Everything had a bit of a delayed start on New Year’s Day, but I was up, as usual. I had my early breakfast, did a bit at the gym, walked around the ship, watched us go through a few locks, and had lunch. We arrived in Melk at around 2:00, where the big tour of the day was Melk Abbey. That involved a short bus ride up the hill to the Abbey, a tour of the Abbey, and a walk back down the hill and through the town, on our own. Here are some highlights of the day: As a friendly r

When traveling, some people like to go to a companies that offer tours, whether they are small groups or large groups. These tours often have a specific purpose or theme, such as “Spanish Wine Tour” or “Classical Music in Vienna,” and the group will have a set itinerary, which probably also allows for a certain amount of free time. These can be great, and I encourage you to check out my host agency, Travelex International, which offers several wonderful music, food, and wine

December 3, 2020 Update This post was originally written after my first visit to an all-inclusive (AI) resort in August of 2019, during a time when cruising was an option. Since then, I have been on more cruises (last one in March, 2020) and have visited seven more AI resorts. While I miss cruising greatly and am sad each time more cruises are canceled, the experiences I have had at AI resorts in 2020 have been excellent, for the most part. You can read about them in my 3-par

Pilkington Travels, LLC is my company name, and I am an independent affiliate of Travelex International. That is a mouthful, but it is all important! Travelex International, established in 1992, is a Virtuoso® member travel agency that advises travelers in personalized leisure travel, custom group travel & corporate travel. As a Virtuoso® member, one of the top 1% of travel agencies worldwide, we provide custom itineraries for our distinctive clientele to the seven continents

travel advisor with Travelex International. Summer is a scary time for an educator since income is reduced, but I’ve become pretty good at saving thanks to my budgeting app that I mention later. While I might be a bit crazy to book an Alaska cruise with a somewhat uncertain future, I knew that everything would work out (without going into debt)! I usually cruise with Norwegian Cruise Line because they have studio cabins, which are intended for solo travelers. In case you didn

This is the time late in my trip that I don’t feel like writing about every detail, and you might not feel like reading them either. 🙂 I’m going to post a bunch of photos and make comments when needed. It was a good, full day of squeezing in as much as possible in a sort period of time. The main thing is that I absolutely love this city and the people here, and I definitely need to return to explore more of the city and the rest of the country! The morning. A stroll through

Considering that I only had about 1/2 a day to complete my time in Oslo, I was pretty productive. It certainly helped that it was another beautiful day! After breakfast, finishing up yesterday’s blog, and actually falling asleep again (because I woke up around 5:30), I went out to explore the Akershus Fortress at the recommendation of my host. On the way there, I stopped by Joe and the Juice, a juice and coffee bar that I’ve seen since I was in Reykjavik. I got a juice that I

Well, I seem to be on a alternation of sleep patterns. I think the constant rocking of the ship lulled me to sleep rather than keeping me awake. That’s very fortunate, considering that there would be nowhere to nap today! I had already bought yogurt and blueberries in Oslo, so I just needed to go up to deck 7 for some coffee. I got my coffee and had my light breakfast in my room. Since the ship was scheduled to arrive in Copenhagen (København) at 9:45, I had plenty of time to

We’re now in Gudvangen following an amazing 2 hour Fjord cruise. Once again, I awoke much earlier than I had hoped since the sun rose at 5 AM. I got coffee and juice from the hotel restaurant and waited for breakfast, which began at 7 AM. The television in my room only had a few channels, and all that was playing this morning was some low-budget German show. Breakfast was quite a large assortment of food, including eggs, fruit, potatoes, fish, and breads. It was quite good, a

I’m now on the train en route to Flåm. We’re approaching Ustaoset, and this place is a winter wonderland! The ground is covered with snow, and the water is frozen. I wasn’t expecting this, but it’s completely beautiful. The rest of the train ride has been great too, and it has only gotten better as it it’s gone along. It’s like judging a singing competition. You don’t know how to judge the beginning until you get farther into it. As we left Oslo and saw the first sights of fj