The Girl Who Goes

independent, intentional travel

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City Review: Porto, Portugal

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I visited Porto, Portugal, for the first time in January 2019, and it ended up being one of the most magical weekends of my life. When I was living in Madrid, a friend from the U.S. was planning to come visit for a week, and we were going to spend a girls weekend in Porto, exploring and drinking port wine. However, she ended up getting sick and not being able to travel. Unbeknownst to me, another visitor was on his way — Matt, my former friend/co-worker/summer fling and present-day fiancé. 😉 After he surprised me at the airport, we spent a whirlwind weekend in Porto and it felt like something straight out of a movie.

After we got engaged this summer, and knowing we were heading back to Europe to apply for our digital nomad visas in Spain, I knew I wanted to go back to Porto and take our engagement photos there. Plus, it was a great opportunity to spend an entire week there instead of just a few days. I feel like we really got to know the city better! So here’s my city review of Porto, Portugal. [Read more…]

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7 Reasons to Visit Ljubljana, Slovenia

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When we visited Ljubljana in September, we showed up with zero expectations. All I knew about it was that my university had offered a study abroad program there, which I assumed meant that it had enough going on to be interesting. But the main reason for our visit to Ljubljana was that going to Slovenia helped me achieve my goal of visiting my 30th country at age 30.

It turns out that Ljubljana was an amazing little city and it didn’t take us long to fall in love with it! So if you’re looking for somewhere off-the-beaten-path to visit during your next Europe trip, here are 7 reasons why you should visit Ljubljana. [Read more…]

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City Review: Ljubljana, Slovenia

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We did it, Joe. This past September, I finally achieved my goal of visiting my 30th country at age 30! After spending five weeks in Spain as we applied for the Spain digital nomad visa, we set off on a month-long trip through five more countries. First was Croatia (country number #29) and next, finally, was country #30: Slovenia. Specifically, we went to Slovenia’s capital city, Ljubljana.

Ljubljana may seem like a random place to visit. Matt hadn’t even heard of it, and neither had anyone at home when we told them we were going to Ljubljana. I only knew about it because in college, my school had a study abroad program in Ljubljana. I was always curious about it, wondering why in the world Ljubljana had been chosen as an exchange partner.

It turns out that Ljubljana is a beautiful city and I can totally understand why students would love to live there! Here’s my city review of Ljubljana, Slovenia. [Read more…]

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City Review: Zagreb, Croatia

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After spending five weeks in Spain, it was time to set off for the second leg of our two-month trip. First stop: Zagreb, Croatia.

Neither of us had ever been to Zagreb or Croatia before, and I was eager to visit it as one of the last two new countries I needed to achieve my goal of 30 countries at age 30. Croatia was number 29! We flew direct from Madrid to Zagreb, where we spent three days exploring Croatia’s capital city.

Here’s what you need to know about visiting Zagreb, Croatia. [Read more…]

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A Review of LEVEL Airlines: Boston to Barcelona

level airlines review

Over the years, I’ve flown between the U.S. and Spain on a few different airlines. Usually, I fly with Iberia, American, or Norwegian. But for our most recent trip, we tried an airline I had never even heard of before — LEVEL Airlines.

Usually, we try to travel during the off-peak seasons to find cheaper tickets, but we had a few reasons for needing to be in Europe this August-October. Not only were we applying for our Spain digital nomad visa and checking out our destination wedding venue a year in advance, but we also wanted to get engagement photos taken in Porto, Portugal. We accepted the fact that we were going to have to pay more for plane tickets than we’re used to.

However, we found LEVEL Airlines to be about on par with what we typically pay when flying between the U.S. and Europe. From Boston to Barcelona, it was $540.50 per person. We did have to use Southwest points to get us to Boston from Kansas City, but it was worth it for the cheap flight on to Spain.

