Sardegna

      I'm sitting at a coffee bar at a gym in Cagliari in Sardinia, this is a place famous for the supercentenarians (the folks that live over 100), it is one of the largest lifespan communities on the planet. I drink a protein shake after a workout, and of course it's Italy, so they also have espresso there which I drink after. Me and the barista make some good conversation, and I have to ask... "So how do the people here live so long?" She gives a playful laugh and looks at me as she puts her hands up and does a 360 as if showing me the whole island from inside the café, "Haha, look at this place!". And with that simple answer, I knew she was right.

     I knew from my research and friends that had been there that I wanted this to be a trip when it was warm, but I also wanted to avoid the peak of summer season. So the end of September seemed like the perfect time. Which it definitely was, but I also definitely still ran into some pretty crowded places that I cant imagine being there in the summer! I also wanted to see the whole island, or at least a lot of it. Some people like to travel slow, some like to do it more like a sampler of a little of everything. For me it really depends on the place, my schedule, etc. With that in mind, I decided to do the best of both worlds, hitting small towns and rural areas for a day or two, while I spend more time in the capital city of Cagliari. My trip looked like this:

-Cagliari 3 nights
-Alghero 2 nights with a stop to Bosa on the way
-Costa Smeralda 1 night
-Villasimius 1 night
-Cagliari 2 more nights

It could not have been better, but I will note, some of the days definitely started early to hit the road for the next town. Here's my quick tips for each place I visited:

Cagliari

                          

• The most likely place you will fly into, best for exploring the south, but the drive to Alghero is only 3 hours that included my stop in Bosa, stay as long as you like there of course. We will get to that. 
  
   
  
  
• At the start and end of the trip I stayed in Corso Vittorio Emanuale II. This was a great area for nightlife, bars, dining, any shopping that was needed, and really all access to the areas of the city I visited. I never took a train other than to the airport. Very walkable, safe at night, and fun.
  
                                
  
  
  
  
  
• Bastion San Remy, Centro Storico, and the Port were definitely fun, but the best highlight was day 1....
• I highly recommend booking a day out on the boats, I did mine on Airbnb, sailing around the area, stopping at great swim holes, and of course local wine, and snacks. Best part of the Cagliari leg!
  
  
  
  
       
  
  

Bosa Road Trip On The Way To Alghero

Arrived!

• Next was the road trip to Alghero, and I wanted to stop somewhere on the way to break up the monotony of the road. Bosa seemed like a beautiful place to check out. I didn't drive along the coast, so I will note the drive was fairly uneventful. I hit the road early with a goal of spending a couple of hours exploring Bosa, and being in Alghero while day light was still up.
  
  

  

  Quick stop exploring the alleys of Bosa
  
  

• Bosa is a beautiful little town to explore for a day or two. I arrived and parked outside the old city, which is a golden rule for driving into any old city. I made my way on foot to the river crossing into the city.
  
  
  
  
• Getting up to the top to check out Castle Serravalle was well worth it. Excellent views, and a great castle to visit.
  
         

Alghero

                   

• The drive went as planned and I arrived in Alghero around 3/4pm. After driving through I can safely say the old city is no doubt where you want to be as is the case with a lot of parts of Italy. The closer to the water, the better.
  
                                 
  
  
• The plan was to visit Neptune's Grotto one day, and explore beaches the next, but as travelers I always say we must plan on things not going as planned. Neptune's Grotto was closed due to high waves. I read this the morning I was set to go, and still drove there in hopes of change. When it didn't change I decided to spend the day exploring beaches. I would love to tell you I remember where I went, but I just played with the map, and went where it looked like it would make sense. I will say, some of these places... I may have gone off road a bit with the rental! Proceed with caution as this may not be allowed by the companies you rent from!
  
  

                               

• A quick gelato at the end of the day to celebrate a recovered mission
                                 
                                                          

Costa Smeralda

• The drive for this morning was going to be about two hours, but I decided to start having fun before checking into the hotel so I stopped at a town called Santa Teresa di Gallura for a full day tour by sea of Maddalena Archipelago. 
  
