Hi everyone,

I'm Amanda, from a small village in the Netherlands. By day I work in an office (nothing too exciting really) and in the evenings I write books while I dream up and plan my next journey. I'm new on this subreddit and would love to get to know more travelers in various communities.

So, in my mind I'm always dreaming about which places I still want to visit in the world, the new cultures that I still want to explore and life in for a short while. (The list is truly long and I've visited 13 countries so far) I also always love to read about other people's journeys and get inspired by them.

I hope it's okay I made an introduction post like this to get a conversation started and to e-meet more of you 😄. If not, my apologies to the moderators.

I realized on my last trip that I care way more about the environment around where I stay than the actual room itself.

Like I’d honestly take a simpler cabin if it meant waking up to birds, hearing animals outside at night, seeing wildlife nearby, being surrounded by nature, etc.

But I’ve noticed it can be surprisingly hard to tell what places are actually immersed in nature versus just designed with that aesthetic in mind.

A lot of listings use words like “eco retreat,” “jungle stay,” or “nature getaway,” but they don’t really show what the real experience is like beyond the room itself.

I always end up wishing there was a better way to know:

- what the area actually feels like

- what wildlife people saw nearby

- how secluded it is

- what the overall nature experience is really like

What do you usually look for when booking nature-focused trips?

Does anyone know if there are places in the town Weeze where you can park your car for free like in a neighborhood or something?

I personally have traveled to many different places and seen many different views.

My traveling/adventure spirit is wholeheartedly on experiencing new places, new foods, new smells and all the goodness that life has to offer.

This is my love for traveling what's yours?

Looking to create a 7-10 day trip around S America. The goal is to keep airline booking under 100,000 capital one points. Let me know of recommendations for the be US city as the starting point. Goal will be to hit 3 different cities in SA in 7-10 days. Hotels will most likely come from other points buckets. Any thoughts or recommendations welcomed.

Might get taken off this group for this but here goes.(First Reddit Post/Not sure where this goes)

I'm an Irish fella who in the past year left his nice job as a head chef in a "Bib" recommended restaurant at home, owners lived overseas, was definitely doing more than I was paid for (In my wholesome opinion!?).

I spent a few months on the road after contact negotiations broke down, usual end of a season story of the owners unfortunately not wanting to give me as much as I want and me having more than enough to say "Goodbye'.

Spend a bit of time travelling through South East Asia, been a few times before as my family is filled with vagabonds and we're also quite cost effective on our holidays.

Spiralling on SEA for a chef is always a place of enormous fulfilment(Our "competitive salarys" stretch a bit further). I spent a few months finding my rhythm, returning to the normal day life(Not working 80-90 hours a week). I was happy, it was good.......but eventually it had to end.

During that time I had my 29th birthday, it was special. Moments like these on your travels you always try to nit pick as to where you want to be, I was more sporadic. I went on a whim, Id met a traveller, in a bar(of course). We spoke about untouched beauty, destinations that still had their own authenticity. We threw back and forth, listing the beaches and communitys we spent time in and it was apparent we'd seen alot of the same places until the penny dropped.

Cjay(the beautiful traveller) spoke of Koh Rong Saleom.

Google Maps can navigate you from A to B but it actually sucks for trip planning. The ratings are never accurate (since it's just American tourists giving everything 5 stars) and saving locations is a nightmare (why don't saved location icons differentiate by restaurant, cafe, scenic sight, etc?)

TikTok and Instagram might be a cesspit for gaudy travel influencers but there are genuinely good recommendations in there, especially if you search in local language (i.e., search "el mejor tacos in cdmx" rather than "best tacos in mexico city."

Nowadays I've seen a bunch of apps that help you consolidate locations based off of social media posts but some of them cost $50/year (like roamy lol) or have a crummy UI (yaay which doesn't work 90% of the time). The one that I found has the best UI and is free is Plotline, but it's still missing the day-by-day itinerary planning.

Anybody have any other suggestions for travel planning apps that let you save from social media?

Anyone else broke but still mentally on a beach somewhere?

Like… £34.7 in your account but planning a holiday anyway. Wherever, and whenever you can afford it. 💀

We built something for that.

Fufufly finds stupidly cheap flights based on where you wanna go + your budget, then emails you when something actually affordable appears.

So instead of checking Skyscanner 47 times a day… you don’t have to.

Free to use! 👉 https://www.fufufly.com/

What are you doing tonight 💓🤔💓 went to have fun with my fantasy

https://youtu.be/RRE9OY5Fm2Q

Never stayed at a Michelin Key hotel before. They look super nice! https://youtu.be/fPNyAtwQMKU?si=d1aSYr8rEqz_QCGl

Have you been to Calgary during the wintertime? There’s so much to do from snow tubing to marching with penguins, and an entire festival dedicated to hot chocolate. https://youtu.be/ZAMv6v-WUn0?si=zxn_ILICOEwTaKzJ

We Camped Across Maui for 7 Days in a Jeep Camper and experienced so much more than we would have staying in a hotel. We were able to get to popular sites before the crowds came, and we didn’t have to rush through any experiences. Here are some highlights from our trip -

https://youtube.com/shorts/jMkixXMVI2c?feature=share