As a reader of this site you may have noticed that I don’t take a multitude of trips. I sometimes wonder if “TripwithBrit” is an honest name for this blog. I don’t travel year round, traveling isn’t my job (yet). One of these days it might be, especially if I win the Powerball on Wednesday. I can take a lot of trips once I pocket 500 million dollars. I try to take one trip a year if that is feasible. I work full-time and I am lucky to get about 5 weeks of vacation, plus sick time and a lot of holidays. I can also work longer hours and use those extra hours for vacation. There are perks to working for the US government. My wife Angela also works full-time but her job isn’t as hip as mine in terms of vacation time. I’ve taken one trip without her and to be honest, I didn’t enjoy it. I’ve grown used to having her with me all the time.
So, while I may not have as many trips under my belt as other travel blogs, I still felt like maybe I would write about how I prefer to travel. There are so many different travel styles and I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea about my blog. One thing I will be up front about is that we don’t ‘do’ hostels. Not that we think there is anything wrong with them of course. But we are married, my wife is in her 40’s, I’m in my 30’s and we have certain ideas about when we travel. We like our own space. We like our own bathrooms and showers. I think that comes from just living on our own for so long. We don’t really drink so we prefer not to stay in any sort of place that has the reputation as a ‘party’ place.
There is one thing I prefer to do at least part of the time on my vacations. I like to rent apartments. One thing is that it saves money because you have a kitchen and you can cook for yourself. But do you want to know what I love about rental apartments? A kitchen means its an excuse to go to the grocery store in a foreign land. I love grocery stores! I mean, not so much here in the US, I know what I am getting into. But in another country I just think it’s so fun. I mean, have you seen their chips? They have the coolest flavors! We had steak and potato and turkey dinner chips while in Paris. The turkey dinner? It tasted like Thanksgiving. C’mon America! Lays has a contest every year but I find their flavors so boring. Cheese garlic bread? Please. Give me some steak and potato chips and I’ll buy out the whole aisle. I stayed in a rental in Krakow, Paris, and Amsterdam. When in Switzlerland my brother and sister-in-law rented a beautiful apartment in Lucens. That is what I prefer. I prefer a place that feels like home, a place where I can cook. I don’t have to get up, rush to get ready and find a restaurant to eat my meal at.
Our Paris apartment was a block from the Louvre. We went with the website Vacation in Paris There were a few things we were not happy about with the apartment but for the most part the apartment suited our needs perfectly. And it was in the ideal location. VIP comes pretty highly recommended on a lot of different travel sites I frequent. There was a Franprix just around the corner
One block from our rental apartment in Paris. ©TripwithBrit
Balcony in Paris ©TripwithBrit
Parisian Apartment ©TripwithBrit
When in Amsterdam we stayed in a gorgeous little apartment called the Korenbloemen. Unfortunately Hugo, the owner, no longer rents this apartment out. It was the idea location, close to the Dam Square, close to the Red Light District, a quick walk to the Anne Frank House and a bunch of different museums. It was small and a bit dark but we couldn’t have asked for a better apartment. There was a grocery store just a few blocks away.
In Switzerland my mother, brother, sister-in-law and niece stayed in a really great bed and breakfast type establishment. It really was just 2 levels and the first level was occupied by the owners and then we had the 2nd floor. Unfortunately this place is also not in operation anymore but it is probably one of my favorite places I’ve ever stayed in. I was incredibly ill on that trip and all I wanted was a comfortable place to lay my head and this was it. The temperature went down to around 5o°F (in July) and I slept like a rock. And the view? Well, that speaks for itself.
The view from our house in Lucens, Switzerland ©TripwithBrit
One thing I like to do is stick to a budget when it comes to accommodations. I like some comfort but rarely do we stay in a luxury apartment or hotel. Our Ireland trip will be the exception. It is our delayed honeymoon and a few of the nights we are staying in a high end hotel in Kilkenny, Ireland and we are staying at the Glenlo Abbey Hotel (Glenlo Abbey) outside of Galway for one night. The rest of our trip we are staying in mid-range priced places. But luckily for us most of Ireland is fairly cheap (especially compared to Paris or Bruges).
When I travel I can be occupied for hours roaming around taking photos. I am so glad that Angie is a lot like me. Our first trip together was Paris and Bruges. We had never traveled that far together and I don’t think we knew what to expect of each other. I’m so glad she too likes to take it easy on vacation. We don’t over plan our days. We have an idea of what we want to do on a particular day but we don’t plan it by the hour. I prefer not to come home from vacation exhausted from overdoing it every single day then I need another vacation to recover!
A must for me on vacation though? A shower. Not a hand-held shower hose but I need an actual, legit shower that I can stand up in and have the water cascade down me. I think that is about the only ‘must’ for me when I book any accommodation. You want an amazing shower? Try out the shower at Hotel Pullman Brussels. Pullman
We may have splurged a bit on this hotel… ©TripwithBrit
Trip with Brit 