                 
  
  
• The Boat tour! Just like Cagliari, this was the best way to see the coast, we stopped at multiple islands, this tour was long! Almost 8 hours or so, but well worth it. It included a full lunch, and of course drinks and refreshments. The water here was certainly the crystal blue waters I imagined when I booked the trip. 
  
  
  
  
• I read a lot about La Costa Smeralda, in particular how it was the one of the most expensive parts of Europe synonymous with millionaires, tycoons, CEO's, celebrities, etc. Luckily I was at the end of the season and didn't have any issue with this. I will also note, I didn't go to any fancy restaurants, or any night clubs. Prices may have been a little higher than the other cities, but certainly nothing that broke the bank.
  
  
  
  
• I stayed at the Dolce Vita Hotel, which was easy to access nearby beaches on the coast, it also had a hot tub on the roof with a view of the sea, which after a long day on the boat was an epic ending to the night there.
  
  
  
• As beautiful as the water is, and the beaches, I will note, if you come in summer and prices are crazy, I felt the same beauty in all the other beaches I had seen in Alghero and Cagliari, but of course happy I got to spend some time here.

Villasimius

• The next day I had left open, I knew I wanted to check out the east coast to see more of the island, but I didn't know if I wanted to head back to Cagliari on a long driving day or stop somewhere on the way. With the magic of last minute google searches I found Villasimius.
  
  
• This was the longest drive, about 4 hours. But I did route it on coast which certainly had some nice spots to pull over and enjoy the view. 
  
  
• My main interest  in this last minute spot was scuba diving! I decided I had fun on the two boats rides, and beach days, it was time to see Italy underwater. My first dive in Europe. Certainly not the best dive I had ever done, but we met some nice Italian fish down there, and it was a cool and different thing to do. I had left super early to make it there for a 2pm ish dive. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• I will also note this was where one of my best meals were. But as many non-professional travel bloggers, I can't recall the name of the restaurant so it will have to be in my heart only unless I ever go back and find it again.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Back To Cagliari

            

     The next day was an easy one hour drive to Cagliari, I returned the rental car as I planned one spending the rest of the time in the city doing normal city tour things, as well as catching up on laundry, blogging, etc before heading off for a few days in Napoli and Rome, two cities that I had already been to, but was more than happy to return to!

     I spent those last few days living life as a Sardinian, they say in Sardinia you are Sardinian first and Italian second! Some time on the beach, some time in the gym, the coffee shops, the restaurants, and of course the beautiful ports and the beautiful waters. As I headed to Napoli and the plane was taking off, I watched the landscape and the beautiful sea disappear as we ascended into the clouds. Before it faded I couldn't help but hear the playful voice of the barista... "Just look at this place..."

                         

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New Year's In Antarctica 2023

      So this blog since I began in it in 2010ish, has been 6 of the 7 continents, truth be told, I never thought I'd make it to Antarctica. Continent number 7. But life changed. I made some good investments in both myself and in financial decisions, and I decided that even though the trip was going to cost me over $10,000, it was time to do it. That being said, this blog is 6 of the 7 Continents for the budget traveler, nothing about $10,000 says budget travel, however I will note the trip can be done for under $6,000, I saw it with my own eyes. But for me, not only was it a dream to visit all 7 continents, it was a dream to spend my favorite holiday, New Year's Eve on all 7, so the $4000 option was gone. I will quickly note the budget tips if you wanna skip the rest of the story:

    

Antarctica on a budget

 Some of this will echo what I already wrote many years ago here, and by the way confession time, that's a pic of a glacier in Alaska because at the time besides not having money for Antarctica, I didn't have money for stock photos either.

                             

-Get a job on a ship or base, you can work on science bases, all types of work are needed, the hard thing here from my research is that the contracts are generally 6 months, same for the ships, with many people doing longer. But I saw first hand when you go with a good company they will actually let the staff make landings too when appropriate space is available. If you wanna go down a YouTube rabbit hole check out the many awesome YouTubers who make videos on life on an Antarctica station.

-Go at the very beginning or very end of the season, early November or late March will be significantly cheaper than Dec/Jan. 

