Hey Y’all,

Kate here from Life on Pine, an adventure & travel blog, sharing stories from our current life on the road. You can read a little more about us or reach out directly here.

BACKGROUND

Our blog really used to be a place for stories, photos and recommendations from cities that I loved. Over time, my husband and I started to travel together more, and I was borderline worried about his obsessive researching before a trip: what are the locals doing, where are the underrated cafes/shops/stores, can we see live music, can we hike/bike/surf, where do the OG’s go in this town.

We of course also love finding historical places, museums, hot spots and hipster-ridden cafes, but we equally love ending up in a dive bar full of 70+ year old legends smoking cigarettes and playing backgammon. I used to think only spontaneity made for good trips, however I’ve seen there is a clear difference when you arrive in a city with a loose plan and slowly I’ve started to appreciate his OCD travel preparation.

OUR TRAVEL GUIDES

… are meant to inspire you! And at the very least serve as a back-up plan for your next adventure. Before TG’s, we would get emails from friends [or friends of friends] about recent trips, asking about some of our favorite spots and things we did. From there we would spend hours writing up emails, copy and pasting old emails and forwarding people past recommendations. Eventually it just seemed to make sense to share the work that was already done or collected, and pair it up with some of our favorite photos. Sometimes blogging can feel like an un-rewarding endeavor, but when we hear of someone using a guide or loving our tips, it makes my heart melt.

These guides are designed to be a source of clean, digestible, visually pleasing information for you to get what you are looking for fast, and move onto more important things – like your trip!

HOW WE RESEARCH

Some of our favorite spots are never planned at all, of course. There is definitely something special to stumbling upon a cool bar, cafe or live event that automatically screams your vibe. That being said, it’s nice to have spots in mind or at least a rough guide in your back pocket. A few of our trusted sources include:

Below are a few of our favorite destinations and now travel guides. Whether you are already planning to visit one of these spots or looking for your next adventure, we hope these can help. Full list of travel guides can be found HERE!

Cheers,

Kate