travelhelix

24/11/2020

Wishing everyone a safe and happy start to this totally unique and weird holiday season. Although we’ll be celebrating Thanksgiving with our families from afar this year, we’re reminded to always love and be grateful for the big and little things in life, regardless of any obstacles that interfere with what we’re used to calling “normal” — so cheers to finding a way to love Thanksgiving anyways, however it looks for you and your loved ones this year 🍗🥂✨Turkey aside, also feeling pretty damn grateful for the last 7️⃣8️⃣ days of marriage and our ever-evolving, crazy path of life, 😌🦦
📷 — still not over our incredibly dreamy backyard wedding photos. Grateful for your incredible talent and enthusiasm on our special day! It was a pleasure working with you 💛

02/06/2020

Black lives matter. We see you and we are with you.

12/02/2020

Who wants free flights in 2021? 🙋🏻‍♀️🙋‍♂️ US TOO! In 2018, we scored 18 free flights ($2475!) around the US on D's Southwest Companion Pass. Now (at least for another week), there’s a GREAT opportunity for you to earn one of your own and score free flights in 2021.

The Companion Pass has been our #1 💸-saving ✈️ perk, and we’re revving up for round 2. We’ve polished up an approach to get even more out of it, and wanted to share some of these tips with you!

In the post, we’ve broken down the process to a T — and if any of you are familiar with Adam’s spreadsheet obsession, you know how detailed we’re talking here 🤓

Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments below! 💛❤️💙

https://travelhelix.com/2020/02/09/fastest-way-to-earn-the-southwest-companion-pass-2020/

The fastest way to earn the Southwest Companion Pass: sign up for 2 Southwest credit cards. Includes analysis & long-term strategy.

26/12/2019

Happy holidays to all! ✨ Currently daydreaming of the calmness this moment represents as we struggle to grasp where the time has gone. As 2019 comes to a close, we’re taking some time to reflect on the incredible experiences we had — to write about them, post photos, tell stories to one another, talk about the people we met, the people already in our lives that we love — so we don’t forget them. Just yesterday, we were brought back to a memory from Christmas Day spent in Curaçao last year. We met a wonderful Canadian couple and their pup and spent the day eating, laying by the beach and telling stories to one another. Yesterday, they reached out to wish us happy holidays from a different island, remembering our time spent together last year. It was such a simple yet special message, reminding us of the power of connections, and that these memories should be cherished! So there you have it. Memory → cherished.
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Who has a favorite memory from 2019 they’d like to share? We want to hear it ↓↓↓
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15/11/2019

A quick glimpse into the incredible event we went to last week! Check out seconds 0:11 & 0:39 👀

Still soaking in everything that happened! More photos and recaps coming. Thank you Nomad City Gran Canaria

Nomad City 2019 was a blast ! It´s hard to showcase the energy of an event on video, but make sure you join us in 2020 to experience it.

25/10/2019

What’s up FB world! We have some fun Friday news for you! Adam and I are beyond excited & honored to be joining experts from around the world at the 4th annual NomadCity Conference in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, November 7-9. It’s shaping up to be an incredible event: a pool of more than 25 speakers and mentors, 16 workshops, 8 keynotes and 3 discussion panels over 2 intensive days to help remote workers and teams succeed. Plus, welcome and farewell parties, networking events, meetups and activities all week long.

We’ll be hosting one of the workshops for individuals and entrepreneurs on travel hacking tips, tricks & resources for saving time & money as a location-independent professional. Want to learn more about the conference? Check out nomadcity.org! Nomad City Gran Canaria

If someone you know may find value in attending an event like this, please share & let us know - we have a 30% speaker discount code for them! We’re looking forward to reporting back after the conference with takeaways and insights from the ever-growing and evolving world of remote work! Drop any questions below & have a great weekend!🤩

27/09/2019

Check it out y’all! Adam recently applied for a travel writing scholarship in Portugal…ANNNNND…he did not get the job. However, we are excited to share his submission with you — a story of unexpected discovery…unique weapons…and the best rum in Aruba. Enjoy! 🍹

PS — thank you Stephanie Fishman for filling the role of impromptu Editor-in-Chief for this project. As Adam says, “you were firm, but fair.”

https://travelhelix.com/2019/09/26/best-rum-in-aruba/

For the best rum in Aruba, head to The Arubian Taste. Creative mixology, free tastings and amazing owners eager to share their knowledge...and rum!

22/08/2019

Hello everybody!