                           

-Last minute deals in Ushuaia, here I personally saw two cruises for under $4,000 (shared room of 3 or 4). But if you can't be in Ushuaia I followed Antarctica facebook groups for 2 years and constantly saw crazy deals like this pop up. Obviously do the research that the vendors are legit. 

-And of course you probably realize if you have done research already, shared rooms is going to be the way to go. I traveled solo so I shared my room with a stranger, but I met people who make A LOT more money than I do sharing rooms with friends or family. A lot of grown adults sharing a room with their mom or dad for the first time in 20 years. Having your own room, is financially the most difficult thing you can do, but if you can afford it, by all means :)

My New Year's In Antarctica

    My new Year's In Antarctica for 2022/2023, probably starts more in 2020. During the Covid pandemic I worked some ungodly hours at my job, so I suddenly towards the end of the year had the financial possibility to do new years in Antarctica. A lot of people put a lot of thought into which tour company to use, since I was hell bent on traveling during New Year, did NOT have enough money for the longer options with South Georgia and the Falklands, and wanted to do camping I was left with only two options. I chose the MV Hondius Ship with Oceanwide Expeditions. An amazing ship, and an amazing company. I spent years reading reviews on both so much that when the actual time came to book I didn't do much more research into the companies, but did make sure I was covered as far as cancellation policies, and I fully insured the trip with travel insurance, something I never did prior to Covid. Most cruises these days, especially for Antarctica will require it anyway. The cheapest room was $8,000 for a quad share. I opted for a double share window view (I regretted the window later) for $12,000. 
                                      

HUMAN FLAG ANTARCTICA

     I had reserved the room about 9 months before. Due to travel pessimism, I didn't book my flights to Argentina until August for December. I booked PHX to Buenos Aires and Buenos Aires to Ushuaia on separate reservations to save money. This is highly recommend by most Antarctica Travelers, but remember to leave sufficient layover time, I left 12 hours, if your flight is delated or bags are lost, your original airline is not obligated to get them or you to Ushuaia with Aerolineas. However, saving over $1,000 I took that risk.

     Next was time for Antarctica gear and wardrobe, this is all whole separate Article here, but to sum it up I spent probably around $300 on winter gear I needed since I lived in the desert. I got super lucky with finding used mountaineering boots online for $150 or so, if you need official mountaineering boots they are very expensive, many people on the trip brought the wrong boots.

     Final preparation was the standard before trip things to do, what was not standard was my nerves! This trip had been planned so long and cancelled twice, so a lot was on the line, it was my goal to get down there to continent number 7, touch the actual continent, and spend new years there. Just seeing Antarctica wasn't going to be enough, touching the continent wouldn't be either, and until it was January 1st at midnight, the trip was never going to be complete. I arrived in Ushuaia 3 days before, which I recommend to give leeway in case things happen. Ushuaia is an amazing place! I wrote about it here. 

Waking up in the morning and seeing my ship had arrived

     December 23rd, 2022.... I didn't sleep well but woke up more excited than I had been the whole year, and plenty of energy. It was finally time to embark on the MV Hondius, which my Airbnb had a view of the night before when she arrived. I had breakfast and coffee with one of the passengers I met on social media, we set our expectations and shared stories of our struggles with the cancelations. On line to board the ship I met a couple who lived two miles from me in Arizona, and knew my co-worker, always reminded of what a small world it is.

      Check in time.... 

                

Dining hall, no soup served on severe Drake days!

   This room would be my home for the next two weeks. My roommate was a retired Australian military guy, we made a good combo since we both had experience sleeping in dorm type situations with my firefighter background. We also agreed to camp different nights so we would each have the room solo one night. The bed is tiny as you can see, but it was comfortable. The window was definitely not necessary as the other view points in the ship were much better, my room you can sort of see has a rail walk way view as well as the background. Also foolishly unbeknownst to me after researching the trip for 10 years I failed to realize that as I was traveling at the peak of summer, the sun would not be setting at all while I was down there. Sleeping at night with the sun on was interesting. 

