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May 2025 Update: Erding and Munich, Germany and Belgrade, Serbia
Hi friends! It’s Linda, back with another monthly update. I hope your May was bursting with sunshine and flowers. Our May definitely brought the sunshine, even if the temperatures were still cool, but the real highlight was spending two weeks with our daughters, Stephanie and Laura. We kicked things off in Erding, Germany, then moved on to Munich. As if…
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April 2025 Update: Berlin and Dresden, Germany
Hello again and happy May! I hope wherever you are, spring has decided to show up. For us? Not so much. We started April in Berlin, where we were lucky to see daytime temps in the 60s (F). Then we moved on to Dresden, where the weather remained cool with a little rain thrown in. I guess I shouldn’t complain.…
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How to Save Thousands of Dollars While Traveling
Want to travel in style without blowing your budget? What if I told you that you could save thousands of dollars (or yen, euro, or pesos) while exploring new places? It sounds like one of those sketchy internet ads, right? But it’s not. It’s legit. Steve and I saved an estimated $10,000 over four months while traveling in the U.S.…
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March 2025 Update: Ho Chi Minh City and Berlin
Hello again! I hope you’re enjoying spring-like weather wherever you are. Steve and I are in Berlin, Germany, where spring seems to be on vacation. We wrapped up our time in Vietnam mid-month, leaving behind the sweltering heat of Ho Chi Minh City, only to land straight into thermal underwear season. We’ll be in Germany until mid-May, so hopefully, we’ll…
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February 2025 Update: Hoi An, Dalat, and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
February may be the shortest month, but Steve and I managed to pack quite a bit into it. We’ve been making the most of our final stops in Southeast Asia. This month, we: Wrapped up our time in Hoi An Hoi An is known for its colorful old town and rich history. Strangely enough, the highlight of our time in…
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January 2025 Newsletter – Siem Reap, Da Nang, and Hoi An
Hello and Happy 2025! Steve and I had the unique experience of ringing in the new year twice, once on January 1st in Siem Reap, Cambodia, and again at the end of the month in Hoi An for the Vietnamese Lunar New Year. Our month was filled with adventures across three Vietnamese cities, plus a fun-filled overnight escape to a…
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Wind and Whim’s 2024 Full-Time Travel Costs
It’s a new year, which means it’s time for our annual spending breakdown! In 2024, we explored 16 cities and towns across 7 countries on 3 continents. This year marked a milestone—it was our first adventure in Southeast Asia, where we spent over four months. Our travel style sits comfortably between backpacker and luxury—think of it as a solid three-star…
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December 2024 Newsletter – Bangkok and Siem Reap
Hello, and Happy New Year! I hope you had a memorable holiday season and are excited for 2025. Steve and I spent the first three weeks of December in Bangkok, Thailand. Even though Buddhism is the prevailing religion, the city was teeming with Christmas décor. Just a few days before Christmas, we moved on to Siem Reap, Cambodia. While we…
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November 2024 Newsletter – Chiang Mai and Bangkok
Hello! November is over, and those who celebrate are gearing up for the holiday season. For those of you in the U.S., I hope you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving. Steve and I spent the month in Thailand, first in Chiang Mai, then in Bangkok. We will be in Bangkok until December 20th, then head to Siem Reap, Cambodia. For those…
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My Unsplash Gallery
Unsplash is a free photo-sharing website where I share my best photos and get some great shots to use in blog posts when I don’t have the right one. You can see my Unsplash photos here. Happy traveling,Linda Before You Go
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July 2024 Recap: La Palma and Gran Canaria, Canary Islands
In July, we said goodbye to the Island of Tenerife and flew to the Island of La Palma. We enjoyed our five weeks in Tenerife but were also looking forward to seeing what La Palma was like. After three weeks in La Palma, we headed to Patalavaca on the southern coast of the Island of Gran Canaria. July was a…
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How to Find the Best Airbnb Rentals 2025
If you’re new to Airbnb, you may find you’ve picked a less-than-desirable place. Perhaps you were seduced by the pretty pictures, enticed by a low price, or naively thought any reasonable pick would be great. We’ve been guilty of all three, and after some bad choices, we have learned (and continue to learn) how to find the best Airbnb rentals.…
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June 2024 Recap: Tenerife, Canary Islands
Wind and Whim contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, we will earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks! Hello! I hope you’re enjoying your summer. After three months in England, Steve and I were ready for some serious sunshine. We found it on the Island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands. We…
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March 2024: Cambridge, Bury St. Edmunds, and London, U.K.
