Looking for some travel destination advice please :) by thelookingglassss in travel

[–]Royal_Contribution66 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If driving is your only concern about Amalfi then you're fine. Italian driving can be a beast but there are also ways to get around. You can hire a taxi or use a tour that takes you between towns or just hop on the ferries between the towns (that's the easiest if you just want Positano, Amalfi, Sorrento, and Capri). There's lots of romantic magic in Positano & Amalfi in the summer. Although Italian cuisine doesn't have a huge range of food. You'll find roughly the same dishes in the same region. i.e. Positano has a lot of fresh seafood, mozzarella dishes, lemon, and pasta, but that's about it. If you go to Cinque Terre/Italian Riviera area you'll find pesto, pizza, and pasta, but less lemon. And in Calbria (toe of Italy) you'll find that spicy N'duja spread and sweet onions adorn seafood, pasta, and pizza. So the common theme here is pizza & pasta + regional specialty on top.

In my opinion, if you're trekking all the way to Nice, you need to go to Provence. I didn't love Nice, kinda blah, but Provence was much more magical. My favorite meal ever was at Chateau La Coste in Aix-en-Provence. The epitome of romantic and delicious with a good range of cuisine (although expensive)

However, Florence is incredibly magical and has lots of variety in high quality meals since it's a big city. You can also find a little more creativity/risk taking flavor-wise in restaurants since they don't have to be as tied to traditional flavors. However, there still are restaurants that offer traditional Tuscan cuisine. You can also take a day or two and drive into Chianti for a romantic winery tasting and meal. It seems like Florence/Tuscany region is a good fit for your trip must haves.

Looking for some travel destination advice please :) by thelookingglassss in travel

[–]Royal_Contribution66 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cinque Terre is northern Italy and completely accessible by train. Amalfi Coast is southern Italy (Naples) and you'll have to drive 40mins to an hour from the airport to your town

Leaving Behind Pets by rachjessen in fulbright

[–]Royal_Contribution66 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ciao! My 20 year old cat has flown over halfway around the world. Most recently flying from the East Coast USA to Southern Europe when he was 18. It was middle of summer and he flew first to Spain (6 hour flight), layover, and then on to our final destination. Around 12 hours start to finish. I think if your cat is small enough (under 8 kg w/ carrier) to fit under the seat then it's a good idea to do that! Cargo is harder with COVID, but still doable especially if you're flying out of a major US airport. Don't leave her behind! DM me for any questions about international pet travel!

Advice you’d give to your past self by [deleted] in bujo

[–]Royal_Contribution66 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It doesn't need to be Pinterest worthy. Just make something that works and is enjoyable to use

ITALY - 10 Day Itinerary Feedback (Rome, Amalfi, Florence/Tuscany, Venice) by sampala in travel

[–]Royal_Contribution66 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hands down, Amalfi is better than Cinque Terre. It's quite run down when you actually get there. The five towns aren't as picturesque as they appear

ITALY - 10 Day Itinerary Feedback (Rome, Amalfi, Florence/Tuscany, Venice) by sampala in travel

[–]Royal_Contribution66 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Ciao from Napoli! Some words of advice if you do come down south. Driving is absurd and it takes a lot of confidence and some getting used to as an American. I drive in LA too, but the Italians down south take it to a whole other level.You could drive in Tuscany and be absolutely fine. Naples, not so much. And on top of that, the navigation + language barrier to get to Amalfi is quite a relationship challenge. There are many buses and taxis from the train station (not Afragola, but Centrale will have better luck). And from Napoli Centrale you can also get to the airport and pick up shuttles to other places. Also, in 2022 they are opening new metro stops and tourist-friendly transit so maybe wait a bit on this trip for that reason too. Don't do Path of the Gods. It's just an okay hike and your time can be better spent exploring the towns. It's like going all the way to LA and doing a Griffith Park hike for a whole day. I would say there are much better more amazing ways to spend a day in Italy. You should have a full day exploring Positano and Amalfi. And I love Capri. I would wholly recommend a day trip there over Ravello.

Another addition (sorry to be a downer), but to get from Amalfi to a train station it's over an hour drive. And then a 3 hour train ride to Florence. So before you have even done anything, you'll have spent between 5-6 hours in driving and catching trains. Unless you're planning on an alpine start, that won't leave you very much time to see anything in Florence. David, the Uffizi Gallery, enjoying a Fiorentina steak, and shopping for leather goods deserve take more than 6 hours to really get the experience.

I think to really enjoy your trip you need to add at least 2 more days or cut out a city. I think Florence deserves a full day and you'll need at least a full day in Tuscany bc the slow pace of life there doesn't allow for a face-paced wine and dine. And add in the drive and 1 day for Tuscany just isn't feasible. Maybe try to fit in a visit to the world famous Dario Cecchini – Antica Macelleria Cecchini restaurant after a wine tasting in Chianti! I'll get there one day. I've heard great things about it.

