Author: JuliaRuby

Thoughts on Ecotourism, Travel, & Hospitality

International Flying with Cats

While Mexico was a trial run for travelling with our cats in some ways, in other ways, not so much. Abe and Lincoln got the experience of being in their carriers for long periods of time and staying in new locations. We learned how long it took before they got antsy and how anti-anxiety meds…
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Saturday in Slovenia

One of the reasons we decided to stay in Zagreb for a while is because of its location and the ease of travelling to other places from Croatia’s capital. Our first day trip would be to Ljubljana, Slovenia. We opted to take the train as it was super cheap and easy. We wanted to make…
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Sarajevo Sites

After a jam-packed day seeing Herzegovina, I decided to spend the next day and a half exploring the sites of Sarajevo. I joined the 90-minute East Meets West free walking tour. Our mid-30s female guide was very knowledgeable and personable and guided the group of 20+ strangers with ease through the city. She explained the…
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Scrumptious Sarajevo

When I wasn’t busy exploring Herzegovina or the sites of Sarajevo, I was occupied eating. For the most part, I absolutely loved the food (and drinks) in Sarajevo. The Turkish influence was definitely there with a twist, of course. I’ll spare you the details of the few underwhelming meals I had. Let’s focus on the…
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Exploring Herzegovina

After an afternoon on my own in Sarajevo, I felt very lucky that I ended up on a Funky Tours day trip to multiple spots in Herzegovina. We had a small group of 5 people — 2 professional photographers from So Cal, a gal from New York, and a guy from Hong Kong studying in…
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Sacred Heart Cathedral

Solo in Sarajevo

I love travelling with my husband — it’s special to be able to share all of the unique moments and experiences with him and to lean on each other in challenging or confusing situations. A few years ago I took my first extensive solo international trip to SE Asia for about 4 weeks and found…
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Hiking in Central Cali!

After our eventful stay in Baja, we were pretty excited to spend 10 days in Tulare, CA. I chose the location for its proximity to Sequoia National Park, Kings Canyon, and Yosemite. I had been yearning for some time in the woods and had not previously been to any of these parks so it seemed…
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Baja Sur – part two

After just over three weeks in Mulege (as I painstakingly covered in Part One), we packed up all of our belongings to relocate ourselves to a tiny town called San Bruno. Yes, we were relieved to be leaving the generator-dependent lifestyle but were also sad to say goodbye to the breathtaking view and immediate access…
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First stop: Baja Sur, Mexico – part one

We drove down to Baja Sur, Mulege specifically, in three days. The drive itself, while long, was pretty uneventful which is what one typically hopes for in a long drive like that. Even crossing the US/Mexican border was pretty mundane and easy. Little did we know, the easiest part of our time in Mexico was…
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The Planning: COVID, Cats, and Cost.

I am a planner, through and through. After we decided to move to New Zealand, we wanted to take advantage of this momentous life change and do some travel before landing on the other side of the globe. The logistical challenges: well, COVID. And, we would be travelling with our two cats. Yep, cats. Both…
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