Estonia
Pictured: Posing for a picture after lighting some candles inside the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
It felt like every day we were in Estonia we got almost 20,000 steps in. The Old Town of Tallinn is so charming and you can lose yourself in the winding and narrow streets (and forget about your feet). The food in Estonia was shockingly amazing and we didn’t have one bad meal (thanks to Max’s detailed research!).
Latvia
Pictured: Standing next to a locally curated art installation outside the Nativity of Christ Cathedral
Latvia has beautiful scenery, incredible food, great cocktails, and so much character! We missed our opportunity to see a Russian ballet at the opera theatre (just next door to our hotel), but we made up for it in exploring all corners of their capital, Riga.
Lithuania
Pictured: Making our way towards the Trakai Island Castle located about an hour way from Vilnius, Lithuania.
Lithuania is so peaceful and beautiful. We spent a good amount of time walking around the main area, Gediminas Avenue, in Vilnius and driving around the country to see attractions like the Trakai Castle and the Hill of Crosses.
Bolivia
Pictured: Smiling for the camera in the salt flats of Uyuni.
Our time in Bolivia was short and we only had time to visit Uyuni, where the infamous salt flats are. Surprisingly, we took the entire day to tour around the city, visit local hand made crafts, see art creations, visit cactus islands, train graveyards, and saw the most amazing night sky with the stars shining bright.
Peru
Pictured: Snapping a pic with locals on top of Vinicunca (Rainbow Mountain) located just 2 hours outside of Cusco City.
We spent over a month in Peru, the longest we’ve spent consecutively in any country. Peru has so much to offer, the culinary creativity in Lima, the world wonder at Machu Picchu, the charm of Cusco City, the adventure on the Amazon River, Salt Mines, Incan ruins throughout, a peaceful refuge in The Sacred Valley, and larger than life condors asserting dominance while swooping overhead in Colca Canyon.
Brunei
Pictured: Standing outside the Jame’Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque, named after the 29th and current Sultan of Brunei
We spent a few days touring around the island of Borneo. We didn’t realize it at the time, but we actually booked our trip in the middle of Ramadan, so, as a byproduct of this oversight, we were actually able to learn a bit more about this cultural tradition of theirs.
China
Pictured: Taking a selfie at the bottom of Big Buddha In Leshan, China.
China: what a beast. We spent about a month in China covering 6 different cities all over their massive country. We feel like every city had something different to offer and were so grateful that we got to see the variety of things. We had some incredible food, saw some breathtaking cities and live performances, and even after spending almost a month in China, still want to go back to visit Tibet, Harbin and many more.
El Salvador
Pictured: Standing in front of the Palacio Nacional in El Salvador days before their presidential election
Honduras
Pictured: swimming around The Odyssey ship wreck in West Bay, Roatan, Honduras
The entire time we were in Honduras was spent in Roatan either in the water or sitting by the water. The West Bay area has so much life to it and the beaches were bustling with people enjoying the sun and the sand. Roatan seems like a great place to vacation if you’re looking for something different from what you’re used to doing. It’s so relaxed there and we are looking forward to going back someday.
Belize
Pictured: Taking a relaxing bath in our outdoor jacuzzi at Hamanasi Dive Resort
We spent 4 days in Belize and took advantage our time by scuba diving as much as possible! The most exciting sighting underwater was a school of nurse sharks (maybe up to 10) that were crawling up and down the reef waiting to be fed lionfish. Aside from the underwater excursions, the most exciting adventure above land was spending 3 hours at the ATM cave, which houses historic Mayan artifacts including skeletons potentially used for human sacrifice.
Guatemala
Pictured: walking around the streets of Antigua
We spent all our time in Guatemala in the ancient city (hence the name) of Antigua. It immediately reminded us of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. We loved walking around the streets in the small city and you can easily do so in a day or two. We took the hike up to Cerro de la Cruz and enjoyed the light exercise along with the beautiful view of Volcano Agua which is such a powerful landmark.
Suriname
Pictured: Walking along Waterside street on our way to lunch at Roline’s de Waag
We only had one day in Suriname, but we spent as much time as we could walking around the city. The most interesting piece is that Dutch is one of the main languages spoken, so you will see many dutch names on street signs and restaurants.
Austria
Pictured: Standing in front of the Weiner Rathouse during the Christkindlmarkt time in Vienna
Our love for Austria continues to grow! The summertime beauty is classic and unparalleled, and the wintertime romance makes the city sparkle with glamour! Vienna blew us away, even if we were frozen to the bone.
Maldives
Pictured: Taking a bike ride around the island on Joali Being
Spending 8 days in the Maldives is a lifetime of dreams. We wanted to see Maldives multiple ways, so we booked multiple resorts that have a different experience and are on different islands. We’re so happy to have had the versatility in our discovery of the Maldives, and we’ve already decided that next time we visit we’ll also do the same.
We arguably spent more waking ours under water diving, and while some go to the Maldives to relax, we found ourselves running from activity to activity (except for the 1 day that Max would allow a day of rest).
The most exciting sighting was a 5 foot long matured reef shark swimming along the reef… 15 feet in front of us.
Sri Lanka
Pictured: Cultural festival running through the streets of Galle
Sri Lanka was a dream! Prior to arriving, we did not have many expectations on what the country would be like, but we were blown away at how incredible the small country/island is. Precious gems are found in the mountains, the streets are busy but clean, the people are present and friendly, and the scenery is unsuspectingly beautiful. We spent our time mostly within the walled city of Galle and found ourselves in the middle of a Sri Lankan cultural parade at one point. We loved walking around at night after dinner and the mom and pop shops that lined the Main Street.
India
Pictured: Dressed in our Diwali best at Aman I Khas in Ranthambore
Im not sure how long one needs to spend in India to properly explore, but 7 days is certainly not enough. A month should seem sufficient, but even Indians will tell you that to see all that India has to offer you would need to spend a lifetime.
We spent time in 3 different areas of India, all offering a different and unique experience. We got extremely lucky in Ranthambore and were able to see 7 different bengal tigers in their Ranthambore National Forest. I’m told that not everybody gets to see the tigers, but in all our safaris, we saw one every day. Ridhi and her 2 month old tiger cubs was the highlight of the tiger safari. Visiting Agra is a must for the Taj Majal visit.
Bangladesh
Pictured: Taking a photo with local students inside the Lalbaugh Fort
We admittedly did not know much about Bangladesh prior to visiting, but we left having learned about the country, its formation, its history, and what the future could look like for it. While we were there, we were unable to go to the fishing village due to political unrest in the area. We did, however, get to explore the markets in Dhaka which is where we got a feel for what daily life is like for a Bangladeshi.
Bhutan
Pictured: Standing in front of the Chorten Memorial in Thimpu on Descending Day of Lord Buddha (The day marks the return of Lord Buddha to earth from the heavenly realm after three months of teaching).
We spent 5 days in Bhutan and are already planning a return trip. Flying into Paro was an adventure itself, known as the world’s “second most dangerous airport” and only a handful of licensed pilots are even allowed to fly into it.
We loved the people, the scenery, the food (oh my goodness, the chili, cheese and red rice!), the culture and the stillness that we felt while touring around. We visited 2 of the main cities while we were there, but plan to visit their smaller cities when we return to get another feel for the other regions of Bhutan. Our hike up to Tigers Nest was a memory we will hold onto forever.