WHERE HAS THE SUMMER GONE?! Whether your family is in back-to-school mode…or you find yourself suffering from a bit of “post vacation hangover/depression”…it’s not too soon to start thinking about your next getaway.

ICYMI, travelhelix has evolved a LOT over the last couple months: thanks to the advice and referrals of many of you, and our Remote Year family from South America, our boutique travel planning and consulting service has taken off, and we’ve been DEEP into planning vacations and helping people travel better and smarter! Head to our new Plan-A-Trip page for more info: https://travelhelix.com/plan-a-trip/

Consider travelhelix your personal travel concierge: whether you need help designing an unforgettable vacation experience…or you’d like to learn some of the secrets of travel-hacking…or want to know how to maximize frequent flyer miles or credit card points, we’ve got you covered. Don’t have the time or desire to research & plan? First time planning a big trip and you don’t know where to start? Let’s chat, and put your mind at ease!

Time to make your next trip the best one yet! And if you know someone that needs help planning a vacation, please share this with them or send them our way! Email: [email protected].

Sending hugs from sunny California!

P.S. — a look into some of our clients’ past & future trips to get your travel bug going: a honeymoon to Greece, a family trip to Prague & Croatia, a Euro trip to Dublin, London & Amsterdam, a solo adventure to Belize, a couples trip to Barbados, a solo trip to Egypt, and a camper-van trip through Iceland! Where to next? You tell us!

31/05/2019

Happy Friday, Fam! Tomorrow is June, which means summer 🌞 (or winter ❄️) are right around the corner! Is your next vacation already planned? ☑️ Or is it still hanging out on the to-do list? 🧐

If you’re sitting on a bunch of unused vacation days…but you just don’t have the time to research and plan your trip, maybe we can help 😎

Check out our PLAN A TRIP page and fill out a quick 1-minute questionnaire to get the ball rolling. Comprehensive vacation planning...a la carte travel services...travel consulting...we've got you 💪

Cheers!
-DnA 🧬

PS—if you’re not already subscribed to our e-newsletter, click that big blue SIGN UP button in the upper right-hand corner! We’ll hit you with a funky mix of travel goodness (guides, tips, pics & anecdotes) once a week 📫

https://travelhelix.com/plan-a-trip/

Experience the world. Leave the details to us. As a small, boutique operation, travelhelix is able to provide a highly-personal and customized approach to each of our clients. We offer a variety of trip-planning packages and other travel services, including: Comprehensive vacation planning You provi...

23/05/2019

Hey fam! The travelhelix merch offering just expanded. Order some fresh gear in the next 43 hours and enter promo code FANFAVE at checkout to SAVE 10% ON YOUR ORDER.

Now featuring: llamas, otters, adult tees, kids tees & hoodies. More colors. Same softness. Same love for travel, animals & timeless hip-hop.

Sale runs through SATURDAY (5/25/19) @ 9am EST / 6am PST. Have a great weekend y’all!

https://teespring.com/stores/travelhelix

Travelhelix.com is a partnership of passion formed by Danielle (D) and Adam (A). We love animals, timeless hip-hop music, and not taking ourselves too seriously. Any purchases you make here help contribute to our efforts. Thank you for your support!

21/05/2019

5 days. 4 nights. 60+ miles of hiking. Rocky passes. Turquoise lakes. Cloud forests. Powerful rivers. Epic waterfalls. Mind-blowing landscapes.
The Salkantay Trek which was one of the most challenging — and fulfilling — experiences of our lives. We worked our asses off for 4 days to arrive at Machu Picchu on the 5th. Completely surreal.
It’s been said that “it’s not the destination, but the journey.” But when the destination is Machu Picchu, does that saying hold true? In this case — with what we just experienced — we can say with confidence that it was all about the journey. At least, as much about the journey as the destination itself.
The utmost respect for the Inca people that paved these paths hundreds of years ago. And lots of love to our new friends for life that we made along the way. This one will definitely be close to our hearts forever ❤️

14/05/2019

Hello humidity. Hello LIMA! 🇵🇪
We’ve been off our posting game for the last few weeks - taking in everything Peru has to offer (and not to mention our quick jump over to the States for D’s best friend’s wedding). While we’ve loved exploring Lima, we’ve just touched down in Cusco, and are off to take on the Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu this week! Hoping all you beautiful humans have a great week ahead. We’ve got lots more coming for you soon! ♡
📷 - Thank you for this gem of a shot! 👊

