We utilized our 4th of July vacation days this year to hit the pacific northwest, specifically Portland, Seattle, and the area in between. Based on google weather and all the people we talked to who lived in this area, July is absolutely the best month – weather wise – to visit. It did not disappoint. Our first stop was Seattle, where we stayed downtown in a Marriott Renaissance property. We used a free night certificate (more…)
We chose Hawaii for our honeymoon in mid-April (admittedly somewhat stereotypical choice of destination). It was a surprise for Elisa up until the week of wedding, at which point it made sense to tell her so she could pack accordingly (and since I filled a suitcase with hiking gear – more on that later). Since we only had about 9 days, we went to just two islands: Oahu for 4 days and Kauaii for 5. (more…)
I’m calling this entry Luang Prabang, and not Laos, as our only stop in Laos was the city of Luang Prabang. We were shooting for the highest per day visa and transport expense, so any other places in Laos were out of the question! (joking). Since we didn’t relish a day long bus ride for $50, we opted for a one hour flight on Lao Airlines for $150. The airport in Luang Prabang is a (more…)
There is no more iconic destination in SE Asia than Angkor Wat. Even though we’re not usually drawn to old ruins, we felt it was compulsory this time. This was our only sight in Cambodia, along with a stay in Phnom Penh to obtain Visas for Vietnam. We were in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh for two nights each. We contemplated a trip to the beaches but feared a long, bumpy bus ride and a (more…)
Our first stop in our SE Asia tour was Bangkok, one of the hubs of all travel in the area. Flights from the US seem mostly to arrive real late at night – which seems convenient for the city’s hotels – and ours was no exception at 11pm arrival. Following a nice snooze, we hit the ground running the next morning. Since this trip was sort of celebration of Mayne’s leaving the public accounting world (more…)