     The infamous Drake Passage was infamous 2 of the 4 days at sea. One day I would say half of the 200 passengers didn't show up for lunch and/or dinner. I did ok with just over the counter meds and ginger gum but had the sea sick patch just incase. I actually still drank wine every night on the drake, may have been stupid, but no nights were spent hovering over the toilet bowl. Going to bed was actually a dream, it was like being rocked to sleep in a crib or your mother's arms. But when you got up to pee you quickly were reminded that the floor is moving! And showering must be done with one arm, one arm washes, the other arm balances. That aside.... 

     Many of us had asked our guide if we would be making a continental landing verses just islands, this is all based on conditions, but I imagine most operators know we want to touch the continent, so luck of the southern ocean when day one was coming it was going to be a continental landing!

LANDINGS:

               

     What can be said about when your foot finally touches the continent? Peace, tranquility, some relief for me after two cancellations of the cruise! I guess but most of all enthusiasm, a rush of adrenaline, you finally have reached continent 7. Just nothing like it! Each day was packed with things to do, usually one group was on zodiacs or kayaks while the other was on the continent, and of course we would switch. EVERYONE spends equal time on the continent unless they needed a break. 

First landing on Brown Bluff!

• We saw over 50,000 penguins, yes 50,000!
  
  
  
                                           
  
  
             
                       
• Mountaineering is legit! Not for the faint at heart, one group had to turn back, so know your limits.
  
  
  
             
  
  
• Camping was great, it was a big part of me choosing this company besides New Year's, but be aware, you are there during the summer season, the sun doesn't really set, and most companies don't use tents anymore, so you are pretty much lying in a very warm blanket in the sun... It's not that cold, but with the light I definitely didn't sleep too well! Nevertheless glad I did it.
  
  
  
  
  
• Scotch on the Rocks with a 1000 year plus old ice cube! I don't know why, I read this in a blog, and had to do it. Now you are reading it in my blog and have to do it! When you are on the Zodiacs and not moving, it's ok to scoop up a piece of ice for that cocktail later! Kept mine in my pocket and when we got back, gave it a quick rinse and it was time for the best Scotch ever!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Whales, seals! You will see them EVERYWHERE!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• New Year's actually tuned out to be a blast. Originally I envisioned myself standing alone on a cold deck, with a champagne or wine in hand under the dark night sky... Nothing could have been further from the truth! My ship was oddly young, probably because the holidays, average age was 40, and we had plenty of hard core university students or about that age that didn't back down to party on New Years. This is by no means the reason to come to Antarctica, but it was a blast to be outside with friends, drinking, dancing listening to music, all while surrounded by whales constantly jumping out of the water as if they were partying with us, and of course the 360 panorama of one of the most beautiful places on Earth.
  
                                     
  
  
• How cold is Antarctica? Well depends on the person really, I was there in the heart of summer and almost every time on the deck I would not wear a coat, this doesn't mean it's safe to go down with minimal wear of course! During mountaineering I thought my feet were gonna freeze off when my boots started getting wet, but don't be too afraid of deck life being confined inside all day, it was quite nice on the deck every day I was down there.
  
               
  
  
• And of course, if you can extend the trip, you are already (probably) in Argentina, why not stay awhile? My Argentina reports here.

    A trip like no other, it's hard to describe it simply because everyone will ask, "How was Antarctica?", it's a peaceful and common question, they certainly want a short answer, rather than this blog link or a YouTube link, but how do you describe it... The simplest way is by saying after visiting 60 plus countries and now this my final of the 7 continents there is simply nothing like it. I headed to continent number 7 with great hopes and expectations and it fulfilled all of them to the max. I couldn't have dreamed of a better trip. I also went down there, thinking it was the first but also last time.... But alas.... after experiencing the landscape, the smells (good and bad with those penguins!), the taste of the ice, the feeling of isolation in it's beauty, the sensation of being on the final continent... It was something that maybe one time wasn't enough. I went on New Year's the most expensive time to go... If I were to go at the beginning or the end of the season, it's a third of the price... SO.... Maybe we will see each other again. But for now I'm eternally grateful for everything Antarctica gave me.

ENJOY MY VIDEO OF THIS TRIP HERE: 

Choose the continent!!!!

Africa Asia Australia Europe North America South America Antarctica

OR...

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