Category Archives: Flashback Friday

Flashback Friday: Shop For A Hat, Get in the Local Paper- Vienna, Austria

Flashback Friday, Trip Reports, World Hats, ,

FlashbackFriIt’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted a look back into the past on Michael W Travels with a Flashback Friday.

Today I’ll be posting the first Flashback Friday of 2014. The topic has to do with one of my favorite things to buy while traveling- local & traditional hats. Besides buying a little something for Lucas on our trips, I try to avoid buying souvenirs. The only thing that I will still seek out are hats.

Here is the post:

  • Shop For A Hat, Get in the Local Paper- Vienna, Austria

This post was originally published on April 27, 2012.

a man wearing a hat
Authentic Alpine Hat

Flashback Friday: Visiting Santa’s Quarters

Flashback Friday, Trip Reports,

FlashbackFriWith Christmas just days away I thought of the perfect post to share for this week’s Flashback Friday.

I’m not exactly sure where people shop for their Christmas decorations and other items associated with the holiday. However, while visiting New Orleans back in May I think we found possibly the best Christmas store in the world.

Here is the post:

  • Visiting Santa’s Quarters- New Orleans

This post was originally published on August 2, 2013.

a man standing next to a statue of santa claus

Flashback Friday: The 6 Oddest Foods That I’ve Ever Tried

Flashback Friday, Food,

FlashbackFriEarlier in the week I took part in Pin-Up Live, a travel chat done through Pinterest. The chats are hosted by Bethany and Randy from travel blog Beer & Beans.

During each chat, the topic varies and other co-hosts join them. For the most recent chat, the topic was Rerouted: A Skype Travel Challenge with Skype and AFAR.

Besides the main topic/ questions, others are also posted creating even more conversations.

One of the questions was: What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever eaten while traveling? Lots of things came to mind as did a post that I wrote about  just before the summer. While I was on the topic of crazy foods, I figured it would be a great idea to share my post for this week’s Flashback Friday.

Here is the post:

  • The 6 Oddest Foods That I’ve Ever Tried

The post was originally published on June 24, 2013.

a plate of food on a table
Cuy (Guinea Pig)

Continue reading Flashback Friday: The 6 Oddest Foods That I’ve Ever Tried →

Flashback Friday: The Best Places To See Amazing Street Art

Flashback Friday, Trip Reports, , , , , ,

FlashbackFriEarlier in the month I wrote about Finding Banksy In Coney Island. The controversial graffiti artists took up “residency” in NYC for one month and was leaving his mark all over the city.

I only had the opportunity to see one of his pieces in person. I tried to see a couple of others but they were already covered up (so that they could be preserved) by the time I stopped by.

After following Banksy’s residency (mainly) online, it made me think about graffiti and a post that I wrote about street art back in the middle of 2012. I thought it would make for a fun post to re-share for this week’s Flashback Friday.

Here is the post:

  • The Best Places To See Amazing Street Art

Continue reading Flashback Friday: The Best Places To See Amazing Street Art →

Flashback Friday: Airline Mergers & Bankruptcies Interactive Map

Flashback Friday, Travel News, , ,

FlashbackFri

Earlier this week the Justice Department settled its lawsuit against the merger of American Airlines and US Airways. In order to settle, the airline had to “agree to give up slots at key airports around the country to low-cost competitors“.

With the merger officially going through, American and US Air will now combine to form the world’s largest airline.

Find out more about the merger from:

With this weeks big airline news I thought it was best to share an old post related to the topic for this week’s Flashback Friday. The post has an interesting graphic from USA Today (in 2011) which shows the transformation of the airline industry over the past 33 years.

Continue reading Flashback Friday: Airline Mergers & Bankruptcies Interactive Map →

Flashback Friday: Strange Food: Ugly Curry Chicken Puff- Starbucks, Singapore

Flashback Friday, Food,

FlashbackFri

I find food to be a big part of travel and tend to write my fair share of food- related posts. While traveling, we’ll just about always pay a visit to local markets and supermarkets to see what interesting and odd products might be found.

While I am a very picky eater, there are times that I will step out of my comfort zone to try local delicacies like cuy (guinea pig), fat-ass ants and mud!

I came across an extremely odd sounding dish available at Starbucks in Singapore that I had to try out. Kim, Lucas and I had a few days in Singapore during our trip to Southeast Asia in the Summer of 2012 so I had to make it a point to try an Ugly Curry Chicken Puff.

Continue reading Flashback Friday: Strange Food: Ugly Curry Chicken Puff- Starbucks, Singapore →

Flashback Friday: An Unlikely Place For A Souvenir- Easter Island, Chile

Flashback Friday, ,

FlashbackFriOver the past few years I’ve been bringing back less and less from my trips. This could probably be due to a couple of reasons. First would be that many of the souvenirs I’ve been seeing lately don’t really feel authentic or special anymore. The other reason would be Lucas. Extra space in my bag is now reserved for his things. On recent trips I’ve been finding myself  looking in shops catering more towards kids. We now have a few smalls toy from around the world instead of more crappy souvenirs.

However there are  times that we  buy a small souvenir more for the memory than the actual item. One such occassion for me was while on Easter Island. We visited quite possibly the oddest place imagined to go souvenir shopping- the local jail.

Continue reading Flashback Friday: An Unlikely Place For A Souvenir- Easter Island, Chile →

Flashback Friday: Ridiculous Street Signs- #1 Tallinn, Estonia

Flashback Friday, Ridiculous Street Signs,

FlashbackFri

I’ve enjoyed seeing funny and odd street signs for quite some time now and always try to stop to take photos when a sign catches my eye. Most of the time this happens to be while traveling.

(Find out below how to have your photo featured on Michael W Travels)

I started posting “Ridiculous Street Signs” (not to be taken so literally) when the blog first started out. The sign which was used for the first entry is what I still believe to be one of the best one’s that I’ve ever seen.

Continue reading Flashback Friday: Ridiculous Street Signs- #1 Tallinn, Estonia →

Flashback Friday: Our First Time Flying Southwest Airlines- I’m Impressed

Flashback Friday, Trip Reports, ,

FlashbackFriLast week’s Flashback post was related to Southwest Airlines so I figured it was best to follow up with one about our first time flying with them.

Many people would rather not step foot on Southwest but Kim and I feel quite differently about the airline. We find them to be a bit quirky and different in the way that things are done… and we like that!

Since writing about our first trip on Southwest, we’ve flown with them 3-4 more times. We’ve had positive experiences and find them to be a great option for domestic flights.

Here is the post:

  • Our First Time Flying Southwest Airlines- I’m Impressed

This post was originally published on January 14, 2013

Flashback Friday: The Oddest Checked Luggage I’ve Ever Seen

Flashback Friday, Trip Reports, , ,

FlashbackFriA couple of weeks back I posted about a museum featuring medical oddities and this week I want to share a different kind of odd post from the past for Flashback Friday.

I can’t recall seeing anything odd ever get checked at the airport up til our trip to Louisville and Nashville last December. At the counter next to ours, a man was trying to check two 50 pound dumbbells!

Here is the post:

  • The Oddest Checked Luggage I’ve Ever Seen

This post was originally published on December 29, 2012 Continue reading Flashback Friday: The Oddest Checked Luggage I’ve Ever Seen →