tour - Lili on the Loose

23 12, 2018

October 2018 Recap

By Lili|December 23rd, 2018|Categories: Blog Recaps and Roundups|Tags: 2018, Ariel, Banjo Billy, Boulder, Brown Palace, Bullet Journal, bus, Bus Tour, Colorado, comedy, crime, Denver, Denver Botanical Gardens, Doctor Who, Ghost Hunting, ghost stories, Ghost Tour, Ghost Tours, Glow at the Garden, Halloween, Harry Potter, Hocus Pocus, Little Mermaid, Molly Brown, North America, Owl, Pumpkin Nights, Sabrina, stories, tour, Victorian Horrors, Winifred Sanderson|0 Comments

Fall is my favorite season. Its also Tessa's as she loves to eat leaves: View this post on Instagram It's going to snow tomorrow so made sure Tessa got to do her favorite fall activity: leaf eating. A post shared by Lili (@liliontheloose) on Oct 13, 2018 at 3:07pm PDT What's new this month is that I discovered Bullet Journaling this month. Essentially it's using a journal as a productivity tool with some art thrown in. Of course, that meant many trips to craft stores, and discovering AliExpress (and buying way too many .10 stickers and washi tape.)

15 06, 2017

Costa Rica and Panama Trip Itinerary

By Lili|June 15th, 2017|Categories: Itinerary, Travel, Upcoming Travel|Tags: 2017, Almirante, Amador Causeway, Beach Hopping 2017, Bocas del Toro, Bocas Town, Boquete, Casco Viejo, Central America, Changuinola, Coiba Island, Costa Rica, Denver, Florida, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Guabito, horseback riding, Miami, North America, Panama, Panama Canal, Panama City, Panama Viejo, Puerto Viejo, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Red Frog Beach, San Jose, Santa Catalina, Sixaola, snorkel, snorkeling, Starfish Beach, tour, USA|0 Comments

It's been almost 2 years since I went on an international trip. So I'm extremely excited to announce my next upcoming trip to Costa Rica and Panama! I've been to Costa Rica once before, so I won't spend that much time there this time. I'll be going on a bare-bones style trip, conducive to hanging out by the beach and hopefully a lot of snorkeling! Below is my projected Itinerary for my trip to Panama: Day 1 I'll head to Denver International Airport in the late hours. I was excited to try out my TSA Pre-Check, but now realize that lane will

3 11, 2016

Egyptian Sidekick Review

By Lili|November 3rd, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Review|Tags: 2015, Africa, Cairo, Dahshur, day trip, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egyptian Sidekick, Egyptologist, Giza, Memphis, Middle East, Mohsen, recommendation, Review, Saqqara, Sidekick, tour, tour company, Travel Thursday|0 Comments

On my second day in Egypt, I wanted to splurge and have a private tour, so I could see the sights of Dahshur, Memphis, and Saqqara at my own pace. Trying to find a reputable Egyptologist guide online was a bit daunting, so I decided to go in a different direction. This is my review of Egyptian Sidekick. This review is my own and was not solicited by the tour company and I paid full price for the tour. What is it? Egyptian Sidekick is a private tour organizer that provides tailored sightseeing experiences for you or your group. They

11 10, 2016

Local Haunts: Banjo Billy’s Ghost Bus

By Lili|October 11th, 2016|Categories: Attractions & Sights, Local, Travel|Tags: Banjo Billy, Boulder, bus, Bus Tour, Colorado, comedy, crime, Denver, Ghost Tour, stories, tour|0 Comments

Source: Vince Darcangelo Another one of my Halloween traditions is to take Banjo Billy's Ghost Tour in Boulder. This is all about the experience. The bus is made of wood, and inside are an eclectic mix of seats. (While the saw-horse is a novelty, it is not comfy enough to sit in on the entire ride.) The decor is also very mixed with christmas lights, buttons, tassels, disco balls, and other kitschy decorations hot glued here and there. The horn has a mixture of sounds from a cat-call like whistle to the sound of a barking dog.

2 09, 2016

Banjo Billy’s Pom-Pom Disco Ball

By Lili|September 2nd, 2016|Categories: Local, Photography|Tags: Banjo Billy, Boulder, bus, Bus Tour, Colorado, comedy, crime, Denver, Ghost Tour, Halloween, North America, Photo Friday, stories, tour, USA|0 Comments

Banjo Billy's is a local tour operator that does ghost and beer tours of Boulder and Denver. I go every October for their ghost bus tour. Since its the first Friday in September I can now officially start planning for Halloween! Every Friday Lili shares her favorite photography & the stories behind the photos.

