December 14, 2017

Angkor Wat - Cambodia

December 14, 2017/ Samantha Parsons

Chuck and I were really excited to visit Angkor Wat, the famous temple complex in Cambodia which is the largest religious monument in the entire world. I expected it to be a lot like Bagan with thousands of temples spread across a plain divided only by low brush and tall grasses. Instead, I was surprised to find that there are a lot fewer temples, which are individually quite large. Each one was very unique, and since the climate is wetter, many temples have massive moats around them. The jungle is slowly taking over many of the temples, and you see huge trees growing from the walls.

November 14, 2017

Chiang Mai - Thailand

November 14, 2017/ Charlie Parsons

After our relatively sleepy few days in Ayutthaya, Sam and I headed up north to Chiang Mai. We'd heard from a bunch of people that Chiang Mai was a highlight of their trips to Thailand, so we were super excited to check it out. It's a much sleepier city than Bangkok, and it was definitely much easier as a tourist. We had a hotel booked right in the middle of the old city, which was a perfect hub for seeing the sights. It's a city that is filled temples and history, and we spent a few days taking it all in.

October 14, 2017

77 Favorite Photos from 6 Months of Travel

October 14, 2017/ Samantha Parsons

As of a few days ago, we’ve been traveling for six months! We looked back over our photos and our travels so far, and decided to post the top photos from every country we have visited so far. We’ve taken 4,059 photos, visited 18 countries, and stayed in 63 different hotels / AirBnbs. These are our favorite 77 photos.

September 17, 2017

Cairo, Camels, and the Pyramids

September 17, 2017/ Samantha Parsons

I’ve been to Egypt once before, in 2013 with my friend Chris Simpson, and absolutely loved it. Seeing the pyramids at Giza and the Valley of the Kings near Luxor is an unforgettable experience. Unfortunately, on that trip we didn’t get to visit Abu Simbel, so Chuck and I decided to visit Egypt on our travels so I could check that off my list, and so he could see Egypt for the first time.

September 16, 2017

Casablanca, Morocco

September 16, 2017/ Charlie Parsons

Samantha and I took the train from Marrakesh north to Casablanca. It was exactly what you expect a train in Morocco to be like, hot and crowded. It was only a three hour ride, but in the 100+ degree heat it felt like an eternity.

September 10, 2017

Marrakesh, Morocco

September 10, 2017/ Samantha Parsons

Marrakesh is a city filled with color. Bright blues, yellows, teals and pinks coupled with dizzying mosaics and symmetrical design make for lots of gorgeous photo opportunities. The city is modern, but at the same time packed with tradition, history and culture.

September 04, 2017

Porto & the Batalha Monastery, Portugal

September 04, 2017/ Samantha Parsons

As our Uber drove us from the Lisbon airport to our AirBnb, I couldn't help but stare out the window at the gorgeous ceramic tile covering the front of most buildings. The bright colors and patterns seemed to convey a sense of fun and joy that was less serious than Italy's vibe.

August 12, 2017

Amsterdam, Netherlands

August 12, 2017/ Samantha Parsons

As we made the rainy drive across the countryside from Bruges to Amsterdam I got more and more excited. We booked an especially nice hotel in downtown Amsterdam for our first wedding anniversary, and I was looking forward to a little luxury!

A minor anxiety attack crept up on me as we entered Amsterdam. Roads were blocked off and people were EVERYWHERE.

July 12, 2017

The Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, Capri, and Sicily

July 12, 2017/ Samantha Parsons

The first day Chuck fired up our crappy rental car to drive up the Amalfi coast. It felt much like the Cinque Terre—steep, rocky cliffsides tumbling down into the crisp, clear sea below. Lemon, olive, and grape crops clung to the walls on terraces and hung over the roads. The houses stack up the sides of the coast in any place that seems even slightly horizontal (and many places that are not) with roads crammed in between them barely big enough for a single car to pass.

July 08, 2017

Rome, Italy

July 08, 2017/ Charlie Parsons

After Florence, Sam and I drove the couple hours south to Rome. It rained our last night in Florence which meant that it had finally cooled down a little bit. We booked and Airbnb geared towards "lovers" which we thought was strange at first, but made perfect sense when we arrived. Everything was red and almost everything had a heart on it. The bed had satin sheets and a satin bed spread. It was weird. But the location was incredible and it had an enormous patio furnished with a big table for dinners. We were a short walk, about five minutes, from Vatican City, and maybe 30 minutes to central Rome.

July 05, 2017

Florence, Italy

July 05, 2017/ Samantha Parsons

We left our little villa in rural Italy and steeled ourselves for hordes of tourists in Florence. Our AirBNB was across the Ponte Vecchio bridge and past the Pitti Palace, which made for some picturesque walks each day. The weather was incredibly hot, and we were grateful to have a washing machine and two air conditioners in our apartment.

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