Here’s what you need to know about LEVEL Airlines and my review of my experience. [Read more…]

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Day Trip: Sevilla to Córdoba, Spain

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Knowing that we were going to be spending all of August and a bit of September in Sevilla, we figured we’d at least take a day trip from Sevilla to Córdoba while we were there. It was a city I’d heard so much about, and I’d never had the chance to visit! But with the temperature typically above 100°F (~37C) in both Sevilla and Córdoba, it was looking like we’d have to save Córdoba for another trip to Andalucía. We went to Cádiz to escape the heat one weekend instead.

Luckily, on our last full day in Sevilla — a Monday, which was Labor Day at home — the high temps in Córdoba dropped to the low 80s and we decided we’d make the trip from Sevilla to Córdoba after all. Unlike when we’d gone to Cádiz, we didn’t have any problem finding seats on the train, so we took the RENFE Media Distancia train, which cost €11 per person each way, and got us from Sevilla to Córdoba in one hour and 19 minutes.

If you want to plan your own day trip from Sevilla to Córdoba, here’s what you need to know. [Read more…]

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Day Trip: Sevilla to Cádiz, Spain

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Spending the entire month of August in southern Spain was a CHOICE. As much as we love Sevilla, and we hope to make it our home base in Spain when we move, the 112°F (~45C) days were tough to stomach. Initially, I wanted to take a day trip to Córdoba, but the forecast looked basically the same there, and I knew we wouldn’t be able to enjoy sightseeing in those conditions. So I started to research places within an hour or two from Sevilla that could give us a true respite from the heat, just for a day. And that’s how I found Cádiz.

It seemed like everyone else had the same idea, considering that it was nearly impossible to find a train to Cádiz that still had seats available for any weekend day we were in Sevilla. Eventually, we were able to find a spot on the first train of the day on a Friday morning, but everything coming back later that day was sold out… so we turned to popular European carpooling app, BlaBlaCar, for the trip back home. (More on that later.)

Anyway, if you want to get from Sevilla to Cádiz, here’s what you need to know! [Read more…]

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Everything You Need To Know About Visiting Barcelona

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Park Güell

To those who are here because they’re coming to our 2024 wedding outside of Barcelona — this is for you! 🤍 And to those who stumbled across it because they also want to know everything they need to know about Barcelona — this is for you, too.

Whatever your reason, I’m glad you’re here. I’m going to try my best to introduce Barcelona and Spain for anyone who’s visiting for the first time. [Read more…]

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The Best & Worst Cities To Change Airports for Cheaper Flights

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When we travel internationally — whether it’s to Europe, Central or South America, Asia, or elsewhere — we often find and book the cheapest flights from bigger cities to our destination. From Kansas City, where we live, there just aren’t as many cost-effective options. Typically, we use Southwest points we accrued in our former lives as corporate consultants to help us get from KC to our destination city.

Our favorite place to transfer is Boston (like we did for this Europe trip we’re on right now) because Boston only has one airport and we only have to change terminals, but a lot of big hub cities have multiple airports. And Southwest typically flies into the smaller airport of the two. Which means we have to plan the transfer into our travel day. Depending on the airports and cities, this can range from a minor pain to a major one.

The four cities we’ve transferred airports on a travel day are Chicago, Fort Lauderdale/Miami, New York City, and Houston. Here’s a review of what it’s like to change airports using public transportation in those four cities, ranked from best to worst, with ratings based on a few factors. [Read more…]

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How To Transfer from Fort Lauderdale Airport (FLL) to Miami Airport (MIA)

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The Tri-Rail Train helps you transfer from Fort Lauderdale to Miami airport.

Somehow, more than five years after quitting my corporate job that helped me rack up hundreds of thousands of Southwest Airlines points, I still have points left. And I’m still using them to my advantage. You might know by now that we typically use the Southwest points to fly for free from Kansas City to a bigger cities with better direct flights. So when we went to Costa Rica in April, we flew from Kansas City to Fort Lauderdale for free, and then booked our actual flight to San José from Miami.

But we did have to transfer airports: from Fort Lauderdale to Miami. With more airlines offering layovers at different airports in the same city/region these days, it’s important to know how to get from Fort Lauderdale to Miami, or vice versa, most efficiently.

So here’s what you need to know about transferring airports between Fort Lauderdale and Miami. [Read more…]