When’s The Wedding? Spring of 2017 was just around the corner. My girlfriend and I had been dating for a little over year but it felt much longer. It was probably because what started off as just roommates quickly became a couple living together. Without realizing it, we reached the point where we were surrounded …
The Adventures of Shawn & Yagmur – Edinburgh, Scotland
The Final City Little did Yagmur know, we had arrived to our final destination of this chapter of adventures. We arrived late at night and headed straight to our Airbnb where we met up with Betty & Ron. Ron was heading out the next morning but Betty was stuck with us for our remaining time …
The Adventures of Shawn & Yagmur – Moscow, Russia
Another 4 Day Visa Yes, you read right. The Schengen visa wasn’t the only 4 day visa Yagmur received. Russia decided to jump on the bandwagon and only gave her a visa for the days requested. For those who need a Russian visa, you’ll most likely need an invitation letter. Normally, the hotel you can …
The Adventures of Shawn & Yagmur – Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire
Travel Prep It was time to travel somewhere different than the usually places people go to. Having Morocco being the only country in Africa we have ever visited, I decided to look a bit south for our next move. At first, I had Cameroon on my mind but their visa process was very inconvenient. You …
The Adventures of Shawn & Yagmur – Reykjavik, Iceland
Plan B Our trip was a few weeks away. I remember thinking about how happy I was with our cheap tickets. Round trip was only $240 pp! It was probably one of the cheapest international flights from the U.S. I have ever purchased at full price in my life. Suddenly, I look towards my left …
The Adventures of Shawn & Yagmur – Rabat, Morocco
An Early Morning Another sleepless night. Another overnight flight. We arrived to Casablanca at 3AM, exhausted. After blinking my eyes several times, I took a deep breathe as we exited the plane. It was time to wake up and figure out where the train station was so we could get to Rabat. Following the signs, …
The Adventures of Shawn & Yagmur – Ankara, Turkey
Exhausted We barely rested the night before arriving to Minsk, Belarus. Now, on the same day, we had an overnight flight to Ankara, Turkey. To make the trip more difficult, there was of course a layover! Old Friends Fortunately for me, Yagmur was in her home country so I could sit back and relax once …
The Adventures of Shawn & Yagmur – Minsk, Belarus
The Russian Option We woke up extra early to catch our 7:05AM flight from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia to Minsk, Belarus with a layover in Moscow, Russia. The flight to Moscow was smooth. We followed the crowd and reached a point where you could go one of two directions. Left would lead you down to Customs where …
The Adventures of Shawn & Yagmur – Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
No Visas Please I had 2 straight weeks of vacation that needed to be taken and a list of places I wanted to take Yagmur abroad. My one condition for this next international trip: no visa applications. From the 8 foreign countries we had set foot on, Yagmur had to get a visa/eTA for 5 …
The Adventures of Shawn & Yagmur – Ottawa, Canada
Green Card Ready We decided to visit our neighbors up north for a quick, weekend getaway. Normally, Yagmur would have needed a visa but since she’s a U.S. permanent resident, she just needed an eTA (electronic Travel Authorization) which is easily attainable online for only 7 USD. Before heading off to Canada’s capital, Ottawa, we …