Travel Tips

I hope you enjoy these 9 Best European Day Trips for Ambitious Travelers and that you discover a new city you absolutely love.

I visited all nine of these cities in the past two years, many of them on solo trips, and had an incredible time in every single one of them. I think you will you too.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these 9 Best European Day Trips for Ambitious Travelers. If you’re looking for more city guides and travel tips for Europe, you can find plenty of other articles on my Destinations page.

If you would like to support this blog please consider sharing this post. Thanks for reading.

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Disclosure: Please note that some of the links on this page may be affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase. I recommend only products and companies I use and the income goes to supporting this site.

Hey everybody! Looking to support women-owned and women friendly businesses this black Friday?

I’m recommending three of my favorite blogging courses, two of which are women owned. The other is not owned by a woman but is well known for promoting inclusive, female friendly content.

Better yet, all three of these courses are currently having black Friday sales.

If you’re a blogger and looking to invest in yourself next year, let me help you find the best blogging courses in 2021.

First, let me be totally honest. I’m not recommending the best blogging courses based on my own financial success as a blogger.

I’m not making six figures, I don’t get paid to fly around the world, and I’ve never been featured in Forbes or Conde Nast.

So why take advice from a blogger who hasn’t “made it yet”? Well, because I’m just like you.

Since starting this blog back in 2018 I’ve taken at least a dozen blogging courses covering everthing from website design to photography to creative writing.

With that kind of experience, I know which were the best blogging courses and which weren’t so great. So let me help you cut through the b.s. and get to the good stuff.

Best Blogging Courses in 2021

In case you don’t know me, my name is Eden and I write the blog you’re currently reading called Rock a Little Travel.

I began my blogging journey on January 1, 2018, as one of my New Year’s resolutions. I had always wanted to have a travel blog, so I decided 2018 would be my year.

What I didn’t know then was how steep the learning curve is when you’re just starting out.

It took me three months just to get the first edition of my blog online, but it wasn’t pretty. The design was terrible, the photos were bad, and the writing sucked.

After several more weeks and dozens of time consuming mistakes later, I decided it was time to invest in learning the skills I needed to become a successful blogger.

This is where I entered the wonderful world of blogging courses. Let me introduce you to my first.

Superstar Blogging

The first blogging course I invested in was Nomadic Matt’s Superstar Blogging. My only regret in signing up for this course was that I didn’t sign up sooner.

The first sections of the Superstar Blogging program are all about how to properly set up your blog. This information alone would have saved me months of wasted time (and frustration).

Here’s what you get in the course.

The Superstar Blogging program is set up into eight units as follows:

• Unit 1: Setting up and getting started
• Unit 2: Building a brand
• Unit 3: Writing content
• Unit 4: Mastering Social Media and Networking
• Unit 5: Search Enging Optimization (SEO)
• Unit 6: Newsletters
• Unit 7: Monetizing your blog
• Unit 8: Working with brands

Each of the eight units goes into detail about the various topics covered and in most cases even provides step by step instructions. Honestly, this course is worth it just for unit 1 alone.

The Superstar Blogging course has evolved over the years and now functions as more of a Masterclass. In addition to the coursework above, you also get access to the following:

• Weely Q&As and strategy calls
• Unlimited tech support
• Notes and edits on your writing
• Access to a community forum to meet and network with other students
• A collaboration board
• Bonus webinars from other successful online content creators
• Real world assignments to keep you motivated

If you’re looking for the best blogging courses for beginners, this is the one I recommend when you’re just getting started. The course is only $49 per month and you can quit anytime.

I promise you, that may be the best $49 you ever spend on your blog. I know it was for me.

So what’s next?

Once you get comfortable with the basics of blogging it’s time to take it up a notch. Introducing, my latest obsession.

Travel Blog Accelerator

Kristin Addis of Be My Travel Muse launched Travel Blog Accelerator in May 2020. As soon as I saw Kristin’s announcement for her new course, I knew I had to join.

To be totally honest, at this point in my blogging career, I was totally over blogging courses. It seemed every blogger on the planet was launching a blogging course and I was so over it.

