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The best hostel in Sydney, Australia

In Australia, Cailin Travels on May 16, 2012 at 1:34 pm

Sydney, Australia is a city that I have visited many times in the past several years. The first couple times I visited I was new to traveling by myself and thought hostels were scary. I also had a job at the time and way more money than a do now so I was slightly frivolous. I stayed at hotels by myself spending more than $100 a night and then that all changed.

When I went to Spain to film the first episode of my own travel show in 2009, I stayed at my first hostel ever. I loved that hostel and from then on I pretty much loved all hostels. (There was this one in Madrid that is still questionable today though…) So the moment I found myself going back to Sydney again I searched for the hostels and the one I chose was the best decision.

I booked myself in at the Sydney Harbour YHA, located in The Rocks, one of my favourite parts of the city, the Sydney Harbour YHA was less than a year old at the time. The only flaw was that it was built on a Read the rest of this entry »

Things I love about Australia

In Australia, Cailin Travels on April 23, 2012 at 9:08 am

Cosmos on a train? Love.

Slightly James Bond of me? I think so!

As a follow up to my post “Things I hate about Australia“ I bring you my more pleasant post “Things I love about Australia”. As I have said before I have been to Australia many times and of course its quite simply because I love this place (aside from the expensiveness of it), I love my friends that live here but lets be more specific.

1. Aussie Slang

I often make fun of Australians who use the words “heaps“, “reckon” and “keen“, but if they stopped using these words the way they do I would definitely miss it, also I wouldn’t have anything to giggle about constantly anymore. You can also often find Australians saying “How you goin’?” as a greeting, I’ve talked about this one before and it constantly confuses me. Trackie daks = track suit pants, thongs = flip flops , capsicum = peppers, arvo = afternoon, I can go on, I kind of love it all.

Copious amounts of Tim Tams in the grocery store. Read the rest of this entry »

Things I hate about Australia

In Cailin Travels on April 6, 2012 at 9:00 am

I am currently in Australian for the zillionth time and I LOVE THIS PLACE. However I’ve never found the perfect destination where there wasn’t at least one little thing that I hated about it. Also I feel like making a list about things I hate about a certain place keeps me grounded / secretly makes me like it even more.

Is there a  city that you absolutely love but still have small things you hate about it?

1. It takes forever to dry my hair here

I’m not sure if its my hair dryer being wacky with the power converter or just the humidity in the air but gosh darn it what normally takes 5 minutes to do takes 10 or more and by then I just give up!

2. Sydney’s transit system

Its a bit shit. Some of the good buses that you  want to take are “pre-pay” only and there are hardly any places where you can actually buy a pre-paid ticket. It also costs $9 for a return trip to Bondi beach from circular quay. Thats ridiculous! All around for any bus the tickets are expensive and cabs are expensive too.

3.The pocket change

Australia doesn’t have the Read the rest of this entry »

Moving for the first time

In Cailin Travels on March 23, 2012 at 9:00 am

Photo above: Me being sad that the Little Mermaid wasn’t in Copenhagen when I visited. I’m even sadder that I have to move.

Being a travel blogger and someone who has travelled a fair bit in her life you wouldn’t think that “moving” homes would be a big deal for me, but it is.

Part of the reason that I am able to live my current lifestyle is because I am still living at home with my parents. Literally living in the same house that I have lived in my whole entire life.

Home is a nice place to come back to after traveling for either a few days, weeks or longer. Its familiar and of course you become attached to your home, neighborhood and more, especially when you have lived in the place for almost 28 years like I have.

Sadly in the next two weeks my parents are putting my childhood home up for sale. They aren’t giving me the boot, as we are moving to our cottage while they build a new home on their ocean front property, and it will be their dream home that they have wanted for a long, long time. They are building a room for me in it (which I am very appreciative of) but rather than be happy for them I am sad, depressed and I’m sure some would say acting like a little brat.

Our new home will be lovely, its on the ocean, Read the rest of this entry »

Bargain Flights to the Big Apple

In New York on March 16, 2012 at 9:00 am

With an increase in budget air travel – and an upped frequency of some long haul flights as many now commute cross-continentally for business and pleasure, flights to New York are both extremely popular, and reasonably good value (see for yourself on the DialAFlight website), in 2012… unless you’re flying in and out of London during the Olympics. We don’t recommend this to anyone!!

The trouble is, with a lot of travel websites around, you can waste days and days comparing flight deals, desperate for the cheapest, only to find that your ‘great offer’ involves a layover, an extra day out of your trip, and it disappeared two minutes ago.

