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Happy to Wander | Inspiration to travel more and kiss a boring life goodbye.
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    • Fes to Chefchaouen Day Trip Guide: Everything You Need to Know

      November 2, 2018
    • THE best and most thorough guide out there for Munich Christmas Markets! Don't miss this guide if you're planning on visiting Munich, Germany for Christmas Markets. Includes the best markets to visit, what to do, what to eat and more. #Munich #Germany #Christmas #ChristmasMarkets

      Munich Christmas Markets 2018 Guide: Where to Go, What to Eat and What to Buy

      October 9, 2018
    • 9 Amazing Paris Landmarks & How to See Them Without Crowds

      August 4, 2018
    • Travel Smarter
    • Pack Better
    • Get a Locals’ Perspective
    • Eat Everything
    • Best Travel Resources
    • Reviews
  • Destinations
    • North America
      • Canada
      • USA
    • Western Europe
      • Belgium
      • France
      • Ireland
      • Monaco
      • The Netherlands
      • UK
    • Central Europe
      • Czech Republic
      • Germany
      • Liechtenstein
      • Slovenia
      • Switzerland
    • Balkans
      • Bosnia & Herzegovina
      • Bulgaria
      • Croatia
      • Romania
    • Northern Europe
      • Denmark
      • Finland
      • Iceland
      • Latvia
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      • Norway
    • Southern Europe
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      • indonesia
  • Photography

    Photography

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    • Absolutely incredible Iceland pictures that will inspire you to visit! 31 amazing examples of Iceland photography and solid inspiration for you to travel to Northern Europe and Iceland. #Iceland #Europe #Travel #Photography

      The Bewildering Beauty of Iceland (in Photos)

      February 14, 2018
    • These incredible photos will inspire you to take the train across Canada. SO many inspirational photos that will inspire you to travel Canada, including Vancouver, Banff, Saskatoon, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax and Prince Edward Island. #Canada #TrainTravel #Travel #Vancouver #Toronto #PrinceEdwardIsland #Halifax #Saskatoon

      The Dreamiest Views Across Canada: Snapshots from the World’s Most Epic Train Ride

      January 31, 2018
    • WOW absolutely stunning photos from Croatia! These photos prove why Croatia should be on your bucket list (and provides inspiration for where to go in Croatia too). #Croatia #Europe #Travel #Photography

      The Epic Grandeur of Croatia (in Photos)

      January 24, 2018
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    • FRIDAY ROUNDUP: 6 Super Extra Travel Accessories You Can’t Resist (for Under $100)

      June 15, 2018
    • These gamechanging products will help you seriously cut down on single-use plastics when you travel. Don't miss this roundup of cheap, awesome travel products/gear that are not just easy on the wallet, but better for the planet too. #travel #zerowaste

      FRIDAY ROUNDUP: Avoid Plastic When You Travel w/ these Amazing Products Under $30

      June 8, 2018
    • Check out these genius ways to hide your money when you travel! #traveltips #travel

      FRIDAY ROUNDUP: Wonderfully Weird Ways to Hide Your Money When You Travel

      May 25, 2018
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The Bewildering Beauty of Iceland (in Photos)

Christina GuanFebruary 14, 2018

The Dreamiest Views Across Canada: Snapshots from the World’s Most Epic Train Ride

Christina GuanJanuary 31, 2018

Photography

Travel inspiration for Bulgaria! This affordable, beautiful and off-the-beaten path destination in Eastern Europe is a MUST for any bucket list. Check out this post to see why.

21 Incredible Bulgaria Photos That Will Ignite Your Wanderlust

Christina GuanAugust 27, 2017
Malta travel inspiration at its finest - let these mindblowing photos show you all the amazing things to do and things to see in Malta.

31 Incredible Malta Pictures That Will Ignite Your Wanderlust

Christina GuanJuly 23, 2017
Looking for things to see and what to do in Kotor, Montenegro? Check out these gorgeous photos of Kotor for inspiration!

21 Incredible Photos of Kotor, Montenegro That Will Ignite Your Wanderlust

Christina GuanJune 29, 2017
Bosnia & Herzegovina is one of the most underrated countries in the world. There are so many beautiful must-sees and dos in Bosnia. Here is a post filled with stunning photos that will inspire your wanderlust!

