Girls (sometimes you have to go back to your roots). We also went to Aurora Holidays together along with our friend Katy!

Next trip: Joey has been to India. I have not. But I have an whole itinerary planned and I want to go with him!

RafifJ, my sistah from anotha mistah

In Saidnaya, Syria

A few years after I moved from Madrid to Málaga, I met RafifJ. Immediately we bonded and we both questioned why it took us so long to meet. Rafif is Syrian-American and an all around badass activist for a free Syria (and global peace in general). Rafif joined Joey and me (and some other friends) on a trip to Prague, and we had fun.

But fast forward to December 8th 2024, the day when the Assad regime fell and Syria became free. Rafif quickly started planning to go visit Syria, her country she could not enter during the brutal dictatorship. After she got back from her first trip, I basically forced her to promise that she’d take me to Syria with her one day. Several of her trips later, I finally accompanied her to Damascus!

We spent almost a month together throughout the Middle East since getting to and from Syria was an adventure within itself. We traveled through Istanbul, Jordan (where I just came back from), and then Syria (and back the same way). And we did not kill one another. In fact, we didn’t argue at all. A month with one other person is a lot, and we survived (and thrived, in fact as soon as I put the finishing touches on this, I am off to meet her for a shopping date in central Málaga). I have never spent a month with anyone, so the fact that we came out on top shows that we travel well together. Really well.

It works because we have similar travel styles. Lots of coffees, walking around, many stops to eat, and neither of us feels the need to visit every museum. We also both love to shop. By the end of our trip, we finished each others’ sentences and I could swear we were sharing a brain.

Top epic trips taken with RafifJ: The Middle East. Duh. We laughed so hard, had such a fantastic time, and were almost sad to part ways at the Málaga airport when we returned. A month before, we also went to Chefchaouen, Morocco together and had the same result.

Next trip (or for RafifJ, I need to say “neckist" trip, sorry, it’s an inside joke): Well, back to Syria of course. Soon I hope. We also talked about Uzbekistan, Georgia, Oman, and about a thousand other places.

Group trips, a mixed bag

In Wadi Rum, Jordan on a G Adventures trip

I would be lying if I did not disclose that occasionally I do book the group trip. I do this when I can’t be fucked with planning my own trip or I’d just feel better with a guide and a group.

G Adventures is usually my trip company of choice. Though I have strayed (and constantly regretted it). During my STA days, I won plenty of trips through Contiki (ugh, not my demographic) and a now defunct Russian tour company.

I found that these days group trips only work for me if I pay the single supplement and book my own room. Unless I am traveling on a group trip with a friend, but still, now that I am in my princess era, I like my own space. Also, I know myself well enough to know that on a group trip, I need solo time. So I often stray from the group in cities or places we have multiple days.

Top group trips I’ve done: Jordan, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, and Nairobi to Victoria Falls (all separate trips, all with G Adventures), Bali and Lombok with G Adventures (and Marin!), A Moscow and St Petersburg trip that I won at STA in 2003.

Next group trip: Madagascar with G Adventures and some solo time in Mauritius after it concludes.

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So yes, I am a solo traveler at heart. But there are always exceptions. And these people (my people) are my top travel companions. I can’t wait to travel with all of them again soon!

Talk to me about travel companions

Are you as picky as I am when choosing people to travel with? Do you also have a (very) short list of friends you can travel with? Or are you open to anyone?

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I’ll share a lot more thoughts about this epic trip, but for now I wanted to dedicate a post to some of my favorite photos I took in Syria.

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But first I have a dilema. At my flat I have a huge “travel wall” consisting of photos that I took all over the world. My “rule” is just one maybe two photos per country. But for Syria, I just can not only choose a few. So I’m thinking that I will break my rule for Syria. It’s just impossible to choose.

