One Adventure Away

11/30/2024

Oh heeey it’s and guess what? We’re a small business!

Our goal at One Adventure Away is to take some of the stress out of travel by crafting personalized travel plans that get you closer to that perfect travel moment.

Check us out at www.1adventureaway.com or hit us up in our DMs! We can’t do anything about TSA, but we can find you that life-giving cappuccino! ☕️

08/11/2024

Just now wrapping up a few weeks here in England touring some ancient (like, OLD old) sites, and it’s been fabulous and certainly eye-opening in terms of family-friendly travel.

If you know me, you know that I don’t automatically dismiss short-term rentals as the tools of the devil because in a lot of cases, they’re literally the only cost-effective, comfortable way a family can travel together. The solution for family travel so many hotels offer is a room that is twice as expensive for two double beds crammed right next to each other… and any family can tell you that has never been a good solution.

This trip (with the exception of London because we literally had no choice) we stayed in small, ancient B&Bs (the Garden Hilton at Heathrow T2 being a notable exception lol), as first of all, those are the kinds of places we love to stay but second of all, I wanted to see how they ranked against the bigger, more expensive hotels in terms of comfort for families traveling together.

Here’s what I found, ranked in order of worst to best:

01/17/2024

…and people wonder why families fall back into the arms of short-term rentals. 🙄

Just trying to book a hotel room for my husband, 13 year old kid, and me in London this summer. That’s all! Should be simple right? I would say a good 70% of the hotels in the area we need to be (in City of London, near the Tower) can’t accommodate more than three people per room. We could get two rooms, one for our underage kid and one for us and lie about who’s staying in the rooms… and then we get to pay for two £500 per night rooms instead of one. And hilariously if they can accommodate three people in a room? It’s usually over £1,000 per night for the privilege of having our teenager curl up on a sofa at the foot of our bed.

Please find a way to do better, hotels. I want to book with characteristic, historic, independently run hotels but it sure is rough.

10/06/2023

It is Spooky Season, Europhiles!! And I don't know about you cats, but I for one LOVE a good ghost story.

So I am here to announce the first ever OAA Haunted Europe spooky story contest!!

Here's how it works:

- Send in YOUR absolutely, 100% true spooky ghost stories from your European travels to [email protected]

- We will post them on our website at https://www.1adventureaway.com/traveltales/haunted-europe and make sure to raise the alarm here on FB and on our Instagram whenever there are new submissions!

- Our crack team of ghost story experts will choose our faves, and one day before Halloween, Oct. 30, we will announce the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners!

And my goodness will you get some FAB prizes!

1st place winner: an OAA t-shirt and 40% off any travel plan
2nd place winner: 20% off any travel plan
3rd place winner: 10% off any travel plan

So what are you waiting for?? Send in those spine-tingling stories of ghosts who made their presence known to you in Europe! I'll be kicking off the fun later on tonight (spooooky) with my two personal favorites (and coincidentally the only two I have), so watch this space!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

09/07/2023

Adventures in solo travel, from guest blogger Megan Starks

Guest author Megan Starks blogged her way across Europe on a solo tour this year. Hijinks ensue!

08/24/2023

It’s called “skiplagging,” and it’s when you book a flight with a layover then… never get on the flight after your layover.

People do it for a variety of reasons, the biggest being to save money. If a direct flight costs you $500 more than a flight with a layover in exactly the place where you want to go, would you be tempted to skiplag? (Which I assume is the correct usage of that term?)

What are your thoughts? Is skiplagging a good idea to save $$, or are airlines in the right for punishing travels who do it?

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/08/travel/skiplagging-hidden-city-travel-layover.html

Booking a flight with a layover in the city that’s the real destination for the traveler can net big bargains, but airlines prohibit the practice.

08/08/2023

Fine, we've convinced you to do carry-on only. How does that work, exactly?

How do you solve a problem like a suitcase? Check out these packing tips and travel hacks, from 26 countries’ worth of trips.

08/02/2023

If you follow travel news, lately you may be asking yourself: WTF is ETIAS?

We break it on down for you in our latest Tale from the Road. They how, the when, the why—everything we know about this new requirement for U.S. travelers to Europe next year.

(photo credit: )

https://www.1adventureaway.com/traveltales/what-the-hell-is-etias-anyway

07/13/2023

Perhaps predictably, the Pantheon’s ticket roll-out has been… fraught at best.

My advice? You don’t need pay for an audio guide, or any kind of tour, just to visit the Pantheon. Bring your guidebook or better yet, download Rick Steves’ excellent audio tours for Rome—for free. He’ll tell you all you need to know and you won’t pay a dime.

Get to the Pantheon by 8:30 am to buy your €5 tickets on-site for the first entrance, 9:00 am. And you’ll be happy you did.

There is now a 5 euro fee to get into one of Italy’s most popular sites, but the process has been bewildering for some, and there are fears the system could be abused.

07/06/2023

Europe has become a lot harder to handle in the summer, thanks to crowds and climate. Shoulder season used to be May and Sept; now we recommend going in April or Oct. What are your summer vacation horror stories?

Europe’s ‘high season’ is an obstacle course full of tourist traps, long waits and travel chaos.

07/06/2023

WOOF it is hot and crrrrrrrazy in Rome right now. Revenge Travel is packing Rome like sardines in a crushed tin can (Radiohead reference), and temps are in the upper 90s/low 100s already.

Sometimes you just don't have a choice for when you travel. It's based on kids schedules, work schedules, whatever. But if you do have a choice, here's a handy tip from the brilliant Rome super-fan Steve Graham: try to go in the winter.

In our latest Tale from the Road, guest traveler Steve dives in to the good and the... maybe-a-little-chilly-but-any-excuse-to-shop-in-Rome-is-OK-right... when traveling in Rome in winter.

It's worth it just for the title of the article if I'm being honest.

I had the chance to visit Rome in January of this year, so I could finally experience one of my favorite cities in the off season, and I would gladly do it again!

06/25/2023

The Hague has more to offer than just its greatest hits. Our intrepid travel buddy and Hague resident Riley just dropped part II of The Hague: Amsterdam’s Chill Cousin—Hague Like a Local. She shares some hidden gems, architectural oddities, and fun neighborhoods to enjoy, and personally, I can’t wait to pop over to The Hague again and check some of these places out!

**If you need help planning your adventure to the The Hague, hit us up!**

Hague Like A Local The Hague has more to offer than just its greatest hits. Here are some hidden gems, architectural oddities, and fun neighborhoods to enjoy: 

06/24/2023

In 1990, Tom Stuker paid a fortune for a lifetime pass on United Airlines. "Best investment of my life," he says, 23 million miles later.

06/13/2023

The Hague. Isn't that just the place that people in movies speak about in ominous tones?

Nope!!

Dreaming of Amsterdam but dreading the crowds? The Hague (that town you hear about in European based action movies) might be what you’re looking for. World renowned art museums? Check. Proximity to tulip fields and windmills? Check. A mix of gorgeous historical architecture? Check. Drunken stag pa...

05/26/2023

It's true, Venice is chock full of gondolas... right up until you want one.

Sometimes even travel obsessives miss a trick or two.

05/09/2023

Wading into the firestorm of controversy that is the defense of short-term rentals, Kate dives into the whys and hows and wheres and wtfs of choosing them over hotels.

https://www.1adventureaway.com/traveltales/vacation-rentals