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  • Sabana Westpunt Curaçao Vacation Rental
    Resources,  Travel Gear

    How to Buy Travel Insurance If You’re Already Traveling

    May 9, 2019 /

    World Nomads is one of the only companies that will sell you a policy after you've left for your trip.

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  • Packing Cubes Best Travel Accessory for Packing
    Reviews,  Travel Gear

    Packing Cubes: The Best Travel Accessory for Packing

    November 15, 2018 /

    Where have these been all my life? From packing to organizing to saving space...Packing Cubes just make travel easier.

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  • Adventure,  Reviews,  Travel Gear

    Trek Light Gear: Hammocks & Other Great Products with Social Purpose

    October 28, 2018 /

    Feel good. Do good. Pass it on. That's the motto behind Trek Light Gear: an incredible company with practical & durable products and genuine social purpose.

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    Travel Gear

    Don’t Leave Home Without ‘Em: Top 7 Universal Travel Items

    July 8, 2018 /

    In the "Don't leave home without 'em" series, we'll talk about products, partners, services & resources that have enhanced or streamlined our travels in one way or another. Welcome to part 1!

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Llamas up to completing our trek! 🦙🦙🦙 At this point in the day (~9:30am), we had hiked up from Aguas Calientes in the pitch black, watched the sun rise over Machu Picchu, listened to our guide tell stories of its origin and discovery, and hiked up to the Sun Gate for more incredible views. We were both still in awe. Despite how many pictures you’ve seen, there’s nothing like seeing MP in person. It is simply brilliant. . But as we were coming back down from the Sun Gate, the energy had shifted. There were people. Lots of people. Everywhere. The Urban Sector was our final area left to explore. Explore we did, but quickly and efficiently, navigating through shoulder-to-shoulder crowds. By now, neither of us had much of a desire to stick around. The tipping point was passing by a frantic traveler — a middle-aged woman — literally screaming for help as if she or someone else had fallen…or been injured in some way...only to find that she had dropped her phone into a bush while trying to take a selfie. From her screams, you would have thought she had dropped her child. Nope, just the phone. Our moment of serenity at one of the new Seven Wonders of the World had come and gone. . With that, we exited, stamped our passports with the official MP stamp, bought bus tickets down the mountain (no way we were walking at that point!), and enjoyed an early lunch in Aguas Calientes before catching our train back to Cusco. . . . . #machupicchuperu #machupicchutravel #llamashirt #llamalove #llamamama #sungate #newsevenwondersoftheworld #newsevenwonders #perutravel #perudestinations #peruadventure #exploreperu #travelhelix #dontgochasinllamasyall SALKANTAY TREK — DAY 5 — MACHU PICCHU ⛰ Highest elevation 7,874 ft (2,400 m) ⌚️ 1.5 hours trekking, 4.5 hours walking in MP 👟 9.8 Miles . Our entrance tickets to Machu Picchu were for 6:00am. There are two ways to get to the entrance — hike up or take a bus. We had come this far — the decision was made, yet again, to hike! . Our morning started with a 3:30am ⏰ and followed like this: 4:00am in the hostel lobby. 4:30am at the hike’s starting point. 5:00am the stairs open and you can begin hiking up to MP’s entrance. There were probably 20 people in line in front of us, somewhere close to 80 behind us. It was pitch black. A bit cold. Quiet. Only the sounds of nature in the background (until 5:30 when the buses started to run). Someone said 600 steps. It was definitely more. Adam counted as a way to pass the time. He made it to 1000 and we were still 10 minutes from the top. . We arrived at the gate in 55 minutes. A wild feeling of relief settled in. I wanted to happy cry. I also immediately change my shirt 💦 The gates opened. We had finally made it. Only a few more stairs up to meet our guide for sunrise at this viewpoint 🌄The weather couldn’t have been better…it was yet another unforgettable moment from this beautiful 5-day journey ♡ . . . . #machupicchuperu #machupicchu #salkantaytrek #visitperu #discoverperu #sunriseoftheday #sunrise_pics #hiking_daily #hikingviews #hikingworldwide #earthoutdoors10k #adventurers #samepicdifferentday 😋 SALKANTAY TREK — DAY 4 — LLACTAPATA 🏔 Highest elevation 8,858 ft (2,700 m) ⌚️ 7 hours trekking 👟 18.7 Miles . The most amazing part of this day was arriving in Llactapata. On a clear day, across a panoramic, breathtakingly beautiful valley, you can see Machu Picchu. This was our first glimpse of our final destination. It was such a special way to start wrapping up our Salkantay journey. A small, but meaningful visual reward after 3.5 days of hard work. A bit emotional to be honest. Then Abel reminded us that the day was far from over…and that emotional moment quickly went out the window 😅 . From an intensity standpoint, this day was by far the hardest. The up was up, up and up. And the down was more or less straight down. Not to mention, the downhill lasted forever. Finding flat ground at the end was a dream come true. 