So here are some of my favorite Syria photos that I took:

The way the light hit the souk…

Quiet Friday morning in Damascus

Damascus at night

Peaceful Damascus mornings

Cham Palace Hotel street scene

Umayyad Mosque

Damascus neighborhood scene

Doors of Damascus Umayyad Mosque

Damascus corner store

Damascus taxi

Streets of the old city

Beit Farhi, an old Jewish house

Old city

Al Qishla Café, Damascus

Scenes from the old city

Hidden palace in the old city

Doors of Damascus 2

And these are just a few!

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So, which ones should go on the wall of travels in my living room?

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(PS- Here is more of my Syria content)

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It’s kind of my thing. Instead of “how are you,” my friends usually ask, “where are you?”

And I get around, so far I’ve traveled to 77 countries (I can thank my lifelong career in the travel industry for that, even when I was young and broke, I was traveling the world).

People always ask me what’s my favorite country I’ve ever traveled to. And before Syria, I couldn’t really answer that. But now, having been in Syria I can honestly say that Syria is my favorite country I’ve ever been.

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So, as I begin to wrap up* my trip to Syria, I wanted to write this beautiful corner of the planet a little love letter.

(* Yes, we are wrapping up. This trip. But habibi, I. WILL. BE. BACK. And, also you can find all of my Syria content in one place with my “Syria” tag.)

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💌 So here is my love letter to Syria… 💌

Dear Syria,

I can not even express how much love, adoration, and admiration I have for you. I’ve had the honor and privilege of traveling in your beautiful country with RafifJ since March 29th, and I can’t believe our (first) time together is coming to a close. I wanted to take a moment to share with you why I love you so very much.

The Syrian people

Despite so many years of hardship (civil war, dictatorship, chemical weapons) your Syrian people are the kindest I’ve ever encountered.

It all started with THE warmest welcome at the land border with Jordan (which I detailed in “how your friends say goodbye to you when they think you’re headed to an active war zone”), but continuously the Syrian people have been so kind and welcoming.

Everyone is concerned that I am having a a good time (I am). Everyone smiles and encourages me when I speak my rudimentary Arabic (it’s terrible, and I am butchering their beautiful language). I get a “welcome to my country” just about everywhere I go.

Today in the souk, the tourist police were so happy to see a foreigner that they wanted to take photos with me. And the thing is, this is not fake. It is genuine. The Syrian people do not have enough of a tourist economy to put on a show. These smiles and niceties are from the heart. Of course, I am kind back and my curiosity and smile are also genuine. Because I love it here so much.

Your’s truly with the Syrian tourist police

The food

Be still my heart, I get to eat labneh, maniesh, fattoush, and the best hummus in the world every single day.

While Syrian food is not all vegetarian, it is extremely vegetarian friendly. I have never once had a problem finding a variety of delicious vegetarian foods to choose from on a menu. So basically, I am eating my way through Damascus. Take that, Spain! (I can say that as I live there).

Also, side note, as a non-heavy drinker, I really appreciate the juices, lemonades, and other alcoholic beverages.

Oh, and for all the “don’t eat fresh vegetables or anything with ice there” overly cautious people, my stomach has not been upset once here. And it is literally always upset at home.

(Read more about my favorite places to travel for the food…)

Just part of a Syrian breakfast

The scenes

It is hard to describe, but the colors of Damascus are enchanting. You have kind of a monochrome city full of beautiful details with bright yellow (old) taxis circulating.

It is not my usual off-white and Córdoba/Chefchaouen blue color pallet, but I dig it.

And then the details, which I mentioned. You have to look, but they are there. Beautiful metal grates on top of gorgeous doors. Balconies, shutters, random tiles.

Damascus has been through a lot and it may not be conventional beauty, but trust me when I say it is beautiful.

An old taxi in the old city

The culture

Syria, being part of the Middle East, has a culture os hospitality like no other. Yes, I know I already talked about the people here, but Syria’s amazing culture is something that deserves its own bullet point.

For as much as this country has been through, the beautiful Syrian culture shines through so strongly. There are a lot of aspects to the word culture. But one of my favorites is the cafe culture.