21/04/2019

Silly Santiago Sunset Saturday’s….I just can’t get over A’s hair. The last time it was this long (and important - a bowl cut!) people used to stop his mother on the street and say, “your daughter has the most beautiful red hair.” 😂😂😂

18/04/2019

Pensamos un mundo mejor…. Y en este Shakshuka 🍳Thank you Ñam festival for quite the introduction to Santiago. Still dreaming of all the delicious dishes we tried…(2 weeks later 😳)

08/04/2019

OLD TOWN | Bascílica del Voto Nacional
A view from the top worth crossing one rickety bridge and climbing up 3 steep, metal ladders for. Yet another Quito landmark you don’t want to miss! 🇪🇨

04/04/2019

Our last epic sunset from this beautiful city in the clouds ✨🏙☁️

01/04/2019

Ecuador, you stole our hearts❤️We will miss this place beyond belief! The people, the food, the culture - everything has been amazing. And we have so much more to share from this chapter! In the meantime, our next adventure starts tomorrow - Chile, here we come! ✈️

29/03/2019

Excited and honored to share this interview with Discover Slovenia In Pictures! Slovenia is a beautiful country with incredible people, and it was amazing to re-live some of our favorite Slovenian memories—and global adventures—through the interview. Check it out!

28/03/2019

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Enter promo code LLAMARCH19 before checkout to get FREE SHIPPING (US only). Promo code EXPIRES ON SUNDAY (3/31/19).

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And please share if you know someone who loves a) llamas b) hip-hop c) soft tees or d) all of the above.

PS—disclosure, friends: we do receive a small commission for llama tee purchases. Thank you for your support!

19/03/2019

MINDO | Welcome back to the ☁️ y’all. We call this one the aquatic trifecta: 1) swimming in a natural pool 2) in front of a waterfall 3) during an afternoon rain storm 💦 After a hike through Mindo’s warm, humid cloud forest, this triple dose of refreshment was more than welcome😅
Our adventure to the “Santuario de las Cascadas” (sanctuary of the waterfalls) got off to a bit of a late start though. *Cough cough* we won’t mention who was the slow one that morning… With 2 different trails routes, 7 waterfalls, and several natural pools along the way, you really could make this an all day experience. Or at least try to get an early start, since the last Tarabita ride back from the waterfalls leaves at 4:30PM and you don’t want to miss that and end up stuck on the mountain. We didn’t arrive until 2:00PM. Good job us 👏 But we luckily had enough time to hit 3 out of the 7 ‘falls and go for a little swim. Pictured behind us is Cascada Guarumos, gorgeous rain or shine ☺️

17/03/2019

AYAMPE | There was no better place for a 5-day beach getaway 🏖 / technology cleanse / engagement (🤩) than Ayampe! We stayed at the incredible Finca Punta Ayampe, ate delicious food, watched some of the best sunsets we’ve ever seen, enjoyed a yoga class 🧘🏻‍♀️🧘🏼‍♂️, a surf class 🏄🏻‍♀️🏄🏼‍♂️, and soaked in every moment of tranquility that we could.
In general, an Ayampe getaway will cost you more than the nearby coastal towns of Puerto Lopez (20 minutes north) or Montañita (30 minutes south). Although, “cost you more” is a very relative term! In Ayampe, you can still find great meals for under $5, and awesome lodging options on a budget. Depending on the time of year, you can book a private cabana at Finca Punta Ayampe - the number 1 rated property in town - for around $60, including an amazing breakfast 🍳
And it’s all for good reason y’all: the Ayampe locals (of which there are only about 500!) are determined to keep the character of this place what it currently is - a tranquil, relaxing, off the beaten path escape from the neighboring party towns 🙏. If you’re visiting the coast of Ecuador and want to relax, surf, meditate or connect with nature, without the crowds, then Ayampe is your next destination ✨


Finca Punta Ayampe

16/03/2019

Little did I know 5 hours after this picture was taken we’d be ENGAGED! ❤️🙊✨‼️ Have taken a bit of time off from the digital world in the last week to enjoy this incredibly special moment in our lives. Thanks to all of YOU - our family, friends, and strangers for all the constant support on this bizarre and powerful platform. Feeling and sending out a lot of love and positive energy to you all today and everyday. Ayampe, we will never forget you! Cheers! 🥂🎉🍾 | 03.09.19 | 🥰

