Best Travel Experience
We’ve added a brand new Coromal Caravan to the Budget Travel Talk arsenal. This photo was taken at our first free camp at Notch Point Queensland. Years ago we purchased an old van without amenities to see if we liked the lifestyle. We did, but decided we needed to be self-sufficient and when some unexpected funds came our way, purchased a van with amenities including solar power that will enable us to travel further off the beaten track.
Best Travel Accessory
How many times have you booked accommodation with free wifi, only to discover the signal doesn’t extend past the Reception Area. I hope that this Wifi Extender (via a USB connection) might be the solution for us. Do you use a Wifi Extender when you travel?
Best Accommodation
In all we stayed at fifteen Airbnb places in Europe.
Viz, Hvar, Split, Skradin, Zadar, Zagreb in Croatia, Ljubljana in Slovenia, Trapani, Palermo, Modica, Syracuse, Giardini-Naxos, Salerno, Rome and Positano in Italy. We would rebook all of them except for the one at Trapani. By the time I got to booking Trapani, all of my original choices were gone so I made the mistake of choosing the cheapest place. When booking Airbnb as with other systems it is preferable to book early. We are crazy ambassadors for Airbnb and had such wonderful experiences in our Airbnb apartments during our 10 weeks in Europe 2015 trip. Taking into account cost, host helpfulness, food specialty welcome pack, convenience and interior decoration we chose our Modica Airbnb apartment as our Best Accommodation Experience, but the rest were very good too.
Use the Airbnb link in our side bar to receive your first time Airbnb user discount.
Airbnb Apartment Modica, Sicily.
Best Train Trip
Train 723 Salerno to Taormina-Giardini – Two 2nd Class Seats $31AUD total. Book through Italia.rail.com.
Train Trip Salerno, Italy to Taormina-Giardini Station, Sicily
The train from Salerno near the Amalfi Coast in Italy to Taormina-Giardini in Sicily got mixed/bad on-line reviews. Complaints ranged from no food on board, through smelly toilets, failing Air-Con and worst of all a four hour trip regularly blowing out to six hours. The train splits in two before boarding a ferry across the Straits of Messina – one half going to Palermo and the other Syracuse. Our destination was Giardini-Naxos which was before Catania on the Syracuse line. The station is on sea-level at G-N whilst Taormina is situated on the hill above.
We overlooked those reviews because
- we didn’t want to back track from Salerno to the airport at Naples
- if we flew we would then have to backtrack to from Catania to Giardini-Naxos
- we prefer trains to planes
- we would take our own food
- we can put up with a smelly toilet
- the train promised good views as it hugs the coastline
- how often does a train board a ferry?
- the train departed 15 mins walk from our Salerno airbnb place
- the arrival station at G-N was a walkable distance to our airbnb place
- two second class tickets cost $31 AUD total
Pay Dirt. The train ran to time, The Air-Con worked, the toilet wasn’t too bad, we were seated with interesting people, we had our own food but food vendors boarded the train. We totally recommend using this train to get from Salerno (and the Amalfi Coast) to Sicily.
Best European City
We are big city shy, but this year our flight to Europe arrived in and departed from Rome. We’d visited a long time ago and had no overwhelming desire to return, but this time we formed an instant rapport. Visiting in both Early and Late Spring we saw the Italian Capital in differing moods. Moderate temperatures and an even mix of sun and cloud made for delightfully long days of exploration in early Spring. Later in the season the sun beat down relentlessly and walking sucked the life out of me. To cope, I developed a routine of popping into a church, where I’d grab a pew, slip off my sandals and absorb some marble floor coolness. From these restorative sessions my appreciation of Rome’s churches blossomed.
No longer am I solely drawn to Temples and Mosques!
A mellow Colosseum on a Spring Night.
As we didn’t have access to the kitchen of this apartment we ate out far more than usual. Breakfast, served by our host, was accompanied by an enthusiastic and helpful discussion of our daily plans and Italian current affairs while we checked out Trastevere’s and Rome’s streetscape through rap around windows.
Best Road Trip in Europe
I voted Slovenia as the Best Road Trip in 2015 for the pure excitement of navigating through small roads and huge mountains. The gear shift certainly got a work-out on this trip.
But how can I ignore our driver Marty, who chose the trip from Metković in Croatia along the Neretva River to Mostar and Stolac, Trebinje and finally Kotor in Montenegro.
The mountains on the Bosnian side of the border with Montenegro were every bit as gorgeous as those in Slovenia.