21 Incredible Photos of Bosnia & Herzegovina That Will Ignite Your Wanderlust

Christina GuanJune 14, 2017
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  • This installation - Do you love or hate it? For me, it’s one of my favourites in Munich. Read from the front, it says Love. Read from the back, it says Hate. You can find it steps away from the university I attended when I first came to Munich as an exchange student, so weirdly it fits...! And with Valentines Day around the corner, well, I guess it double fits? Some grumpy people think it’s an eyesore though. How do you vote? 🤔
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Anyways, speaking of Munich & things I love, I spent my weekend doing the nerdiest possible thing: I researched the reservation systems for EVERY. BIG. TENT. AT. OKTOBERFEST. That’s 16 tents, 16 different reservation systems, 20 hours on Google Translate and over 5000 words of insider knowledge. Reservations are already open for a bunch of tents, so if you’re coming to Oktoberfest this year, scope out the link in my bio for details!! 🍻🍻🍻
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PS: Sausage hotel was INCREDIBLE! Will update my Stories tmrw with the scoop because I’m too exhausted to do it now... but it was most definitely not the wurst!
  • On a scale from 1 to Buddy the Elf, how stoked do you get about snow? Munich is a snowy fairytale wonderland right now and I am LIVING for it. Think:
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✅ Little puffy marshmallow children dragging wooden sleds across the park
✅ Snow-frosted trees that look like they’ve been dipped in icing
✅ Many, many excuses to drink warm calorie-packed beverages in the name of “survival”
✅ Dogs in jackets. I repeat: dogs in jackets 🐶
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Being from Vancouver, I’ve obviously seen snow before, but it’s rarely the fluffy, perfect, wonderful kind of snow that you just wanna roll around in while nursing a hot chocolate baby 🤰🏻 I’m so blissed out, I’m not even bothered by the fact that the “E” key on my keyboard stopped working last night. Turns out, it’s a pretty crucial letter...
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Anyways, I’m off on a quick jaunt to Nuremberg & that sausage hotel tomorrow! Any requests for things you’d like to see? I’m excited to have the wurst time 🌭🌭🌭 #LetThePunsBegin
  • Okay my community of Instagram enablers, I have officially booked a night to stay at the world’s first sausage hotel because THIS is the hard hitting journalism the world needs right now. I’ll be bringing you there with me next Tuesday alongside @wanderingchocobo 😂⠀
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But this got me thinking! What other wacky theme hotels are there that you know of? Comment and let me know! @jasonlikestotravel told me yesterday about a beer hotel, and I know in Barcelona, there’s one where you basically sleep in a bakery. Do you know of more?⠀
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PS: This sunset was taken from the Carmel Bunkers in Barcelona - hands down the best (free!!) view you can get in the city. It’s not a hidden gem anymore but it’s still drool worthy 🙌🏼 Can you spot any famous landmarks in the shot? 😂 #Barcelona #Catalonia
  • What would you do?! 🤔 Today I learned that there’s an entrepreneurial German butcher who has opened doors to the world’s first sausage hotel..... which happens to be 1.5 hours away from where I live. SHOULD I GO?
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No joke, said sausage hotel:
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1️⃣ Has 7 themed rooms where the walls are covered in cartoon sausage and sausage related decals
2️⃣ Has a restaurant where even dessert is not safe from sausage (chocolate pudding w/ slices of bratwurst - mmmm?)
3️⃣ Offers things like sausage hikes (???) and lectures, apparently
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Now the question is.... should I book it?! Please chime in 🌭 It’s so random I might just have to! #TheWurst #MostGermanInstagramPostEver
  • This right here is Rue de l’Abreuvoir, one of my favourite little winding streets in Paris’ Montmartre neighbourhood. Behind me, you’ll get a peek at the Sacré-Coeur Basilica and IG’s favourite backdrop, La Maison Rose. In front of me (not pictured) is a bronze bust of Dalida, a tragic French singer who lost three lovers and a best friend to suicide before taking her own life at the age of 54. Weirdly, people today rub the boobs of her statue so they can be “lucky in love”. TBH I don’t think too many of these people know the details of Dalida’s love life....
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But this is the wonderful thing about Montmartre (touristy as it has become): it’s a neighbourhood of endless stories. The Montmartre locals list is like a Who’s Who in famous creatives. Picasso, Van Gogh, Matisse - you name it. You could be walking down any old street and realize “huh, Hemingway probably ate here” or “it’s likely Van Gogh might’ve peed here once”, etc etc etc.
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So that’s why I love Montmartre and will shamelessly stroll through every time I’m in Paris, dreamy-eyed, like a hopeless romantic who’s ugly-(happy)-cried through Amélie farrrrr too many times. Every winding, cobbley step has some kind of story. ✨
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If you’re curious about all the wonderful things you can do in Montmartre, I’ve just published a guide co-written w/ Montmartre local @beenaroundtheglobe - check it out through the link in my bio. Read it for gems like.... hidden viewpoints,  offbeat things to do & where to find the workout spot of Parisian firefighters 😂 Blown away that it’s already been shared over 700 times (!!!) #topParisPhoto #Montmartre
