Have you ever traveled alone to meet a partner or friend somewhere far from home? I always thought A Cup of Jo‘s post about arriving separately for a dinner date sounded so romantic. Probably because it feels so out of character for us….we don’t live in NYC, i.e. we aren’t in walking or subway distance from a date night restaurant and we only own one car. But sometimes, we have met each other in far off places and we’ve discovered that, while sometimes having to travel alone can sound scary or sad, we can make it into a romantic way to meet up far away. We even flew separately to our own wedding in Hawaii. At first I hated the idea, but people were so nice and excited for me as I flew to Hawaii on my own, wedding dress in tow, that I decided it wasn’t that bad. It’s just one more way to keep excitement and adventure in your relationship. 
And if I hadn’t done it, I wouldn’t have been picked up from the airport by this hot Rapa Nui guy. I know we are extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to do things like this in our lives, and it probably won’t last forever, so all the more reason to take advantage of it now, right? Continue Reading →
Flight
Flying and I have a love-hate relationship. I generally hate it. It terrifies me. But I love that it gets me somewhere breathtaking and new in a matter of hours. And, I love looking out the window. On a clear day, I am endlessly reminded of the beauty of our planet and am in awe that we can fly above it. It’s a step away from normal. Up there in flight I let myself be consumed by the wonder of the bigger things and worry less about the little things.
Some favorites from our past few years of travel…
Hawaii
The Andes
Easter Island
The Rockies – Utah
and more…. loving the texture in these.
Vienna, Austria by night
Turks and Caicos
The North Carolina Coast
(all photos by Pineapple Tree)
Pretty Pictures of Rapa Nui
Unfinished statues at Rano Raraku. Most people don’t realize that these statues are half buried in the soil.
The statue in the foreground traveled to Japan as part of the Osaka Trade Fair in 1990. You can see Rano Raraku, the statue quarry, in the background.
Ahu Tongariki, the largest ceremonial site on the island, stretches almost 300 meters in length and has some of the largest standing statues on it.
The moai represented ancestor figures to the ancient people. They were not molds of the same, but each was unique as the person they represented.
The cliffs of Poike with the islet Motu Marotiri nearby, where ancient ceremonies took place for children.
Rano Kau, the South Western crater of the island, is filled with rainwater and was used in ancient times by the town to gather drinking water.
Three islets seen off the South Western point of the island. Competitors of the Bird Man competition would have to climb down the cliff and swim to the farthest island to search for the first egg of the sooty tern.
A cultural presentation of a warrior about to “Haka Pei,” an ancient sport performed by warriors.
Takona performance. The use of body paint was and is still used to tell stories of the past.
A young Rapanui, dressed in traditional clothes, figuring out which “helado” flavor he wants. International foods are now somewhat available on the island, which has sadly lead to health issues for many islanders. Our documentary, Eating Up Easter, will focus on some of that.
You don’t wanna miss this
one of our favorite engagement photos – Anakena Beach, Easter Island, Chile
Within the last few weeks a number of unrelated people in our lives have reminded us how much they loved the save-the-date video we made for our wedding. So, we thought it was about time we pulled it out and watched it again. We hadn’t seen it in almost 3 years. And….yep, it’s still our favorite.
It’s no longer up on our wedding website, so we wanted to share it again here. The song might be outdated, and well, you can’t come to our wedding anymore, but you can still get excited about all the awesome things we love about Hawaii….maybe it will even inspire you to explore Oahu soon. Enjoy!
RV Roaming
VW camper van via Smitten Studio
Our sister and brother-in-law have taken trips through New Zealand and Alaska in RV’s and they swear by this method of travel. You can cook when you are hungry and stop whenever you get tired and sleep for the night. You don’t have to always be on the lookout for a restaurant or a hotel with vacancy or plan out your trip and make reservations before you’ve even left. You can just go with the flow. Lately I’ve been seeing all kinds of gorgeous trailers for rent in different places. I’m all for roughing it in a tent. But I’m not one to turn down luxury, either, especially when it still involves being outdoors in gorgeous places. Sometimes finding available campsites can be difficult. RV’s can’t be parked overnight everywhere, but they offer a bit more flexibility. Maybe it’s time we tried this traveling “RV-style” thing.
VW camper van via Smitten Studio
Here and here are beautiful photos of Smitten Studio‘s RV trip in New Zealand. You can rent VW camper vans! I’ve always been worried that if we rented a big clumsy RV and then tried to drive over mountains, it wouldn’t make it over a pass and the gas would cost a fortune. This small version of an RV seems like a much better solution for drives with elevation–not to mention its good looks make for some fantastic photo ops.
Teardrop Trailer via crushculdesac.tumblr.com
Or you could go the route of a teardrop trailer. You can rent a car with a trailer hitch, if you don’t live in California and have your own, and then you can rent one of these from Vacations in a Can and cruise around Yosemite or the Redwood forests. I love the kitchen in the back. Wouldn’t it be fun to cook a gourmet meal, snuggle on a picnic blanket under the trees, and then have a good night’s sleep on a real mattress?
A few years ago we were camping off Hwy 1 in Big Sur in California and a bunch of guys from Sunset magazine pulled up with a fancy Airstream trailer. They offered us drinks if we would please leave our campsite early in the morning so they could park their trailer there to take photos for the cover (July 2010). Guess we picked a good spot!
Check out Sunset’s guide to RV’s here. Which would you use?
Have you ever traveled RV-style? Do you have any suggestions or tips? Did the cost of gas outweigh the savings of avoiding a hotel?