There are plenty of advice sites and money-saving blogs out there who can advise you on how to manipulate those flight scramblers. However, we’re a bit pushed for time – and to be frank, it’s boring and a little bit obsessive. For us, we’re talking about where to get consistently good value direct flights without taking a day off.

For New York and major world cities, travel providers who specialize purely in flights, such as DialAFlight are a wise option to start with. If you’re not looking for a package holiday or any added extras, they can sort you out with the transit in simple, Read the rest of this entry »

I want to ‘Go with Oh’ to Paris!!

In Travel writing on March 13, 2012 at 9:00 am

Paris is a city that I have been to more than once, but I feel like there are tons of things I have yet to do but know that there are also tons of things that I have already done and would love to do again. I want to live in the city and see it like a local. (Which I am attempting to portray in my photo above…. I look like a Parisian right? Right?)

Here is my list of 5 things that I would most like to do and/or experience in the great city that is Paris.

1. Climb the Eiffel Tower

I’ve been to the top of the Eiffel Tower twice now. The first time I walked up all of the grueling steps as high as I could go (stopping for a beer at the first chance I could get of course) and the second time I took the elevator all the way to the top. If I got to win this “Go with Oh” trip and got to spend more time in Paris, I would climb the Eiffel tower every day! Surely there must be a discount card for that right? Read the rest of this entry »

My Delayed Flight

In Cailin Travels on March 6, 2012 at 9:00 am

Most likely if you have flown on a plane more than a few times in your life you have experienced delays. Unfortunately they happen and almost all of them are unstoppable. Some may be predictable but often they are always unexpected.

Delayed flights can ruin peoples travel plans, cause missed connections and create a lot of stress, understandably.

I, knock on wood have had only had a few delays on my travels and lets hope it stays that way, however I experienced one of my biggest delays this past Saturday.

My morning started at 5:20am, I rolled out of my hostel dorm bed to meet my airport shuttle who decided to pick me up at 5:40am for a 9:10am flight… the things I’ll do to save money getting to an airport.

I arrived at the airport by 7:20am, breezed through security, had breakfast and headed to the gate, that is when it started.

Sitting in Terminal 8, the American Airlines terminal at JFK, 4 different flights were departing around the same time through Gate 31, there were a lot of anxious Read the rest of this entry »

Taking a travel break

In Cailin Travels on March 1, 2012 at 10:56 am

I’m taking a break from travel.

Well…. kind of…. but not really.

As I write this I am sitting in my hotel room in San Juan Puerto Rico. I should be out enjoying the sun! I might be giving my sun burn from yesterday a bit of a break though…

I am here for three nights using the free accommodations that I won from my press trip to this same hotel (the San Juan Marriott and Stellaris Casino) last August. If  I think about it I haven’t had a real “break” from traveling when traveling (hmm that makes sense in my head) since a trip to Cuba a couple years ago with friends. When I travel I’m always go go go and am filming and taking pictures and coming up with things to blog about and staying updated on Facebook and Twitter (I’m still having issues with letting go) but this trip is suppose to be my mini break from traveling when traveling. Read the rest of this entry »

Traveling Down South Solo

In Cailin Travels on February 22, 2012 at 9:00 am

Several weeks ago I wrote about how 2012 would be the year I would be “Expanding Horizons” and doing more “out of the box things” in life and when I travel and I’m off to a good but slow start.

  • One of those things was throwing my name into the lottery for Burning Man tickets with my friend Candice, which I am happy to announce we won! (However a lot of the main burners that make Burning Man didn’t and we are both slightly torn about that but that is a story for another post.)
  • As you know I also took another last minute trip a couple of weeks ago and flew to Portland and Seattle to surprise some friends.

New York Makes Me Sick

In Cailin Travels on February 20, 2012 at 9:00 am

New York makes me sick. Literally. Physically. Not figuratively.

I have been to New York 3.5 times (I don’t normally count airport stops but a flight got canceled and I spent an unepexted night in a hotel somehere one time… so thats what I call .5).

The first time I visited was on a family vacation in 2008.

I was so excited to go to New York, I made a detailed itinerary, and we did everything possible in our 5 days there.

No sickness.

The second time I was in New York was for the 2010 TBEX travel bloggers conference. I toured my friend Candice around to places I had been before, went to the conference, met lots of new friends and finally met a lot of people that I had known from twitter and online face to face. We socialized, shared contacts, partied and drank the weekend away and had a great time. Read the rest of this entry »

Seattle’s EMP Museum Part 2

In Cailin Travels on February 13, 2012 at 9:00 am

Continued from Seattle’s EMP Museum Part 1

The Avatar Exhibition

Walking into this exhibit I was like a kid in a candy store. For those of you don’t know when I’m not traveling and blogging I actually work in film and TV as a Production Coordinator and Assistant Director amongst other jobs and even though I see things like this every day at work I am always so fascinated by it.

