Tag: travel

(Guest Post) Simply some words about “Me”

Hi – I am Sheida. I am a persian girl, grown up in Germany, in Düsseldorf. My parents moved to Germany when I was three years old, for some political reasons, but I cannot remember anything of this anymore. All I know is, that my parents told me that I didn’t want to go to Germany or even learn the German language. As a result, I totally cannot speak Farsi 😉 well, I still understand it, but speaking – please don’t ask for it.
Please find the original post, with all the photos, here: http://butterflies-needtofly.blogspot.co.at/2016/02/simply-some-words-about-me.html
By Sheida Nasseri (Guest Blogger)
I thought I would introduce myself to you, so that you know who I am and what I am doing. I am 33 years old who lives and work apparently in Prague, Czech Republic. How do you introduce yourself to people you don’t know and probably won’t ever get to know? Well, I would say I am someone who loves the small things in life and though is striving for bigger dreams. I am not married, nor in a official relationship which probably would worry a lot of women in my age, but not me ;-). I love my life, although I thought I should start enjoying it more and start to do more of what I love, instead of dreaming it. That’s mainly the reason why I start writing this blog.
Getting back to my story, I grew up in Düsseldorf, a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. I had pretty a normal life I would say, with all the teenage drama – didn’t every teenager think they had the worst time ever in their life? – some romances and so on, with one big difference. I knew from the very beginning, that I don’t want to stay forever at one place. I wanted to travel. Even when I did the usual vacation with my parents to Turkey, Spain, Italy and so on, I always wanted to go further away, I knew there is more to just that normal life. I wanted to see what’s on the other side of the world, experience adventures.  And I did. I was lucky enough experiencing how it is to live for half a year in Australia and in Bangkok, I visited much more places, like Cambodia, Egypt and many spots within Europe.
I did so many wonderful experiences, but somehow I had to finance my travels and I guess that I didn’t go always the easiest way. Got lost in between and had a big break from traveling. Well, after school I went to Australia – there was a lot of persuasion skills necessary to get my father convinced that it was the right thing for me to do. After Australia, I did an apprenticeship as a real estate agent, then I worked for three years in a company which didn’t challenge me at all and at one point I noticed that life is going to fast by, without anything special to happen. I needed to change that, so I got the crazy idea of getting back to school and study. And I did. In the Netherlands, I studied International Business and Management Studies in the English language.
I did like ten steps backwards 1. Getting rid of my car 2. Getting rid of my own flat into sharing a flat 3. Getting rid of my stable salary into doing onside jobs, but gaining therefore 1. More knowledge 2. The chance to travel and work in Bangkok for 6months 3. Getting to know wonderful people and feel younger and party as much as possible 😀 I did get the chance to work at great companies such as AirBerlin, Daimler (Mercedes Benz) and Hewlett Packard. Never staying longer than one year at one place. I would not want to give that back, although I have to admit it was really exhausting. Pushing me absolutely to my limits. I think that might be still the reason why I am at this point where I am. Living and enjoying my life and trying to get most out of it as possible.
There are still so many things to discover and experience and I would love to take you with me on this wonderful journey. So I’ll better stop the jibber-jabber and start blogging 😉
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The New York Explorer Pass Saved Me $100!

The New York Explorer Pass did in fact save me $100, this isn’t just click bait. But it could have saved me even more! Or nothing at all… The New York Explorer Pass is the way to go if you want to use it to do some expensive tours and sightseeing, however it can also lose you money if you only use it for the cheaper options.

It’s basic math. The New York Explorer Pass lets you visit 3, 4, 5, 7 or 10 attractions for a set price. There is a custom option if you already know which specific places you want to visit, but I really enjoyed the flexibility of choosing from the 82 different activities on offer!

If you want to calculate whether or not the Pass will save you any money, you just need to do some basic math and you don’t need to do any research outside of this website. As you scroll through all of the offered attractions, you will see their regular admission prices that range from $18.5 for the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island Immigration Museum – Ferry Ticket to a whopping $69 for the Luna Park at Coney Island: 24 Ride Pass.

During my visit to New York last Christmas, I chose the 5 attraction Pass since I only had a week to explore the city! It cost me $134 (it would have been $99 for a child) and I was planning on only using it for the most expensive attractions and visiting the cheaper places without using the pass to save the most money. Souvenir shopping excluded, I actually only spent $300 on my entire week in NYC, Airbnb included!