  • Confession: I have a silly ritual whenever I travel solo.
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When in a city on my own, I like to buy myself a (usually overpriced and terrible) cup of coffee in the most touristy spot I can find. Then I perch there like a stalker, people watching, thinking irritatingly dreamy thoughts like “wow am I really here drinking coffee in this special place? I’m so special”. From time to time, my mind drifts and I start Googling fun facts about where I am. While sipping my 5€ cappuccino in Brussels’ Galeries Royales St Hubert, this is how I came across a particularly riveting tale about the Belgian praline....
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1️⃣ The Belgian praline was invented in Brussels when a Swiss pharmacist named Neuhaus started covering his medicine with a thin layer of chocolate to make it taste less terrible 🤢
2️⃣ Decades later, his grandson was like “wait. Maybe we should fill our chocolate shells with something less terrible than medicine that tastes like butt.” He tried yummy fillings instead and voilà - the praline as we know it is born!
3️⃣ 3 years after that, Neuhaus Jr’s wife designed a pretty gift box (called a ballotin) to protect the chocolates, popularizing the “BOX OF CHOCOLATES” Yes, they created both the praline AND the box. #powercouple 👫
4️⃣ 104 years later, in 2019, Christina Guan consumes an unnecessary amount of this chocolate and feels motivated to type a very longwinded caption about it
5️⃣ Approximately 2 minutes later, Christina’s followers back away slowly and tell her she needs to calm down 😂
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*twitch* is it the sugar high or do you find random history like this SO interesting? I could read fun facts all day. Anyways, back to the chocolate... 🍫 #StorytimeWithChristina #SorryImWeird #Brussels
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  • A lot to cheers to today, my friends:
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1️⃣ Stoked to announce I’m officially @GoEuro’s new IG ambassador for 2019! This means I’ll be doing regular Stories takeovers, videos and more for them once a month on their account. Turns out, my 1st grade teacher was wrong and you CAN eat chocolate as a career. Head over to their profile to see what I mean 🙃🍫
2️⃣ It’s still a waiting game, but I’ve moved one step further in my messy journey for a German visa. The past few days have involved 5am wake up calls, 30pg business plans, becoming a human icicle waiting in lines & trying not to sob violently in the face of German bureaucracy, but I’m happy to report that I’m a survivor 🙌🏼
3️⃣ It turns out, when you’re stranded in the snow in the middle of nowhere Bavaria, some b&b hosts will be kind enough to rescue you from the train station at 1am, give you their giant dog to pet, AND leave you a bottle of fizzy rosé as a treat...
4️⃣ Lastly, Tegernsee, Germany is a magical lake in the wintertime with the best brewery ever, and it’s like Narnia with beer. I highly recommend coming here, and it’s only 1 hour outside Munich too ;) Let me know if you want the link to this property (with lake views!)
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Anyways, this past week has been a ROLLER 👏🏼 COASTER 👏🏼 But after successfully fighting a few fires, I feel like I can breathe again... so, cheers to that! 🥂 #Tegernsee #Bavaria #BavariYEAHHHH
  • Have you ever realized you were one million percent wrong about a place? I have, and I’ve got some apologies to make to the city of Brussels, Belgium 😂
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Brussels and I have history. In fact, upon starting my blog in late 2014, one of the first articles I ever published was about how terrible I thought it was. This, coming from an ignorant newbie traveler who thought the #1 thing to see really WAS just a tiny statue of a little boy peeing (yes this exists, and it’s called Manneken Pis). My friend hated it so much she cried. 😂
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My most recent visit last week, 5 years wiser, I finally got to enjoy Brussels. The biggest difference? I ignored top ten to do lists and relied on local tips instead. Thanks @alongcameanelephant for helping me see the real Brussels!
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A few observations:
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1️⃣ Walk down the right streets, and everything WILL smell like waffles
2️⃣ Brussels has approximately one bajillion museums, dedicated to everything from comic books and vintage cars to musical instruments and the wardrobe of that tiny little peeing boy statue. I visited 6!
3️⃣ Brussels isn’t ONLY about waffles, beer and chocolate...... although hefty consumption of these are likely to increase enjoyment
4️⃣ The architecture is wildly opulent, so like, bring a ball gown to match 💃🏻
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Do you have any cities you’d love to give a second chance to? After reconciling with Brussels, I’m inspired 😂 #Brussels #IWaffleYouSo
  • So this is St Michael’s Mount - England’s blissfully uncrowded answer to Mont St Michel. In low tide, you can reach it by foot, but in HIGH tide, you can stage wistful self portraits in front of it, as the wind whips you sideways but with sunset colours making the water less murdery-looking 🙌🏼 I’d love to come back in the summer, but having this view to ourselves was pretty sweet.⠀