04/03/2019

MINDO | Bienvenidos a Mindo my people, welcome to the clouds…again!☁️🌤☁️
Mindo, Ecuador’s cloud forest, is known for its butterflies 🦋, hummingbirds, laid-back vibes, and endless supply of outdoor activities: waterfall hikes, canopy zip lining, and inner-tubing down the Mindo River, to name a few 💦
You also kind of constantly feel like you’re in the clouds, which is ridiculously enchanting.
Today’s adventure: a hike through the cloud forest to the “Santuario de las Cascadas” (sanctuary of the waterfalls) which runs along the Nambillo River. This silver chairlift escorted us up a steep mountain and across a dramatic valley to our second mode of transportation: a yellow roofless box car (aka, la tarabita). From there, it was across another dramatic valley, where a rainy hike, refreshing waterfalls and natural pools awaited us ✨
Lots more Mindo content, coming to you guys soon!

04/03/2019

QUILOTOA from below | Due to adverse weather conditions, we had to cancel our hike around the rim of the Quilotoa Crater at the last minute. Instead, we traded it for a an amazing hike up to the Refugio base camp of Cotopaxi (pictures coming soon) 🌋
We are still hoping to get back to Quilotoa one more time before this Ecuador chapter comes to a close. In the meantime, sharing this little glimpse of the beautiful Quilotoa Lagoon from our first trip a couple of weeks ago 🤗 Have a great week friends!
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25/02/2019

QUILOTOA | Ecuador’s volcano-caldera-lagoon-lake-crater of astonishing beauty🌋
Our first visit to Quilotoa was surely memorable. Unless you are only coming to check out the gorgeous views from the overlook at the top, there are two main ways you can further enjoy your time here. One important thing to remember up front: Quilotoa’s elevation at the top is around 3914 m (12,841 ft) 😳
Option 1: head down to the bottom to kayak 🛶 on the lake or take in the serene setting. You can even camp down here overnight if you’d like! ⛺️ We went with this option (sans camping) and made our way to the bottom…Well folks, what goes down, must come up 🤔
You do have the option to ascend the steep, dusty, rocky path to the top by donkey or 🐎. But, if you’re up for the challenge, hiking it by foot will give you the best (or worst!) workout you’ve had in a long time. The local woman / men / children that do it on a daily basis made it look like a breeze, so we had to give it a shot. Just be aware - the altitude change is no joke! 🤯 You’ll ascend 414 m (1,358 ft) from bottom to top. We stopped at least 10 times and made it to the top in just over an hour. Check out our stories later today for more from our visit & the ascent 😅💪
Option 2: take a full hike around the lagoon, which supposedly takes anywhere from 5-7 hours. We are doing this later this week, so stay tuned!

21/02/2019

BAÑOS | The Swing at the End of The World (SWIPE → for an aerial view)
After racing up the mountain in our rental car, hurrying to beat the incoming rain, we arrive. At first, we’re relieved. Then, we’re quickly confused.
3 locals are excitedly waving us down with orange flags, yelling for us to follow in 3 different directions to park our car, all vying for the $1 we would shortly pay to park for 30 minutes. We took a slight right, parked the car, and walked up the steep hill to the entrance.
For another lofty $1 (per person), enter the attraction that is the Swing at the End of the World. The main attractions are the 2 sets of swings that make you feel like you could soar straight into the Ecuadorian clouds, above the dramatic valley below, set against the backdrop of the Tungurahua Volcano. You’ll also have access to a restaurant, a mini zip-line, and a few other gimmicky adventurous things to entertain yourself.
For $1? Totally worth it. The experience was memorable and the view of the surrounding landscape is breathtaking. Tip: this is quite the popular attraction in Baños so go during the week if you can. You’ll only need more than 30 minutes here if you’re coming on a weekend. The lines will be longer, and you may not get to swing as many times as we did!

20/02/2019

Welcome to BAÑOS | The adventure capital of Ecuador💥 After a quick swing at the end of the world, we found ourselves stopping by the beautiful hotel (big time ). Besides having one of the best views of the city, you can also enjoy a bite to eat or drink at the hotel’s Café Del Cielo - the milkshakes are plenty (careful though, you might end up needing a baños of your own) and the sambuca is boiling. Check out our stories for more 🌤☕️🦅

19/02/2019

Can’t get over this sunset from Saturday night🔥
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17/02/2019

Feelin’ free as a bird after a week spent with best friends exploring this absolutely beautiful country. Ecuador ❤️ making its way to being one of our favorite countries we’ve visited. We are so excited to have 6 more weeks here to explore! A very special thanks to for making last night extra special. We feel relaxed and refreshed from our stay at your slice of paradise.
📷: thanks for snap!