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Mapless Adventures

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About Me

Nicole L

Nicole L

Hiya! I'm a 35 year-old native Arizonan, who started traveling around the US and Mexico as a child, and haven't stopped. I've been to 23 countries in a wide range of travel styles, writing about my personal experiences and sharing travel guides and tips (including teaching abroad in Thailand), with a little history thrown in. Hope you enjoy!

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  • Day At Sea Header
    Caribbean,  Travel

    Royal Caribbean Day 7: Day at Sea

    December 20, 2018 / No Comments

    Our final day on the Adventure of the Seas was upon us. We set sail from Barbados knowing it was going to be a long 36 hours aboard the ship. We also knew our day at sea was going to be an enjoyable one with our new friends. As usual, our day started with breakfast. Thankfully, it wasn’t as early as the past five days and we were able to sleep in just a little. Darren and I had ONE thing we had on our list for the day and that was the pool Pool Day At this point, I hadn’t spent much time around the pools. Majority of our…

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    Nicole | Mapless Adventures

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    Hurricane damage

    Life After Hurricane Irma

    December 30, 2017
    St Lucia Port

    Royal Caribbean Day 5: St. Lucia

    December 7, 2018
    St Kitts Header

    Royal Caribbean Day 3: St. Kitts

    November 26, 2018
  • Barbados header
    Caribbean,  Travel

    Royal Caribbean Day 6: Barbados

    December 12, 2018 / No Comments

    Bridgetown, Barbados Date: 26 April 2018Port: Bridgetown, BarbadosTime on Island: 8am-4:30pmDistance between St. Lucia to Barbados: 174.60 km or 94.28 nautical miles (5108.49 miles) Barbados, our final island and final port before our return to Puerto Rico. Also, the day I have been dreading. It means our Southern Caribbean Cruise is coming to an end. It’s been such an amazing past five day that I’m not ready for it to end. But, at the same time, I’m ready to explore another new island in the Caribbean! The Tour Like many of the other islands, I didn’t know much about Barbados, except that there was a popular cave attraction. We weren’t totally sure if we…

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    Nicole | Mapless Adventures

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    Islands of the British Virgin Islands

    March 19, 2017
    Welcome to St Maarten

    Royal Caribbean Day 2: Sint Maarten/St Martin

    November 20, 2018
    St Kitts Header

    Royal Caribbean Day 3: St. Kitts

    November 26, 2018
  • St Lucia Port
    Caribbean,  Travel

    Royal Caribbean Day 5: St. Lucia

    December 7, 2018 / No Comments

    Castries, St. Lucia Date: 25 April 2018Port: Pointe Seraphine, Castries, St. LuciaTime on Island: 9am-5:30pmDistance between Antigua to St. Lucia: 363.65 km or 196.36 nautical miles (225.96 miles) The morning started just like every other morning on Royal Caribbean. We got up, showered, got ready, and then headed to the buffet for breakfast. Following breakfast, Darren and I headed to the deck and take in the beautiful scene of the island of St. Lucia. Standing on the deck every morning was one of my favorite things to do on the ship. That first glance of this island and the others is something I’m never going to forget. We would do it every morning, but…

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    Nicole | Mapless Adventures

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    Day At Sea Header

    Royal Caribbean Day 7: Day at Sea

    December 20, 2018
    Hurricane damage

    Life After Hurricane Irma

    December 30, 2017
    Antigua Port Header

    Royal Caribbean Day 4: Antigua

    December 3, 2018
  • Antigua Port Header
    Caribbean,  Travel

    Royal Caribbean Day 4: Antigua

    December 3, 2018 / No Comments

    St. John’s, Antigua Date: 24 April 2018 Port: St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda Time on Island: 8am-4:30pm Distance between St. Kitts and Antigua: 104.17 km or 56.25 nautical miles (64.73 miles) Antigua was our only port that we didn’t prebook any tours. We were ready for a relaxing, anything can happen sort of day. The more time we spent talking with people on our cruise, the more we realized how easy it was going to be to see the island without a guided tour. Thankfully, Karen and Richard also didn’t prebook anything, so we decided to spend the entire day together. We started our morning with the usual buffet breakfast and coffee before…

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    Nicole | Mapless Adventures

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    Royal Caribbean Day 3: St. Kitts

