Tag: Explore

Coffee Break, Uncategorized

Wanderlust: What To Do Before You Travel to China

India
before-china
So, you’ve decided to make a trip to China! You’re so excited to go see some place new, but old all at the same time. There are some things that you need to be aware of before you go.
  1. PASSPORT!
I’m hoping because you’ve decided to travel internationally that you have looked into getting a passport. If you haven’t please start the process of obtaining one here. It can take weeks to months to get a new passport, and to renew a passport. If you have a passport make sure that it doesn’t expire within 6 months of you trying to go to China. Finally, make sure you have multiple pages remaining in your passport for the Chinese Visa.
  1. Chinese Visa
Check your local area for a consulate. If you don’t have a Chinese consulate then do another search for places that provide Chinese Visa services. Most places don’t have a Chinese consulate, but they do have satellite places that are able to do the visa for you. For example, here in Georgia we do not have an consulate. Houston has the nearest consulate, but the Houston consulate excepts visa from: AL, AK, FL, GA, LA, MS, OK, and TX.
  1. VPN

China has internet restrictions and many of your favorite social media accounts will not be accessible while you’re there. Also many websites will be blocked, even if you can get on them when you get there it is possible they will be blocked during trip. There are many subscriptions on VPNs ranging from a month to a year. It allows you to privately browse the web, so that nothing will be blocked. Do some research BEFORE you go. You CANNOT do this while you’re there.

  1. Voltage Converter and Plug Adaptor

Lastly don’t forget to get an voltage converter  and plug adaptor. North America mostly uses 110V while China uses 220V. Also the plugs are different in China than they are in North America, so your normal plugs won’t work. In my opinion it is easiest to get an all in one voltage converter and plug adaptor that way you only need on tool. You can then get a multi-plug to be able to plug in the rest of your electronics without needing a converter for every plug.

These are the top four things that I believe that you need before you go to China!! Does anyone have any other tips and ideas that you need to consider before you go to China?! Until next time,
Keep Turning the Pages
90s Born Reader
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Coffee Break, Uncategorized

Wanderlust: Pisa

India
Our next stop on our Italian adventure was visiting Pisa! I’m not going to lie, seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa has been on my bucket list for sometime. Seeing it in person was very different than what I ever could have imagined. Believing that hey, maybe the ground is on a slant, or maybe the foundation gave way. There was every intention of the building being straight, but somewhere the building became tilted. The Leaning Tower is actually a Bell Tower in the Piazza dei Miracoli that goes with the Duomo di Pisa in the plaza and two other buildings.
We had a fun time exploring the Plaza of Miracles, and of course we had to get pizza in Pisa. Check out our pictures below!
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A view of the plaza!
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We tried so many times to get the iconic picture of “pushing” the tower back straight. Let’s just say someone didn’t understand the concept….
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mmmmmm Pisa Pizza!! Yes we’re both taking pictures of our food. That’s what everyone really wants to see right?! Hahaha
Is Pisa a place that is on your bucket list? Until next time,
Keep turning the Pages
90s Born Reader
Coffee Break, Uncategorized

Wanderlust: La Spezia

India
While on our tour of Italy last fall we stayed in La Spezia in order to get to Cinque Terre. We didn’t get to explore the small city very much, but we did have two fabulous dinners there. The city is beautiful and easily walkable much like every other Italian city. We stayed at Hotel Firenze, which had a delicious breakfast in the morning and a great balcony view of the city. Hera are some pictures of our limited time in La Spezia.
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This is the lovely hotel we stayed in La Spezia. The hotel is kind of small, and only has one tiny elevator, but luckily they have stairs and the floors aren’t too far apart.
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These are the pictures of La Spezia from the balcony of the hotel.
wine selfie
Here’s a picture of the two of us enjoying one of those amazing dinners in La Spezia. Look at those wine glasses!!
We enjoyed our stop over in La Spezia, and it is the perfect place to stay to get to Cinque Terre as that is only a short train ride away. Come back soon to see my post on Cinque Terre to figure out why people from all over the world come to visit the rocky island cities! Until next time,
Keep Turning the Pages
90s Born Reader