Walk into any cafe in this country and you will see tables of people chatting, smoking shisha, and playing Backgammon (RafifJ taught me how to play Backgammon. First I won. Then she kicked my ass.) This cafe culture was not allowed under the Assad regime, but as soon as the regime fell, Syrians reclaimed this important part of their culture. (Side note number two, I ♥️ shisha and do not know what I will do without it regularly offered back in Málaga).

And this is only a tiny part of the Syrian culture.

Learning Backgammon from RafifJ, a true master of the game

And speaking of Rafifj, she is one of the few people I can travel with.

Read more about how I choose my travel companions carefully ⬆️

The strength of the Syrian people

We went to Jobar, which is a suburb of Damascus that was very much destroyed by the regime.

We saw the horrors of only one (of so many) tiny corner of Syria that took the hardest blows of the dictatorship and civil war.

Walking through the rubble, I honestly do not know how anyone can recover from that and remain… human.

But the Syrians prevailed, and their strength is something I envy.

The Syrian people have taught me so many lessons, and honestly, it is going to be difficult to go back to the privileged West, where problems seem downright petty.

Jobar, reduced to rubble, but the strength of the Syrian people gives me so much inspiration

And on a really personal note, rediscovering my Jewishness

Rafif just asked me if I am rediscovering my Jewishness here, and that is yes. As an anti-Zionist, pro-Palestine, colonialists, and (sorry) anti-Israel Jew who has always been more in tune with my Sephardic roots than my Ashkenazi roots, being in the Middle East always brings me back to my roots.

And Syria is no exception.

Here I was able to see where some of the oldest synagogues in the world once stood (destroyed by a regime, not by anti-Semitism). People are eager to show me old Syrian Jewish artifacts.

And here I do not feel the need to hide that I am Jewish because unlike in the west, Syrians and Middle Easterners in general can understand the difference between Jewish and Zionist.

Syria is a religiously diverse country and it is currently openly welcoming its Jewish population back. Here no one thinks I am responsible for the actions of Israel (which I have never step foot in). That is a fucking breath of fresh air.

Bayt Farhi, an old Jewish house in Old Damascus

So Syria, as we start getting ready to leave, I hope you know how firm your place in my heart is and will always be. I do not look at this as a goodbye, but a see you again, many many many times.

In a perfect world, I can divide my time between Spain and Damascus (update: that is kind of the plan for the autumn). And often, when I envision something, I make it come true. So Syria, you are not rid of me. And my hope for you, for the future, is peace, prosperity, and a government who represents the best needs of your amazing population.

Whatever I can do to help in any way, I am here for you, Syria.

xoxo,

Karen

With RafifJ in Sednaya. My favorite Syrian, my sistah-from-anota-mistah, my dear friend, and amazing host here in Syria.

Your turn…

Talk to me about Syria. Ask me anything! Honestly, I want to live vicariously through this first trip there as I plan my return trip(s!) to Syria later this year!

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The day I probably really stopped being a pathological people pleaser with my family was the day that I learned about the Palestinian people. I did not know they even existed until I was well into my teens, and from that day forward I stopped giving a fuck what I said at family dinners.

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But let’s fast forward to three hundred takeout coffees later (while we are on the Taylor Swift lyric quoting). I think I really stopped giving a fuck when I started traveling solo. And I mean really traveling, not just to Paris for a study aboard program or to Australia on a bribe from my mother (the bribe was that she’d pay for a trip to Australia for me if I canceled my plans to go to Vietnam. I got a free trip to Australia out of it, and went to Vietnam solo several years later. Win win!)

Baby me with a kangaroo in Australia on the bribe trip

Those were all great experiences, but they did not the flip the IDGAF switch quite yet. That switch flip came later in life, I think well into my late 40s actually. So more recently. I turned 40 in Sri Lanka. The reason this is relevant is that so many people warned me against going to Sri Lanka. “It’s unsafe,” “Women aren’t treated well there,” “You’ll get hit by a tuk tuk.” But nothing bad happened and I had a fabulous time.

Driving a tuk tuk in Sri Lanka

Less than two weeks later, I entered Myanmar the day there was a coup there. When my plane landed in Yangon, my phone exploded with messages. “GET OUT OF THERE NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!” but I continued on with my trip as planned and found kind people, beautiful scenery, and amazing temples that I could climb.