    November 26, 2018

    Islands of the British Virgin Islands

    March 19, 2017
    Hurricane damage

    Life After Hurricane Irma

    December 30, 2017
  • St Kitts Header
    Caribbean,  Travel

    Royal Caribbean Day 3: St. Kitts

    November 26, 2018 / No Comments

    Our next port was St. Kitts and Nevis, capital and port city, Basseterre. I honestly didn't know much about St. Kitts, so I was quite excited for this port. Darren had pre-booked another half day tour excursion of the island that would take us around majority of the island with several stops. One reason we decided for tours, was for the history aspect. I love learning and having a tour guide who has in-depth knowledge of a place makes experience the islands that much better. One of the things I was most excited about with St. Kitts

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    Nicole | Mapless Adventures

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    Islands of the British Virgin Islands

    March 19, 2017
    Barbados header

    Royal Caribbean Day 6: Barbados

    December 12, 2018
    Hurricane damage

    Life After Hurricane Irma

    December 30, 2017
  • Welcome to St Maarten
    Caribbean,  Travel

    Royal Caribbean Day 2: Sint Maarten/St Martin

    November 20, 2018 / No Comments

    Date: 22 April 2018 Port: Philipsburg, St. Maarten (Dutch side) Time on Island: 8am-4:30pm Distance between San Juan and St. Maarten: 372.04 km or 200.75 nautical miles (231.17 miles) St. Maarten was the first port of the trip. Darren and I were eager to start our pre-booked tour through Viator. We decided against booking directly through Royal Caribbean strictly because of our budget. We also knew that by doing so, we’d need to be aware of the time restrictions in order to NOT miss the boat. Darren and I also decided separate each post on who will book or decide on the tour. St. Maarten was my port to book.…

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    Nicole | Mapless Adventures

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    Royal Caribbean Day 6: Barbados

    December 12, 2018
    St Kitts Header

    Royal Caribbean Day 3: St. Kitts

    November 26, 2018
    Hurricane damage

    Life After Hurricane Irma

    December 30, 2017
  • Caribbean,  Travel

    Cruising with Royal Caribbean Day 1: Embarkment

    November 13, 2018 / No Comments

    The start of the school year didn't go as planned. I mean, how many people in this world can say that their first day of school consisted of boarding up their windows in preparation of the upcoming hurricane. It has been quite the adventure to say the least, but one thing was for certain...I was not going to leave St. Thomas without experiencing more of the Caribbean islands. After several Facebook posts asking if anyone wanted to join me on a Royal Caribbean Cruise during my "Spring Break" week in April,

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    Islands of the British Virgin Islands

    March 19, 2017
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    Royal Caribbean Day 5: St. Lucia

    December 7, 2018
    Day At Sea Header

    Royal Caribbean Day 7: Day at Sea

    December 20, 2018
  • Scuba Diving
    Travel,  United States Virgin Islands

    What Life Was Like Post Two Hurricanes

    February 18, 2018 / No Comments

    I honestly have struggled putting words to paper. I've attempted multiple times and it's just been so difficult. Finding the right words, finding the initiative to write, finding the motivation. Every ounce of energy and focus it takes me to write a blog post had been depleted since Irma and Maria.

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    December 12, 2018
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    Scuba Diving in Cancun- My No Regrets Day

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    Elephant Jungle Sanctuary Phuket, Thailand

    June 10, 2019
  • Hurricane damage
    Caribbean,  United States Virgin Islands

    Life After Hurricane Irma

    December 30, 2017 / No Comments

    It took 3 hours of hard labor and some neighborly support to finally clear our drive. However, it didn’t really matter. The island was still under a 24 hour curfew, for good reason, of course. We were just annihilated by Hurricane Irma about 15 hours prior, so the day afterwards wasn’t much fun. We were safe, little damage to our apartment itself, and thankfully we still have phone service (which was a rarity and quite frankly didn’t really matter since only about 1/8th of the island had it- if that). It took about 36 hours before we risked leaving the comfort of our apartment. Though none of us wanted to…

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    Nicole | Mapless Adventures