25 04, 2016

Travel Missteps: Minutes in Pompeii

By Lili|April 25th, 2016|Categories: Photography, Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2006, All in the family Italy 2005/2006, ancient city, ancient civilization, Europe, history, in a rush, Italy, museum, Photo Essay, Pompeii, ruins, rush, tour, Trafalger, UNESCO, UNESCO World Heritage Site|0 Comments

I love ancient history, and have poured over history books and documentaries since I was a child. So when my family planned a trip to Italy, I knew I HAD to see Pompeii. I had been fascinated with this town ever since I saw a carbonized baked bread in a school book. The fact that life changed so suddenly and this town was erased from history in mere hours was shocking. But unfortunately I found out we'd only have a short amount of time at Pompeii, likely less than 30 minutes. Since I had just completed a semester on Italian Art

8 03, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 5, Part 4 – Papyrus Trap & Alexandria

By Lili|March 8th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: 2015, Africa, Alexandria, bargaining, bbq, bread, cat, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Travelogue, falafel, G Adventures, GAP, Giza, grill, group, group tour, hustle, Ice Cream, Middle East, papyrus, papyrus museum, road trip, shawarma, shopping, souvenir, tour, van|0 Comments

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Monday October 26, 2015 Egypt: Day 5, Part 4 – Papyrus Trap & Road to Alexandria We then headed to a "Papyrus Museum", or a store that has been licensed in making real authentic papyrus (fake/cheaper ones are made with banana leaves). The store showed us how the papyrus is cut, left to age in the water, and then how to make it by alternating layers in different directions and pounding out all the water. She showed how it

3 03, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 5, Part 3 – Mystery of the Sphinx

By Lili|March 3rd, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: 2015, Africa, bathroom, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Travelogue, G Adventures, GAP, Giza, Great Pyramids, Great Pyramids of Giza, group, group tour, Khafre, Middle East, mortuary temple, Pharaoh, sphinx, Temple, tour, van|0 Comments

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Monday October 26, 2015 Egypt: Day 5, Part 3 – Mystery of the Sphinx I don't recall why we had to wait, but as we did I snapped a photo of a pyramid through the first trees I had seen since arriving. We then started the walk through the souvenir sellers towards the mortuary temple in front of the Sphinx. Mikel acted as translator for any sellers that came up to us. He later said its easier for him

17 02, 2016

30 at 30: Best Experiences So Far

By Lili|February 17th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories|Tags: Abu Simbel, Africa, Anaheim, Antigua, Asia, Aswan, Bath, Belize, Belize Barrier Reef, Bent Pyramid, birthday, Bostan, California, camping, Canyon Ranch Spa, castle, Caye Caulker, Cenote, Central America, Champ de Elysee, Chino, chocolate, Christmas Market, CIE, Concert, concert photography, Costa Rica, Dahshur, Dashur, DC, Disneyland, Egypt, England, Epiphany Night, Europe, Ewok, fireworks, Florida, France, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Germany, golf carts, Great Britan, Guatemala, Harry Potter, haunted, Ik Kil, Ik Kill cenote, Ireland, Island of Adventure, Italy, Japan, Karnak, Lake Placid, Las Vegas, Latin America, lightsaber, Luxor, Massachusetts, memories, Mexico, Middle East, Munich, museum, Nagano Prefecture, Nevada, New York, North America, Orlando, Paris, photography, Playa Del Carmen, Pyramids, racing, Red Pyramid, reef, Rome, San Francisco, sharks, sheep, Sister Cities, snorkeling, Spa, St. John, Star Wars, Suwa, swimming, temples, The Vatican, Tokyo, tombs, tour, Trafalgar, Trajan's Column, travel experiences, trolly, Tucson, UK, UNESCO, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Universal Studios, USA, USVI, Vatican, Vatican City, Washington DC, white water rafting, Wizarding World of Harry Potter, yukata|1 Comment

Today is my birthday, and I've hit the "Big 3-0". I wanted to look back at 30 of my favorite travel memories in my life, in no particular order: Fulfilling my dream of going to Egypt, seeing so many amazing tombs and temples Sitting alone in the temples of Abu Simbel and Karnak Climbing into and on top of a pyramid Wandering the Christmas Markets of Munich Seeing the castles of Germany Taking a haunted trolly/walking tour of Boston graveyards. Seeing as many museums as I could in Washington, DC Swimming with sharks in Belize Racing golf-carts on Caye Caulker Making

19 11, 2015

Egypt Trip Cost & Budget Analysis

By Lili|November 19th, 2015|Categories: Travel, Travel Budget|Tags: 2015, Accommodation, activities, Africa, airfare, analysis, baksheesh, breakdown, budget, Cairo, cost, Denver, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Explorer, Egyptian Sidekick, Europe, food, Frankfurt, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Germany, hotel, Lufthansa, meals, Middle East, Munich, North America, optional activities, shopping, spending, Super Shuttle, taxi, tour, travel insurance, Travel Insured International, USA, Visa|0 Comments

This is my budget breakdown of my trip to Egypt (with a layover in Frankfurt, Germany). I knew going into this trip that it was going to be on the expensive side. I had budgeted $6262.41 in expenses for this trip. Here is how I actually spent that budget: Airfare: $972.26 I had watched airfare obsessively for about 2 months before I saw the airfare drop significantly through Lufthansa. I was able to get a 1 stop through Frankfurt on the way to Egypt, including a 12 hour layover in Frankfurt. And then on the way home I'd have 2 quick stops in