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Leaping Hound Travel
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  • Travel Notes

Black Lives Matter

Travel notes

Stories, advice, recommendations, and news.

Smooth Summer Travels

5/8/2023

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Summer is the peak travel season for most destinations, and demand is higher than ever. How can you help your summer travels go smoothly? Here are four simple tips. 
  1. Leave more time than you think you'll need. Get to the airport three hours early for international flights, pad the time you leave your hotel room to reach a museum, and head to restaurants before you're “gotta eat right now!” hungry.
  2. Be flexible; go with the flow. Things might not go according to plan (unbearably long lines at a food cart festival, a violent thunderstorm when you planned a hike…). If you don't rest the hopes for your vacation all on one activity, and you aren't afraid to pivot to different plans, you'll be better able to roll with challenges.
  3. Be prepared, but not anxious. Carry a mini first-aid kit with bandages and basic medicine in your bag in case you get a blister or feel sick; keep your water bottle full; pack an umbrella. But most of all, if you forget something, don't panic. Unless you are truly going into the wilderness, you likely can buy what you're missing or find help if needed.
  4. Use the “six-month-old baby” metric. Travel can be stressful, and when you notice yourself getting crabby, treat yourself as you would a six-month-old baby. Ask yourself “Am I hungry? Tired? Thirsty? Over-stimulated? In uncomfortable clothes?” and then get what you need. Being tuned in to your own needs can turn an irritating day into an enjoyable one.
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A case for single-city trips

3/26/2023

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We get it. You don't get the chance to travel to Europe every day, and you want to see as much as you can. So you want an itinerary that takes you EVERYWHERE. But let's look at the opposite sort of trip for a moment. There is a lot of value in choosing a single city and staying there for a week or more. Why? Here are a few reasons.
  • Depth of experience. You begin to feel you know the city. You have a favorite bakery you stop at every morning. You can navigate your way to the nearest Metro stop without looking at a map. You have time to notice more details about the people, the architecture, the culture, the history (and of course, the food!). You don't have to make choices between three different museums you want to see--you have time for them all.
  • Comfort. You only unpack once, and you only re-pack once. Your hotel room begins to feel a little bit like a home-away-from-home, instead of just a place to catch up on sleep. 
  • Pace. Have you ever heard someone say they feel like they need a vacation after their vacation? If you have a fast-paced trip, where you're cramming as much in as possible, it might be amazing, but it will also likely be exhausting. Slow the pace down, and you'll give yourself the chance to relax and breathe as you engage with your destination. Come home from your trip feeling rejuvenated, not exhausted. 

Kate Thomas from Travel Pro Theory sums up another important reason: for every day of travel you add, you are basically losing a day of vacation. Travel days are busy and tiring, and it's unlikely you'll also be doing sightseeing or exploring on those same days. 

Of course, you know yourself best, and if you love a fast pace and don't mind a lot of travel days, then go for it! We're not saying this is the only way to see the world--just that it's a wonderful, often-unappreciated one that we think more people should consider.

If you do want to see multiple cities, a great way to do so is with a small-group tour. Then you won't have to worry about travel arrangements, you won't need to use your energy figuring out how to navigate new train stations or airports, and you'll have the comfort of a knowledgeable tour guide's presence to introduce you to a new place. Even with small-group tours, though, watch out for ones that try to fit, say, five countries into one week. That often means moving at an exhausting pace. Our recommendation is to find a tour that gives you at least three full days in each city you stay in (hey, like 
one of ours, perhaps!).
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Step-by-Step Passport Process

3/14/2023

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PictureI only had bright pink hair for about a month, but its memory lives on in my passport photo.
 ​Have you been procrastinating on getting your passport? It can seem intimidating, but it's really just a few simple steps. We thought we'd break them down, to make it as easy as possible for you. Because, of course, having a passport is the first step that leads to you, for example, eating a pain au chocolat in a Parisian boulangerie.

