What do you see?
Random Thoughts
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day Everyone
Everyone is Irish on Saint Patrick’s Day! As you partake in your Guinness I hope you enjoy a conglomeration of some of my favorite photos from Ireland!
I never travel without my diary.
One should always have something sensational to read on the train.
Oscar Wilde (The Importance of being Earnest)
I leave you with the song Ride on by Christy Moore…one of the most beautiful voices ever created. Close your eyes and be transported back to Ireland.
For more of journey through Ireland please click here.
Maps versus Navigation when traveling
All right. Be honest? Do you still have paper maps? Or do you use a GPS device or navigation on your phone? No judgement here…
I am a die hard cell phone navigator at home. But, I adore paper maps when I am traveling. I find them more reliable and interesting than device navigation. I can follow along the map as we drive noting everything I am passing along the way.
Numerous times I have used the map to determine where our next unplanned stop with be. My brothers and husband can attest to my forcing them to stop at every archaeological place of interest in the whole of Ireland “just to see what’s there.”
I brought along what was later coined “the Super Map” to Ireland the first time I went in 1999. This map has traveled with me every time I have gone there marking every road I have driven or walked on. It has helped enrich my trips and reference where I have been to and where I have yet to journey. It is now as much of a souvenir as anything else I brought home with me.
In France I brought another paper map which helped guide us in driving through the entire country. The map is a little worse for the wear being torn and folded and even used as a napkin from time to time.
How do you get around when traveling locally or internationally?
Type A traveling
Are you the type of Type A person who creates a spreadsheet for every trip you take? Do you pre-schedule every tour, hotel, method of transportation, etc ahead of time? Do you pack so many things in to the day you don’t make any time for getting lost? Is this just how your brain is wired? Are you swimming in a sea of paper maps, guidebooks, and smartphone apps?
Or do you just roll with it? Buy your tickets a day or two in advance? Don’t book a hotel and just run across one when you get there? Hope there will be affordable transportation at the airport when you land? Skip all of the typical tourist destinations of your location and just chill in a bar or cafe to get the vibe of the locals?
Are you somewhere in between?
What kind of traveler are you? What kind of traveler do you think I am? 😉
Postcards from Calistoga
Calistoga, in the beautiful Napa Valley, is a glorious place to visit any time of the year. But I cannot wipe the smile off of my face after travelling through the greater Napa valley again this fall. The grape leaves and tree leaves were vibrant and magnificent this year in their yellow, orange, and red hues. Even Amelia, who puts the Bulldog in Bulldogtravels, enjoyed her fall adventure this year.
Dealray.com – Will it take off or fizzle out?
Hello budget travelers…
How better to celebrate Black friday than to talk about travel deal websites? I read recently in an edition of Travel and Leisure of a new “deal” website called Dealray.com. (I was immediately skeptical.) Well, I decided to try it out for fun. The concept is this…You sign up for two months free and pay $9.99 every month thereafter. For this fee Dealray will send you any domestic or international airline deals its super computer can churn out. You book directly through the airline not through Dealray. For any referral you give to someone else you will get two months free. You can cancel anytime without any questions.
I decided to sign up for one free month to see if any deals came through. I have already seen deals from SFO to Chicago for $127 round trip and one from LAX to Chicago for $81. The travel times are limited but for $81 I could make that work.
Check it out if it interests you. Click on the following link so I can get two additional free months from your referral! http://dlry.me/60e673c5 (Insert shameless plug here.)
Be sure to let me know what you think and if it worked for you. I will update this post if I end up booking any flights or have any additional feedback.
Irish Kitchen Painting Challenge – Which do you prefer?
As has been obvious in my recent blogging I visited Ireland this summer with my parents and brother and his family. My husband was unable to join us. He did, however, send me to Ireland with a challenge. We currently have a simple little painting in our kitchen that depicts a cafe scene somewhere in make-believe Italy. He asked me to take a photo of a cafe or restaurant or bar in Ireland that could be put on canvas and replace the generic Italy scene we have now. Tell me your thoughts!? So far he can’t decide. I know which one I like but I am looking for outside opinions…which photo would you like to stare at every morning making coffee or every night cooking up a meal?
Charming bar scene in Kinsale?
Silly happy little bar in Dublin?
Brightly colored bar, strangely enough named after my brother, in Adare?
Bright Guinness mural from Tralee?
For more on my Irish Shenanigans click here…
Hop on Hop off bus tours – Love ‘em or leave ‘em?
Sometimes when I only have a short time in a city and no transportation I have bought tickets to the local hop on hop off bus tour, often the double decker type but never the Viking or duck tour. (I refuse to wear silly hats people! The line must be drawn somewhere.) I feel like these tours can sometimes give visitor’s the quick lay of the land with the option to stop and visit sites along the way. It has always seemed like a good value as compared to multiple taxi rides with ill-tempered drivers. Part of me dies inside a little bit at the thought of such a “touristy” thing to do. But, the other part of me cannot deny how fun and convenient these tours are. My parents really enjoyed doing this in Dublin recently…
What are your thoughts intrepid friends? Swear by the hop on hop off bus tour or scoff at the idea? I promise not to judge you! 😉
For more Irish ramblings click here…
“Calling all Selfies!” Bulldogtravels Self Portrait Photo Challenge
In an exercise to test some settings on my camera the other night I was forced to take photos of myself which I do not particularly care for. No one else was around for me to abuse. Once I had achieved what I had set out to test on my camera I started fooling around with filters in Lightroom. Several hours later these efforts led me to think that, of all of the challenges I have seen and participated on in WordPress, I had not seen any for Self Portraits or Black and White Self Portraits.
So, readers, I challenge you to post self portraits of yourself! Just please link or ping back to this post so I can have the benefit of seeing them. Be as creative as you want. If your self portrait is a photo of your feet or your kneecaps I am fine with that. If it is you bending in a backbreaking yoga pose then so be it. If you use a fancy camera or your cell phone I don’t judge. (Selfie sticks are welcome here even if they aren’t in Disneyland anymore!) If you use filters or don’t use filters I don’t care. If your interpretation of a self portrait is a photo of your dog or your Dahlia then hey, ok, whatever! I will see the humor in it.
If your self portrait happens to be in a great and interesting travel location that would be even better! Just have fun with it and let me know how it turns out! Happy selfie taking!
My attempt at a Selfie…yup that’s a vintage video camera I am using to cover most of my face! 😉
These Boots are Made for Walking
The great blog Where’s My Backpack came up with a fun and unusual Travel Theme of Feet! One could go all over the place with this theme…my feet, animal feet, statute feet, furniture feet, feats of strength…this gives me an excuse to display some of the random photos I have taken while trekking around…
One thing is for sure. Apparently, I have nothing better to do than to take photos of my feet while wandering through the world! I suppose these photos tell a story of their own separate from those that were taken directly of the attraction I was visiting. 🙂
Relaxing in Mendocino
Spring Flower Hiking in the California Sierras
Resting at the top of one of the temples of Tikal
Cooling off in Phoenix
Boonie Crashing at the Arch of Labna in the Yucatan
Searching for Water in California
Hot Chili and Cool Cars in Rocklin, California
Mendocino Mushroom Festival
Hiking in El Dorado National Forest
Standard Beach apparel – Doran Beach
Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland
Bulldog Travels / Photos By Jenny 