Jeremy

Jeremy founded Living the Dream in 2008 to chronicle his long-term trip around Asia. Since then he has been on two long-term trips, visited 69 countries, and is just getting started. He is now on a Lifestyle Design quest to build businesses to pursue a life of travel.

Hilton Mauritius Review – Three Nights in Paradise

In our third travel rewards credit card point redemption we ended up in a destination quite unexpected for this itinerary.

The tiny island of Mauritius was never on our hit list for this trip, primarily because we never saw a way to incorporate a flight to this coveted paradise without busting our budget.

But as it turned out, when flying from Mumbai to Cape Town, the carrier Air Mauritius was the cheapest for our dates (~$650 per ticket- still the most cost-effective in the long run).

The best part? Stopovers on this tropical island nation are allowed at no extra charge!

When we saw a Hilton room was available on a beautiful beach for 40,000 points per night, well within our remaining points balance, we decided to book three nights and increase our overall stay on the island to five.

A free hotel stay, no extra charge on our plane tickets, and a beautiful island paradise?  I challenge anyone to say no to that, even if it does mean a bit of a splurge on the remaining days.

But how does the Hilton Mauritius stack up to our other rewards at the Hilton Dubrovnik and Hilton Dubai Jumeirah Residences? 

Read more

Kerala Backwaters – Don’t Miss the Kayak Tour!

Kayaking on the backwaters of KeralaWhen exploring the backwaters of Kerala, India, renting a house boat is often the preferred activity.  These large floating boats can include every amenity you’d expect from home, and unfortunately come with the price tag to match.

We knew going into our backwater tour of Alleppey that the house boats would be far outside our budget.  Instead, we looked towards the more intimate tours on smaller boats that get into the narrow channels these floating houses could never dream of reaching.

Our mode of transportation for this journey? Kayaks. 

Armed with our paddles and a trusty guide, we began to explore the backwaters to see what life is truly like in this part of the world in a way not many visitors get to experience.

Read more

Don’t Miss the Kolukkumalai Tea Plantation in Munnar

The Kolukkumalai Tea Estate outside of Munnar, India is the highest organic tea plantation in the world. 

With plants growing at elevations of over 8,000 feet, it should be no surprise when we say it is not the easiest of places to visit.

After a rather lackluster government run tour in Munnar the day before, we decided to hire a private Jeep to take us to this incredibly remote facility as the views were supposed to be some of the best. 

Even with the poorly run tour, we already knew that the region topped the Boh Tea Plantation in the Cameron Highlands, and going even higher for more beauty was something we couldn’t begin to comprehend.

With blue skies above and none of Munnar’s famous view-impeding mists in sight, our journey put us on the path to vistas we never thought possible.

Read more

Loving Geometric Indian Patterns – A Massive Photo Collection

Geometric Indian PatternsOne of my favorite things about visiting the forts, palaces, and temples in India is discovering the geometric patterns that are found in every corner.   No matter where you go, these patterns appear and are a beautiful reminder of an age long since past.

The best part about these geometric patterns?  They all seem to be different!   It has been an exciting journey discovering these gems, and we went on a quest to take photos of some of the best.  Since we have dozens of these, we cannot help but share a large collection of our favorites here!

Read more