🙏 We left Llactapata around noon…arrived in Hidroeléctrica for lunch by 2pm…but we’re still not done. 6 more miles along the train tracks before reaching our final destination; Aguas Calientes — the funky, touristic town at the base of Machu Picchu. . TIP: you have the option of taking the train from Hidroeléctrica to Aguas Calientes, for an additional cost. But we had come this far, so we chose to trek it! 2 hours (of flat terrain) later, we arrived to our hostel. What. An. Epic. Day. . 📷Our friends Rudy / @nelietstam - TY guys! . . . . #llactapata #machupicchu #salkantay #peruadventure #perudestinations #hikingtheglobe #hiking_daily #hikingadventure #adventureoutdoors #outdooradventures #adventureinspired #adventureon SALKANTAY TREK — DAY 3 — SANTA TERESA 🏔 Highest elevation 9,350 ft (2,850 m) ⌚️ 6 hours trekking 👟 12 Miles . As we made our way through lush greenery, cloud forest, and waterfall-filled scenery, we took day 3 to hike mainly in silence and breathe in nature at its finest. Once Abel pointed out the wild strawberries that grow along the trail, it was game over for Aron. In the days of the Incas, he would have made for an impressive strawberry hunter 🍓 . Snack highlight: fresh avocado sandwiches from the campground at Winaypocco 🥑 By far our BEST snack stop of the entire trek. I’m not sure what that lovely señorita did to those avocados. Responsible snackers that we are, we ate only 2. Although we could have easily had 6 more! . Compared to day 2, the 3rd day of our trek was a breeze. In fact, we all agreed that the most physically challenging part of today was the 1-hour van ride from Playa Sahuayacco to Santa Teresa. Fortunately, Abel’s awesome/random playlist kept us distracted, the ultimate throwback being “Gangster’s Paradise.” Nothing like 14 people from 5 countries inside a van attempting to rap some 1995 Coolio 😎 . After lunch — with no more trekking left for the day — we made our way to the Cocalmayo Hot Springs near Santa Teresa to take our first real “shower” in 3 days. MAN did that feel good for our sore muscles. And it was pretty nice for our smelly bodies 😝 We tried not to think about the fact that the shower water was actually just the warm runoff from one of the swimming pools...a swimming pool currently filled with 100 other dirty hikers! . . . . #salkantaytrekking #salkantaytrail #hikingsnacks #avocadosandwich #santateresa #gangstersparadise #hotsprings #travelperu #perutravel #exploreperu #discoverperu #instaperu #travelsouthamerica #discoversouthamerica SALKANTAY TREK — DAY 2 / Part 2 — SALKANTAY LAKE . Insanely picturesque. Totally secluded. The perfect place for a snack break before heading down the mountain 💦💙 . . . . #salkantay #salkantaylake #salkantaytrek #hikingtheglobe #hikingworldwide #hikingbangers #earthoutdoors #wildvisuals #adventureinspired #adventureon #meettheworld #thestoked #discoversouthamerica #southamericatrip #southamericatravel SALKANTAY TREK — DAY 2 — SALKANTAY MOUNTAIN 🏔 Highest elevation 15,190 ft (4630 m) ⌚️ 9 hours trekking 👟 14.8 Miles . Our 4:30am wake up call involved 2 cups of hot coca tea delivered right to our cliffside dome. After a headlamp illuminated bathroom session and a hot breakfast, we hit the road shortly before 6am. Our amazing guide, Abel, advised us that this morning’s segment would be one of the most challenging of the 5 days, and we would arrive to the highest point of the trek — Salkantay Pass — by 9am. . The hike actually felt less intense than yesterday’s, despite being twice as long. As we started to descend, Abel took us another 30 minutes around the pass and we made it to the insanely picturesque Salkantay Lake. . Another 2 hours downhill: lunchtime. After lunch, another 3 hours to the campsite. You better believe our feet were burning 🔥! At this point, the landscape is also starting to change dramatically. The rocky slopes and snowy backdrop of this morning are a distant memory. We’re now descending through cloud forest with dense green vegetation…and the bugs are starting to buzz 🦟 . Question for the audience - will Aron change out of the red shirt before the end of the trek? Stay tuned to find out! 😝 . . . . #salkantaypass #salkantaymountain #salkantaytrekking #madeittothetop #hikingtrails #outdooradventures #exploremoreoutdoors #hikingculture #hikemore #goneoutdoors #peru🇵🇪 #visitsouthamerica

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