Of course, a week passed with the blink of an eye and I ended up running out of time and using it for whatever attraction I happened to stumble upon – and I still saved lots of money! I’m already planning my next trip to New York for August and this time I will be getting the 10 attraction Pass for $219 ($169 for children). To make this one worth it, you simply need to make sure that each of your 10 attractions costs more than $21.9.

For the 5 attraction Pass, each activity had to be  over $26.8 to get your moneys worth. I originally planned to do:

  • Hop-On Hop-Off Big Bus New York: Classic 1-Day Tour – $60
  • Night Tour by Big Bus New York – $45
  • National Geographic Envounter: Ocean Odyssey – $43.01
  • Gossip Girl Sites Bus Tour by On Location Tours – $49
  • Catacombs by Candlelight Tour – $35

This would have had me paying just $134 for 5 attractions worth $232! If need up trading in the Night Tour and Gossip Girl Tour for the Top of the Rock and Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Ferry which were both much cheaper options, I still ended up saving $70.

So basically, as long as you’re not just riding the $18 Ferry every day for a week or only visiting two places instead of five, you’re not losing money on the Pass!

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How to Get Free Coffee in Bali, Indonesia

Another clickbait title that shouldn’t upset you, because the answer is simple: you can get free coffee in Bali by going to literally any coffee plantation. They all offer a tray full of free coffees and teas to try, inluding rose tea, durian coffee and a delicious vegan hot chocolate. The only coffee that you need to pay for is luwak coffee, which we didn’t drink because we 1. tried it before and 2. consider it cruel.

Read more about Bali tips in our 10-Day Itinerary!

*photo credit goes to Travel Triangle.

Check out our video of the coffee plantation we visited in Bali:

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Ubud Monkey Forest Sanctuary in Bali

The monkey forest sanctuary in Ubud, Bali was an exciting place where monkeys rule adn humans are allowed to feed them under supervision. Not sure how good this is for the environment, probably not at all, but the monkeys seemed happy and cared for and several badly behaved humans were told to leave.

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Throwback Thursday: Jet Skiing in Bali

One of the highlights of my 10 day trip to Bali was a 15 minute ride on a jet ski (my first time!) while my husband filmed the first 5 minutes of it with our drone, almost decapitating me once and managing to slice his arm while landing. Oh the stories we have to tell our future grandchildren… plus will bore them by replaying the videos over and over again too.

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Cheap $5/Person/Night Airbnb in Ubud, Bali

Please excuse the clickbate title of this blog post, there is no single cheap Airbnb in Ubud! In fact, most Airbnbs and Guest Houses have a similar price that will take your breath away. On average, a room (or in this case, mini-house) that can sleep four people in two double beds costs $15 per night for three people. At this particular place it included a free breakfast (eggs, pankcakes and/or fruit) and a steaming cup of coffee!

Check Tutde’s Place in the video below:

Google Maps: https://tinyurl.com/ya2nxzv3
More info: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/15332469

For more tips about Bali, check out our 10-Day Bali Itinerary!

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DOHA Cafe Review: Da Lat, Vietnam 2017

DOHA Cafe is a great place to grab a coffee in Da Lat, Vietnam. It’s a modern cafe shaped like a flower bud and it’s as cool on the inside as it is on the outside. Speaking of cool – it’s also the perfect place to cool off during Vietnam’s steamy summers.

The cafe has lots of seating across three floors, although the top one wasn’t being air-conditioned when I was there but the view of the Xuan Huong lake and Lam Vien square was worth it. They gave a great selection of drinks including coffees, teas and juices. Although the prices are relatively steep for Vietnam, it’s still affordable on a Western budget. We didn’t get a chance to try any of their food although we were definitely tempted by their cakes and pastries.

 

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Bali Basics: Trip Highlights & Summary

In February 2018, my husband, mother-in-law and I spent 10 days exploring the wonderful island of Bali! We stayed busy during this time and visited between two and five places a day! We were on a mission to discover everything it had to offer. As a result we are now self-proclaimed experts on what to do and see in Bali and I have an overwhelming 43 videos in my Bali 2018 YouTube playlist.

Check out our trip highlights and a brief summary of what to expect and prepare for you upcoming Bali adventure. If you don’t have your trip booked yet, you’ll definitely add it to your bucket list after seeing these videos!

Is there something I missed while I was in Bali? Please let me know in the comment section below. Sure, I’ll be kicking myself for the oversight but why not add to my already overflowing list of reasons to return for more adventures?

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