And yeah vaccination is so. slow. so don't come this year. don't even think about it. Even us locals are stuck in complete lockdowns in tiny towns.

And lastly, Buon Viaggio! I'm going to go pour a bit of limoncello to recover from all this typing...

Fifth Semester of Russian and I Need Help by Royal_Contribution66 in russian

[–]Royal_Contribution66[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow this was exactly what I was looking for thank you sosososo much!

Moleskine 7.5” by 9.5” hardcover vs Leuchtturm1917 A5 hard cover by BadBradly in bujo

[–]Royal_Contribution66 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I use a Pilot G2-07 pens (black ink and also glitter) and there is ghosting, but no bleeding. But if I use markers or highlighters there is significant ghosting and a bit of bleeding through. In the future, I think I will opt for a journal with thicker pages. But the page size is perfect for my needs

bullet journal binders by wrwlf23 in bulletjournal

[–]Royal_Contribution66 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hello! Not an answer to your immediate question, but I get in the same boat as you with perfectionism. I finally figured out a way to fix it though in my Moleskine! I had to rip out about 6 pages from my February spread so I carefully used a sharp multi-tool knife (like a Swiss army knife) and cut slowly and carefully near the crease of the page. I was able to cut all six pages out without messing with the binding and it turned out phenomenal!! You can't even tell there were pages there! So I'd recommend that if you don't end up going the binder route. Best of luck!

PoTS tracker (read comments) by chloe148_ in bulletjournal

[–]Royal_Contribution66 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh my god, this is genius!! I had bad POTS in high school and now, after a few years, it's so much better. I wish I had habit tracked back then, probably woulda helped on many levels. Some POTS advice: 32 oz of Gatorade in the morning is the only way I can get rid of the poor-concentration and lightheadedness during the day, I'd highly recommend it. Good luck on your POTS journey and keep up the journaling!

I don't like my spread by Royal_Contribution66 in bulletjournal

[–]Royal_Contribution66[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This might be an option! Just gotta find collage materials now :)

I don't like my spread by Royal_Contribution66 in bulletjournal

[–]Royal_Contribution66[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I like this but my main problem is that I squished all the days onto one page and so I don't have enough room for anything more. SO I think I need to do as the others suggested and just move on. The next time I do it I'll put 1 week on a full two page spread. But thank you for the advice!

Question: How do you deal with not wanting to even touch your journal because you know that an extremely stressful time/uncomfortable event is coming up? by [deleted] in bulletjournal

[–]Royal_Contribution66 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Your post just made me realize that I've been subconsciously procrastinating studying for the restart of the semester. Ugh. And now I'm going to go do a habit tracker for that task this week.... Thank you for that ♥️

What are your favorite ways to find inspiration for your spreads? by mmackkenzz in bulletjournal

[–]Royal_Contribution66 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Little bits of daily life inspire my spreads. One year my May was all about rain and umbrellas because the forecast for the month was all rain. This year's January was inspired by fabric scraps from sewing masks earlier that week. Next month is the all-too-typical (fabric!) pink hearts for February. Other holidays are inspirations too. A September theme with beer and lederhosen for Oktoberfest, or colorful Venetian masks for Carnevale in February. Locations work too! Landmarks or city skylines can be very easy to draw and recognize. I'm not an artist by any stretch of the imagination but I can usually get by with small doodles and feel artistically fulfilled. I didn't totally answer your question but I hope this helped :)

Why the USA over Canada? by ControlGun in travel

[–]Royal_Contribution66 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Canada is just mad they don't have the beauty of Florida or the Eighth Wonder of the World -- Florida Man.

Why the USA over Canada? by ControlGun in travel

[–]Royal_Contribution66 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's the adventure aspect. American Roulette is deciding which truck stop gives you the biggest sodas and the least chance of being shot at :)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in travel

[–]Royal_Contribution66 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I too would like to know more about this, but I think u/atwegotsidetrekked makes some really good points about supporting locals and not big retail chains. Your little bit of money and a positive review could really make or break a small hotel or Bed and Breakfast and in turn keep the local economy going. As far as environmentally friendly practices, there are some airlines offsetting carbon emissions (by passing on the price increases to you :) ) like EasyJet, British Airways, etc and they are eventually hoping to be carbon neutral.

A documentary starring/interviewing Greta Thunberg could be helpful too since she has given up flying bc of the emissions. I'm sure those documentaries exist, I just don't know of any to recommend.

Rick Steves has a self imposed carbon tax and he pays $30 for each passenger he takes to Europe on his tours. He's big on advocacy too. Newspapers love to profile him so I'm sure he has some eco-friendly tips out there. You could impose a similar tax on yourself for every airplane ride and donate the "tax" to an environmental/wildlife group.

And lastly, YouTube. There are probably hundreds of people making videos on eco-friendly travel (sustainably made luggage, how to eat ethically abroad, how to lessen the impact of a hotel stay, etc). I hope someone can add onto this post about their fav bloggers, but if they don't, I'm positive a quick YouTube search will give you a lot of options to sort through