But I knew this time it was different.

What really caught my attention with Travel Blog Accelerator was the monthly group calls. I loved the idea of being able to actually interact with Kristin and the other group members.

I wanted to really meet people, not just be another comment on their social media feed.

The other thing that intrigued me about Travel Blog Accerlator was that it would be interactive and adapt to the needs of the group.

I liked the idea that we could ask questions, make suggestions, and recommend future topics.

So far we’ve covered the following topics in our monthly teachings since the course launched:

• May 2020: Finding your perfect niche
• June 2020: Search Engine Optimization
• July 2020: Monetization
• August 2020: Growing social media
• September 2020: Growing your email list
• October 2020: Creating and Marketing Your First Products
• November 2020: Blogging as a business
• December 2020: I’m super excited for next month’s topic!

At the end of each monthly teaching presentation Kristin opens up the call to questions from the group. We usually have about 20 to 30 minutes of questions after each call, depending on the topic.

In addition to the monthly teachings Travel Blog Accelerator also includes the following:

• Live monthly mastermind calls (I always look forward to these!)
• Direct access to Kristin and all the other awesome bloggers via a private Slack group
• The chance to make your money back via writing opportunities and other projects

We typically have two monthly mastermind calls each month and have gotten to meet some incredible people.

So far we’ve had calls with Liz Carlson of Young Adventuress, Alyssa Ramos of My Life’s a Travel Movie, and Alex Baackes of Alex in Wanderland, just to name a few.

These mastermind calls are interactive, packed with good information, and really fun. As always, we get to ask questions at the end.

I can’t stress enough how much I love being a part of Travel Blog Accelerator. This is the online blogging community I’d always been looking for but never found elsewhere.

Need more convincing?

Kristin currently has Travel Blog Accelerator on sale for just $111 per month.

For the introverts out there who don’t want to interact with other people, I recommend focusing on your SEO once you’ve got the basics down.

For the best SEO blogging course, let me introduce you to my favorite one night stand.

SEO The Easy Way

After you’ve got your blog set up and you understand the basic fundamentals of blogging, I strongly recommend investing in a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) course.

The one I found the most helpful was SEO the Easy Way from Make Traffic Happen.

In SEO The Easy Way you will learn the following:

• Why you need to do keyword research for your blog.
• What tools you need to perform keyword research.
• What type of keywords you should be looking for as a beginner.
• How to find appropriate keywords for your blog.

You can get through this course in a night or two and within 6 months you should start seeing organic search traffic coming to your blog. This is of course, if you follow their strategy.

If you’re a blogger hoping to invest in yourself next year, I really believe these are the best blogging courses out there. But please don’t take my word for it, give them a try yourself. You’re worth it.

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Disclosure: Please note that some of the links on this page may be affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase. I recommend only products and companies I use and the income goes to supporting this site.

Consider these important travel lessons when booking your trips in the future.

Man, what a year its been. Didn’t see all that coming, did you? Me either!

After this roller coaster of a year, like most of you, I’ve learned a hell of a lot. Since we’re almost at the end of 2020, I figured it was a good time to talk about the travel lessons I’ve learned over the past 9 months.

While some of the events of this year were incredibly hard to deal with, I often found myself trying to make the best of things. After a few weeks of collective fear and sadness, I think we all did.

So while we all lost so much this year, many have found a way to turn things around and improve their lives, their mental health, their fitness, and everything else you can think of.

Over the summer I was pleased to see so many of your starting new businesses, launching new products, achieving fitness goals, buying your first homes, and on and on.

Similarly, I’ve spent the past few months working on this blog, investing in myself, and learning to live in the moment. Here are my 10 biggest travel lessons of the year to help you travel better in 2020 and beyond.

1. Always book travel on a travel rewards credit card

If you are a frequent traveler and take a lot of flights, you should already be booking your trips with a travel rewards credit card. If you’re not, you’re doing it wrong. I’m kidding, maybe you know something I don’t.

