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.

Driving in Tuscany on a Quest for Sunflowers

During our stay in Florence we decided we wanted to get out of town to explore the world-famous region of Tuscany. 

From the many wine regions to the nearby medieval cities, there is definitely a lot to take in that is not normally accessible by public transportation. 

We opted against doing private day tours in this city because we wanted the opportunity to go wherever we pleased on the quest for adventure.

So we did what any logical person who has never driven in Europe would do. We rented a car to go driving in Tuscany.  

A smart car no less.

But our particular quest was not just to see the above sights that makes Tuscany famous. We had another goal- a goal to see the summer bloom of sunflowers.

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The Best Restaurants in Venice are the Cicchetti Bars

Venice is admired for it’s beautiful architecture, hundreds of canals, and unique history.  It is the combination of these factors that draws millions of visitors to this tiny city each and every year.  But while these are great reasons for travelers to visit the city, a highlight that is not often talked about is the food.

Sure, Venice is home to the cuisine that the country of Italy is famous for. There are places to get amazing pizzas, pasta, and gelato on every corner; all delicious.  But when thinking back on the favorite memory of the city, it is all to common to jump to the other features we mentioned at the beginning of this article. 

Even though the food is always great, what is typically not included with the memory is of it being truly “Venetian.” This is why we think some of the best restaurants in Venice are, in fact, the cicchetti bars.

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If You Are Considering Crowdfunding Travel – Stop!

Hi There Crowdfunding Traveler!You probably got this post emailed to you by either myself or another traveler in response to your request for us to crowdfund your next trip.   For everyone else, this one is not for you.

I can understand that you don’t have enough money to travel on and need a bit of help; most of us don’t reach our ultimate goal either (I know we didn’t).  We make our plans, save up what we can, and hope that our over-spending is minimal such that we can do it all on the funds we managed to save.

After all, financing a RTW trip can be a tricky thing. You wouldn’t have considered crowdfunding travel if you weren’t in the same boat either.  It is a popular thing to do these days and we get several emails a month from people asking us to donate, share, and write about their campaigns on our sites.

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Saving Money Traveling in Switzerland with the Swiss Pass

When we announced that two-weeks of our year and a half long trip around the world were going to be spent in the country of Switzerland, we got a lot of interesting feedback. 

Of course, most of it was about the price tag. We knew Switzerland was going to be one of the largest budget items of the itinerary and was something we planned for in advance to accommodate. 

But after researching many of the options for saving money in the country, from cooking our own meals to staying in private rooms in apartments, one stood out as an even better cost saver: the Swiss Pass.

Much like other rail passes, we abused our rail pass extensively while in Switzerland.  In doing so we saved quite an impressive amount of money while also having the opportunity to try out more big-ticket items that we would have otherwise missed. But is the rail pass right for you on your next trip to the country? 

Let’s find out.

Disclaimer: We received the Swiss Rail Pass complimentary from the tourist board during our stay; however, we have a full analysis of costs included in this post from our trip in 2013.

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