Category: travel
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Ireland at Last
We made it to Ireland!!! After eight trains, one midnight ferry, one lost phone, and $800 worth of tickets, we finally arrived! We left our less-than-50-euro hotel at 1:30a.m., boarded the 2:40a.m. ferry, and entered a weird twilight zone where we were amid hundreds of seats, several cafes, and a theatre, with maybe only 20 people, none…
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The Luck of the Irish
It was established long ago that my family does not bear the so-called “Luck of the Irish” (possibly because we’re not Irish), but instead we bear the “Luck of the Curriers,” which is the opposite. This means that despite Laura’s wonderful efforts to get us on the fast track to Dublin via Wales, I instead followed our original…
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A Really Bad Day
May 1st (May Day) In order to explain our worst day of the trip, I must first explain the scavenges. One of the bonuses, worth the most points (500), was to complete scavenges in the four primary countries: Belgium, Netherlands, England, and Ireland. This seemed like a no-brainer, and one that was easy to accomplish…
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Belgium: Chocolate, Beer, and Cars that slow down
There’s good news and bad news. Bill –for some reason– always likes to start with the good news, so the good news is that we’ve arrived to Europe! Belgium, specifically. Within the first twelve hours, I had beer, chocolate, waffles, mussels, ice cream, and frites (fries), and I did not fear for my life while crossing any street! WHAT A…
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Walking Like Egyptians
When I told my dad we were going to Egypt, his reply was this: “Will you learn how to walk like one?” Oh, Dad. But the answer was yes. Our camel guide at the pyramids made a joke about walking like Egyptians afterwards, and I thought he meant some version of being bow-legged. Now I…
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Sri Lanka at Sunrise (and other moments)
Before arriving to Sri Lanka, The Lawyers Without Borders told us we needed to climb Adam’s Peak at sunrise if it was a scavenge. Lo and behold, it was. I’ve only hiked one other mountain (volcano, technically) at sunrise, and it was an amazing experience. But man, it was tough hiking the cone of a volcano in…
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Sri Lanka, “The Past is a Bucket of Ashes”
Our trip to Sri Lanka lasted five nights, the longest of any of our challenges so far, and it was considered a “Par 6.” The scoring for the Global Scavenger Hunt is not straightforward and isn’t worth explaining, but basically, over the course of 23 days, there are two Par 6’s, and they’re worth a whole lot…
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7 Hours in Thailand
Yesterday we did a layover challenge in Thailand. We landed in Bangkok at 1:30pm, were handed a scavenge booklet with ten scavenges, and told not to miss our 10pm flight. With a renewed vigor following a day of rest (see Halong Bay), Mark and I set off with determination to kick some scavenger butt. Thanks…
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Part II: Halong Bay
*if you read Joyful, this will be largely repetitive Seven years ago, visiting Halong Bay was a scavenge on the Global Scavenger Hunt, but because of our limited time in Vietnam, Bill decided not to include it this year. Unfortunately, it was the only thing I could think about from the moment we received our…
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Good Morning, Vietnam!
ICYMI: the answer to yesterday’s riddle was Vietnam. Our second leg of the journey takes place in Hanoi, Vietnam. But before I talk about the country, I need to set the stage for why I’m the most horrible teammate in the world. An hour after we arrived, our score sheets were tallied and we learned…
Travel & Food Writer 