Tag Archives: miss wanderlust

2020, Alberta, Canada, Road trips

Waterton Lakes National Park: Where the Prairies meet the Peaks

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By Karlie Marrazzo

Southern Alberta is a special place in my home province and my favourite place to road trip. When most people think of Alberta, they picture the magnificent Rocky Mountains, crystalline blue glacial waters, and rival city hockey teams. I was born in the dead centre of the province, surrounded by prairies, not interested in hockey, and a four-hour drive away from the majestic Rockies. No matter how far I’ve journeyed in this wide, wonderful world, a chance to explore Alberta is one I will always enthusiastically take. And so far, Southern Alberta is my favourite part of the province to explore. Wheatfields stretch into an endless horizon, hoodoos and coulees provide mystery and intrigue, and the Indigenous history is rich and fascinating. The mountains are there, too, jutting sharply from the ranch land at their base. Horses, cows and hay bales dot the landscape consistently; this is real cowboy country.

Summer 2020 has been a difficult one for so many reasons, for people all over the globe. Still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, taking care of our mental health, alongside our physical health, is of paramount importance. While most of us on the planet are restricted by local and international travel restrictions, getting out and safely exploring our own backyards has become more popular than ever. After having to cancel a trip to Italy earlier this spring, I have made it a priority to get out on a few Alberta road trips this year. For our second summer road trip, my boyfriend and I headed south to Waterton Lakes National Park, with a few stops along the way.

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2016, Europe, Italy, Road trips

Calabria: Father and daughter return to the Old Country – Part Two

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By Karlie Marrazzo

My father and I had been in Italy together for two days so far. It was my fourth trip to Italy, but only his first since my family left Calabria for a better life in Canada 58 years earlier, in 1958. Although I was born in Canada, I always felt a special connection and pull to the land of my ancestors, and pleadingly tried to get my dad to go back to the Old Country with me. He had been adamant about being happy to stay in Canada, seeing no need to visit the country he hadn’t seen in so long, until one day, he changed his mind. Our trip began in the toe of Italy, in the region of Calabria. A dusty and hot land with villages perched atop hills for the people who lived there to better see and attempt to defend themselves from the waves of invaders who came century after century. I was finally showing my dad the places I already loved so much; the place where he came from.

To read the first posts in this series, click here! This trip took place in August and September 2016.

A sweet day awaited us on our third day in Calabria. It was time for a road trip! After having a small breakfast at B&B Paparelle, we strolled over to a fruit stand outside of Cattedrale di S. Maria Assunta, the main cathedral of the city. There we loaded up on freshly picked peaches, plums and pears for the day ahead. I wanted to revisit Paola, a seaside town that I had visited briefly on my first trip to Italy in 2008. My sepia-toned memories recalled the pebbly beach and crystal clear water, and it always stood out in my mind as an idyllic spot. My memories were not wrong and reality was even better.

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2016, Europe, Italy, Road trips

Calabria: Father and daughter return to the Old Country – Part One

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By Karlie Marrazzo

The day that I had been impatiently waiting for since my first trip to Italy in 2008 had finally arrived; I was taking my dad to Piane Crati, a small town in the hills of Calabria outside of the city of Cosenza. This sleepy town is where my father and his father before him (my Nonno), were born, and which he hadn’t seen since the family left for Canada in 1958. Neighbouring Piane Crati is the even tinier village of Donnici Superiore, where my Nonna hails from. It is likely that I had really been waiting for this trip for my whole life; although I was born in Canada, the passion and soul of Italy has always coursed through my veins, and I’ve always felt a deep-rooted connection to the land of my ancestors.

To read the introductory post to this series, please click here! This trip took place in August and September 2016.

My eyes snapped open at 2 am, a combination of excitement, jet lag and heat waking me from my light slumber. Today was our first full day in Cosenza, in Italy! I opened the window to let any hint of a breeze flow through and cool down my high-ceiling bedroom at the B&B Paparelle. I heard my dad awake in the other room at the same time; nervousness and excitement likely coursing through his veins even more so than in my own. Eventually, we drifted back to sleep, waking up again at 8:45 am and having a slow breakfast of coffee, fruit and packaged pastries.

It was 10:30 am by the time we got into our compact rental car and headed for the hills. As we drove through the old streets of Cosenza, so narrow that you sometimes find yourself involuntarily holding your breath in hopes that you’ll be slim enough to make it through, my dad exclaimed how cool and beautiful everything was, the word “wow” escaping his lips multiple times. To see him be so in awe with his country of birth, after describing my awe to him for years, brought me so much joy, and still does to this day.

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2019, Colombia, South America

Cartagena: Queen of Colombia’s Caribbean coast

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By Karlie Marrazzo

Cartagena de Indias, casually referred to as Cartagena, is the beauty queen of Colombia’s Caribbean coast. Splashed with bright colours, Colonial architecture, kilometres of historic defence walls surrounding the city, and lively music wafting through the sultry Caribbean air, there’s something special about this magical city that has to be felt to be understood. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage site thanks to its “strategic location, this eminent example of the military architecture of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries was also one of the most important ports of the Caribbean,” Cartagena is Colombia’s second most popular city with visitors.

