Category Archives: Trip Reports

a heart made of coffee beans

Bean Around The World: Stockholm, Sweden

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I guess it’s time for a true confession. I’m a coffee snob. And when I travel, I have a passion for supporting local roasters and coffee houses. Let’s just say I’ve BEAN Around the World and I’m feeling like now is the time to start sharing the love… and caffeine, one city at a time. Recently, I had a wonderful holiday in Stockholm, Sweden. And though it was hard to tear myself away from the sites and all the bakeries, I did explore the coffee houses, and I’m glad I did. I drank plenty of coffee, talked with baristas, and I’ve got lots to share with you. Let’s open the TWG cafe society doors and talk coffee, Stockholm style.

I’ll say right up front that Scandinavia gets a lot of buzz for having the current “happening” coffee scene. Part of planning this trip was actually based on wanting to experience the scene myself and see what all the hoopla was about. My impressions in Stockholm, as they did in Copenhagen, run the gamut from being thrilled to being disappointed. Continue reading →

a heart made of coffee beans

Bean Around The World: Copenhagen, Denmark

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I guess it’s time for a true confession. I’m a coffee snob. And when I travel, I have a passion for supporting local roasters and coffee houses. Let’s just say I’ve BEAN Around the World and I’m feeling like now is the time to start sharing the love… and caffeine, one city at a time. Recently, I had a wonderful holiday in Copenhagen, Denmark. And though it was hard to tear myself away from the sites and all that delicious herring, I did explore the coffee houses, and I’m glad I did. I drank plenty of coffee, talked with baristas, and I’ve got lots to share with you. Let’s open the TWG cafe society doors and talk coffee, Copenhagen style.

I’ll say right up front that Scandinavia gets a lot of buzz for having the current “happening” coffee scene. Part of planning this trip was actually based on wanting to experience the scene myself and see what all the hoopla was about. My impressions run the gamut from being thrilled to being totally disappointed. Continue reading →

a map of europe with black text

Come Say Hi to Me at the Chicago Seminars (Friday-Sunday October 19-21)

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Good morning everyone. I am heading to Chicago this weekend for the Chicago Seminars travel conference. Registration is still open if you can get to Chicago this weekend. I’ve gone to the Chicago Seminars several times over the last few years and it is my favorite travel conference (shhh, don’t tell FTU). I’ll be there wearing my Travel with Grant shirt, so feel free to stop me and say hello. I love meeting readers and putting faces to names. Here are a few of my friends who I’ve met at previous Chicago Seminars:

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. Have a great day everyone!

a blue sky with clouds and words

Have You Flown The World’s Most Controversial Airlines?

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Do you like airline controversy? Airline controversy sure does seem to swirl all around us. Here’s some controversy that’s a bit different: the world’s most controversial airlines. And the controversy is one the airlines created themselves. And who knew airline controversy goes all the way back to the early days of Southwest Airlines? I must get out more because I haven’t flown any of the airlines on the list! See if you have and if there are any airlines you’d add to the list. It’s a quick read!

a close up of stamps

3 Things I Would like to Forget about my Trip to Kuwait (Guest Post)

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Good morning everyone.  One of my close friends recently traveled to Kuwait and had a few interesting experiences.  He shared them with me and I thought they would be good to share on the blog.  Here are his experiences:

1. Kuwait is one of the countries that as US citizens, you can obtain your Kuwait Visa at the airport, so that is exactly what I did. I gave my passport to the Kuwait Visa agent, after a minute the agent waived for his supervisor to come over. The agent and supervisor where speaking Arabic, so I had no idea what they were saying. The supervisor smiled at me and asked me to please have a seat. So that is what I did, I had a sit for over 2 hours. During my 2+ hour wait, I saw over 5 Americans come through with no problems. I was watching carefully where my passport was located, for it seemed it was getting passed from person to person. I watched as an agent went through every single page of my passport writing down notes from each page. I thought to myself, am I in trouble for having a passport with many visas like Russia and Brazil, to name a few? Finally, after 90 minutes, I decided to ask what was going on. They told me my passport number had been used by another US citizen, and that US citizen did some very bad things in some Middle Eastern countries. So now my inquiring mind wants to know, what those bad things are, but they refused to give me any details. Very interesting. Finally, after 2 hours, the supervisor apologized, gave me my Kuwait Visa, and off I went. There is really nothing I can do while I am traveling here in the Middle East, but once I get back to the US, I will inquire what I need to do.

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