Travel Tips and Resources

Mercure Hotel, Sighisoara (an Accor member hotel)

Accommodations

Budget lodging

https://www.travelswithcharie.com/search?q=Budget+friendly+lodging

Hotels

I try to stay in the same family of hotels wherever I go so I can gain points for free hotel stays or upgrades. It’s important to register with the hotel chains of your choice. Mine are IHG, Accor, Best Western, and most recently Renaissance and Hyatt Hotels. Making a reservation through their apps is a breeze.

Safest countries for solo female travelers (from my personal experience)

https://www.travelswithcharie.com/2023/07/the-safest-countries-for-solo-female.html

Phone and Data connectivity

I use Google Fi to call home and to check my social media accounts and messages. Since switching to Google Fi many years ago, I’ve used it in Asia, Europe, North and South America. I rarely use the local wi-fi. I have an Unlimited Plus account which includes unlimited data, calls and texts and includes hotspot tethering and international coverage and depending on the country, VPN coverage as well.

Tour operators

Albania on tour with Eddy

To see the best of Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro and North Macedonia, you'll need to contact Eddy. I was on a six-day tour of the region and Eddy made sure I got to see the places on my list. Eddy knows the best restaurants in the most unique settings and introduced me to local delicacies. He's patient and helped me navigate those steep climbs and cobblestone streets. He was always on time for our tours while allowing me to choose my starting times. You may contact him through his IG at albania_on_tour_with_eddy or through WhatsApp 355 69 919 9085 or by email at edisonfejzulla1@gmail.com.

Chaika Tours, Latvia

For tours in Latvia and to the Hill of Crosses in Lithuania, I traveled in 2023 to Hill of Crosses from Riga with Armands who operates chaikatours.lv. There’s no easy connection between Hill of Crosses and Riga. This was a solo trip for me and was I glad I didn’t have to share the car with anyone.

Get your Guide, Bulgaria

I took a small group tour with five people from Sofia, Bulgaria to Niš, Serbia and that was far better than a tour bus with 30 people or 15 sightseers in a minivan. getyourguide.com.

Nicolas Experience Tours, Romania

I found that the best way to discover Romania (or other countries for that matter) is to travel with a tour operator who will take care of logistics and is flexible with schedule adjustments so I can relax and enjoy the view. As a solo traveler, it’s not easy for me to find a tour that will accommodate a single person only. They always require a minimum of 2 people to operate a tour. I normally take the train to go around a country and sightsee on my own but with only two days in Romania and the number of cities I wanted to see, I was glad to find Nicolas Experience Tours to take me to Sibiu, Sighisoara, Biertan Fortress, Cozia Monastery, Brasov, Bran Castle, Snagov Monastery, and so much more in two days on my first visit. Nicolas also has tours to Ukraine, Moldova, Transnistria, and Bulgaria. https://experience-tours.ro/

Taiwan Tours with Raul Ng

The best way to see all the places I mentioned in my Northern Taiwan Roadtrip is to hire a private guide. There were four of us friends traveling together and our guide/driver had a van where we could all sit comfortably for the long ride. The other advantage of having a private guide is that you can customize your tour to include the places you wish to see. Raul drove us safely through rain and wet roads. You can reach Raul Ng through his Facebook page or at 886-926-177-849 or by email at hellotaiwantours@gmail.com.

Tico Shuttle, Costa Rica

I took Tico Shuttle to go from Escazu (suburb of San Jose) to Jaco Beach on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica and back to San Jose. Their drivers were prompt, careful, polite and even stopped along the way to show me some of the sights of Costa Rica. ticoshuttle.com

Transportation options

I always check rome2rio.com for different options of traveling from country to country or city to city. It’s an invaluable tool.

Stay connected

*****

Image by TravelswithCharie

8 Heritage Houses of Iloilo

Lizares Mansion The province of Iloilo on the island of Panay has a rich trove of heritage houses, left over from the sugar industry boom in the 19th century. Iloilo also had the largest port in the Philippines at that time which facilitated the export of sugar to foreign shores and deposited money in the hands of the sugar barons. The barons dropped their earnings into the acquisition of properties in Negros and the construction of beautiful homes in Iloilo, many of which are located in the vicinity of the Jaro Cathedral. The Lizares Mansion was built in 1937 by Don Emiliano Lizares for his wife, Concepcion Gamboa and five children. The family fled to safety when World War II broke out and the house was occupied by the Japanese military. The family returned to the house after the war but left once again after the demise of Don Emiliano. It was sold to the Dominican order in the 1960s and was converted in 1978 to a private school, Angelicum School. The mansion now houses the

The Art of Carlos Botong Francisco - Progress of Medicine in the Philippines

Pre-colonial period Pag-unlad ng Panggagamot sa Pilipinas (The Progress of Medicine in the Philippines) is a group of four large-scale paintings depicting healing practices in the Philippines from pre-colonial times to the modern period. Carlos Botong Francisco was commissioned in 1953 by Dr. Agerico Sison who was then the director of Philippine General Hospital (PGH) together with Dr. Eduardo Quisumbing of the National Museum, Dr. Florentino Herrera, Jr. and Dr. Constantino Manahan. These oil on canvas paintings measure 2.92 meters in height and 2.76 meters in width (9.71 ft x 8.92 ft) and were displayed at the main entrance hall of PGH for over five decades. Owing to its location, the artworks were in a state of "severe deterioration" at the beginning of the 21st century from exposure to heat, humidity, dirt, dust, smoke, insect stains, grime, termites and an oxidized synthetic resin used in an earlier restoration. These canvases were restored three times, the last was

Filipino Struggles in History - Carlos Botong Francisco

In 1968, Antonio Villegas (then Mayor of Manila), commissioned Carlos "Botong" Francisco to paint the history of Manila for Manila City Hall. The series of large scale paintings was called Kasaysayan ng Maynila (History of Manila). The paintings deteriorated over time and no attempt was made to preserve these historical canvases until 2013 when Mayor Amado Lim sent them to the National Museum for extensive restoration. Four years later, in 2017, Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada and the Manila City Council signed an agreement with the National Museum to leave the paintings at the museum so they may reach a larger audience in exchange for museum grade reproductions to replace the originals. Kasaysayan ng Maynila was later renamed Filipino Struggles in History and is now on display at the Senate Hall of the National Museum . Carlos "Botong" Francisco died in March 1969, a few months after completing the paintings. He is one of the first Filipino modernists and

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