These steps are to get a new passport or a renewed passport in person. There are also renew-by-mail options, and (rolled out as a test last year) online renewal options. But this traditional process is currently the most straightforward and reliable at this time, in our opinion. 

This is also the process to get a passport at the "routine" or "expedited" rate, but is NOT the procedure if you need a passport for an emergency or for urgent travel. You can learn more about what to do in those cases at this link.

So, let's get you a passport!
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  1. Go to this link and click on "Fill out or Download your Form," and then choose either Option 2 "Renew Your Passport" (if you got your last passport within the last 15 years) or Option 1 "Application For A U.S. Passport" (if it's been more than 15 years since you got a passport, or if you have never had one). You can either use the "form filler" option or the pdf option. You'll fill out the form (it's stuff like name, address, etc., plus it also wants a bit of info about your parents) and print it out.

    --note: if you don't have access to a printer, you could drop in at a post office and ask for a paper copy of this form.
    --note: if you'd like to select a different gender marker on your passport than was on your previous one, that's totally fine, and you can read more about that here. They have the options F, M, and X.

  2. Go to this website to schedule an appointment at a post office to get your passport renewed. I recommend choosing the type of appointment "new passport with photo services" so that you don't have to get your photo taken separately, but if those aren't available in your area, you can get your photo taken separately (Walgreens, for example, takes passport photos). You'll search for a location and make the appointment thru the website. Some post offices do have drop-in services if you don't want to make an appointment. You can check the ones in your area here.

  3. Your fee (as of March 2023) will be $130 for renewal or $130 + a separate $35 if you have to do a new one (if it's been more than 15 years). You can also pay extra to expedite the processing, and to expedite the shipping. Typically they don't allow you to pay by card (though some will, apparently, I would ask first as it's not common). You generally must use a check or money order (yes, in 2023 :-) ). 

  4. When you go to your appointment, bring your expired passport (or other document(s) from this list), your filled-out form, and your checkbook (and your passport photo, if you had it done elsewhere in advance). You can check the current average processing times here.

And of course, once you have that passport, it's time to use it! Fill out our Travel Interest Form and we can begin building you the perfect vacation!

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2023 LGBTQ+ Travel Safety Index

3/9/2023

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Travel journalists Asher and Lyric Fergusson have created the 2023 LGBTQ+ Travel Safety Index, an incredibly well-researched ranked list of 203 countries. This list does a great job of boiling down the varying factors that contribute to the safety and security of LGBTQ+ travelers into a simple-to-follow guide. They measure everything from transgender legal protections, to same-sex marriage laws, to how people there answered the survey question "Is this a good place to live for gay or lesbian people?" 

As tour operators and travel agents, this is something important to us, not just for our LGBTQ+ clients, but for our company as a whole. It's important to us that the tours we lead, the countries we visit, and the businesses we patronize, are all safe for all our clients, and do not compromise on the values we hold. Back in 2021, we shared that year's index, so we wanted to make sure we shared this update. 

After the full details of the country list, they also include 37 LGBTQ+ travel safety tips.


Thinking of planning your own trip abroad? Take a look at the Fergussons' index--it might just spark some new ideas! (Anyone up for a trip to Sweden?)
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Donations from our Cakes and Coffeehouses Tour

2/12/2023

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It's important to us to contribute positively, in whatever small way we can, to the places we visit. To that end, we will be donating 10% of our profits from our Cakes and Coffeehouses small-group tour of Budapest and Vienna to the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union. Founded in 1994, the HCLU is the leading Hungarian human rights NGO. They monitor legislation, pursue strategic litigation, provide free legal aid, provide trainings and run awareness-raising media campaigns. 

The HCLU's "Equality Project" focuses on fighting state-level discrimination of the Roma people and people with disabilities. Their "Privacy Project" works to ensure that state intervention into the lives of public citizens is only to the extent that is absolutely necessary, and that the state provides services relevant to protect human rights (such as health care, public education, and social services). Their "Political Freedoms Project" works to ensure people can form their own opinions on public affairs and express their opinions about the operation of the state. They specifically focus on freedom expression, freedom of the press, the right to assembly, and 
the transparent functioning of the state and the freedom of information facilitating it.