The temples of Bagan, Myanmar

I wasn’t trying to please anyone. Just living for myself. No more a pathological people pleaser.

So here I am, in Syria, drinking a 3 in 1 (like a proper Syrian), listening to Taylor Swift (some things can’t change), writing this from my friend’s beautiful Damascus balcony. So many people feared for my safety here. And while I 100% appreciate the concern and the gestures, I am safe. And I am here. And IDGAF what anyone says about my travels here.

My current view

On a side note, I posted a few photos from my Syria trip in three large FB travel groups: The Solo Female Traveler Network, Girls Love Travel, and Rick Steves’ group.

The comments and reactions from the first two groups were amazing, encouraging, open minded.

A lot of the comments from the third group were racist and Islamaphobic boomers who only know the Middle East from western media and made ridiculous assumptions about who I am based on my last name. I did not hold back my response comments there.

Because people pleasing is no longer for me. You come at me, you get a response you may not like. And I am not saying I am a horrible person. However, at this point of my life (to end with more TayTay wisdom) “Mistake my kindness for weakness and find your card canceled.”

Yours truly at the Eras Tour in Munich, Germany. No longer a pathological people pleaser and ready to shout “fuck the patriarchy” with 60,000 other Swifties

And, yes, I am a Taylor Swift fan. And no, IDGAF about that either.

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On February 24th 2026 my friend Rafif and I bought almost month-long round trip tickets from Málaga to Istanbul. Our loose plan was a few days in Istanbul for some shopping and cat watching (me!), a flight to Beirut, a few days in Beirut seeing the city and visiting another friend, and ultimately into Syria for a few weeks in Damascus before returning to Istanbul (via Amman) for my flight home.

Then February 28th happened and the hopes of the entire trip were very much on the line.

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Plans changed. For example, our jaunt to Lebanon was immediately canceled. But we refused to give up on the trip entirely. We’d meet at Málaga cafes, starry-eyed saying “While we are in Damascus we will do XY and Z,” but knowing at the back of our minds that this was all inshallah.

I decided early on that I was going to do everything in my power not to let Trump and Netanyahu take Syria away from me. I had been bugging Rafif, a Syrian-American, to take me with her on one of her post-Assad trips one day. Now that we had plans, I was hellbent on not changing them. I knew that Rafif would use her astute judgement to make the final decision. And it was her opinion I trusted much more than than western media and over-reactive travel advisories.

So we continued to plan our time in Damascus. And talk about all the fun we would have, the things we’d see, and how in just a few short weeks, we’d be in Syria.

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As the trip got closer, fewer of my friends could really believe that I was going to go through with it. I got a lot of questions over drinks at Te-Piko, our local hangout, whether our trip was still on. My Whatsapp was filled with messages like “did you change your travel plans to Syria yet?” Nope. Syria was still on the cards.

A few days before I left, I ran into an old acquaintance at a Málaga bar. She had run into Rafif earlier, and Rafif filled her in about our Semana Santa (plus) in Syria travel plans. When the acquaintance saw me, she jumped out of her seat, ran over to me, giving me a big hug, empathetically and dramatically, told be to be careful over and over again, in Spanish. I promised I would and moved on with my day. For some reason, I was completely unfazed that I was going to Syria, a Level 4 “do not travel” country.

That week, the Whatsapps became more frequent, and with more concern. There were a lot of heart and concern-face emojis with accompanying messages such as, “Have the best time, but be careful and listen to your gut,” and “When you get home safely, we can’t wait to welcome you back.”

I guess that these are the kinds of reactions you get when your friends literally think you are traveling to an active war zone.

On March 25th, Rafif and I boarded a flight from Málaga to Istanbul. Then on March 28th, we flew from Istanbul to Amman, Jordan on Royal Jordanian (the only airline flying to Amman at the time). We were greeted in Amman by sirens for missile interceptions. But we still went out and had dinner and a shisha with my friend in Amman.