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PS if you’re wondering why I look like a ghost in this pic, we did a long exposure to capture the dreaminess of the water and sky. Thanks to caffeine, I haven’t stood still since 2006 sooo that’s why I look like a low budget Ghostbusters villain.⠀
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Now I’m plotting a visit to Mont St Michel so I can compare! Do you know of any other “twin” destinations like these two? I’d love to get some doppelgängers on my bucket list 🙌🏼 #WhyDidThatSoundKindaDirty #DontMindMe
  • Things that made me giggle like a rabid fan girl in Southwest England:
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1️⃣ Thatched cottages like this really do exist
2️⃣ Every village has a red phone booth
3️⃣ They have ridiculously fluffy cows that practically have feathers
4️⃣ All around are honesty shops w/ no shopkeepers. You’re just trusted to leave the right amount of money & grab what you want 🤯🤯🤯 (Try this in any major city lol)
5️⃣ Everybody’s in a constant state of drinking, whether its tea, cider, beer or just slurping that sweet English rain ☔️ (just kidding. Maybe)
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My first trip of 2019 was a road trip around Devon & Cornwall w/ @sophieannenadeau. We booked every accommodation the night before, decided where to go based on random whims (yes, Mousehole is an actual place) and drank so much hot chocolate we practically rolled across these scenic landscapes like giant human marshmallows. Spontaneous trips w/ no strings to work, reason or (honestly) social media are the best ✅
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The biggest miracle? It didn’t even rain once. ☔️ Thank you, England, for playing nice! Have you taken any trips so far this year? Tell me about them ⤵️
  • Hey friends 👋🏼 How’s your 2019 going? I’m emerging from my Insta-detox cave today to finally share some photos from the past few weeks. This is the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, a stupidly stunning spot many visitors miss while binging on Gaudi. It was SO empty here in fact, I was even able to capture vain tripod glamour shots (and work on a fun video project that I’ll show you all soon!)
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I’m ready to nap for ten years because the first two weeks of 2019 have already brought me to...
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✅ Cornwall
✅ Barcelona
✅ Brussels
✅ Antwerp
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Since Central Europe has become Narnia this week thanks to a freak blizzard, getting home to Munich was Mission Impossible VII... BUT I’ve finally made it back to the blankety clutches of my own bed, an ideal location for inhaling a bucket of pasta. 🍝 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
So, what have I missed in the Instaworld? I’ve only been away for a few weeks but I heard Instagram’s most liked photo is now officially an egg? 🥚 TBH I think that’s enough Internet for one day. How was your New Years? What are your travel plans? *grabs popcorn* tell me EVERYTHING! 🍿 #ImBack #AwkwardMomentWhenNooneNoticed
  • Twas the night before Christmas... SO PUT DOWN YOUR PHONE 🤓🎄💪🏼
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This morning, I agonized for an hour about what to post for you all today, literally sweating while pondering what might look most festive, most “joyous”. In doing that, I slurped coffee alone in my room instead of hanging out with my parents in the next room over, the parents I see only a few times a year. This got me thinking...
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When did the holidays become so synonymous with ‘picture perfect’ moments that needed to be shared? When did aspirational snaps of faux-candid laughter, matching sweaters, and magazine-worthy decor become the goal? Holiday content this like this has always been beautiful to look at, but if you take these shots as more than just pretty eye-candy, if you start to see them and wonder why your holidays look different, then remember behind every “perfect” shot is hours of stress, planning, staging, shooting and editing. Ironically, I can guarantee you nobody candidly laughing in most of these pics is genuinely happy in that exact moment 🙃🙈
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So here’s a simple photo from my weekend in Victoria. No festive pajamas, no over-the-top cute mugs of hot chocolate. Just me and a (ludicrously) expensive umbrella I bought because I knew it would bring me joy each time I used it.
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Remember that the holidays aren’t meant o be aspirational. They’re meant to celebrate what’s yours. My dad is currently yelling on the phone with my grandma about dinner plans, my mom is high key stressing about who I’m gifting cookies to and honestly, I’ll probably be opening more red envelopes than actual gifts this year (fellow Chinese kids, what’s up?!) BUT in spite of all that, I wouldn’t change this for the world because I’m home ❤️
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With all that said, I’m gonna slide gracefully off my soapbox and wish you all a wonderful Christmas. I’ll be logging off for a week after today... yenno, to practice what I’m preaching. Honestly, the less engagement on this post the better, it means none of you are online 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🙌🏼
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🎄🎄🎄❤️ to you all! - Christina
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