You can learn more about them at hclu.hu.
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Leaping Hound's Carbon "Pawprint"

1/21/2023

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We believe travel is important, but we also recognize that travel (air travel in particular) has a negative environmental impact. We already do our best to lessen the carbon footprint of our group tours by using trains, taking public city transportation, and walking whenever possible. But we want to do better.
 
Starting with our Cakes and Coffeehouses group tour of Budapest and Vienna in June, from now on, we will be using Gold Standard to purchase carbon offset credits for all transportation involved with our group tours--including the transatlantic flights of all group members. 
 
Carbon offset credits aren't a perfect system, but they're a start. If you'd like to read more about them, you can learn more here. If you're interested in purchasing carbon offset credits for your individual travel, that's something we can happily add on to any package. 

And, of course, if you'd like to read more about our upcoming group tour offerings, check them out here:

Cakes and Coffeehouses: Budapest and Vienna
Spirits: Dublin, Belfast, and Edinburgh
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Visit Cartagena, Colombia!

12/2/2022

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You know we focus on Europe. It's our first love, our specialty, our obsession. South America is not our area of focus, but we'd still love to help people interested in visiting. That's why we want to share information about a trip that Angela Richards, a travel advisor friend of ours, is running to Cartagena, Colombia. It's going to be amazing. (This isn't something we're trying to sell you, by the way. We don't get a commission, we have no involvement, we just think it's a great opportunity and we want to share it!)
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Read about the trip in Angela's own words: 

"We are headed to Cartagena, Columbia, March 9-14, 2023. We will be immersing ourselves in Columbian culture through a tour of Palenque, the first free African town in the Americas. We'll discover how this distinct African culture has been maintained for centuries. We'll also learn about traditional music and dance, folk medicine, and Palenque's unique language. There will also be a tour of the Walled City of Cartagena, which has a rich colonial history.

If you'd like to join us (and we'd love it if you did!), pricing starts at $1200 per person. This includes:
  • Five-night stay at an all-inclusive resort
  • Round-trip airport transportation*
  • All meals and drinks while on the resort
  • 2 Immersive Excursions
  • Travel Protection (credit only)
  • ME! And comfort from knowing you won't be exploring an unfamiliar destination alone.
*Airfare is not included but can be added."

​You can learn more about it and sign up here!
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Three questions for a better vacation

10/20/2022

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“Know yourself” isn't just a quote from Socrates and a song by Drake--it's also our best advice on how to have a great vacation. This is your vacation! You're taking time off work, spending money, and making arrangements for pet care or housesitting, so don't waste that effort on something that will leave you frustrated. Make sure you have a trip that is perfectly suited to you.

Here are three questions to ask yourself when making vacation plans. They aren't meant to be yes or no questions; rather, consider each question a spectrum where you might fall anywhere between the two extremes.
  1. Plan it all or leave it open? Do you want to make sure you don't miss a thing, and get every tour, museum visit, and restaurant reservation booked in advance? Or do you want to leave each day wide open, ready to be filled with whatever sounds good in the moment?
  2. On the go or take it slow? Do you love the hustle of moving from one place to the next, seeing as many places as you can? Or do you want to linger in one place, really getting to know a locale more intimately?
  3. Tried and true or something new? Do you love returning to the same much-adored spot you've been to many times before? Or do you want to go somewhere completely unfamiliar?

As you make your 2023 travel plans, think about how you would answer each of those three questions. It'll help to ensure your vacation is your vacation, something you'll truly love.
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Are Group Tours for You?