Read the rest of this entry »

Seattle’s EMP Museum

In Cailin Travels on February 7, 2012 at 9:00 am

Before I visited Seattle I knew some of the “must see” places to visit like the Space Needle and the Pike Place Market, but I had never heard of the EMP Museum (Experience Music Project), until a few friends told me I should definitely visit it as well.

I played the flute for maybe 5 months in grade 6 but aside from that I don’t have a musical note in my body. I listen to mostly popular music or music that is suggested to me by others and think the spoons are an extremely unique instrument. As you can guess my thoughts about visiting the EMP Museum was slightly “meh”, however my thoughts after leaving the EMP Museum were Read the rest of this entry »

Seattle, I like you!

In Cailin Travels on February 3, 2012 at 9:00 am

I am still in Seattle a week after I first flew here. Originally I planned to either be in Hawaii or at least Las Vegas by now but that isn’t the way things played out this time.

Last week I flew in late at night, went straight to my hostel and first thing in the morning I headed to Portland, Oregon with Tawny and Chris. On Sunday I finally made it back and have pretty much been loving this city ever since.

I wonder if I had left on Tuesday as planned if I would love it as much as I do now?

My flight is an international flight tomorrow morning at 7:45am. I kind of don’t want to leave, or I want to intentionally miss the flight…

I still have so much to see and do, I didn’t get a chance to see the troll under the Fremont bridge or even explore Fremont for that matter. I haven’t visited Read the rest of this entry »

Surprise I’m in Seattle!

In Cailin Travels on January 31, 2012 at 4:23 pm

The other day I wrote about being a Last Minute Traveler conveniently right before I hopped on a plane for a last minute trip.

Without telling many people I decided last week to take a trip to the Pacific North West of the USA not only to visit my friends Tawny and Chris of www.CaptainAndClark.com but to also go with them to Portland, Oregon to attend the Nomading Film Festivals Winter Recess. However I didn’t tell the Noff guys that I was coming and instead I documented my trip and my surprising them the day of the festival. I was almost caught too! Check out the video HERE.

I’m now back in Seattle again, I have been to the Pike Place Market, saw the germmy gum wall, visited the Space Needle and have been eating some great mexican.

Read the rest of this entry »

Happy Australia Day!

In Australia on January 26, 2012 at 11:07 am

On January 26th three years ago I was in Australia celebrating Australia Day in Melbourne, Australia. Let me tell you, Australians know how to party and are extremely patriotic.

Here are my tips on how to celebrate a great Australia day:

1. Dress the part. I donned my brand new “Happy Oz Day” t-shirt, you can find them anywhere I bought mine for under $12.

2. Go to a bar / beach party / friends place. Eat drink and be merry. I headed for a bar in the St Kilda area with a friend early in the afternoon, we drank a fair bit…

3. Listen to triple J’s countdown. A popular radio station playing the top 100 songs of 2011, it would appear that listening to Triple J’s countdown every Australia Day is a Read the rest of this entry »

The Last Minute Traveler

In Cailin Travels on January 25, 2012 at 9:00 am

(Photo above: Hanging out with 48 Hour Adventure and The Aussie Nomad on a last minute trip to London)

What kind of traveler are you? Are you a plan a year in advance and be packed a month ahead kind of traveler? A take no risks traveler? Or are you risky flying by the seat of your pants, going with the flow kind of traveler?

I am a last minute traveler.

I often book flights on a whim. A boss once told me on a Tuesday at lunch time that I could have that Wednesday off and because of a long weekend that meant that I suddenly had 5 days off of work. So what did I do? I checked the flights and by midnight that same night I was sitting on a plane flying to London, England.

I have another trip coming up very soon…in two days… and I have only planned half of it so far with the rest of it up in the air. I’m flip flopping between maybe going to Hawaii for the second part of it, or maybe Las Vegas? Or maybe just home again until another trip?

Everything about my travel plans are last minute, finding accommodation and even packing. I sometimes find myself packing just before I walk out the door to the Read the rest of this entry »

Me & the Opera House in Sydney, Australia

In Australia on January 17, 2012 at 9:00 am

(photo above: Myself and one of my favorite Aussies Beth with the Opera House.)

