February 24, 2012

Top 5 Travel Experiences...so far!

Today I'm doing a link-up with fellow blogger and Amsterdam expat Ellen from Company of Clever. I have been BLESSED to be able to live in the beautiful city of Amsterdam and to participate in some pretty amazing adventures along the way. I can't wait to explore the rest of this amazing world and see what other crazy things we can get our hands on! For now though, here's a round-up of my most memorable travel experiences to date! Disclaimer: It was extremely difficult to narrow down to 5 and ofcourse these are in no particular order. I guarantee if you do one or all of these, you're really in store for some unforgettable moments...


Company of Clever


...so here goes! My Top 5 Favorite Travel Experiences... 

1.) Navigating through MOROCCO’s ancient cities and riding camels and sandboarding in the Sahara…followed by sleeping under the stars :)
One of the best holidays Christian and I had was when we spent a week exploring Fez and Marrakech, Morocco! The souks, riads and hospitality of Moroccan people made us fall in love with the country. The best part was when we rode camels into the Sahara, went sandboarding and slept on the dunes under a bazillion twinkly stars!  
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2.) Throwing tomatoes at SPAIN’s most famous food fight: LA TOMATINA!
On the last Wednesday of August, thrill-seekers venture from near and far to Bunol, Spain, to take part in a crazy tomato fight that I know we will never forget! We started off the morning at 5AM drinking sangria, laughed our butts off during the hour long tomato-flinging and finished the day drinking Spanish beer and dancing to DJs (tapas were involved too ofcourse!)…unimaginable fun!!! 
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3.) Dogsledding and snowmobiling in FINLAND’s Arctic Circle
I’d never even put thought into what snowmobiling and dogsledding was like until I was actually doing it on a trip up to the Arctic Circle with Christian during our semester abroad in Finland. I blogged a bit about it here and can say without a doubt that it was one of the most surreal experiences of my life…check out the video below!
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4.) Island hopping in GREECE
Oooooh Greece!! I would return to Greece in an absolute second! Christian, my best friend Smitty, Denis (a French friend Christian and I studied in Finland with) and Emma (an awesome Finn, new friend of ours AND Denis' girlfriend) spent 1 week visiting Santorini and Naxos. Cruising between the Greek isles was just as breathtaking as it sounds…and it was too easy to convert each ferry to a party boat! We’re counting down the minutes until we reunite with Denis and Emma again this summer to cruise around Croatia’s Dalmatian coast :).
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5.) Being a part of full-fledged World Cup madness in HOLLAND!
It’s not soccer fever, it’s FOOTBALL FEVER! It sucked me in so much that even I was nearly in tears watching the Dutch team lose to the Spanish in the World Cup Final in 2010 (I joined 250,000 other fans and 5 gigantic live TV screens in Museumplein...you could feel the energy of the crowd deep in your bones!). It was definitely a summer to remember and I can’t wait to dress from head to toe in orange (the color of the Dutch team!) this summer when they compete in the European Cup 2012…ORANJE! ORANJE! ORANJE!
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Any AHHH-MAZING experiences that you've had? I'd love to hear them and add them to my list!!! :)

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

all of your pictures are stunning! and im dying to head to lapland and do something similar to what you did! or island hop in greece :)

i think my favorite adventures so far have been:

1) my first drive through the fjords of norway (i live in the fjords now actually but am moving to oslo). it was the most breathtaking site i have EVER seen...and i dont think itll ever be topped

2) working the superbowl with ESPN and my team qualifying to be in it in 2011 (they lost though). i dont know if this counts...but certainly was one of the coolest experiences of my life.

3) visiting vilnius, lithuania...the place my great grandma immigrated from as a child. my boyfriend surprised me with a trip there for my birthday last year. it was so surreal.

4) iceland. it was my dream place to visit since i was about 8 and finally doing it was incredible...and im dying to get back there.

Rachael said...

Wow! That sounds so cool! Iceland is definitely high on my travel list! Same with the fjords...my brother was in the navy and he always talked about how beautiful it was to sail off the coast of Norway. When I do either of those, I'll be sure to contact you for tips!! :)

Anonymous said...

cheers to linking-up! :)

each one, such a unique experience! PAB & I are trying to work out the details to head to Morocco over the Easter holiday this year. And when I say details, I mean...where are we going to put our dog!? haha.

-elz

Emily @ Emmy June said...

Wow!

Such amazing experiences....I'm totally jealous :)

Lily said...

Very cool pictures! Mocorrco is one I haven't visited yet... World Cup in Amsterdam was so crazy and fun! I was in Amsterdam for two years but never bothered to find other bloggers...maybe a bunch of us can meet up when I'm back in a few weeks :)

Alex, Speaking Denglish said...

Wow! I want to put each of these things on my bucket list. I've always heard about that tomato thing but I am astounded getting to see the pictures. What incredible travel experiences you've had!

Stopping by from the the friday list link up :)

Bev said...

I want Greece to be my backyard :/ ONE day... far away... maybe?!

My fave adventures have been in Western Samoa... in particular Savaii.. the untouched island that is BLISSFUL!!

Suget said...

AMAZING!!!!
Morocco looks sooo much fun. Sandboarding.. ha is that more fun than snowboarding? (:
And Greece... you are so lucky!!

Francois peeters said...

Hey Rachael!
again: nice blog! Ihave your rss-feed in my mail. ;) handy

Tomatina is undoubted THE trip to do! Been there, seen it, made a picture, lost my camera, have tomatoes in my ear..;) haha

I unfortunately never been to Marocco. So mine numbre 1 trip: Australia!! No worries mate! ROADTRIP! (probably because it was our first trip).

See ya!
Francois

Jenna said...

All of these have been instantaneously added to my list - Morocco sounds absolutely magical.

I was also rooting for the Netherlands in the end, and was so bummed when they lost. It was so great being in SA during that time, something I'll never ever forget :)

xxx
Jenna

Tiffany said...

Oh my gosh--love everything about this! Your pictures are great and I love all the fun travel adventures you have had!

~Tiffany
http://tiffanyd22.blogspot.com

stefanie hurtado said...

wow, what an amazing list!! i just found your blog through Jenni at Story of My Life, and i immediately followed because i too have been bitten by the travel bug! :)
my favorite traveling experience was cliff jumping in Pembrokeshire, Wales! we swam through caves on the coast of the Irish Sea, climbed up cliffs, and did flips off of them until the sun began to set. then we climbed back up a hill to the lodge just in time to find the moon rising. complete eurphoria!

Amy @ My Life and Other Nonsense said...

Wow, I love those photos of Greece. It looks so amazing! I haven't traveled to Europe yet, but a couple of my favorite spots near the states are the Orcas Island off of the coast of Washington state and Vancouver, BC.

Andi of My Beautiful Adventures said...

Such great shots and adventures!!! I LOVED Morocco!!!