Always enjoyed Europe for the incredible number of tiny picturesque towns scattered all over the continent, from tiny villages hosting a few hundred people, to full-blown castle towns. Cesky Krumlov is basically both of them, having a very colorful central European town, with a Castle overlooking it! Walking around town is just amazing, especially when you are lucky enough to have a snowy day and its dozen viewpoints change completely! A Beautiful Christmas Market The Christmas market was really cute, serving traditional Czech & Hungarian desserts, like the infamous Chimeny Cake (Locally called Trdelnik in Czech), and Sweet wine at a much cheaper price than in Germany. I also enjoyed the small decoration on all the houses in the center, as well as the music in the main square, all day long. Castle Gardens the castle gardens are also spectacular! Just so well maintained, with […]
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GLOBETROTTER is a Best Seller! – Ian Boudreault Recounts 17 Years on the Road While Visiting Every Country in the World
Here it is! At last! You have no idea how happy I am to announce it. I can finally unveil my precious little conception I’ve been working so hard on, to the world! My feet were itching at the idea of having to keep it a secret for more than a year and a half! But with Covid raging all over the world, borders shut tight, restricting me from reaching my last country, I just had no choice… Fast forward to August 2021, having the book 99% ready for launch, I finally reached my 195th and final country in Libya. So I am proud to finally be able to present it to the world! What is Globetrotter? In simple words, it is my memoir. 17 years spent roaming the world, living non-stop in a suitcase, to 230 countries including every one of the 195 countries […]
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Discovering Mexico During Covid: The Central Highlands
Ten months in Brazil is definitely more than I thought I would stay in 2020. But as the health situation improved in January 2021 (before falling back into chaos with their second wave), I had to leave the country as the state of emergency had been withdrawn, along with the extended visa allowances for tourists. With borders still tightly shut all over the world, I had to find a place that was equally welcoming to foreigners, and big enough to provide quality content for a nomad like me. Mexico checked all the boxes. So there I went, on a flight to one of my favorite countries in the world, arriving in its capital, Mexico City. Mexico is a massive country! It has so much diversity, from its northern desertic regions, to its three mountain chains, as well as two massive coasts stretching on both the […]
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The “Marathon of the Seas” Expedition: KiteSurfing 350 km of Ocean Stretch Off the Brazilian Coast
Just imagine for a second undertaking the challenge of traveling on the ocean on a surfboard for an average of 90 km per day for 4 days in a row, reaching some of the most beautiful scenery available in Brazil, sleeping in small fishing village to recharge your batteries before hitting the waves again and again for over 6 hours daily. This is what I’ve been signing in for on this incredible journey of downwinder KiteSurf trip that took me on an adventure of more than 350 km of surfing in August 2020. The prospect of such a challenge seemed overwhelming at first when a friend invited me to take part in Lagartixa kite trip, but it undoubtedly turned out one of the most amazing experience I have done in the past years! KiteSurf Downwinders The beauty of KiteSurfing lies in it’s astonishing freedom and […]
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One Day in Rio de Janeiro
Here’s a little snapshot I wanted to share where I am at the moment. Spending time home in quarantine isn’t easy. At least I have the beauty of the marvelous city of Rio de Janeiro to keep my morale up while I can’t continue traveling around the world. I decided to have a little fun today. I took pictures of the view from my window at different times to compare them together, to show how the beauty of this city changes through time. I am constantly blown away by Rio which never ceases to impress me year after year, every single day, every single hour. The pictures are taken from my Lagoa apartment rental I found to spend the quarantine, overlooking the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon. I took the first picture early in the morning at 7:00, where the sun wakes up from behind, lighting […]
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My Favorite Town in Cuba is… Trinidad!
Even better than Havana in my opinion, it is a perfect little picturesque and authentic village to spend two to three days while in Cuba. I felt transported back in the 19th century walking around its cobblestone streets and its colorful houses. The setup is just magical and nature as well. But be quick to come because I predict that its authenticity will disappear very soon as it is booming with construction at the moment. Hotels are popping everywhere and tourist traps will arrive soon after. If they say Cuba must be visited before it becomes developed, then Trinidad is to be number one on your bucket list. What should you do there? I enjoyed just walking around the old town. It’s so nice and feels so good to just observe how people are living. It just feels so colonial at the same time so […]
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Spending New Year’s Eve in Havana
I had long wanted to go back to Cuba since I first visited the island back in 2002. At the time, it was the typical all-inclusive hotel in Cayo Coco in the middle of the island so I couldn’t really say I had the real Cuban experience. Nevertheless, I remember I had been stung by the joy of the people of Cuba and since I this year I had the opportunity to go back, I thought to myself it could be a good experience to spend New year’s Eve in the country. Havana the capital of joy If we can call Havana the Capital of rum we can also pro probably call it the capital of cigars, salsa and even fun-loving people too. For me time in the city, I rented a one-week apartment in the old town of Havana which was a great way […]
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YEMEN – My 194th of 195 Country Visited – A One Week Expedition Across Socotra
Plunged into a Civil war since 2015, Yemen has been a difficult destination to visit on my quest to reach every one of the 196 countries of the world. I have been waiting for years to be able to go to Sana’a, the cultural capital of Yemen. But as I was planning to come in 2014, it became more and more dangerous for foreigners. It became too risky to make it to the country and soon after, the country fell into a never-ending war which is still raging strong at the time of writing this article. But even during wartime, there are always workarounds to enter a country. So how was it possible for me to spend a whole week in Yemen in 2019? The Secret was to go to Socotra, an island which is part of an archipelago of 4 islands located in the Arabian […]
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Piran, the Slovenian Jewel of the Adriatic Sea
Piran, also known as Pirano, it’s Italian name, shines as one of my favorite and most beautiful city on the Adriatic coast! After visiting Rovinj and choosing it as the most beautiful city of Croatia in a previous article, Piran is toe to toe with Rovinj, probably even more beautiful! No wonder Slovenia kept this tiny opening coast to the sea where Piran is located as part of their territory. An example of Italian Gothic Architecture Piran is actually very small, just about 5000 inhabitants, but definitely boosts that amount to several thousand more during the peak summer season when all the tourists are around. Its reputation is quickly gaining some momentum and soon this tiny little town will be on everybody’s itinerary as it boasts some impressive character. Chinese tourist groups are already on the lookout as I’ve seen tons of them during […]
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Visiting The Magical Istrian Mountain Towns in Croatia
Though the Istrian Coast gather much of the fame for its pristine blue seas and beautiful Venetian towns, another side of Istria should not be missed while visiting the area. The Istrian interior, a mixture of rolling hills, fertile plains and pine forests with medieval hilltop villages is just as impressive and interesting, making a day or two visit an ideal way to gasp in the experience! If you are the kind of person who gets enchanted by Toscany style Plaines, the Istrian Interior is sure to impress you just as much. Vineyard-dotted Hills and Medieval Towns The pace definitly slows down from the buzzing tourist lifestyle of the coast, but that’s actually a good thing! The main activity in this part of Croatia isn’t tourism as much, but rather wine-making, olive culture, asparagus harvesting and most importantly, truffle hunting (which you can actually take […]
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