by Amber H. | Jun 19, 2017 | Asia, Blogging, Europe, Expats, Southeast Asia, Spain
After spending most of the last four years in Southeast Asia, we felt it was finally time to leave Asia. As often happens, not only did we feel a little Life ADD kick in, but we realized we wanted some more comforts, and a different experience. Over the last 5 years, we’ve explored Central and Eastern Europe and Central America. We made Ubud, Bali, our home base for awhile. And, we kept an apartment in Bangkok. While living in Bali and living in Bangkok we continued to explore Asia, made frequent trips to Europe, and even took a culinary road trip across the U.S. But, even when we had these apartments, they never fully felt like home. We always referred to them as our home base, rather than our home. There were a lot of reasons for that, but in the end it meant we had one foot in and one foot out, and continued to feel like we were living a somewhat nomadic lifestyle. We left our apartment in Bangkok at the end of February, and have been on the move for the last 3 months. Within weeks of leaving, I knew we needed to find a new home base. I was tired of carrying everything we owned with us. In fact, over the last 3 months, I’ve managed to shed some of our possessions, in both Italy and Ireland, with a promise that we will be back soon for them. Overall, I was exhausted. I needed a home. And, I needed something more than just a home base. After a little deliberation, we are proud to announce,...
by Amber H. | May 22, 2017 | Blogging, Escape The Predictable Life
Eric really doesn’t like it when I attempt to “celebrate” our “other” anniversary. But after spending 20 years together, this certainly won’t be our first well, disagreement. So, here I am talking about it. Twenty years ago today we went on our first date. Although Eric really only likes to celebrate or wedding anniversary, I still believe there is a little something special about how long we’ve been together. Recently, I’ve been thinking about how much we’ve changed over 20 years. Where We Thought We’d Be Eric and I met at Rutgers University in May of 1997. As much as there is still a little bit of a dispute about how we met, and what exactly happened on that fateful night at The Knight Club in New Brunswick, New Jersey, one thing is certainly true. We were much different people back then. That tends to be true for most people who’ve been together for almost half their lives. But for us, it is definitely true. When we met, we both knew we wanted to escape New Jersey. We grew up there, and both attended college within an hour of our home town. It was time for change. But, we spent our time thinking about living in California, working on our careers, and raising our kids. In fact, the first summer we dated we even named our children. Eric chose Trevor, so that our son would be named after Trevor Hoffman, a professional baseball player. Let’s just say that never would have happened. I was leaning towards Kirsten, or something similarly starting with a “K” as an homage to my...
by Amber H. | Jul 26, 2016 | Blogging, Podcast
Our 4 Year Travel Anniversary I can hardly believe it’s been four years since we left the US. Even more, I can’t believe we celebrate 15 years of marriage in the same week. It’s certainly a week to celebrate 4 years of With Husband In Tow (but really 15) During this week’s episode we talk a little less about our food travel experiences, and we get a lot more personal. Yes, we tell fun stories about how much we disliked traveling in Central America, how I relieved myself of my sins while traveling in Bulgaria and got food poisoning, and we dispel the notion of romantic train travel through Europe. We talk about how one of the best things that has happened to us as a result of this travel lifestyle is the ability to travel with friends. That we’ve been able to create a supportive network of travel bloggers and digital nomads, who have truly become our friends. But, we share the life of an entrepreneur, the ups and downs, and the stress that we feel on a regular basis while trying to make this crazy travel blogging life of ours sustainable. We also talk about our upcoming travel plans, including our culinary road trip to the Southeast US called #USChowDown, and where else we hope to visit over the next twelve months. Check Out Our Travel Video “4 Years of Travel With Husband In Tow” Mentions On This Week’s Culinary Travel Podcast The One Million Dollar Travel Blogger (It’s definitely not us, nor is he making a million dollars from blogging) Nelson Carvalheiros’ Portuguese Travel Cookbook Our #USChowDown,...
