UNSEEN TRAVEL AGENCY

JUMP TO:   In a Hurry?   |   Best Accommodation    |    Neighbourhood Guide    |    First Time in Osaka? Interested? PIN NOW, read later! Often overshadowed by its big sister Tokyo, Osaka is an incredible city with arguably the best culinary scene in Japan. Conveniently located near Japan’s ancient capitals, Kyoto and Nara, Osaka is the gateway to the west and a great place to stay for a few days to learn more about Japanese culture and food. Best of all, it’s much more affordable than other cities in Japan, so you can have a great time without breaking the bank. That said, like many Japanese cities, it can be  overwhelming  when deciding where to stay in Osaka. That’s why we created this Osaka area guide. We’ve covered the coolest places to stay in Osaka and our top neighbourhood picks, complete with reviews on our favourite hostels, hotels, and Osaka Airbnb apartments. So whether your travelling to Japan just for fun or travelling in the summer of 2020 (the Olympics are comi

Denver, Colorado , is quite basically in my blood. My dad lived in the Mile High City for about a year before moving back to Ohio and meeting my mom (maybe that's where my mountain obsession came from?). I've been to Denver twice in the past, but I never stayed for more than a few hours — I was always just passing through on the way to or from the Rocky Mountains. So for my third trip to Denver, I vowed that I would actually stay in the city for an entire weekend. And I'm SO glad I did. Denver, as it turns out, is a way cooler city than I ever gave it credit for in the past. With great food, more micro/craft breweries than you can shake a stick at, and a location right at the base of the Rockies, Denver is a great destination for a long weekend within the U.S. Things to do Denver is great for a long weekend getaway — it's within a 2-3 hour flight from just about anywhere in the country, and there's plenty to do here for 2 or 3 days. Things like… Sit one mil

In the age of Facebook and Twitter and the ubiquitous  selfie , when we all feel the need to make our lives look more exciting by plastering everything we do and see across social media, I have begun to notice a disturbing trend while traveling the world. A trend that leans toward the ignorant, the insensitive, and the downright disrespectful. We've all seen THAT tourist. The one throwing up a peace sign at a war memorial. The one grinning at a burial ground. The one taking “jumping” shots in a place where people suffered. The one snapping selfies at a concentration camp. Yeah, you've probably seen them, too. And maybe you felt a special type of rage towards them like I did. JUST because you have a smartphone and a killer smile does NOT mean it's okay to to take grinning selfies in the following situations while traveling: When you are at a memorial honoring the dead War memorials, disaster memorials, memorials to people who suffered… these are not the places for gr

Due to airlines being weird and round-trip flights actually being cheaper than one-way ones, I headed back to London once again on my way to Hong Kong. I LOVE London; it's probably my favorite large city in the world. But loving London does not make it any cheaper. When it comes to finding accommodation in England's capital, it can be tricky to find something that is in a good location but won't totally drain your wallet. For me, normal hotels in London are pretty much always out of contention; there's no way that you will find me paying $200+ per night for a standard hotel room. So, after a couple years of trying out various places to rest my head in London, I've come up with a list of accommodation options in the city that DON'T include a pricey hotel stay: Stay with a friend The cheapest option, of course, is to make friends with someone who lives in London. I'm lucky to have a couple of good friends in the city who are usually gracious enough to of

Is it Burma or Myanmar? A lot of people ask this question, closely followed by “when did Burma become Myanmar?”.  I can tell you that the Military Junta of the time changed the name in 1989 but both names are widely used both there and abroad. Our 2 week Myanmar family vacation was fantastic yet challenging at the same time. There are so many great places to visit in Myanmar with kids and I just wanted to see everything the country has to offer.

When I think back to the Greek Island of Syros — my introduction to the Cyclades — one thing stands out in my mind: marble . The streets of Ermoupoli are paved in marble. Not asphalt or concrete, but slippery-smooth white marble. There are great marble mansions and fancy marble buildings that date back to the mid-1800s, when the city was rebuilt in a Neoclassical style. Today, the marble streets are well-worn. Empty, even — especially by the time September rolls around. Syros was described in my Intrepid Travel tour notes as “ an opportunity to see the islands as the Greeks do .” I of course was a bit skeptical about this actually being the case. But you know what? I think it might actually be pretty accurate. Ermoupoli is not only the capital of Syros, but also of the Cyclades island group — meaning Syros' main function is not tourism . Syros is laid-back. Syros is pretty, but clearly has not yet been over-commercialized like some of the other islands in the Aegean; you won&