I knew from the second I found out New Zealand was prime wine country, that I wanted to go on a wine tasting tour. I'm not quite sure why it didn't make my NZ bucket list, but would it be cheating if I threw it on there real quick just to cross off? It should have been part of the list for sure! For Valentine's Day I wanted to do something fun and romantic with Derik, so I booked a last minute wine tour through Appellation Central Wine Tours. Central Otago (and Queenstown) is only a few hour drive for us from Dunedin, and honestly I have no idea why it's taken us this long to drop by this area during the summer! We've visited Queenstown three times previously, but all have been in the winter/early springtime. If it says anything, we're ... Read More
Archives for February 2015
The Best Times to Travel Internationally
The other week I shared a post on how to save for traveling the world. After working hard and saving those pennies, you are finally ready to take the next step and book your first (or 100th) international flight. The thing is, you don't want to blow all your money on the airplane tickets and be left with pocket change to live on right? So what are the best times to travel internationally? Remember that every country and continent has it's own 'peak season' and 'low season', and if you can work around the peak travel seasons, you should be able to find pretty reasonable prices for airplane tickets and accommodation. Travel times to avoid Christmas and New Year's- On average, the most expensive days to travel worldwide tend to be ... Read More
Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
From the very moment we found out that we would have a week in NSW, Australia, I knew that I wanted to hold a koala. After further research, I found out that you actually have to go up to Queensland to hold them, but Derik and I were open to a little road trip! We hopped into our sweet new rental car, graciously provided by Europcar , and hit the road bound for Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. We arrived in Brisbane at night, and stayed in an adorable little apartment overlooking the harbor. Unfortunately in the morning we woke up to a downpour, and I was worried my hopes and dreams of cuddling koalas and feeding kangaroos at Lone Pine would be dashed. After reading a few reviews online about it being ok to visit during the rain (due to the ... Read More
What 1,095 Days of Travel Has Taught Me
On February 16, 2012 we hopped aboard a plane bound for South Korea with two carry on bags, two personal items, and four checked bags. Little did we know our short year in Korea would turn out to be three years abroad, but here we are. We've since downgraded all we own from those four checked bags to two due to international regulations and hard core fees (problems with living outside the US), but it's been for the better I think. Our expat anniversary also aligns with the blogiversary of LIAL. I started this blog back in February of 2012 as a way for my family to keep in touch with us. Look at it now?! I would have never dreamed I would be sitting here, writing for thousands of loving followers. From the bottom of my heart, thank you ... Read More
The Story Behind The Name
I'm seeing lots of awesome new people pop around these parts, and I thought it was about time to take a look back on the three years of Living in Another Language, and give you a brief history of this blog, why it's named LIAL, and where I'm going with it. Our expat anniversary is only a couple days away, and my blogiversary coincides with it! First of all, I know what you're thinking: "Amanda, your blog's name is Living in Another Language, yet…you're an American living in New Zealand. That's definitely NOT living in another language." Yep. I get it. I've spent months debating over if I should make the big change over to something more world-travel friendly (whether we're actually living in another language or not), or if I should ... Read More
10 Travel Quotes That Will Inspire You To See the World
I have a thing for travel and adventure quotes because they tend to fuel my wanderlust. I find myself browsing Pinterest for an unmentionable amount of time, pinning quote after quote that speaks to me. Now that Derik and I are on the eve of our three year expat anniversary, I figured it's about time to share my favorite photos paired with my favorite quotes! If you follow me on Instagram, you may have already read some of these! After picking 10 quotes, I realized I have a million other favorites; I may have to do a part two of this post someday! ... Read More
Cruising Sydney Harbor
The Opera House in Sydney Harbor is one of the most recognizable landmarks in Australia. It's not a surprising, I mean, just look at how gorgeous it is!!! Our Christmas cruise with Carnival Spirit began it's voyage in Sydney, directly across from the Opera House. We couldn't have asked for a better way to start our vacation, than to watch the sun set over one of the most picturesque locations in the world (stretching here? Nah). As the ship headed out to sea, we sat out on the balcony and listened to the live music being played at the 'adults only' bar, watched the seagulls playing in the slight breeze, and waved to the group of climbers (no doubt from BridgeClimb) as they summited the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge. It was kind of ... Read More