After a week in Jordan, I headed to Israel and the Palestinian Territories for my last week in the Middle East. I will admit that as much as I loved the history and site seeing in Israel, I found it hard to relax due to the intense political situation in the area. Our guide warned…

Bucket list item: Visit the lowest place on planet Earth. Check! A visit to the Dea Sea (actually a lake not a sea) is a must when you visit either Jordan or Israel. I got to visit twice since I went to both countries. Located 1,400 feet below sea level it is the lowest place…

After spending time in Wadi Rum we headed to the ancient city of Petra. It was named one of the new seven wonders of the world in 2007 and a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985. This ancient city dates back to 3000 BC and was a booming trading site between 400 BC – 100…

From Egypt, I took a short one-hour flight to Amman to start my week-long tour of Jordan. There is a noticeable difference as soon as you land in Jordan after spending some time in Egypt. To name a few things, it’s more expensive, it’s more modern and it’s not as conservative. It was not as…

For our second day in Osaka, we headed to Universal Studios to check out the new Super Nintendo World theme park they opened in 2020. Since this park opened during the COVID pandemic we are some of the first foreigners to enter the park which is cool. Joe and I played the Super Mario Bros…

We spent three days in Osaka (the second largest city in Japan) after our time in Kyoto. One day at the aquarium, one day at Universal Studios, and our last day was spent doing some shopping before we headed home. Accommodation We stayed at the Cross Hotel in Osaka, I booked this with Booking.com. I…

During one of our days in Kyoto, we ventured to the city of Nara to visit the famous deer park. It took about an hour by train to get there. I’d heard about this deer park where hundreds of deer roam freely. Joe visited here when he studied abroad in Japan 13 years ago. It…

More from our time in Kyoto. Our tour guide recommended a tea ceremony/baking class in Kyoto so we participated in that one morning. We made two Japanese sweets and some matcha tea. Nishiki Market Kansai Gaidai Unversity Joe studied abroad in this area 13 years ago at Kansai Gaidai University which is located between Kyoto…

Accommodation Our guided tour with Intrepid Travel ended this week and we are staying in Kyoto for the next 5 days to explore on our own. I booked the Good Nature Hotel for our stay on Booking.com. I love this hotel! It has nice big beds, a table/seating area to eat, a spacious bathroom with…

My favorite shrine in all of Japan would have to be Fushimi Inari. I’ve heard Joe talk about this shrine since he studied abroad here 13 years ago and now I understand what all the hype is about. It’s famous for its thousands (10,000+) torii gates that span the trails leading up Mount Inari. The…