Whilst on the highlights of our road trips in Europe, I must mention our seven days on the Island of Vis, Croatia. The only car available for rent when we applied was a yellow convertible. It had seen better days but it started every time and the roof went up and down successfully. This was without a doubt the most fun we’ve ever had in a rented vehicle. If you’ve never driven a convertible I suggest you do so without delay!
Best Car Rental Vis Island
The Funmobile on Vis Island
Best Sunset Croatia
Zadar, Croatia.
Staying in an apartment in Zadar’s old town, within earshot of the Sea Organ, the waterfront was on our doorstep. Evening was our time to visit the Sun Salutation, sit on the steps of the Organ and watch the sun set. My memory is full of sunset scenes like this.
Best Natural Attraction Sicily
Mt. Etna – Sicily
I was not prepared for the bizarre appearance of snow on lava. Like most black and white situations, the meeting was stark in perfect situations but where vehicles and people ventured a grey mush resulted. On arrival at Rifugio Sapienza base (1900m) the cable cars had automatically shut down due to high winds and the rest of our group ascended in 4WD trucks. There was a mix up with our tickets and in the time it took our guide to sort that out, the cable cars came back on line and we were the first to ascend in them – the trucks sounded safer to me! The Cable Cars (30 Euro) terminate at 2500 m after which a 4WD truck makes the final ascent (extra 33 Euro). A guide meets each truck and guides the passengers around the craters. It was bitterly cold at 2800m (the highest point visitors can reach) and the wind gusts were very strong – strong enough to blow me into a crater I felt! If you’re short on cash but want to get to the highest point, the walk from Rifugio Sapienza takes 4 hours but didn’t look appealing.
Etna is an active volcano. The following from Wikipedia.
On 3 December 2015, an eruption occurred which climaxed between 03:20 and 04:10 local time. The Voragine crater exhibited a lava fountain which reached 1 km (3,300 ft) in height, with an ash plume which reached 3 km (9,800 ft) in height.The activity continued on the following days, with an ash plume that reached 7 km (23,000 ft) in height that forced to shut down Catania airport for a few hours.
Best Housesitting Australia
In November we went north to Trinity Beach near Cairns and then further to Port Douglas where we housesat 4 horses and a Blue Cattle Dog. We find 99% of our Housesits through the Trusted Housesitters site.
This Cutie loves eating Bananas whole.
That trip also encompassed a barge crossing of the Daintree River and a day trip to Cape Tribulation. There will be more on the blog soon about that beautiful part of Queensland.
This post is linked to Corinne and Jim’s Weekend Travel Inspiration at Reflections Enroute.
WISHING YOU A NEW YEAR OF HAPPY TRAVELS.
FROM JAN AND MARTY AT BUDGET TRAVEL TALK.
Food to Love – Grilling Fish on Vis Island Croatia
What a fabulous year, I hope 2016 is as good to you. I’d never thought about taking our wifi extender with us, we have one so I can work outside on the patio or in the garden and it wouldn’t be hard to pack, not sure about the setup though. I’m going to give it a try.
I’ve seen other bloggers that use them, but I don’t know about the setting up of them.
Lovely pictures, good advice. We’ve never used Airbnb, but I keep reading so many good reviews of it that I feel I must give it a try. Happy New Year!
Yes you should try it just to see if you like it Anabel. We are true converts and it saves a lot of money and we love the local contact.
As a new convert to airbnb, im always glad to see other people post about it. That train trip is right my alley, will need to investigate that more! Glad you had a good 2015 :0
Thanks for commenting lain – I love seeing others using Airbnb too – it is such a great concept.
It seems you had a great travel year. I love Rome too and I often use Airbnb. You can get very good deals there.
Hi Anda, I’m glad you are a lover of Rome too. I am always thinking about it and what I might do if we return. Happy New Year.
You are such a travel inspiration Jan! What a wonderful and diverse year you’ve had. I love your tips and hints, and adventurous nature. Driving around Vis island in a convertible looked like so much fun!
Thanks Jo, It was fun thinking back to the best of moments in 2015. Bring on 2016!! We started the year off with a trip to our favourite waterhole and collecting shells on Balgal Beach. I’m happy now!
Wow, you get around a lot. What a great set of travel highlights. Love your caravan! 🙂 Looking forward to more of your adventures in 2016.
Julia
Hi Julia. We love our caravan too. I can’t remember seeing caravans when we were in Turkey – are they popular there?
Jan, I’ll be curious to see how much you love your caravan. Jim and I want to go that way as well, once we retire. I love your choices of “bests”. They all sound fantastic to me!
