Canadian girl roams the world

[adventureswithholly]

Lanterns and lights: Hoi An's Old Town

Lanterns and lights: Hoi An’s Old Town

Hoi An was one of my favourite places in Vietnam. It simply exudes charm and intrigue, with narrow, lantern-lined streets and plenty of ornate temples and old houses. The whole area of UNESCO-listed Hoi An Old Town is a living museum of sorts, with its architecture carefully preserved.

To explore Hoi An’s Old Town, visitors must purchase a ticket. It costs 120,000 VND ($6) and allows visitors…

View On WordPress

[adventureswithholly]

Taste of Korea Tuesdays: Beijing Wangfujing Market edition! (beetles and baozi)

Taste of Korea Tuesdays: Beijing Wangfujing Market edition! (beetles and baozi)

Scorpions and seahorses and grasshoppers, oh my?!

One can find all those items and more at the Wangfujing Food Market, one of the more well-known places to sample Beijing’s more unusual street food. For the not-so-brave, there is familiar fare, including dumplings (baozi) and fried prawns…

… but for the adventurous, get ready for quite the culinary experience.

Wangfujing is located in central…

View On WordPress

[adventureswithholly]

Wonders of the world: walking along the Great Wall of China!

The Great Wall is one of those attractions worth visiting in any weather. During our trip, a heavy fog hung in the air, and the trees were covered in beautiful hoarfrost. Unfortunately, we missed out on the stunning views the wall is famous for- the fog was too thick to see very far at all. It was still an incredible experience, and now I have a solid reason to return to China. (I want to see…

View On WordPress

[adventureswithholly]

Letters to ourselves: March Reach to Teach blog carnival

Letters to ourselves: March Reach to Teach blog carnival

Suspend disbelief for one minute here- imagine that you’ve discovered a way to step back in time and connect to your past self. To honour the recently passed Leonard Nimoy, let’s imagine you’ve sighted your younger self in a cave on a frozen ice planet. Here’s the catch, though- your only means of contact is one letter. One letter, full of the advice, thoughts, words of wisdom you wouldn’t have…

View On WordPress

[adventureswithholly]

A letter to myself: March Reach to Teach blog carnival entry

A letter to myself: March Reach to Teach blog carnival

Dear Holly,

Look at you go! Mere days until you board a plane and head off into yet another international adventure. You’re stressing out, trying to soak up every last moment with the people you love, wondering if this is the biggest mistake you’ll ever make. This might be one of your wildest ideas yet!

It’s not going to be easy. Should I even be telling you this? I don’t want you to change your…

View On WordPress

[adventureswithholly]

A wintry day at the Summer Palace

Summer Palace

The Summer Palace is Beijing’s largest royal garden, and easily one of its most iconic attractions. It sprawls over an area of nearly 3 square kilometres, with a significant chunk covered by Kunming Lake. Construction began in 1750 so Beijing’s elites would have a relaxing place to escape the city’s sweltering summer heat. Unlike other famous attractions like the Forbidden City, which can…

View On WordPress

[adventureswithholly]

Tastes of Korea Tuesdays: BEIJING edition!

Northern Chinese cuisine, with its use of cilantro, peppercorns, and uniquely hot chilies, reacquainted me with many spices I haven’t tasted frequently since moving in Korea. As some of you know, I was off the blogosphere for 5 days, experiencing the Great Wall and Great Firewall of China alike. Keep your eyes open for more posts on my thoughts and experiences while there, but in the meantime, I…

View On WordPress

[adventureswithholly]

A visit to Bukchon hanok village

A visit to Bukchon hanok village

Tucked away in the centre of Seoul is one piece of living history- Bukchon hanok village. This 600-year-old neighbourhood, situated north of Cheonggye Stream and between Gyeongbok and Changdeok palaces, once contained several dozen villas housing Seoul’s higher-status officials. In the 1930s, these large villas were subdivided into smaller lots to build smaller hanok (traditional Korean…

View On WordPress

[adventureswithholly]

Taste of Korea Tuesdays: cookin' up a storm

After months of mostly sticking to the easiest home-cooked meals, it’s like I’m finally making up for lost time. There’s such an array of recipes and flavours to experiment with in this country, and I’m having quite the time recreating classic Korean dishes!