Besides all the perks and rewards points redeemable for free travel, you’ll have more protection when things go wrong.

Most travel rewards credit cards offer coverage for delayed or cancelled flights, lost baggage, stolen or damaged property, and more.

Many of the best cards even offer airport lounge access, which is a major benefit if you find yourself sitting around bored in airports a lot. Who wouldn’t want free wine and snacks?

2. Always book your own airfare

If you want your airline tickets covered if something goes wrong, make sure you purchase your own airfare with your travel rewards credit card.

Often times, unless you’re married, your travel partner will not be able to file a claim on your flight with their card. In order to have coverage, you would have had to use your own credit card to secure coverage on your flight.

For example, my boyfriend booked both of our flights to Barcelona in March 2020 on his Chase Reserve card. When these flights were cancelled, he only received compensation from Chase for his ticket. They would not offer compensation on my ticket because we were not married.

However, I also have a Chase travel credit card. Had I booked my own flight I would have had coverage as well. Just something to think about next time you make airline reservations.

Need help finding good airfare deals? I can help you

3. Never make a non-refundable hotel reservation

This is perhaps the biggest of the travel lessons I’ve personally learned this year.

I unfortunately made non-refundable hotel reservations with IHG (Hotel Indigo and InterContinental) back in February 2020 for travel dates in October 2020. Even more unfortunately, these reservations are in Russia.

Despite the fact that Russia is not open for American tourists, I have been unable to obtain a refund or credit from IHG. Their customer service is also pretty terrible, so multiple lessons learned on this one.

The moral of the story is, if you’re going to book so far in advance, at least make sure your reservations are refundable. You can always find a good hotel deal later.

I’m out a couple hundred bucks, but honestly, things could have been much worse.

4. Don’t make travel reservations too far in advance

To piggy back on the previous travel lesson to not book non-refundable hotel rooms, there is simply no reason to book travel a year in advance. There’s just too many variables, too many things can happen between now and then.

Now, if you’re attending a huge event like South by Southwest or Comic Con, then yes. Make those reservations. You don’t want an event to sell out on you or get stuck at a hotel 45 minutes away from your event.

For normal vacations though, it is more often than not, just not necessary to book so far in advance. Shop around yes, but it’s not necessary to commit to a specific flight or hotel.

Heck, you may change your mind on the destination all together by the time that time of year rolls around. So I say, just keep your options open.

When planning your trip months in advance, take time to do your research, figure out where you want to stay, and track those airfare prices. But hold off on hitting the BUY NOW button. Seriously, it can wait.

5. Customer service matters

If anyone has had to cancel an airfare or hotel reservation in the last 8 months, you’ve likely experienced either surprisingly good customer service, or disturbingly bad customer service.

I’ve personally experienced both. And I’ll tell ya, those experiences will shape my future travel purchases and impact who I decide to do business with going forward.

Norwegian Airlines and Marriott were surprisingly impressive. I won’t call out the negative experiences, but there were a few.

Okay I will. IHG needs to do better. Hopefully they will learn from this experience and implement better practices going forward.

But now that we’ve all interacted with these companies in some of the most challenging of times, we know who we can trust going forward.

6. Loyalty matters

Another one of the most important travel lessons I’ve learned this year is how much brand loyalty matters in challenging times.

If you’re a frequent customer with a given brand, they are often more willing to work with you, even outside of the their current cancellation policies.

So for frequent travelers, I always recommend loyalty with a brand you enjoy. Whether that be an airline, hotel, or any other travel company, always join the rewards program.

This way when you contact them with questions or concerns, they’ll be able to see that you spend a lot of money with their company. This will often motivate them to make sure they end the call with a happy customer.

7. Sometimes bad things happen

As we’ve all learned this year, sometimes bad things happen. Sometimes they’re really bad.

This is not only an important travel lesson, but also just an important life lesson.

Keep this in mind when planning your travels in the future. Whenever possible, have a back up plan, make reservations with a favorable cancellation policy, and purchase travel insurance for unexpected events.

