travel planner

45 Countries pinned so far! 📍🌏

by Travel bucket list
Born to roam! 🍻

I’ve got a world map on the wall of my condo in Arizona, covered in pins marking everywhere I’ve been. It’s equal parts decoration, motivation, and a gentle reminder that the map still has plenty of space for adventures.

Choosing my next adventure usually breaks down like this:
75% cost
25% the satisfaction of dropping a new pin and sharing the story

If these blogs do anything at all, I hope they inspire a few of you to stop overthinking it, pick a spot, and take the leap.

If you’re waiting for “someday,” you’re waiting on a date that never shows up.

Pick a day.
Make a plan.
Drop the pin.

Someday isn’t a destination—
It’s an excuse.

I believe I have visited 38 of 195 countries in the world. I do my best to reach as many cities as possible, too:

North American (Darrell – Lived in all three)

Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

Central America: 

Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Costa Rica, St. Croix USVI, Jamaica, and Bermuda. 

South America: 

Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil.

Europe: 

France, Hungary, Austria, Greece, Bulgaria, Italy, Turkey, Portugal, Poland, Germany, Switzerland, Iceland, the Czech Republic, and Spain.

Ireland/UK/Australia

Asia: 

Thailand, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia 

Middle East: 

United Emirates

Africa and Antarctica: 

Nada

Upcoming trips:

Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines.

(I will continue to add to this list as my adventures continue)

Filling that empty space on my map. 📍🌍😎

adicting

Top 15 travel spots! 11 done!!✅📍🌍

by Travel bucket list

When I first thought about creating a website, I had a few simple goals in mind:

Document past travels ✅

Share current travel experiences ✅

Highlight cost-effective ways to travel ✅

Inspire people to get out and go ✅

Visit as many places as humanly possible 🌍

So far, it’s working.

Bucket List

Countries I have visited from the list (11 of 15 completed)!

1-Thailand, 2- Greece, 3-Indonesia, 4-Portugal, 7-Peru, 8 Italy, 10-UAE, 11-France, 12-UK, and, 15 Spain. 

Remaining 4 on bucket list (I have zero interest in going to India)!

5-Sri Lanka, 6-South Africa,13 Bora Bora, and 9-India.

PXL_20250124_054946734

Vietnam – Pho, coffee, tea and me!🍜

by HCMC / SaigonTravel bucket list

One of the best parts of traveling—anywhere—is street food and trying the local beer.

I don’t care if you’re in your hometown, a different province or state, checking out a new food truck, or traveling internationally and ordering food from a cart that looks like it might be pulled by a donkey. It all counts. And it’s all worth trying at least once.

Street food tells you more about a place than most restaurants ever will. It’s fast, cheap, local, and honest. You’re eating what people who live there actually eat—not a polished version made for tourists.

For me, it all started with Mexico and street tacos. That was the gateway. I still try new taco stands every chance I get, and I’ve got favorites in cities all over the map. The same goes for street noodles, skewers, soups, and whatever else is sizzling on a cart when I walk by.

Pair it with a local beer, stand on the street, watch life go by—that’s the good stuff.

Some people collect souvenirs.
I collect meals.

EDIT: I loved it so much that I’m heading back at the end of 2025 to explore Northern Vietnam in more depth. When a place pulls you back that fast, you listen.

I definitely found my favorites, but I still make it a point to try at least one new spot every day. That’s easy to do when most street food meals cost a few dollars—or less. The risk is low, and the reward is usually high.

On my very first morning, I stumbled into a small neighborhood coffee shop in Hanoi. I’ve gone back every single day since, and today is day five. The owner knows exactly what I like—iced coffee and tea—and keeps refilling them as needed for the same price: 87 cents.

Yesterday, I sat there for three hours, listening to a hockey game and surfing the internet. My total bill?
Under a dollar.

That’s not just cheap—that’s a lifestyle

The cold tea was so addictive!  This was my favorite, lemongrass! It was $1-$2 at a nice cafe, but a lot cheaper at the street vendors.  I enjoyed both!

Below is an outdoor food court with hundreds of choices—rows of stalls cooking everything imaginable, all in one place. You can walk for ten minutes and change your mind 20X on lunch.

This is where indecision becomes part of the experience… and where pointing at what looks good is often the best strategy.

This place does not mess around—and you can tell immediately from the video and the photos. The scale, the energy, the nonstop cooking… It’s organized chaos in the best possible way.

If there was ever a place where “just one more bite” turns into a full-blown food crawl, this is it.