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For my travels through Seville, Málaga, and Granada, I was so excited to partner with Oasis Backpacker’s Hostels. They’re a modern chain of hostels that have locations in all three cities, as well as in Toledo, Spain and Lisbon, Portugal. The hostels are reasonably priced, and really emphasize a young and social culture, which is great for traveling solo and meeting new people. As I’ve only stayed in hostels a couple of times before (and only once completely solo), it was really important for me to find not only a property where I could meet new people, but a safe and clean hostel in a good location. I wanted to ensure that the property itself was secure, that the location would be easy for me to get to from the bus or train station I was coming from, and that it would be easy for me to get to and from the…

I’m back in Barcelona after traveling for 2 weeks through Spain, and have made my way through Madrid, Seville, Málaga, Granada, and San Sebastián. It’s been crazy hot temperatures, especially in the south areas of Andalucia. So, let’s talk Madrid! As a city girl, I love the big city feel that Barcelona has, which is part of what attracted me to it. Well, Madrid has that plus more! Being August, I know that the city was actually more quiet than the rest of the year, as August in Spain is typically when residents and businesses take vacation. Even so, there was a hustle and bustle and sophistication that swept me off my feet. I took a 7am train to ensure two full days and I stayed close to the main train station, Atocha, which is pretty central (more on my accommodations a little later). Since I visited Madrid, Seville, and Málaga for two…

At the end of May, I departed sunny Florida on an 11-day journey to Europe – alone. Well, I wasn’t going to be completely “alone”, but I was traveling solo to Barcelona, where I would meet 38 other strangers and continue traveling together through Nice, Monaco, Cinque Terre, Sorrento, the Amalfi Coast, Capri, Rome, and Vatican City. I travel often and was itching to take an adventurous trip to explore more of Europe, but with the schedules and budgets of my friends, there’s not always a partner in crime to come along. So, I began researching tour group companies that focused on planned tours for my age range (18 to 35). I came across Contiki and remembered my friend did a tour to Greece last year with them and raved about it (more on this in a later post). After browsing through some more reviews, I was totally sold. I booked…