10/12/2022

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If you haven't joined a group tour before, you might wonder if one would be a good fit for you. Let's talk about that! We'll take Cakes and Coffeehouses, our June 2023 group tour of Budapest and Vienna, as an example.
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  1. Eliminate Decision Fatigue You don't have to decide which historic Viennese coffeehouses are worth a visit, or worry about arranging transportation from a central Budapest hotel to a beautiful Hungarian vineyard; we've got it covered!
  2. Access Expert Advice and Guidance We're there with you every step of the way. Our guest portal is filled with destination-specific information and advice, plus you can email us any time. Want to visit Mozart's former home during your free time while you're in Vienna? We can help you determine the best way to do that!
  3. Make Travel To New Places Easier It can be daunting to travel on your own to an unfamiliar city where you don't know your way around or speak the language. (We know languages like Hungarian can be quite intimidating!) A group tour allows you to rely on us to handle the details, so you can relax and enjoy yourself.
Worried about doing a group tour for any of these reasons? You don't need to be if you're with Leaping Hound Travel!
  1. Will I feel rushed and over-booked? We carefully balance free time and scheduled activities so people have time to do their own thing, whether that's unstructured wandering, a unique museum or theater experience, or just having a coffee or taking a nap!
  2. Will I be lost in an enormous group? We limit our group size to 20 people or fewer so we can easily travel together, on everything from high-speed trains to narrow passages between historic buildings to tiny, hidden-gem restaurants.
  3. What if I don't have a travel partner? We provide a single-room supplement if you prefer your own room. If you're open to sharing a room, no problem: we can pair up solo travelers as roommates!
You can learn more about what a Leaping Hound Travel group tour is like on our What to Expect page!
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Gluten free in the lands of bread and pasta

9/23/2022

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Gluten-free focaccia at Sgrano, a completely gluten-free restaurant in Florence, Italy.
Wondering about traveling with a gluten allergy to places known for their incredible pasta, bread, or other gluten-filled foods? Concerned that you won't enjoy Paris if you can't have a delicious crepe at a street stand, or pick up a fresh baguette from a little boulangerie? Worried Rome won't be the same if you can't linger in a trattoria over a plate piled high with homemade pasta or pizze marinara?

Good news! The nice thing about countries whose cuisines are heavy on the gluten are that they know how important these foods are. It might take a little more advance research, but you can still indulge in delicious, authentic foods while traveling. 
How do you do that prep? There are a lot of websites dedicated to sharing gluten free resources, so start with a simple google of "gluten free + CITY NAME" and see what comes up. Whether or not you find info that way, though, the easiest thing to do is locate a nearby grocery store to your hotel. Grocery stores in Europe often have dedicated gluten free sections, and you can get plenty of snacks to supplement--or, make it deliberate and memorable! Buy a bottle of local wine, some delicious spreads, a bunch of grapes, and some gluten-free crackers, and have a charming little picnic in a city park. 

What about restaurant dining? While, at least in big cities, you can find all-gluten-free restaurants, you may also find options at more general places. Trust me when I say that many, many restaurants now have gluten free options available. It's often as easy as pausing in your walking and searching "gluten free near me" on your phone, then scrolling through reviews and choosing something nearby. If you're in a smaller town, you may need to spend a bit more time on your advance research, but I'm confident you'll find something--it might be, instead of something like gluten-free focaccia, an authentic dish that simply avoids gluten to begin with (like a perfect, creamy risotto).

With that, I wanted to mention specifically Hostaria Ago e Lillo in Rome. It's a delightful restaurant in the Prati neighborhood, near the Vatican. It's the perfect place for a group that has a diverse range of tastes and dietary needs. We visited this past January on our group tour of Italy, and everyone (including gluten-free people, vegans, lacto-ovo vegetarians, and traditional "meat and potatoes" sort of eaters) really enjoyed their food. One of our gluten-free travelers said that she had the best penne arrabbiatta of her life. If you're in Rome, stop on by and enjoy a meal there. 

So, if you can't eat gluten, while you may not be able to be quite as carefree about food as those of us who can, you can still have wonderful--and delicious!--vacations.
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Our group dining outside at Hostaria Ago e Lillo in Rome, January 2022
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Leaping Hound Travel, LLC   |  608-509-7520  | travel@leapinghound.com |  PO Box 46577, Madison, WI, ​53744
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