Istanbul was lovely, but Damascus was the goal

Finally on March 29th, we took a private car across the north Jordanian border and we were in Syria. I was finally in Syria, after all this time of wanting to go. It felt like such a victory.

Welcome to Syria…

My Syrian welcome could not be more kind and welcoming. “Welcome to my country,” the border guide said, “biyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee” with a huge grin, waving us on, as we passed the checkpoint. And that set the tone for my time in Syria.

Look, I am not denying that there is a raging war going on in the Middle East right now. Israel continues its “let’s the the worst neighbor possible” policy, committing active genocide in Gaza and Lebanon (and occupying Syria’s Golan Heights). And Iran is on fire, while missiles fly over the Gulf States. But ironically enough, Damascus is probably the safest city in the region now.

So no, I am not in an active war zone. I am having the time of my life in Damascus, learning about Syrian history and culture, admiring the amazing architecture, stuffing my face with the best food in the world, and meeting so many interesting people.

Rafif and me in Saidnaya, Syria

Do I blame my friends for their reactions at all? No, of course not. Hell, it makes me feel loved. The western media is so good at throwing arbitrary labels on countries and entire regions. So I absolutely understand the concern. But I can assure everyone that I am safe. Yaani, the most dangerous thing I’ve done was darted across the street last night with too much confidence in my acquired skill of crossing Damascus’ heavily trafficked streets.

Mild Syrian traffic

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(Be sure to check out the rest of my Syria content!)

I don’t have the words to describe what we saw when we traveled to Jobar earlier this week.But I’m extremely thankful that we went and saw it. It’s a tragic and significant chapter in Syrian history. And as a visitor here, seeing it is an important part of my travels.

For those of you who don’t know what Jobar is, it was among one of the hardest hit places here in Syria during the country’s recent history.

I’m refering to the civil war and the Assad regime, gassing, killing, and poisoning his own people. With chemical weapons.

So back to Jobar and what I saw and experienced. It’s literally bombed out buildings with very little sign of life. What got me was how friendly the few people we saw were. One man was driving around looking for the rubble of his old home. Another was a resident of Jobar who had his entire family killed who showed us the rubble of the old synagogue, one of the oldest in the world, destroyed along with everything else.

There were dilapidated remnants of minarets from mosques, random bombed out kitchen and bathroom tile in the rubble. I saw a sock there.

After Jobar, we headed to neighboring Zamalka, stopping at a small roadside coffee shop along the way. The owners desperately want to encourage business and we were happy to support.

Zamalka, like Jobar, was horribly destroyed. But the locals there decided not to wait for government help, and took it upon themselves to rebuild. What you see now is a somewhat thriving main street, with shops, schools, and businesses rebuilt by those who lost everything.

Also in Zamalka is a “cemetery,” but more a mass grave for the thousands of people killed by chemical weapons from the Assad regime. The list of names continues to grow as more bodies are found.

After all of this, we needed lots of time to reflect, cry, and just be. None of this was easy to see, but I think it’s so important to see it. Especially given the state of the world today. Never again is now. Never again for Iran, Palestine, Lebanon, and of course Syria. Or anywhere. Seeing the impacts of war is a moving experience and one that I’ll never forget.

Finally, if you want to help rebuild Syria, I really urge you to make a donation to the Free Syria Foundation. They do amazing work, and are truly committed to helping all Syrian people move forward from the recent atrocities.

And for more of my thoughts on Syria and my global travels, please keep following along.

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Some may think this is crazy, to be traveling in Syria now. But I am thrilled to be here and to gradually share some of my thoughts.

(PSST- for visual Syria and more content, be sure to follow me on Instagram!)

First off, I am not here alone. Although I love solo travel, it is such an honor to be with my friend RafifJ, who is a badass Syrian-American activist (who could not enter Syria during the Assad regime because of her political affiliations). Her stories are amazing, but they are not mine to tell. She is a fantastic Damascus guide, and I am currently writing this from the terrace of her family’s gorgeous flat in central Damascus.

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So why Syria and why now?

