A Life of Travel: Up Next - Lisbon, Baghdad, London and beyond!
Derek Baron
April 09, 2024
A big welcome to the 36 new subscribers who recently signed up!
It's Tuesday and it's time for a travel newsletter...
update
My tropical paradise holiday in Sao Tome and Principe sadly came to an end last week. After thoroughly enjoying an absurdly relaxed island experience, with all of that lush jungle, stunning beaches and delicious food, I flew back to Lisbon.
And following a restful weekend, trying to get adjusted back to life in the ‘big’ city, I’m now catching up with work.
Of course, it’s no surprise that my stay in Lisbon is a short one this time around. On Thursday, I head off again…destination - Baghdad.
The time is here for my next Wandering Earl small group tour throughout Iraq! As always, I’m superbly excited for the experience ahead and to meet the travelers who have signed up for this trip. We’re going to have such a memorable time in this seldom-traveled country as we venture all over during the two weeks we’ll be there!
After Iraq, I’ll head to London for a few days before returning to Lisbon for most of May. I’m looking forward to that as well since the weather should be nicer by then and it would be great to spend more time outdoors here in this city.
In June I’ll need to leave the Schengen Zone as my 90 days will be up. So, I’m currently looking for an ideal - preferably tropical and with a good community of people - place to hang out for the summer until I can return to Europe again. It could be almost anywhere so we’ll see where I land in the end.
My current list, which is ever-changing, includes Cyprus, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Mexico and Sri Lanka!
Suggestions always welcome!
sao tome highlights
Many people wrote asking for some tips on what there is to do in Sao Tome. Here’s a few of my favorite experiences:
Tasting menus - This was a big thing on the island, with several beautiful restaurants offering multi-course tasting menus based on fresh, local ingredients, often all grown right on site. The two that really stood out were the Roça São João dos Angolares (an eco-tourism venture located in an old plantation house) and the super-friendly Monte Mar Restaurant set in the lush jungle overlooking the water.
Beaches - By far the best beach I saw was Praia Grande (see the photo below!) and we stumbled upon it by accident. It wasn’t mentioned anywhere, it was down a long dirt road, there were no other people on the beach and it was as idyllic as it gets. Two other great beaches were Praia dos Tamarindos and Praia Micondo.
Center of the island - We took a day trip up into the rainforest and mountains, winding along a road that led us to the Monte Cafe village where the focus is on sustainable coffee production, Saint Nicolas Waterfall, the Botanic Gardens and an eco-tourism village where villagers work together to create local products for sale. (I’d love to add links to the above places but like most businesses on Sao Tome, they don’t have websites!)
Praia Grande, Sao Tome
2024/2025 wandering earl tours!
2024
Trips are filling up and unique adventures are being had! In fact, most tours are already sold out for the rest of the year. But we still have a few spaces available on these two incredible small group experiences!
Romania (September 1st - 12th)
Mexico (November 8th - 17th)
*All other tours are sold out!
2025
I’ve also just announced our first set of unique trips for next year!
Mauritania (January 15th - 28th)
Cuba (Feb 25th - March 5th)
Iraq (March 13th - 25th)
Jordan (April 25th - May 5th)
Surprise Tour (September 5th - 16th)
As always, simply get in touch if you have any questions at all!
trick: saving money on hotels
While I knew this to be the case, until recently, I didn’t realize how much money can actually be saved by using this method.
Here’s how it worked when a friend and I were trying to book hotels for a stay in Sicily, Italy.
Found a hotel we liked.
Checked prices on Booking.com using their website on my laptop.
Checked prices on Booking.com using their website on my friend’s laptop.
Checked prices on the Booking.com app on my phone.
Checked prices on the Booking.com app on my friend’s phone.
Not once were the prices the same on all 4 platforms.
One hotel was 30€ cheaper on the website on my friend’s laptop. One hotel was 15€ cheaper on my app. Another hotel was 40€ cheaper on my friend’s phone. In the end, we saved 145€ by not booking the hotels on only one of the above.
And these prices were all for the exact same room, same rules, same everything.
In fact, for two of the bookings, we also received a total of 80€ credit back as a promo that randomly appeared. But for one booking the credit promo was only offered on my friend’s laptop. For the other, it was only offered on my app.
So, be sure to check the booking website and app, and if possible, the website on a friend or family member’s laptop and the app on a friend or family member’s phone. Other people don’t need to be going on the trip. You can still enter your details and credit card information on their app or on their laptop, but you get the better price!
around the globe
Train Travel in Norway
First, it’s spectacular. Second, here’s everything you need to know about the memorable experience of traveling through Norway by rail!
Powerful World Photos
Both the Sony World Photography Awards and the World Press Photo Contest finalists and winners were announced, offering a wide variety of global photos to view and ponder.
Japanese Denny’s
I was laughing pretty hard watching this short video about what it’s like to eat a Denny’s in Japan because we had the exact same reaction when we ate a Denny’s in Japan! (Beware of the language used at the start of the video!)
World Geography Games
Think you know your geography? Test it out with these geography games that focus on capitals, countries, flags, oceans and more!
Revitalizing Villages
Here’s a beautiful photographic look at how Italy is trying to bring life and activity back to its picturesque rural villages.
Airline List
One website - Airlinelist - offers everything you need to know about every single airline, including types of planes, number of accidents, age of fleet, eco-friendliness, pet policies, alliance affiliation and more!
The Sun Temple
Located in Gujarat, India, this 1000 year old sun temple is so perfectly positioned that sunlight only enters twice per year.
Random Destination Idea
The town of El Kef, Tunisia popped up on my radar this week. Located in a region consisting of the Atlas Mountains and high plains, this quaint town offers travelers a range of historical sights, local crafts, great traditional cuisine and peaceful surroundings. And it seems to be much lesser-known to tourists than the coastal regions of Tunisia.
where in the world?
A big congratulations to Elisabeth, Rafael, Brad, Robin, Francis, Ethan, Jennifer, Kevan, Joe, Steve and Bridget for guessing the location of the previous photo!
The photo is of Victoria Falls, the incredible waterfalls located between Zambia and Zimbabwe, right on the Zambezi River!
This week’s photo:
It’s time to guess…where was the below photo taken?
If you have a guess (the more specific the better), click reply and let me know. Anyone who guesses correctly will be mentioned in next week's newsletter!
This newsletter is always free but it does take time and money to put together. If you wish to help support it, kindly forward it to people you know, shop for my favorite travel gear (I receive a small cut), make a donation or join one of my unique small group trips to some spectacular destinations.
Thank you so much for reading!
Derek
(my middle name is Earl)
*If you received this email from someone else and want to sign up to A Life of Travel, simply click the button below:
Travel Insurance: My personal recommendation for affordable and reliable travel insurance is Safety Wing. It was created by travelers, for travelers, and it's rapid growth in popularity is well-deserved.
Affiliate links: Some links above may be affiliate links in which I earn a small commission if you click on the link and make a purchase. I only promote products/services that I genuinely use and love myself.