Such as japchae, a crowd-pleasing mix of colourful veggies, egg and/or meat, and chewy sweet potato noodles, mixed with flavourful garlic…

View On WordPress

[adventureswithholly]

Like a fairytale Dalí painting: Crazy House in Da Lat, Vietnam

Hop off the bus in Da Lat and you might feel like you’ve stepped into a different country. Located in the south-central highlands of Vietnam, this small city has a distinct character and cooler climate compared to much of the rest of the country. The city originally expanded as French colonists built villas in the region to escape the intense summer heat.

Step into the grounds of the Hang Nga…

View On WordPress

[adventureswithholly]

I love Melbourne: the Eureka Skydeck

Melbourne, Australia. It’s a city packed to the brim with creative souls, fantastic coffee, top-quality dining and a million things to do. Not as big and not quite as iconic as Sydney, perhaps, but every bit the essential Aussie destination. The weather might be especially temperamental at times (rain to sun to wind to rain again, in the span of ten minutes) but that alone could never deter the…

View On WordPress

[adventureswithholly]

Travel theme: Details around the world

Some say you can’t see the forest for the trees- but sometimes we miss the wonderful little details around us when we’re focused on the Colosseums and Angkor Wats of the world.

Any travel destination offers much more than just the famous attractions, so why not focus your camera on the other things around you? You may discover a much richer experience!

Lanterns at the night market in Hoi An,…

View On WordPress

[adventureswithholly]

Travel rewind: Tasmazing! Wineglass Bay and Bicheno

Travel rewind: Tasmazing! Wineglass Bay and Bicheno Tasmania is the perfect destination for a laid-back holiday- rich in unique animals and pristine wilderness, light on stress!

Oh, Tasmania, how I love you. Two weeks isn’t nearly enough to soak up all this island has to offer. Tasmania offers a glorious mix of bright blue skies, rugged mountains, gently rolling hills, fresh local seafood and farm produce, historical sites, and some of the friendliest people in the world.

While staying in Hobart, I jumped at the chance to join an Italian girl and English guy on the…

View On WordPress

[adventureswithholly]

Doors around the world

Doors of the world

I found my inspiration for this post from A New Life Wandering, a fellow travel blogger who publishes wonderful themed travel posts: colour, sunshine, and more recently, doors around the world.

As I too have seen some gorgeous doors, hallways and arches during my travels, I bring you…

Doors around the world!

My younger sister, always ready to pose for the camera.

(more…)

View On WordPress

[adventureswithholly]

At home, around the world

Today’s article is written for the Reach To Teach Teach Abroad Blog Carnival, a monthly series that focuses on providing helpful tips and advice to ESL teachers around the globe. This month’s Blog Carnival is hosted by Sharon Couzens. I’ll be posting a new ESL related article on my blog at the beginning of every month. Check back for more articles, and if you’d like to contribute to next month’s…

View On WordPress

[gotraveling]

Back again, I promise.

Hey everyone, I know I’ve been away for a while. But I am going to post more often now for sure. That being said. I would like to post more original content as well as submission. I want to promote lesser known photographers. I’m looking for 70% original, never seen on the internet before content. The other 30% consisting of quality photographers found online or reblogged. So I am really pushing for submission. Also, let me know what places you would like to see?

Cheers,

Ryan

[adventureswithholly]

Hi Ryan,

I actually run a travel blog (www.adventureswithholly.wordpress.com) that reposts automatically on Tumblr (I ought to jazz up this Tumblr account a bit so it looks nicer, but tbh I haven't been focusing on it much as I only have a handful of followers). I would be interested in submitting some pictures from past and present travels. However, right now I am unable to access your blog (it just loads a bunch of HTML script). Just getting in touch so I can both let you know about this issue and express interest for future submissions! Cheers :) 

[adventureswithholly]

Calm or chaos? Selfie sticks and six million lights at the Garden of Morning Calm

Perhaps an attraction based on a snow-covered garden and six million LED lights isn’t quite an ‘Only in Korea’ experience, but the presence of hundreds of selfie sticks might just turn it into one. One thing I can say for sure: as the sun sank fully behind the mountains, all those lights transformed the Garden of Morning of Calm into a dazzlingly colourful place.

This girl is the best <3

The…

View On WordPress