One of the most delightful holiday traditions is counting down the days to Christmas with an advent calendar, especially with one filled with chocolate. The tradition of advent calendars dates back to 19th-century Germany, where people marked the days leading up to Christmas with daily small treats. The first printed advent calendar appeared around 1903, with religious images behind small numbered doors. Over time, the concept evolved to include a variety of themes, from chocolates to toys and was adopted outside of Germany too. Here are ten of the finest luxury chocolate advent calendars, created by the world’s top chocolatiers.
My wife and I sold everything to become nomads and discovered ferries were the best way to travel — except for 2 downsides
03.11.2023 - 10:11 / insider.com
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Norm Bour, a 69-year-old nomad who prefers ferry travel. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I spent most of my life living in California and most of my career in real estate, but in 2008, the recession destroyed my business.
I reinvented myself as a consultant for the CBD industry, and in 2016, I was invited to speak at three events, in Amsterdam, Prague, and Warsaw, Poland. I was 62, and it was my first time in Europe. I spent three weeks traveling to different cities and had an aha moment.
It charmed me how people overseas seemed to enjoy life to the fullest and were not in a rush-rush mindset like most Americans I knew.
A friend recommended I check out an app called TravelPirates. It shares discounted flights to international destinations. I started scanning the app for deals, and over the next two years, I traveled to Iceland, Spain, Portugal, France, and many other places with my wife, Kathleen.
At the end of 2018, we decided to become nomads. We sold everything, bought one-way tickets to Valencia, Spain, and left in February 2019. Because my business was remote, I could work from anywhere.
Since then, we've traveled to 37 countries, and we take ferries whenever we can. There's nothing better than sitting on the top deck of a ferry looking out at the ocean and watching the birds. It makes traveling less boring.
More often than not, taking a ferry is cheaper than airfare, but it does take longer.
On a trip from Rome to Split, Croatia, in May 2019, it would've taken us a little over an hour to get there on a plane and cost about $300 for the dates we were looking at. Instead, we took an overnight ferry that lasted 11 hours but cost us only $60.
Sometimes people take trains to save money or if they have a fear of flying, but some romanticize it because you get to see more of the land you're passing by.
I feel the same way about being on a ferry. There's something so magical about being on a boat while seeing the world around you.
I often use Ferryhopper or Rome2Rio to help plan our ferry travel. My usual technique is to first Google "ferry from A to B" to see whether I can find a specific company to use. That increases the chances of getting an online ticket and QR code, relieving the stress of getting a seat.
Shorter ferries rarely sell out, and they run more frequently, so there's a good chance you can catch the next one if you miss your first option. The longer ferries are more selective, and it's a good idea to get your ticket in advance.
Taking a combination of shorter and longer ferries has allowed us to see more places than if we traveled just by land, including on our 87-day motorcycle trip through six countries. We
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