I’ll be posting about caravanning when we get to do some lol. We’ve had an old van before and we’ve done two trips in our new one. One for three weeks one for 3 days and our only issue is we are both a bit untidy and it begins to look cluttered. I guess after a while you just learn to be tidy!
I had no idea horses ate bananas! I love the look of your apartment in Sicily, especially the view from the window. What a year you had Jan. I’m feeling decidedly unadventurous now 🙂
We didn’t realize horses liked bananas either. I felt really silly because I asked if I should peel them first lol. So Pinky, if you ever have to feed a horse a banana you needn’t peel it! I think everyone is adventurous in different ways. You are very adventurous with words!
Looks like 2015 treated you well. I have always wanted to rent a convertible, especially to drive up the Pacific Coast Highway in the USA. The family did not like my suggestion that they and the luggage could follow me in a van and perhaps take a photo of me in the convertible every now and then. As for that great train you took…with my luck, I’d be on the car that ended up on the wrong ferry. Still it does sound like an interesting way to travel. I’ve never used AirBnB but recommended it to my cousin-in-law for her Italy trip, somewhat based on your rave reviews. She loved it! She said it was so much cheaper for their group of 6 people, and she really enjoyed connecting with locals. Lastly, I could have really used that WiFi extender in our Malaysian apartment as the cement walls kept the Wifi range rather small. I hope you have a great 2016.
I’m glad that your Cousin-in-law enjoyed the Airbnb experience. I think that was a great idea of you driving the convertible – pity the family weren’t impressed lol.
Sounds like you had a fun and exciting 2015! Sounds like a great set up you have with the fitted van with a solar panel. You’ll also have to let us know how the wifi extender works, we use one by Netgear and we use it quite often when we travel. Also fell in love with Rome this year, so much history, great art, and good food:)
2015 was a good year for us Jessica and I’m certainly looking forward to 2016. I’ve squirrelled away your Route 66 planning post in case we get to the States. 🙂
These are great!! What amazing adventures you’ve had and great technologies and “toys” you’ve discovered. 🙂
Thanks Krista, I’m looking forward to 2016 and if we get down your way, we’ll be sure to come and say hello!
2015 was a fabulous year of travel for you Jan. I love reading your best experiences! I’m definitely going to look for the little yellow convertible next time we head to Vis!
Yes DO IT! Do you think you will return to Vis Jenny?
Thanks – the wifi extender is a great idea. We have found ourselves frustrated on a few occasions because of just that issue.
You had a great 2015, that’s for sure. I’m looking forward to seeing what 2016 has in store for you. Do you have any teasers for us?
Thanks Linda, I’m hoping the wifi extender will work well but I’ve not purchased it yet.I’m looking for a house-sit somewhere amazing that we would love to visit and if we were the successful applicants we would then purchase our tickets (having checked first before applying as to how much those tickets would be). Other ideas include one month in Bali as there are cheap direct flights from Townsville to Bali, and/or a month in Japan because we love it. There will definitely be trips within Australia in our new van too!
Great roundup of your travels in 2015 Jan. I am very interested to hear that late Spring was a good time to visit Rome as I have heard it can be a nightmare during summer. We are thinking of travelling to Italy next year around May so this will hopefully be their quiet time. Great also to hear about your WiFi extender. I wish we had bought one of these for our around Australia trip in 2014. Happy New Year and happy travels! 🙂
Hi Kathy. No Late Spring was very hot (end of June) so if you intend to walk a lot that is not an ideal time. We arrived on 22nd April and the weather was gorgeous then. We spent four days there fromn 22nd April and then two days from 27th June. I haven’t purchased that Wifi Extender yet. I have read about it and was wanting feedback from anyone else who had used it before purchasing it. However it is not expensive so I will buy it anyway. Wishing you a great 2016 on the Goldie!
Gorgeous photos! I have loved all of Airbnb experiences!
What a great year for you! Personally, I’ve never thought of using a wifi extender before and I’m thinking now why I haven’t? That’s such a great tip! :p
I haven’t used it yet either!
Congratulations on an exciting year of travel! We’ll be heading back to the Balkans in the spring and I was particularly interested to see those mountains on the Bosnia/Montenegro border. We were in both Mostar and Kotor in early 2015 and we’d like to go back again to see more of each country.
All the best in 2016!
Frank (bbqboy)
I’m doing a post showing those very mountains this week Frank. Have you been to Sarajevo, I was sorry to miss it?