March 2024 found us in the U.K., specifically Cambridge, Bury St. Edmunds, and London. Here are the highlights from that month. Cambridge Our three-day trip to Cambridge got off to a rainy start. But we still enjoyed the art at the Fitzwilliam Museum. The rain cleared long enough to walk the cemetery grounds of Little St. Mary’s Church. We checked…
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Everything You Need to Know About Pet Sitting While Traveling
Are you a long-term or full-time traveler looking for a way to lower your travel costs? Are you a pet lover? If so, pet sitting while traveling may be just what you’re looking for. Steve and I joined TrustedHousesitters in the spring of 2023 and began pet sitting in early 2024. We have found the TrustedHousesitters’ website easy to use…
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Slow Travel: Better for You, Better for the Environment
Hi there. Have you ever taken a vacation that plum wore you out? Maybe you took a multi-day tour that didn’t provide enough downtime. Perhaps you got tired of packing and unpacking as you moved from city to city. Or it could be that you saw so many sights in a short time that they have all gotten jumbled up…
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Wind and Whim Update: January and February 2024
Greetings from London, where Steve and I have spent the last seven weeks waiting for nice weather. I hope wherever you are, spring is already working its magic. We ended 2023 by spending Christmas with our daughters, Steph and Laura (aka the girls), and Steph’s roommate, Jeff, in Jacksonville, Florida. It was the first time we’ve been together at Christmas…
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Wind and Whim’s 2023 Full-Time Travel Costs
It’s time to review what Steve and I spent on travel in 2023. We had a busy year that included two trips back to the U.S., a two-week trip to Athens with Stephanie and Laura, and a 15-day transatlantic cruise. We visited 32 cities and towns and spent time on three continents. All our moving around came at a cost,…
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Memorable Moments From a Year of Full-Time Travel (2023)
It’s always fun to look back over our travels for the past year. As Steve and I wrap up our sixth year of full-time travel, we continue to be awed by this amazing world. Our year was busy with visits to 32 cities and towns, so there was ample opportunity to collect memorable moments. We were in Florida twice, first…
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Wind and Whim’s Monthly Update: November 2023
Hi there! Can you believe 2023 is almost over? I hope you are enjoying this festive time of year and looking forward to memorable holiday celebrations. Steve and I are anticipating Christmas with our daughters in Jacksonville, Florida. November was a most unusual month for us. We spent the first three weeks in Kotor, Montenegro, and the last week in…
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Wind and Whim’s Monthly Update: October 2023
Hi there, and happy November. Steve and I spent most of October in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, and then moved on to Kotor, Montenegro, at the end of the month. We had a low-key month in Podgorica, but Kotor should be busier since there is more to do. Even though we weren’t as active in October as usual, that’s…
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Wind and Whim’s Monthly Update: September 2023
Hi! I hope you had a great September. Ours was quiet, which is sometimes a good thing. And now, here we are in October, and it’s time for another monthly update. Steve and I spent most of September in Tirana, Albania. Since we had just come from Skopje, North Macedonia, Albania’s neighbor to the east, we couldn’t help comparing these…
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Wind and Whim’s Monthly Update: August 2023
Hi there! Can you believe it’s September already? The summer has been flying by for us, but we’re having fun. I hope you are, too. Steve and I started August with two nights in Brasov, Romania, and spent the remainder in Skopje, North Macedonia. Check out this monthly update to see our August highlights and low points, what we did,…
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The Truth About Staying in Airbnbs
A sure sign of success is when your competitors gear their ads toward disparaging you. In the summer of 2022, the vacation rental company VRBO released a series of ads stressing that with VRBO, you and your family get the whole house to yourself. The campaign was called “Only Your People.” Here is one of the ads: I find it…
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Wind and Whim’s Monthly Update: July 2023
Hi there! It’s time for another monthly update. I hope you are surviving the summer heat. Steve and I spent most of July in Bucharest, Romania, where it was hot but, thankfully, not too humid. Even so, we didn’t do as much as planned since we were lazy about getting out before the days got too hot. We enjoyed four…
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Wind & Whim’s Monthly Update: June 2023
Hi there. I hope your summer is off to a great start. Ours sure is. After laying low in May, we had a busy June. We spent most of it based in Pula, Croatia. While there, we took a six-night side trip to three other Croatian locations. After Pula, we spent a few days in Venice, then headed off the…
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Overtourism in the Places We Love
Do you dream of riding a gondola on Venice’s Grand Canal, visiting the Game of Thrones filming locations in Dubrovnik, or getting a little wild in Amsterdam? If so, you aren’t alone. These places ignite our wanderlust. They have something else in common; they, and many others, are overtouristed. So how do we reconcile our desire to experience the places…
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9 Reasons Why Traveling with Adult Children Rocks
Adult children. I believe that is an oxymoron. But what else can you call them? They are your children, your kids, your babies, all grown up and running their own lives. You may live with them, see them regularly, or not very often. Whatever your situation, I ask you: now that they’ve evolved into self-sufficient beings, should you travel with…
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Back to the U.S. (For One Month)
More than three years. Almost 38 months. 1,146 days. That’s how long it was between our last visit to the U.S. and our recent one in March of 2023. As the months and years rolled by, Steve and I were less and less interested in returning home. Aside from our daughters being there, we had little motivation to return. Then…
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Wind and Whim’s 2022 Full-Time Travel Costs
It’s that time of year again! I get to put my accountant hat on and share our full-time travel costs with you. I started sharing our travel costs in 2019 when I wrote about what it cost for our first eight months of full-time travel in 2018. I did this because I wanted to show how affordable full-time travel can…