The Icons & The Unexpected

We’ll be the first to say it—there’s a reason the classics are classics. You can’t go to Rome without standing in front of the Colosseum and imagining the roar of 50,000 spectators. Kraków wouldn’t be Kraków without the striking beauty of Wawel Castle and the echoes of history in its Old Town. The Charles Bridge in Prague, with its towering statues and misty Vltava River views, is just as atmospheric as you’d hope. These places aren’t overhyped. They’re jaw-dropping because they deserve to be. But if you only go to the landmarks, you miss the heart of a place. A city isn’t its skyline; it’s its side streets. The best experiences are often found in the unexpected: the quiet alcove of a medieval church in Bologna, where light filters through stained glass in perfect silence. The cobbled backstreets of Seville, where Flamenco dancers rehearse behind hidden courtyard doors. A rooftop in Lisbon at sunset, where the city glows gold and the distant bells of a tram chime through the warm evening air.

Beyond The Tourist Trail

If we’ve learned anything from years of travel, it’s this: don’t just follow the crowd. Yes – sometimes, the crowd is there for a reason. But some of the best discoveries happen when you wander a little further, when you take a wrong turn, when you ignore the guidebooks and let curiosity lead the way. Take Boston—everyone knows the Freedom Trail, but walking through the lesser-known neighbourhoods like Beacon Hill or Charlestown reveals layers of history beyond the textbooks. In Tanzania, Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti are unforgettable, but spending time in the quieter landscapes of the Ngorongoro Crater offers some of the most breathtaking wildlife encounters you’ll ever experience. In Lapland, it’s easy to be awed by the Northern Lights, but gliding across the snow on a husky sled, with nothing but the sound of the dogs and the crunch of ice beneath you, is a memory that lingers just as long.

Experiences That Stay With You

Some places change you. They stick in your mind long after you leave, shaping the way you see the world. For us, that’s been standing beneath the towering walls of Rome’s Pantheon, marvelling at how something so ancient still stands with such presence. It’s the feeling of walking through the ruins of Sintra’s Moorish Castle in Portugal, where the Atlantic winds remind you that this place has withstood centuries of history. It’s seeing the wild, rugged beauty of Mauritius’ Black River Gorges, the waterfalls crashing into dense jungle. It’s the quiet awe of standing in Prague’s Klementinum library, with books that have seen the rise and fall of empires. It’s not just about the sights. It’s about the feeling. The rush of adrenaline as you traverse rainforest canopies (and don’t like heights!) or scramble UP a waterfall. The sense of history as you step into the Duomo of Florence, where (if you know where to look) whispers of murder still seem to linger. The absolute stillness of the Arctic wilderness in Lapland, where the stars seem to shine brighter than anywhere else on earth, or a lava tunnel in Iceland, where if you turn the lights out, it’s darker than anywhere you’ve ever been.

Bringing It Home

The beauty of travel is that it doesn’t just exist while you’re away—it lingers. The conversations you have with strangers make you more open, more curious. The places you fall in love with stay with you, woven into your everyday life. And that’s why we travel. Not just to see, but to feel. Not just to take photos, but to collect memories. Not just to escape, but to come back —changed and ready to bring aspects of people and places from all over the world in to how we live and our home. So wherever your suitcase (or rucksack, or hiking boots) takes you next, take in the sights – really see them.

Because the world is too big, too beautiful, and too full of adventure not to explore it.