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2019, Colombia, South America

Bogotá: Three days in Colombia’s underrated capital

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By Karlie Marrazzo

Over the past four years, Latin America is a destination that has been enticing and enchanting me the more I visit and learn about it. The spectacular cultures, long and intense histories, incredible food, warm people, world-renowned cultural and architectural sites, and beautiful beaches are just a few of the reasons that I always find my daydreams wandering back to the Southern Hemisphere. Each country, from the top of Mexico to the tip of Chile’s slender finger, has bountiful reasons tempting me to visit. After my first solo trip to Guatemala in spring 2018, and a trip to El Salvador that fell through, Colombia was at the forefront of my travel wish list, and would become the first country I would visit in South America.

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2019, Alberta, British Columbia, Canada, Road trips

Invermere, British Columbia: A weekend in the Kootenays

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By Karlie Marrazzo

Have you ever had the feeling of a hazy memory, a faint image on the edges of your mind that may have really happened, or that perhaps was just a pleasant dream, but you have no way of distinguishing fact from fantasy? A remembrance so close that you can just about grab it, but then it just as easily slips away? The calm, wide lake, surrounded by mountains on either side, the water lapping at the shore with the sepia-toned sun kissing everything it touches has been that memory for me for years, and this summer I was finally able to grasp it again in Invermere, British Columbia.

Invermere is 585km southwest of my hometown, Edmonton, or, in Canadian terms, an almost-6-hour drive without stops. My boyfriend E and I had been dating for a couple of months and wanted to take a fun summer road trip together, but not necessarily to the typical hot spots of Banff and Jasper that are closer to home for us. I had been to Radium Hot Springs and Fairmont Hot Springs, nestled in the Kootenays, in the summer of 2005, and had a feeling that my mystery dream lake was out that way. Planning a trip to the mountains in the summertime typically requires a bit of advanced planning, at least in terms of booking accommodations before everything sells out. Since we were booking only three weeks out, we let the availability of reasonably priced rooms guide us and ended up booking an Airbnb in Invermere. Invermere is tucked in between the two resort towns, but not yet a tourist destination in its own right.

*Read my posts on Banff and Jasper here.

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2018, Accommodations, Central America, Guatemala, North America, Solo travel

One-week Guatemala itinerary

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By Karlie Marrazzo

Guatemala, the northernmost country in Central America and one of its largest, had been at the top of my list of places to visit for years before I finally made my way south from Canada. The combination of volcanoes, Mayan ruins, Colonial architecture, fabulous food, the promise of no jet lag and fewer tourists than other parts of the world are just a few of the reasons I wanted to visit this captivating country. While I am fascinated with this part of the world, it still remains off the radar and a country of concern for a lot of travellers out there. It is my hope that this one-week Guatemala itinerary will help to inspire you and to put your own Guatemala trip together!

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2018, Central America, Guatemala, North America, Solo travel, USA

Tikal National Park: Guatemala’s mystical Mayan ruins

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anicent mayan pyramids set in lush greenery against a blue sky

By Karlie Marrazzo

I rose before the sun on another tranquil day in Antigua, Guatemala’s magnificent crown jewel, on the penultimate day of my solo trip through the Central American country that had already captured my heart. My alarm went off at 5:30am; I rubbed my eyes, stepped into the clothes I had laid out the night before, and ate a quick breakfast on the rooftop of my hotel before catching a pre-arranged shuttle to Guatemala City. For the final leg of my week in Guatemala, I would base myself in the small city of Flores. From there I would visit the mystical Mayan ruins of Tikal.

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2018, Central America, Guatemala, North America, Solo travel

Antigua: Guatemala’s charming crown jewel

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By Karlie Marrazzo

My first trip to Guatemala began with a blissful three days in the spiritually charged village of San Marcos, peacefully tucked along the shore of Lake Atitlán, one of the most gorgeous places I have been lucky enough to experience thus far in my travels. Even though I could have stayed there for weeks, months, forever, I only had a week in Guatemala and my itinerary told me that it was time to move on. Next stop: Antigua, a UNESCO World Heritage city bursting with colonial architecture at the base of three volcanoes; Acatenango, Volcán de Agua and Volcán de Fuego, an active stratovolcano that erupted twice in 2018 alone.

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2018, Central America, Guatemala, Solo travel

Soul searching in San Marcos, Guatemala

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By Karlie Marrazzo

Ever since my first trip to Central America on a trip to Nicaragua in 2015, Guatemala has been at the top of my list of destinations to visit. The combination of volcanoes, Mayan ruins, Colonial architecture, fabulous food, the promise of no jet lag and fewer tourists than other parts of the world are just a few of the reasons I wanted to visit this captivating country. Other people didn’t see it that way, though. Whenever I was asked where I wanted to go next, and I answered with Guatemala, I was met with blank stares, quizzical looks and sincere expressions of concern. But since when have I ever let people’s opinions stop me from doing something I wanted to do?

From the moment I returned from my first solo trip to Los Angeles in November 2017, I couldn’t stop thinking about Guatemala. I had just taken a huge step in my personal life and development – after traveling with someone else for over 10 years, I had conquered my fear of doing things alone and rocked a badass trip to LA. I was now prepared to do anything, and not let anything hold me back from traveling anywhere I wanted to go. On Boxing Day 2017, three years to the date since I booked my Nicaragua trip, I made my decision and booked one round trip plane ticket to Guatemala.

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