I hit the road solo for the 3 week ultimate Ireland road trip along the Wild Atlantic Way. You hear all kinds of stories about driving in Ireland. Yes, the roads are narrow, winding, and often filled with sheep but don’t let that stop you from renting a car and going out on your own. If I can do it – anyone can!
“Over the course of 3 weeks I slowly changed. I went from giving myself pep talks and being terrified every morning to get into the car and start driving, to anticipating the day’s drive and being super excited to be on the smallest, craziest roads. I eased up on my white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel and actually got comfortable and let the blood flow back into my fingertips. I started listening to music and sang along at the top of my lungs. I waved at people on little back roads as if I knew them. I passed other tourists and scoffed at their timid driving ability. By day 5 – I was wearing a perma-grin and yelling at slow tourist drivers. (officially apologizing now if you were one of them and I dropped the F bomb at you)”
Follow along on the journey as I learn to drive on the opposite side of the road, meet locals, hike, drink Guinness, ride electric bikes, jump off cliffs, and kayaking in some pretty unusual situations! Plus tips on how you can do the same.
Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way takes on the status of one of the longest coastal drives in the world at 1,600 miles. It joins the ranks of other great coastal roads like Nova Scotia’s Cabot Trail, Big Sur, Maui’s Kaekili Highway, and South Africa’s Garden Route. Drive down narrow one-lane roads to see secret beaches, towering […]
I was anxious and nervous as I waited for the guy from Hertz to give me my keys to my rental car. After all, I was taking off on my own driving around a foreign country for 3 weeks exploring the infamous winding, narrow back roads of Ireland. All of this was going to happen […]
If Ireland was looking for a date on the internet, I think it’s profile would go something like this: I love adventure – the stormier the better. No cliff is to high to jump off of, no ledge too narrow, and the bigger the waves the more I’m stoked. I like it when the wind […]
Yes, there’s a place in the world actually named Dingle. It makes you smile doesn’t it? Located in Ireland and part of the Wild Atlantic Way drive, there was nothing in the world that would stop me from traveling to the Dingle Peninsula. It is located in County Kerry; and not only was I excited […]
The waves were lapping up against the shoreline in that comforting rhythmic fashion that coastal living brings. The sun had already dipped below the horizon and had left a perfectly clear night sky glowing in pinkish orange and midnight blue. “It’s going to be a great night for star gazing, “ Jim said as he […]
Amanda adjusted the bike seat and explained the gears on the electric bike. As I got ready to peddle off out of Clifden in Connemara, she looked ahead at the dark clouds and asked, “Do you have rain paints?” “No…not really,” I replied looking at my water-resistant pants knowing darn well that resistant and waterproof […]
How do you go to a popular tourist site, but not feel like a tourist? It’s really a challenge at times, especially since I really dislike crowds and ‘over-populated’ tourist sites. This makes being a travel blogger a bit difficult at times. When my Wild Atlantic Way roadtrip itinerary took me to the uber-touristy Cliffs […]
I found myself alone in a strange landscape as the taxi drove off in the rain. I looked around at my foreign landscape and could see for miles – and for miles there was nothing or no one. Not even a tree. I felt like Katniss at the beginning of the Hunger Games – but […]
I wake up slowly feeling rested and relaxed after a deep sleep. I turn and curl up in a fetal position soaking in all of the warmth under the covers as the light of day starts to illuminate the curtains of my hotel room. Then I hear it – pitter patter, pitter patter on the […]
The Irish landscape is made up of magical green rolling hills, rocky cliffs, burnt orange bog land, and grayish limestone – and it’s begging to be photographed . But with great beauty comes…well…a lot of people taking photos of it. And with that, the gauntlet has been thrown down. One of my eternal personal challenges […]
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