If you’ve never purchased travel insurance before, now is the time to make this a priority.

8. Be prepared to pivot

Sometimes when we travel, luck just isn’t on our side. Be prepared to do something else if you need to.

Sometimes an attraction will be unexpectedly closed, you’ll miss a flight, take a wrong turn, lose your phone, break your camera etc. Take things in stride and pivot when you need to.

Remember, if you’re taking a vacation and traveling abroad, things probably aren’t really all that bad.

9. Sometimes you just gotta let go

This one may be a bit controversial, and certainly a tougher pill to swallow, but sometimes I think you just have to let things go.

What I mean is this. Sometimes things won’t go your way and sometimes you’re going to be out some money.

This can happen by missing a train, getting stuck in bad weather, booking a hotel room you end up hating, etc. If you can get your money back for all these things, that’s great.

But sometimes, you’re just not going to get a refund or credit, no matter how badly you want one. In these cases, I suggest you just move on.

In many cases, the energy and stress these situations cause are just not worth your time.

If you’ve called the company once or twice and been told no, just move on.

Now to be clear, I’m saying this about reservations and tickets for around $100 or less. If a business owes you a thousand dollars, keep calling.

I’m just saying it’s more stress than it’s worth to keep calling Iberia Airlines for the $40 they owe me from March. I just don’t have time for that. Sometimes it’s not worth it.

10. Learn to live in the moment

Finally, possibly the most beneficial of these travel lessons for 2020, is to learn to live in the moment.

We cannot control the world around us and things can change at a moments notice. This is what we all learned collectively this year. So let’s take the wisdom we gained from that experience and put it into practice.

Let’s not get stuck on what would have been or what could have been. Let’s focus on today, on the right now. Let’s make the best of this moment we’ve got right here.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and learned a few things about how we can all travel better in 2020 and beyond. If you’d like to support this blog please consider sharing this post, it really helps a lot. Thanks for reading.

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Disclosure: Please note that some of the links on this page may be affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase. I recommend only products and companies I use and the income goes to supporting this site.

Responsible tourism has become more important than ever.

From reducing carbon emissions to prioritizing animal welfare, there are limitless opportunities and ways for us to improve the way we travel and reduce our impact on the planet.

The more I learn about the impact that travel has on our planet and the locations we visit, the more I want to make changes to address the problem.

We’ve been hearing a lot about over-tourism and how more people traveling leads to greater negative impacts on our environment. With that in mind, I’ve identified 10 ways to practice more responsible tourism and help you reduce your carbon footprint while traveling. 

10 Tips for Responsible Tourism

These 10 tips for responsible tourism vary in their degree of impact and difficulty but I believe that even small steps in the right direction are necessary to get us where we want to go.

I also believe that committing to small changes can often lead to committing to bigger changes. In short, let’s all do the best we can.

If everybody is heading in the right direction, we’ll get there eventually.

1. Don’t buy bottled water 

Of all the sustainable travel tips I mention, this has got to be the easiest for anyone to implement. I think the majority of people are aware that plastics are a real problem for our planet and our environment.

Hopefully, most of us are doing our part to begin reducing our consumption of plastics, especially single-use plastics such as water bottles. If you haven’t already, pick up a reusable water bottle from the store and take it with you when you travel.

You’ll save tons of money from this as well considering water bottles in the airport are going to cost you at least $5 each. There are even compact travel water bottles that fold or roll up for easy storage in your carry on bag.

Keep it empty as you go through the security of course, but once you’re in the terminal, fill up your water bottle at the water fountain.

You can find reusable and portable water bottles just everywhere.

2. Take public transportation

One of the best ways to travel in a sustainable way is to take public transportation as often as possible. Most major cities across the world, and especially in Europe, have excellent public transit systems.

In most cases, you can even get to your hotel from the airport by bus or train, within a reasonable amount of time. Taking the bus or train is also a much more affordable way to get around, especially when you’ve got all the other expenses associated with travel to deal with.

If you’re visiting a destination for the first time and are not sure how to get around on public transit, take a look at Rome to Rio to see what your options are.