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    St Kitts Header

    Royal Caribbean Day 3: St. Kitts

    November 26, 2018
    St Lucia Port

    Royal Caribbean Day 5: St. Lucia

    December 7, 2018

    Islands of the British Virgin Islands

    March 19, 2017
  • United States Virgin Islands

    What It’s Like Experiencing Hurricane Irma

    October 22, 2017 / No Comments

    September 6th, 2017 will be a day I’ll never forget. Something I never could have prepared myself for or every something I ever thought I’d experience happened, Hurricane Irma. I mean, I have heard of major storms and I have seen the aftermath of things like Sandy and Katrina and most recently, Harvey. But experiencing Hurricane Irma was something I was NOT prepared for nor was I ready. I’m a desert girl raised in Arizona. The worst storms I experienced growing up was a haboob or a bad monsoon. Sometimes the occasional thunderstorms when visiting family in Minnesota/Iowa or the occasional snow storms during college and graduate school, but those…

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    February 18, 2018
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    December 30, 2017

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    May 13, 2017
12

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About Me

Nicole L

Nicole L

Hiya! I'm a 35 year-old native Arizonan, who started traveling around the US and Mexico as a child, and haven't stopped. I've been to 23 countries in a wide range of travel styles, writing about my personal experiences and sharing travel guides and tips (including teaching abroad in Thailand), with a little history thrown in. Hope you enjoy!

View Full Profile →

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No Map. No Plan. Just Life. | Stories, Guides and Tips from a Solo-Female Traveler exploring the world through Mapless Adventures

Nicole | Travel Blogger
Next little town along lake Atitlan included a lot Next little town along lake Atitlan included a lot of hammock life and cat life!
•••
#sanpedro #sanpedrodelalaguna #sanpedroguatemala #lakeatitlan #lakeatitlanguatemala #guatemalaadventures #travelguatemala #travellife #hammocklife #hostelsublime #guatemala #exploreguatemala #maplessadventures
Midday stroll from our hostel to the town center o Midday stroll from our hostel to the town center of Santa Cruz de la laguna. It was hot and sweaty and a massive hill but we sucked it up and ended at a really cute cafe with a view.
•••
#santacruzdelalaguna #lakeatitlan #guatemalaadventures #lakeatitlanguatemala #guatemala #traveladventures #travellife #traveling #lakelife #maplessadventures #middaystroll #exploreguatemala #travelguatemala
In order to move between the towns on Lake Atitlan In order to move between the towns on Lake Atitlan, you have to take boats. It’s GTQ 25, or roughly $4 USD. It’s truly a special lake and I can’t wait to spend two weeks living on the lake learning Spanish!
•••
#lakeatitlán #lakeatitlanguatemala #guatemalaadventures #guatemalatravels #guatemala #sanpedrodelalaguna #lagodeatitlán #boattravel #travellife #travelling #transportation #maplessadventures #traveladventures
Free Cerveza anyone? Made the move from the city t Free Cerveza anyone? Made the move from the city to the lake and boy oh boy is this lake stunning! Got dropped off directly at our hostel which is called Free Cerveza. They host family dinners every night and if you join you get two free hours of beer before dinner and usually includes some type of bar games like beer pong, trivia, bags, and more! It was a prefect and relaxing couple of days!
•••
#lakeatitlan #lakeatitlanguatemala #guatemala #guatemalaadventures #lakelife #travellife #traveling #freecerveza #freecervezahostel #santacruzdelalaguna #maplessadventures #traveladventures #traveler #summertimeadventures
The reality and aftermath of Volcán Acatenago hik The reality and aftermath of Volcán Acatenago hike. It’s roughly 3:30pm, I’ve eaten, showered, had a quick beer and now laying down to go to sleep. My body has officially shut down at this point and all I wanted/needed was this bed!
•••
#exhausted #travellife #realtravel #traveling #hikeacatenango #hostellife #hostelworld #traveladventures #maplessadventures
Waking up in pitch black with nothing but the near Waking up in pitch black with nothing but the nearly full moon shining at 3:45am to complete another 2.17miles with what felt like another 900+ feet of elevation gain ending at 13,045ft above sea level for sunrise is an experience unlike anything else.
•
In the wise words of my dad: “It is better to be DFL then to DNF”
•
If you don’t know what that mean, then I’ll explain. I WAS DEAD F***ING LAST in the group that made it to the summit with less than 5 minutes until sunrise! I made it at least though it wasn’t pretty and I honestly cannot move my legs (48 hours later)! WORTH IT THOUGH
•••
#acatenango #volcánacatenango #volcánacatenago🌋 #sunrise #sunrisehike #volcanosummit #hiking #guatemala #guatemalavolcano #guatemalaadventures #traveladventures #maplessadventures #travellife #traveling #traveler
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