Travel Missteps - Lili on the Loose

23 12, 2013

Travel Missteps: Lost for Christmas

By Lili|December 23rd, 2013|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2011, Bavaria, Christmas, Christmas in Germany 2011, Christmas Market, Cristkindlmarket, dragon, Europe, food, Germany, lost, Marienplatz, Munich, Secret Santa, subway, U-Bahn, ubahn, Weinahtsmarkt|0 Comments

On December 23rd, 2011 I was with my family, enjoying the last evening of the Christmas Markets of Munich. This year we had decided not to buy each family member a present, but instead this year we'd do a "Secret Santa" where we would pull a person's name out of a hat, and only buy them a gift. However, that person couldn't know who was their "Santa". This secretiveness, combined with just the amazing sights of a real German Christmas Market, meant I was especially distracted and awestruck. Throughout the night I did fall behind, or dart around to another

14 10, 2013

Travel Missteps: Disney Dash

By Lili|October 14th, 2013|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2010, All Work and Some Play, Anaheim, business trip, California, castle, Disney, Disneyland, Ewok, Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones, lightsaber, North America, parade, Pirates of the Caribbean, PMA, roller coaster, Star Wars, USA, work|0 Comments

In February 2010 I had already had a busy travel month by getting delayed twice in St. John, and once I arrived home I only had a few days to pack and get ready for a work trip to Anaheim, CA. On my first day in Anaheim it turned out I had a free afternoon. It was suggested I could "swim at the hotel" or go to the "welcome drink reception." But nagging me from my window was Disneyland. I worried if I headed to Disneyland that I'd get a call from my co-workers asking where I was, or some other emergency would

5 08, 2013

Travel Missteps: Memorializing Everything

By Lili|August 5th, 2013|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2012, accident, camera, Central America, Costa Rica, Costa Rica Adventure 2012, fear of heights, filming, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, injured, injury, Montezuma, nose, photo, photography, tour, video, zip line, zip lining|0 Comments

Tourists are criticized for having their camera plastered to their face for their entire trip instead of interacting to the world around them like a normal person. I can attest I've been on both sides of this argument, there has been trips I haven't taken many photos, and other times I've returned home with thousands of similar images. But sometimes the dangers of over-photographing a trip has little to do with missed moments vs lasting visual memories. Sometimes the dangers are very real, from tripping on things you aren't aware of, stepping out into traffic, or in my case: getting a fractured

22 07, 2013

Travel Missteps: In the cockpit

By Lili|July 22nd, 2013|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2010, airplane, Cape Air, cockpit, fear of heights, flying, Lake Placid, Lake Saranac, New York, North America, NY, The Quiet Life, USA, work|0 Comments

In May 2010 I was tasked with my first solo business trip, which was to Lake Placid, NY. As a seasoned traveler, planning a trip isn't hard. But I ran into a road block. To get to Lake Placid I could choose between 3 different airports to fly into and then rent a car and drive 3+ hours to Lake Placid or I could fly to Boston and then take an expensive regional flight into a nearby town, and then take a 30 minute taxi to Lake Placid. Both options were expensive. As I was under 25 so it would

8 07, 2013

Travel Missteps: Go to Hell!

By Lili|July 8th, 2013|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2011, bar, Bavaria, Christmas in Germany 2011, Europe, Germany, hell, history, Medieval, night watchman, Rothenburg, rothenburg ob der tauber, snow, snowing, walking tour|0 Comments

We'll continue our Travel Missteps series in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, one of the best preserved Medieval towns in Germany. While this town is primarily touristy, it was beautiful decorated and thankfully deserted for the holidays when I was there in December 2011. Me posing with the Night Watchman. One of the key attractions is taking a "Night Watchman Tour" ( 7 EUR) to learn this history of the town. We had planned on doing this on the first night we got there, but as what commonly happens, we were too tired and so kept putting this tour off until the

24 06, 2013

Travel Missteps: I’m on Fire!

By Lili|June 24th, 2013|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2004, Asia, Bon Odori, Chino, exchange program, fire, fireworks, hanabi, Japan, Lake Suwa, Nagano, Obon festival, Sister Cities, Sister Cities Japan 2004, spirits, Suwa, train, yukata|0 Comments

Fireworks while camping. As I've written before, in the summer of 2004 I went to Japan through a Sister Cities student exchange. The bulk of the trip was spent with a host family in Chino, Nagano Prefecture. This period in late August is during the Obon festival where Japanese honor the spirits of their ancestors. Its sort of like if you combine the American aspect of Thanksgiving where everyone goes home, Mexican Dia de los Muertos, and every possible firework related holiday. There are many components of the Obon festival. One key piece is the Bon Odori dance, that is danced by

10 06, 2013

Travel Missteps: Black goes with Everything

By Lili|June 10th, 2013|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2002, black, clothing, Eiffel Tower, Europe, first trip abroad 2002, France, monument, monuments, Napoleon's Tomb, outfits, Paris, planning, protest, terrorist, The Wall of Peace, unrest|0 Comments

Napoleon's Tomb on a cold, yet sunny day in February 2002. I've written about my first trip abroad before, but sadly not having a watch wasn't the only thing I got wrong in Paris. The other spectacular travel misstep was my wardrobe for the trip. You see my mother had read up on Paris, and was adamant that Parisians are savy dressers and wouldn' t be caught dead in blue jeans. Instead, all the rage in Paris was sleek black clothing. And so no one in my family was aloud to bring blue jeans, or bright color clothes as we didn't

15 04, 2013

Travel Missteps: Disrupting Go Slow

By Lili|April 15th, 2013|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2013, Belize, Caye Caulker, Central America, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, golf cart, hammock, island, Mayan Encounter 2013, Motto, racing, rush, scavenger hunt, slow life, sunset, tour, winner, winning|1 Comment

"Yo Mamma! Go slow. They ain't gonna leave you." I had heard that Belize's islands unofficial motto was "Go Slow". I had been warned that if I rushed I would be told to slow down. But I didn't expect that to be my first greeting in Belize while waiting for my water ferry to Caye Caulker. You see my group had been split up, and our van arrived an hour later than the other half of the group. When we finally made it to the dock I was told the boat was leaving in 2 minutes, so I was running around, going

1 04, 2013

Travel Missteps: The Color Coded Dance Card

By Lili|April 1st, 2013|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2009, at the heart of it Ireland 2009, CIE, color, colored sheep, Europe, Ireland, sheep, tour|0 Comments

An Irish Sheep with colors on its back. Ireland is full of 3 things: Pubs, Churches, and Sheep. In 2009 I visited southern Ireland for a few weeks. One thing I thought was out of the ordinary was the different colors on the sheep. Some markings are to help determine the owner of the sheep, as sometimes sheep from multiple farms are kept on the same land together. But other color markings are during the breeding season. The male sheep, a ram, has a harness installed near his neck that contains an animal friendly dye. When he mounts

18 03, 2013

Travel Missteps: Stuck in Paradise

By Lili|March 18th, 2013|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2010, Caribbean, eruption, paradise, Snowpocalypse, snowstorm, St. John, St. John 2010, stranded, stuck, USVI, volcano, work|0 Comments

View overlooking Trunk Bay, St. John USVI In February 2010 I visited a paradise known as St. John USVI for the first time. Nearly 3/4th of the island is national park land and it is beautiful. I stayed in an eco cottages (pretty much tents in trees with geckos and frogs as roommates) and snorkeled every day. I didn't want to ever leave this paradise. But as with all trips the end seem to come too soon and it was time to go home. A day before I was supposed to fly out, I started hearing rumors that flights into the USVI had been cancelled and no