Their search results include every form of transportation you can think of, and even include the prices for each option. Google Maps is also a great tool to use to see public transportation options when you’re on the go. 

3. Eat less meat and more plants

This is one of my personal favorite tips for responsible tourism, though it can stir up some controversy now and then.

I know some people don’t like to hear this, but the less meat you consume, the better it is for the planet. In fact, many would argue that dropping meat and dairy from your diet may be the single biggest way you can reduce your impact on the planet.

While I’m not here to tell you what to eat, even just reducing meat consumption can help in big ways. Some have suggested reducing meat consumption to one meal per day, or even just abstaining from meat and dairy products one day each week.

It’s up to you of course, but the suggestion is there and the impact can be sizable. As an added benefit, veggies are good for you and typically come with additional health benefits. 

4. Don’t buy so much stuff

The more stuff we buy, the more stuff is produced. This production increases deforestation, increases pollutants, and uses up more land. It also leads to more garbage ending up in the world’s landfills, because we know that eventually, that’s where all this stuff is going to end up.

Together, all of these things accelerate the impact of climate change. If we can collectively make the effort to reuse what we already have and buy less stuff, we can reduce or slow the impact of climate change.

We’ll also save a ton of money from not buying overpriced souvenirs. 

5. Support local businesses

It goes without saying that when big corporations move in, small businesses often go out of business. This same pattern happens over and over again when new destinations become popular tourist attractions.

Once big business gets wind of the business opportunity, they put up shop and offer prices lower than the locals can afford to offer. Eventually, the local businesses are all gone and we’re left with far less authentic experiences.

More importantly, local families lose their source of income and many times, the ability to support their families.

Whenever possible, try to shop at local businesses when you travel. This includes if you’re buying gifts, going out for dinner, ordering cocktails, or booking a tour. All of these ways tourists spend money can help locals in the destination you’re visiting.

6. Ethical Animal Encounters

Responsible tourism also includes only engaging in ethical animal encounters.

Travelers should always avoid things like elephant rides, rodeos, or circuses, where it is well known that the animals are not treated humanely.

As a genderal rule, when you encounter wildlife, always be sure to give the animal plenty of space, do not touch them, feed them human food, or call out to get their attention.

Animals are not for your amusement, but can be enjoyed respectfully from a distance.

7. Respect the culture

If you’re an adventurous traveler, you will hopefully find yourself immersed in cultures completely different from your own.

When you do, be sure that you’re respectful when out in public and interacting with locals.

If you’re unfamiliar with the local culture of the country you’ll be visiting, do some research ahead of time. This way you’ll know what to expect and you’ll know how to to act to be polite.

8. Attempt to learn the local language

Another important part of responsible tourism is to make an effort to learn the local language.

No, you don’t need to study for days on end or try to become fluent, but learning the basics and some common words will go along way.

I’ve been to France a handful of times and I’ll be honest, my French sucks. But that doesn’t mean I don’t try. You should always try.

One of the best travel tips for Paris you’ll ever get is to always attempt the local langauge and always greet a shop owner in French as you enter a store. If you know the basics, this is easy to accomplish.

More often than not, locals will notice right away that you don’t speak their language well. They will often accomodate and switch to English (if that’s your language) but not always.

Sometimes you just won’t speak the same language as the person you’re trying to communicate with. Just roll with it.

9. Behave respectfully at all times

When traveling abroad (or anywhere really) behave in a respectful and polite manner at all times.

This means not yelling in the streets in the middle of the night, acting poorly after drinking too much, making rude comments to people in the streets, etc. I’ve seen all these behaviors during my own travels and I’ll tell ya, they don’t look good on anyone.

In short, always say please and thank you and always follow local rules and customs. If you do those things, you should be good.

10. Offset your carbon footprint

While we’re in the process of working to change habits and find more sustainable ways to get across our oceans, we can participate in Carbon Offset.

This is where we compensate for our emissions by funding an equivalent carbon dioxide saving elsewhere. If you visit Carbon Footprint, you can calculate the impact of your upcoming trip, and donate a small amount to a project to offset that footprint.

