The Girl Who Goes

independent, intentional travel

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City Review: Bilbao, Spain

bilbao

As we continued our road trip, it was finally time to cross back into Spain after spending a week in Andorra and France. Of course, I loved getting to visit Andorra for the first time, and spend time in France in some places I’d never been before. But I was also somewhat relieved to be heading back to Spain — familiar territory, and most of all, a familiar language.

So after dealing with weather that the GPS in our rental car deemed to be a “hurricane,” we made it to Bilbao, Spain, late one evening. (After stopping at a gas station an hour outside of town for Matt to join a Zoom meeting. Such is the life of digital nomads.)

It was actually my second time visiting Bilbao, but since I was traveling alone the last time, I’m always happy to go back somewhere with a companion in tow, to experience it in a different way. So. Here’s what you need to know about visiting Bilbao, Spain. [Read more…]

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City Review: Bordeaux, France

place de la bourse - bordeaux france

Place de la Bourse in Bordeaux

After spending a few days in Toulouse, we were back on the road for our next stop on our European road trip: Bordeaux, France. While researching and planning our trip, I had Googled: “Toulouse or Bordeaux?” The internet didn’t provide a consensus (it would be weird if it did), and since the two cities are less than three hours apart, we decided to visit both.

So here’s what it was like to visit Bordeaux, France. [Read more…]

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Top 7 Things To Do in Toulouse, France

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Toulouse may not get as much attention as other cities in France, like Paris or Marseille. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth a visit! We spent a few days in Toulouse during our European road trip in January, and we found that there were lots of things to do — and eat — in Toulouse. Plus, the city itself is gorgeous. Did you know its nickname is “La Ville Rose,” or the pink city?

From art and architecture, to greenspace, to feats of engineering, here are 7 things to do in Toulouse. [Read more…]

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City Review: Toulouse, France

Andorra la Vella: check. Carcassonne: check. Next on the agenda was Toulouse, France. Matt had never been to France before, and I’d only been to Paris and Lyon, so Toulouse was totally new for both of us.

As with many of the places we went on our European road trip, we didn’t know what to expect because we don’t typically research places too much before we arrive. But we loved Toulouse, and Matt even said it was his favorite city we visited on the whole trip! So… keep reading to learn what it’s like to visit Toulouse, France. [Read more…]

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Is It Worth It To Visit Carcassonne, France?

carcassonne - feature photo

After leaving Andorra on our European road trip last month, our next stop was a quick little day trip to visit Carcassonne, France. Only a 3-hour drive from Andorra la Vella and one hour from where we’d be staying that night in Toulouse, we couldn’t resist the opportunity to visit. All the time we spent playing the board game Carcassonne with our roommates over the years meant that we had to at least check it out. [Read more…]

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City Review: Andorra la Vella, Andorra

andorra la vella - feature photo

The view from Rec del Sola in Andorra la Vella

Hi everyone! I’ve been really working on prioritizing my blog this year, but I’ve been so deep in some of the less fun website stuff… I need to make sure I keep writing along the way. So here I am, sitting down to continue sharing more about our European road trip from last month. I still have so much to tell you! And today I’m going to tell you all about Andorra la Vella, Andorra.

I also decided on a new post type called “city review,” which I’m planning to keep relatively formulaic. I’ve done review-type posts in the past, but my goal is to make them more functional for anyone who’s looking for advice on traveling to that city. City review #1, coming right up. [Read more…]

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5 Things To Know Before You Visit Andorra

visit andorra - flag

As part of my goal to visit five new countries this year — bringing my total to 30 while age 30 — Matt and I were able to visit Andorra for the first time last month. Our two-week European road trip brought us through the capital, Andorra la Vella, on our way from Barcelona up to France.

I didn’t know much about Andorra before visiting. Which is probably why so many things about it were a surprise. All I really know was that it’s where Spanish people like to go skiing in the winter. Yep, that’s all I knew! But when I saw how close it was to Barcelona, I knew we had to go.

So if you’re planning your own visit to Andorra, here are 5 things you need to know before you go. [Read more…]

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7 Things To Know Before Taking a Road Trip in Europe

Our car for our road trip in Europe.

Our BMW that we rented for our road trip in Europe!

Growing up, road trips helped me see more of the U.S. by the time I was 18 than many people ever get to see in their lives, which makes me so lucky! The importance that was placed on travel — in the form of my family’s annual road trip — definitely helped shape me into who I am today. But recently, I tackled a new undertaking: my first-ever road trip in Europe!

While I’d done day trips by car, or even weekend trips with friends in Europe, I’d never done something this ambitious, or for this long. Matt and I spent two weeks traversing parts of three countries, staying in six hotels along the way. But most of the cities we chose to visit weren’t more than 4 hours apart from each other, and we didn’t have lots of driving on back-to-back days. You can read our whole trip review here.

What I wanted to share, though, is that I learned a lot during this trip. So if you’re planning your own road trip in Europe, here are 7 things you’ll want to know before you set off. [Read more…]

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Trip Review: Barcelona + European Road Trip

european road trip: feature photo

Bonjour, friends! As I begin to write this post, I’m sitting in a coffee shop in Bordeaux, France. I’m almost halfway through our two-week European road trip across Andorra, southern France, and northern Spain. It’s been raining all day. Matt is back at the Airbnb taking a nap. And I almost didn’t sit down to write this because my computer was almost dead and all the outlets in this coffee shop had plastic covers on them. Devastatingly, I don’t speak French so I was too afraid to ask the one person who works here for help. Eventually I settled for a weak “bonjour” and holding up my laptop charger… and here we are.

I have SO MUCH to tell you all about this trip! About the cities we’ve been to, about the car rental process, about taking a road trip in Europe. But I wanted to start with a “trip review” type post, as I’ve done in the past. I’ll probably publish this before it’s all the way done and then just update it as we go through the rest of the trip. I think it will provide a lot of good context for the trip, and I’ll eventually update it with links to specific topics as well. [Read more…]

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A Review of Porter Airlines: Boston, USA to Quebec City, Canada

porter airlines plane

As I’ve mentioned here before, Matt and I have recently delved into the world of travel credit cards. No, we aren’t going into debt just to get free flights. (I don’t recommend anyone do that, obviously.) But we have used our credit cards to enhance our travel strategy. For example, with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card — our new go-to — we can get 5x points on any travel we book through the Chase travel portal.

When it was time to book our flights for my 30th birthday trip to Quebec City, Canada, we used a couple of our tried-and-true travel strategies in conjunction: fly from Kansas City to Boston on Southwest points, then book a separate flight from Boston to Quebec City. The whole thing ended up a lot cheaper than if we’d booked from KC to QC on one ticket. And, of course, we booked the Boston to QC flight using Chase travel.

But the big surprise was for the cheapest flight option we found: a company called Porter Airlines. [Read more…]

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