A few weeks ago, I contributed to the “Sh*t Travel Bloggers Say” video, put together by the incredibly talented Cailin O’Neal of the Travel Yourself TV show. If you’ve seen the videos spun off by the popular “Sh*t Girls Say” video (my favorites: Sh*t Boston Girls Say, Sh*t Asian Girls Say, Sh*t Southern Gay Guys [...]
When I first visited Paris in 2001, Montmartre was easily my favorite neighborhood. The artists in Place du Tertre, the tiny cafes, the remnants of the bohemian life, the view of Paris from the top of the city — to me, it was pure magic. Less than a month later, Moulin Rouge hit theaters — [...]
For my latest stay in Paris, I wanted to stay somewhere special — ideally, in a stylish boutique hotel. When I found the Hotel 7, I not only got my wish — I got to see one of the most stylish hotels I’ve ever seen! The Hotel 7′s rooms alone are works of art — [...]
It all began with a pamphlet entitled WILD & SEXY SCOTLAND. It was last fall and I was about to leave Edinburgh and jump on a train back to Chester. On my way out of Haggis Hostel, I grabbed several pamphlets to plan my return trip to Scotland. On the way out, the WILD & SEXY [...]
Today is Australia Day — and I’d love to wish a very happy Australia Day to my beloved Australian readers. This time last year, I was in Hanoi, Vietnam, and celebrated Australia Day for the first time…in a truly unique fashion. I was staying at the excellent Hanoi Backpackers, home to one of the best [...]
I just spent the past weekend in Paris, my favorite city in the world. I adore Paris, and though I wasn’t solo on this particular trip, I think it’s one of the best cities in the world for solo female travelers to visit. This was my fifth visit to Paris, and though I’ve spent so [...]
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone say in passing, “Everyone loves Chiang Mai.” Each time, it makes me wince — because it’s not true. Not everyone loves Chiang Mai. YIKES! Someone finally said it. I can understand why people would think that everyone loves it. Chiang Mai is home to a sizable [...]
On most days here in England, I somehow end up quoting Family Guy or Anchorman back and forth with my English friends. It’s easy to assume that all of American pop culture translates across the pond. After all, we share a common language, for starters. Most of the films playing at the cinema are American, Comedy Central [...]
Are you a fan of the Pride and Prejudice BBC miniseries from the 90s? The one when Colin Firth first stepped into our lives and made us swoon as Mr. Darcy, long before anyone knew who Bridget Jones was? Well, this weekend, I went to see one of its filming locations: Lyme Park in Cheshire, England. [...]
After waiting far too long, I am finally, FINALLY, starting the Adventurous Kate Newsletter, a fantastic extension to this site. And because I want people to sign up, I’m making a special offer to entice you to subscribe. I’m giving away $100! If I get 100 people to sign up by February 5, 2012, I [...]
Dear Readers, I know that many of you long to see the world. So you’ve traveled a bit in Europe. You’ve done the resort vacation in Mexico. Perhaps you’ve done a bit of Central America or even Asia. And you’d like to try somewhere new– somewhere adventurous, and exciting, and DIFFERENT. May I make a [...]
As I walked through the streets of Sultanahmet, Istanbul’s historic center, I noticed that there were quite a few cats milling about. That’s nothing special — you see that in most cities. Probably Rome more than anywhere else. But upon further inspection, I realized that unlike the frail, weak stray cats that fill most cities, [...]
As I prepared to leave the sub-zero temperatures of Cappadocia in November, I had one thing on my mind: I need to get warm. And with that, I headed to Turkey’s southwest corner on the Mediterranean — to Fethiye. Oh God, this was such a wonderful place. I first heard about Fethiye from Julia and [...]
While spending the holidays at home in Boston, I took a quick trip to see my sister (and get my India visa) in New York City. I was fighting a pretty bad cold, so I wasn’t motivated to run around the city all day, but I got to see lots of my friends — and [...]
2012 is going to be an amazing year for travel. I’ve been working on some trips for awhile now, and I’m excited to share the preliminary plans with you! While many of my upcoming trips are in the development stage at the moment and shouldn’t be unveiled just yet, I’m able to share several of [...]
If you ever plan on getting into a hot air balloon someday, here’s a suggestion for you: do it in Cappadocia, Turkey. Hot air balloon flights are incredibly popular in Cappadocia — several dozen balloons go up each day, even in the winter, so people can see the incredible landscape from the air. I booked [...]
Happy New Year, everyone! I posted the following on my Facebook page on New Year’s Day: If you’re still looking for a resolution: Don’t let go of your travel dreams because people (significant others, friends, family) don’t want to go where you want to go or don’t want to travel the way you do. This [...]
While in Istanbul, I spent the majority of my time doing two things: eating and walking. And eating while walking, and walking to restaurants. Have I mentioned that I enjoy food? One of the most memorable meals was in a tiny, nondescript restaurant by the Galata Bridge called Kismet Muhallebecisi (Kucukpazar Cad. 68, Eminonu, Istanbul). Jodi [...]
Of all the landscapes in the world, there is NOWHERE that looks like Cappadocia. That’s what drew me to this region of central Turkey — this freaky, otherworldly landscape. During the Tertiary period (65 million to 2 million years ago), volcanic activity formed the mountains in the region. Over the next few millions of years, [...]
Petra by Night is a lovely introduction to Petra — you visit the famed Treasury while it’s illuminated by candlelight as soft music plays and they serve tea. Under normal circumstances, it looks like this: Image: Debraj It didn’t exactly happen that way for me. The weather had been good all week, but it began [...]