Typical projects include tree planting, community projects, and renewable energy. You can read all about the philosophy behind carbon offset and get more details about how it works at the Carbon Footprint website. 

I hope you’ve enjoyed these 10 Tips for Responsible Tourism. If you would like to support this blog please consider sharing this post, it helps a lot. Thanks for reading.

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Disclosure: Please note that some of the links on this page may be affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase. I recommend only products and companies I use and the income goes to supporting this site.

If you’re looking to take your Halloween experience up a notch, this list of 5 Epic Places to Spend Halloween Around the World should give you some serious Halloween destination inspiration.

While Halloween can be fun just about anywhere, some cities take their celebrations a bit more seriously than others. If you’ve never traveled over the Halloween holiday before, you’re in for a real treat.

1. New Orleans

New Orleans knows how to party and they know how to do holidays right. If you’re looking for a good time out on the town, head to the French Quarter in New Orleans.

You can enjoy cocktails and music on Bourbon and Frenchman Streets, take a river cruise head to the Garden District for trick or treating and beautiful decorations, or take a cemetery and ghost tour.

2. Copenhagen

Copenhagen, Denmark is perfect for those looking to enjoy Halloween in Europe. The city of Copenhagen is home to the Tivoli Gardens amusement park, which takes Halloween decorating to the next level.

The entire amusement park is decorated with ghosts, goblins, and pumpkins. You can also find Halloween inspired souvenirs and treats. Tivoli is especially cool at night when all the Halloween decorations light up.

Besides Tivoli, Copenhagen is beautiful in the fall. The summer crowds are long gone and the city’s parks are covered in bright fall colors. Copenhagen also has an epically good food and restaurant scene.

3. Mexico

In my opinion, Mexico is one of the best places for Halloween in North America. It’s both affordable and easy to get to, especially for travelers from the United States.

Instead of celebrating Halloween, the country of Mexico celebrates Dia de Los Muertos, or Dia de Muertos.

This three day holiday takes place yearly from November 1st to November 3rd and is a celebration of the lives of those that have died. It’s an absolutely beautiful holiday celebrated with colorful flowers. Katrinas (skeletons), offrendas, candles, and more.

Both Oaxaca and Mexico City are two popular places to visit this time of year, but the holiday is celebrated in areas throughout Mexico.

In recent years, Mexico City has even held a Dia de Los Muertos parade in the city center. Though this event is not a traditional part of the celebration and is mostly for tourists. That being said, it is quite the spectacle and worth your time if you’re in town.

4. Disneyland

For the Disney fans out there, you know Disneyland goes all out for everything, especially holidays. Well Halloween is no different.

Visitors to Disneyland at Halloween time can expect the park to be decked in Halloween decor from top to bottom. Several of the rides are even updated to celebrate the holiday.

Park guests can also indulge in special holiday treats, both savory and sweet. There are also special gifts and souvenirs available that are only sold during this time of year.

Similar to Tivoli in Copenhagen, the park is best experienced at night when the Halloween decorations are lit up.

5. Ireland

I saved the best for last.

For a truly authentic Halloween experience, head to Ireland. The Halloween holiday actually originates from Ireland and the Celtic holiday of Samhain.

The Samhain holiday marked the end of the summer harvest and beginning of winter. It was believed that on the night of October 31st, the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.

Today, nobody does Halloween like the Irish. For the biggest and best celebration, head to Derry – Londonderry for the Banks of the Foyle Hallowe’en Carnival.

This 5 day festival draws thousands of visitors every October with live music, street performances, costumes and specialty markets.

If you’re in Dublin, you can also join in on the Bram Stoker festival which runs for four days from October 28th to October 31st.

I hope you’ve found some inspiration from these 5 Epic Places for Halloween Around the World. If you enjoyed this post please consider sharing it. Thanks for reading.

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Disclosure: Please note that some of the links on this page may be affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase. I recommend only products and companies I use and the income goes to supporting this site.