Basically, I’ve always wanted to visit. If you know me at all, you know that the Middle East is my jam. The food, the art/architecture, the people, the hospitality… and again the food, this part of the world is so misunderstood but it has a big piece of my heart.

In 2024, after the Assad regime fell, Rafif started making many trips back to Syria, and I have been bugging her since to take me with her. We had a few trips planned, but something always happened and they got postponed. So when I got back from Jordan in mid-February of this year, I was adamant (and probably somewhat annoying) that I wanted to finally go to Syria.

We planned this trip and then February 28th happened. But after much thought, replanning, and plotting, we decided that nothing will stop us. Nothing did, and here I am… in Damascus.

So I am guessing you want to read a few quick Syrian travel vignettes. Snapshots, I suppose. These are just a few tidbits of why I am falling in love with Syria.

• Entering Syria: I have never had a warmer welcome to any of the other 76 countries I’ve visited by a border official. One of the immigration officers asked me where I am from (which I truthfully answered as he had my passport), said “welcome to my country,” gave me a HUGE smile and then said “biyeeeeeee” while smiling and waving. Sorry, but the immigration officers at the Frankfurt airport have nothing on that!

• Eating in Syria: As a vegetarian, I am in food heaven. So far I’ve put the best ever labneh, fattoush, lentil soup, hummus, and halloumi in my mouth. And Syrian breakfast puts every other global breakfast cuisine to shame. Give me my Manakish over tortilla Española any day, porfa.

• The people in Syria: See point number one, but again, I have never been to a friendlier and more welcoming place. Syrians have been through so much, and they are still the kindest, most welcoming, and most hospitable people on the planet.

• Old Damascus: From the narrow alleyways of the souk to the soul of the old city, Damascus continues to charm and entice me to want to discover more. There is so much history here, and you are basically walking on a layered past. Retracing the steps of the Silk Road merchants is a total nerd-out obsession of mine!

And those are just a few things…

To understand Damascus means being able to see past some of the rubble and look at the beauty everywhere. There’s a lot of that for sure. The Syrians themselves continue to steal my heart. It’s Middle Eastern hospitality on steroids here, especially considering there are very few tourists here.

I’ll address the war of the region at another time, but for now I’ll say Syria is safe - probably the safest place in this region. And Syrians are just so happy not to be in the war. Inshallah, I hope it stays like this.

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So please follow along on my current Syrian adventures. My next post will not be all sunshine and rainbows, but it is important to learn about the Assad regime and the civil war too. These things paint a fuller picture.

And finally, if you are in any way touched or impacted by my stories out of Syria, please consider making a donation to the Free Syria Foundation. They are doing amazing work here in Syria to help the recovery from the last 15+ years.

That is such a tough question to answer because I don’t have just one favorite place. I have different favorite cities and countries for different reasons.

For example, the places I’ve traveled with my favorite food have been Italy (all over), Thailand, Vietnam, Jordan, and Berlin (the vegan selections are out of this world!)

In terms of architecture, you have Uzbekistan, Paris, Granada, and Morocco.

And for history, you simply can not beat Egypt, Spain and Türkiye, for example.

For friendliness and hospatality of the people, Sri Lanka, Jordan, Morocco, Azerbaijan and Myanmar top that list.

When it comes to favorite cities, Paris, Madrid, Tbilisi, Istanbul, San Francisco, Buenos Aires and Sydney are often top of the list.

For the places I’ve had some of the best adventures, Peru, Costa Rica, Tanzania, and South Africa are what come to mind.

And for best wildlife sightings, Kenya, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, and the Galapagos Islands were all top notch.

For a cold and peaceful getaway, where the aurora borealis take the center stage, I fell in love with a boutique resort in Utsjoki, at the very top of Finland.

When I want to go to the beach, I’ve found the beaches in Thailand, Hawaii, Mallorca, and Mozambique to be some of the best I’ve ever seen!

And just for sheer beauty, Ecuador, Armenia, Georgia and the western US are some to my tops.

These lists are just a start. There are so many amazing places on this planet and I have so many favorites.