2024 - Page 2 of 9 - LIVING THE DREAM

Where to Stay in the Seychelles – Beaches, Amenities, & More

When it comes to deciding where to stay in the Seychelles, you have two real questions to answer.

First, what islands do you want to visit. Second, where do you want to stay on each island. For most, the four most popular choices of islands are Mahe, Praslin, La Digue, and Silhouette. When visiting, we always advocate checking out these islands to have the absolute best time in the Seychelles.

While each of these islands are, admittedly, incredibly small, such that travel on any given island is quite easy, there are some unique points to keep in mind about each when planning where to stay.

Watkins Glen State Park, located on the southern tip of Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes, feels like something that doesn’t belong.

This particular region of upstate New York is full of rolling hills as far as the eye can see as well as numerous glacier carved lakes. It is not the place where you would expect to find a 400-foot gorge. But Watkins Glen is just that, and due to its unique location at a very important moment in the Earth’s history, the makings of the glen were born.

During our travels around Japan, we wanted to get out and experience some days of nature in between visiting bustling cities.

The Shimanami Kaido trail caught our eye as it is one of the most popular cycling routes in Japan and connects several islands together over an approximately 70 kilometer route between Onomichi and Imabari (plus numerous side trails for those who want to explore each island in more depth).

As avid bikers, we knew we had to check out this route. So we booked our dates several weeks in advance, said a little prayer to whatever spirit controls the weather, and made our way to Onomichi to get ready to ride.

Thankfully, we got lucky with mostly great weather for our ride and only had to rush to Imabari quickly in the final legs of our ride before a larger storm came in. So in this one, we thought we’d share more about what you can see when biking from Onomichi to Imabari on the Shimanami Kaido, and give some tips we learned along the way to have a great time!

When visiting Japan, odds are good you have soaking in the natural hot springs of an onsen on your must-do list.

But did you know there is a town with not one, not two, but seven onsens open for visitors to enjoy? And, perhaps important to many, are also tattoo-friendly? Enter Kinosaki Onsen, a beautiful mountain coast town in northern Japan that is just a 2 1/2 hour train ride from Kyoto.

While we have an entire article dedicated for how many days in Kinosaki Onsen (read: more is always the answer), in this one we thought we’d share a little bit about the seven onsen you can find in town- what they’re like, which ones we liked, and which ones we did not spend much time in at all.

Although all the onsen here are quite fun and you should check each out on a visit, a few were standout favorites.

Where to Stay in the Seychelles – Beaches, Amenities, & More

Watkins Glen is an Unexpected Gem in the Finger Lakes

Tips and Advice for Biking the Shimanami Kaido – Onomichi to Imabari

Going on an Onsen Crawl at Kinosaki Onsen in Japan