by Amber H. | Jun 6, 2016 | Blogging, Escape The Predictable Life
We recently met up with some friends in Hong Kong. It’s been a few years since we last saw them in Singapore. They said something that made me pause. After all, we thought we were making Bangkok our home base. They seemed to think, based on our social media channels, that our home base seems to be a life in the air. In part, they might be right. Our goal in settling down in Bangkok, so to speak, was to spend some time in one location in between work trips. But, when our friends, Chris and Emily, commented on our life in the air, I realized, maybe they’re right. What Does a Life in the Air Look Like In a five month period we took quite a number of flights, probably more than we anticipated. In January we flew to Seoul, South Korea, for a five night trip. In mid February, we were in Singapore for the Singapore Airshow. In late February, we flew from Bangkok to Hong Kong. On March 6, we flew from Hong Kong to Frankfurt (in between we took a ferry to Macau for a few days) A week later, we flew from Berlin to Bologna. Ten days later, it was home to Bangkok, via Dubai. Another ten days later, we took a domestic flight within Thailand, and 6 days later we returned to Bangkok. Ten days after that, we were off to Hong Kong, again, for only 3 nights, before we were back to Bangkok. We spent just one night in Bangkok, basically enough to do laundry, before taking another domestic flight down to Phuket, Thailand, for...
by Amber H. | May 2, 2016 | Asia, Blogging, Europe, Food, India, Italy
Just two years ago, I was introduced to the concept of a food travel blogger. Before that, I just thought I could be a travel blogger, and that would be enough. Supposedly, to stand out from the crowd we needed to pick a niche. We like traveling for food. We’ve always said we travel on our stomachs. Next thing you know, I’ve become a food travel blogger. What is a Food Travel Blogger A food travel blogger, or a culinary travel blogger, is way different from a food blogger. This is a distinction I think needs to be addressed. Food bloggers focus, for the most part, on recipes. Food bloggers on Instagram have entirely different photos than a food travel blogger on Instagram. A food blogger uses props, staging, lighting, and sometimes even glycerin, to make their food look amazing. There are food stylists. Professionals who work with brands, hotels, and restaurants to photograph their food in the best light possible. Because, the goal of a food blogger is to photograph the food. We actually eat the food we photograph. Because a food travel blogger focuses on how to travel for food. How to learn about local ingredients, how they are produced, and how they are prepared. And, most important, food travel bloggers eat. The Concept of Abbiocco During our first trip to Emilia Romagna, I came across an article about different words in various languages that are simply untranslatable. It’s the first, and really only time, that I’ve heard the word abbiocco. It’s the Italian word that essentially translates to drowsiness from eating a big meal. After four...
by Amber H. | Sep 28, 2015 | Blogging, RTW
I am often left thinking that travel blogging is a profession of young people. At least that’s what it seems like when I see so many of the lists of top bloggers. Sex sells and when you are an attractive twenty something, or a young, recently married couple who looks good in a bathing suit, it’s no wonder a blogger’s following can skyrocket. I’ve been thinking about this a lot over the last year or so, particularly when I’ve seen bloggers publish posts on hot bloggers in their 20s, or the sexiest female travelers alive, and more. What I’ve yet to see is a list of hot travel bloggers in their 40s. I turn 40 this week. The big 4-0. I don’t want to come across as a has-been, I wish I still looked as good in a bathing suit now as when I got married, kind of woman. After all, I am pretty okay, most days, with turning 40. I have an amazing life and cannot complain about where I am. But, I am finding myself looking for travel and blogging inspiration from, well, people like me. I am looking for people who have a few notches on their belts, who’ve been around the world and back again, or who even (gasp) had long-standing careers before travel. They’re the types who can be found on a motorcycle tour through Asia, hiking across Spain, or drinking Champagne in France. They live pretty cool lives, and are hardly has-beens. So here I am, just as I turn 40 myself, sharing my list of my favorite hot travel bloggers in their 40s. There...
