Countries
Our long & tiring flight to Bolivia…
In our way to Bolivia, we had a very tiring day and for that we thought to share our experience as a result of buying cheap plane tickets! Disclaimer: We are not against buying cheap tickets, but sometimes this can lead to tiring experience and this post will set your expectations prior to any plans you make. The story started when we bought our round trip tickets from Los Angeles to La Paz, to Guayaquil, and finally to Madrid. We booked with Taca Airlines and our first leg included 2 stops. It took us 3 hours to pack our stuff (I don’t know why but when you stay a long time somewhere, you tend to spread what’s in your backpacks like everywhere!), we left...
Read MoreOur CouchSurfing Experience in the United States
Since our journey to the United States is coming to an end and we are about to head to South America, we thought it would be a good idea to share our experiences with CouchSurfing (and one Airbnb), and how we had the chance to meet very interesting and kind people each time we visited a new city. This post is dedicated all those people who hosted us and made our dream come true. Thank you all so much! For new readers of our blog, we started our trip in August 2012 after quitting our jobs. Our first destination was New York City, and below are the details for each city and host. We crossed the States from east to west using buses, trains and airplanes. We visited six...
Read MoreUSA Summary: Our Observations & Experiences!
As we are about to leave the States after two and a half months in which we visited six states and nine cities, we thought it would be a good time to write a summary about the country and it’s different aspects. First, we would like to say that in general we liked the country very much. Coming from Canada, we didn’t experience a very strong culture shock, as a lot of things are very similar. So here are our feelings about the country presented under different topics. Nature Although we didn’t spend much time in nature, I can say that nature is everywhere here—even in cities. Everywhere we went we could enjoyparks, lakes and forests. I was amazed by the...
Read MoreThings to Do in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles is the city where we stayed the longest—although we didn’t stay in Los Angeles itself, but at Mission Viejo, which is an hour and a half driving from L.A. We could go to downtown as often as we wanted, however, as Bassel’s uncle works there. We always feel in our element when we are in the heart of a city, and L.A is a very nice city to walk around. What Can You Do for Free in L.A.? First of all there is the famous Hollywood Boulevard, where you can spend hours just walking and looking for the star of your favorite celebrity. The boulevard is very long, so you can spend easily the afternoon there. Not free, but Very Fun! Wax museum . You can buy...
Read MoreStupid Incident in New York—Priceless!
I had just arrived in New York City at JFK airport, and I was excited because my whole journey had gone smoothly (I had a layover in Zurich and spent the night in a very nice airport private room that cost $80). I went into the queue to stamp my passport, and I had the most wonderful welcome in all my US visits. Usually I would spend between two to four hours for “random” security checks, but for some reason this time I only spent three minutes chatting with the officer and answering all the questions he was asking in a very polite way, while smiling the whole time. Since I only carried my backpack (which I didn’t have to check in), I left the airport...
Read MoreWhich Travel & Medical Insurance to Buy?
Summary: We will use this page to update our experiences with the travel insurance we have purchased. This is not a paid post, and we are writing this post simply for the benefit of our readers. Fact: Medical insurance is something you don’t think about if you work for a big company, as we did before quitting our jobs to travel around the world. But it becomes a major topic when you are on the road traveling to different countries and exploring different territories. You don’t want to be caught in the middle of a civil war or get your leg broken while in the middle of a jungle without knowing you are covered, right? Prior to our travel, we did some research on...
Read MoreStupid Incident in Toronto—Priceless!
I’m holding a Syrian passport, which requires that I renew my passport every two years. I was in Toronto and wanted to do that before we started our round-the-world trip, so I checked with my embassy to see how long it would take to renew my passport. They said up to six months! Usually I do that in a couple of days back in Egypt, but for some reason that wasn’t the case in Toronto. Anyway, I sent my passport to the Syrian embassy in Ottawa and received it six months later. It was a relief, as things were not smooth with what is happening in Syria—especially that Canada had joined its allies in s mass expulsion of Syrian diplomats. Once I got the passport, I...
Read MoreFree iPad, how did that happen!
Summary: This is a true story that happened by mistake with us and not “how to get free iPad” kinda post As we were preparing for our ongoing travel around the world, we’ve decided to buy an iPad for my wife so each will have their own. We went to BestBuy Canada and purchased one with an extended warranty. We also got a confirmation from the agent that the warranty will cover any problems while we are traveling abroad. Anyway, a month ago while we were in the States we discovered that the home button wasn’t functioning well, so we took it to the nearest BestBuy store and asked for repair. We took the receipt and the warranty with us so that we...
Read MoreOur Travel Plans for the next 6 months, winter 2011
Summary Check our travel plans for the winter that include Bolivia, Ecuador and Spain. This post includes how we managed to save $1000 at least on our tickets from South America to Europe. When we first landed in the United States we planned to stay for couple of months before heading to South America, we did so far a decent travel from east cost crossing the country to west cost and a total of 7,251 KM (4,505.5 Mi). We have visited 6 states, 9 cities and experienced 4 different time zones. We had our ups and downs but in general we had a wonderful and rich experience. Last week we went to search for a plane ticket to South America and our plan was basic, go to Bolivia...
Read MoreWhat a Backpacker’s Day Looks Like…
Today was kind of a tough day (October 16, 2012)… Woke up and packed, did some cleaning to the room and bathroom where we stayed, prepared our breakfast and then the day started: two hours walking in a park in the middle of the desert near Vegas (35 degrees Celsius). Upon our return 30 minutes later we spent one hour standing in a queue to check in to the hotel. Took a shower to refresh and spent one hour and a half watching the Obama/Romney debate. Then we spent three hours walking in the streets and casinos and one and a half hours checking emails at McDonald’s and hoping that we could walk back to the hotel (which is actually our first night in a hotel in...
Read MoreWho we are?
Bassel & Ariane, a couple who quit their jobs to realize their dream "traveling around the world". This travel website is our way to share with you the amazing adventures we have had, with the goal of helping to make your own travels more enjoyable.
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