You might not know this, but I have been to Australia 6 times. Of those 6 trips 4 of them were from Canada and the other two were while in Australia I flew to New Zealand and back and then on another trip I flew to Fiji and back. In the next couple of months I plan on visiting again for my 7th time.

When I was younger I always dreamt of visiting the land down under and then in 2007 on my first trip to Europe I was on a Contiki tour with 30 Australians for 2 weeks. Suddenly I had 30 friends living all over the country, friends to visit and be my tour guides as I was just starting out on this solo travel thing. Some of those Australians actually became some of my best friends and from my returning travels I met even more Australians and other travelers that lived there helping me fall in the love with the country.

I’ve been up and down the east coast more than once and have spent a lot of time in Sydney. Even though its big and can be slightly expensive I have fallen in love with Sydney and its awesome skyline and of course the Opera House. I’m starting a series of Read the rest of this entry »

Baggage Carousel Etiquette

In Cailin Travels on January 12, 2012 at 6:49 pm

(photo above: Sometimes I get angry)

It seems more and more these days people are having bigger pet peeves about fellow travelers and different parts of air travel; something that was once almost a privileged and not as easily accessible to everyone like it is today. You hear it all, from the annoying person in the window seat next to you with an apparent bladder problem, the loud snorer, leans on your shoulder sleeper, the bad body odor person, the doesn’t fit in their seat, stealing the armrest guy, the kid that kicks the back of your chair, the crying baby, the people who stand up to soon after landing,  the steals the storage bin space kind of people. I know I have pet peeves with some of them…. not that I’m a perfect flier though but I would like to think I try to make the experience as best as possible and I am conscientious of others.

You don’t however hear that much about the types of people you get in the baggage claim area, but this is where on more than one occasion I have almost, to eloquently put it “lost my shit”. Also part of the reason I try to travel with a carry-on only now. The following is my list of “Baggage Claim Etiquette” rules that all travelers should be forced to read before getting off the plane… Read the rest of this entry »

Expanding Horizons

In Cailin Travels on January 10, 2012 at 4:15 pm

(photo above: My friend Julia and I spending the day in Tangier, Morocco, probably the farthest off the beaten path I’ve been.)

Possibly spurred on by the new year and wanting 2012 to by my most epic year of travel yet I did something crazy yesterday, I registered for tickets to Burning Man 2012.  A crazy, fun week long party in the Nevada Desert. I had heard about Burning Man before but never really knew much about it until my friend Josh started talking about it while we were on a trip in Puerto Rico.

Later after seeing Josh’s awesome video that he shot with his GoPro and Ian’s video and now this weeks latest viral video:


Read the rest of this entry »

How to have friends everywhere

In Cailin Travels on January 6, 2012 at 3:05 pm

(photo above: Myself and my friend Hanna from Sweden who I met and became great friends with on a tour in Fiji)

It’s new years resolution time and I bet a lot of people have “travel” near the top of their list, I know I do. However often times people don’t end up traveling because they don’t have someone to travel with and are afraid to travel alone. Honestly its almost impossible to really be by yourself when traveling unless you want to be. I know its been said on other blogs hundreds of times, but I don’t think people believe it until they have experienced it but trust me traveling solo isn’t really traveling alone.

After my last trip through the UK and Europe I realized that I don’t really travel solo that much anymore. I instantly unintentionally make friends or I tend to have friends in most places I visit and no not because I’ve intentionally gone to visit them. I’ve honestly visited a few places and posted on facebook that I was there and have had more than one friend message me back and tell me they were there too. Clearly it is my lifestyle as a travel blogger and “traveler” that has caused this to happen and I love it.

Don’t be a hermit

If you are staying in a hostel aside from just making friends with the other people in your Read the rest of this entry »

How great will 2012 be?

In Cailin Travels on January 2, 2012 at 9:00 am

(photo above: Me on NYE 2011/2012 it’s all looking up from here. :)   )

I have high hopes for 2012. My goals may be extremely outlandish but if I don’t start trying to achieving them now or seriously thinking about them they will never happen right? So please bare with me with this crazy list but at the same time maybe you can help me out with it? If you have any contacts that might help me achieve my goals or have experiences that may relate I would love you to share! Maybe you know someone who knows someone that could help or you have already done one or more of the things I want to achieve?

In 2012 I hope to make my travel videos be even better, quality, content and all of the above. A viral video here or there wouldn’t hurt either. I am wanting to have great success with my own Travel TV show this year.

I want to start talking about video more, I want to speak at conferences, I want to help people make their videos better, I want to consult and help people learn how to create great content.

Read the rest of this entry »