Wanna Travel Like An Epicurean Vagabond?

Come Be a Part of Our New Venture!

On January 16th, 2017, with all of our worldly possessions crammed into a 5x10 storage unit in Washington State, we packed up our 2 large suitcases, 2 carry-on suitcases, 2 computer bags and 2 purses before boarding a plane bound for Montreal.

As of this writing, it’s been over seven years and we’ve been traveling ever since! So where have we been? How long were we there? And what cities did we visit, you may ask? We’ll here’s a detailed list . . .

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List of Places We’ve Been Since January 2017:

1) Montreal Skyline with Leonard Cohen Mural [Thomas1313, CC BY-SA 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons]; 2) Tram at Night in Lisbon, Portugal [Sandra Vallaure, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons]; 3) View from our Villa on Sifnos, Greece [Photo courtesy of Chris & Lakis]

• Canada (10 months): Vancouver & Montreal      

• Portugal (1 month): Lisbon, Porto, Sintra & Espadanedo (Douro Valley)

• Greece (9 months & 3 Weeks): Athens, Thessaloniki, Nea Propontida & Sifnos Island (Apollonia, Vathy, Kamares, Kastro, Platys Gialos, Faros, Chrysopigi)

1) Skyline of Split, Croatia [Tatyana Peshkova, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons]; 2) Fish and Chips [Matthias Meckel, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons]; 3) Filitosa Archaeological Site (Corsica, France) [Photo by Ellen Gartside]

• Croatia (7 ½ months): Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Split, Pula, Rovinj, Rijeka, Makarska, Brač Island (Bol, Supetar, Sumartin, Selca, Milna, Puscisca, Povlja), Lokrum Island & Mlini

• England (48 hour layover): London & Gatwick

• France (6 months & 3 Weeks): Paris, Marseille, Nice, Nîmes, Saint-Denis, Bellegarde, Normandy & Corsica (Ajaccio, Grossetto-Prugna, Albitreccia, Porticcio & Filitosa)

1) Stockholm Skyline [Jonatan Svensson Glad, CC-BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons]; 2) Seared Scallops on Pumpkin Cream, Confit Grapes, Cauliflower & Caper Powder at I Cuochi in Genova, Italy [Photo by Ryan Wildstar]; 3) Sofia Skyline [Deensel, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons]

• Sweden (11 days): Stockholm & Kalmar

• Italy (6 Weeks): Rome, Florence, Naples, Genoa, Sorrento, Ravello, Fiumicino, Paestum, Tivoli, Sicily (Palermo, Agrigento, Syracuse, Catania) & Sardinia (Cuglieri, Cagliari)

• Bulgaria (3 ½ months): Sofia

1) Pintxos in San Sebastian, Spain [Basotxerri, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons]; 2) Bucharest, Romania in Winter [Photo by Ryan Wildstar]; 3) Bar Food in Skopje, North Macedonia [Photo by Ryan Wildstar]

• Spain (1 Week): Barcelona & San Sebastian

• Romania (2 Months & 1 Week): Bucharest

• North Macedonia (5 Months & 1 Week): Skopje

1) Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina [Photo by Ryan Wildstar]; 2) Jakšić Tower in Belgrade, Serbia [Magyshadow, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons]; 3) The Heroinat Memorial in Pristina, Kosovo [Photo by Ryan Wildstar]; 4) Cape of Rodon, Albania [Photo by Lauren Greenwald]; 5) Altin & a Platter of Grilled Fish at Restorant Lleshi, Cape of Rodon, Albania [Photo by Lauren Greenwald]; 6) View from Our Apartment in Tirana, Albania [Photo by Ryan Wildstar]

• Bosnia-Herzgovina (3 Months): Sarajevo

• Serbia (6 months): Belgrade

• Kosovo (3 Months): Pristina

• Albania (2 Years & Counting!): Tirana, Durrës, Elbasan, Cape of Rodon & Lake Ohrid

[Note that this list doesn't even include airport layovers or countries we passed through in transit during the last 7 years (all of which still stamped our passports!): Montenegro, Slovenia, Denmark, Lithuania, Switzerland, Germany & the Netherlands!]

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Introducing Our New Project: The Epicurean Vagabonds Experience!

So . . . that’s what our last 7 years looked like! But before that, during our 24 years together we’ve also lived for 5 years in Paris, 6 years in Los Angeles and 6 years in Seattle and the San Juan Islands. And in 2011, we started teaching a class called The Art of Wine at Whatcom Community College (which subsequently became the inspiration for our podcast!), as well as launching a travel business hosting culinary & cultural tours in Europe and North America.

Over the next 9 years, we hosted more than 25 tours in multiple countries, staying at incredible villas, châteaux and luxury apartments while offering our guests the best of the art, culture, history, food and wine of every region we explored! Some of our tours included:

• France: Paris, Languedoc-Roussillon, Loire Valley, Corsica, Rhône Valley, Provence, Alsace, Jura, Burgundy & Normandy

• Spain: Catalonia (Barcelona & Sitges), Aragon (Zaragoza), La Rioja & Basque Country (San Sebastian & Bilbao)

• Greece: Athens, Crete & the Cyclades (Sifnos & Delos)

• Canada: Montreal

• Italy: Rome, Tuscany (Florence, Chianti, Siena, Montepulciano), Sardinia & Sicily

• Portugal: Lisbon, Sintra, Porto & The Douro

• Croatia: The Dalmatian Coast (Dubrovnik, Split, Hvar, Ston & Brač)

1) Ryan & Ryan at the Villa in The Douro, Portugal [Photo by Leslie Dempsey]; 2) Dinner at Entre Vigne et Garrigue in Pujaut, France [Photo by Sharon Grainger]; 3) Villa Il Santo in Tuscany, Italy [Photo courtesy of villailsanto.com]; 4) Boat Trip Down the Douro River in Portugal [Photo by Leslie Dempsey]; 5) Sandra (One of Our Guests) Sipping Wine in the Loire, France [Photo by Andrea Engstrom]; 6) Lunch on the Beach on Sifnos Island, Greece [Photo by Andrea Engstrom]; 7) View of the Adriatic from Villa Blanka in Bol on Brač Island, Croatia [Photo courtesy of bol-villas.com]; 8) The Uffizi Gallery at Night (Florence, Italy) [Photo by Jackie Spaulding]; 9) A Cocktail in the Midday Sun on Sifnos Island, Greece [Photo by Andrea Engstrom]

So this year, we’ve decided to launch a new venture, The Epicurean Vagabond Experience, offering our many years of travel experience and expertise to help you plan your next trip with style!

We specialize in curated culinary and cultural travel experiences for foodies and wine lovers, whether you're looking for street food, Michelin restaurants, wine bars, vineyard tastings, farmer's markets or simply the best local fare.

For our fellow aesthetes, we can help you find the best museums, historical monuments, architectural wonders, regional festivals, live music venues, independent bookshops, theatrical performances, and cultural events.

We also have a wealth of useful tips for couples, solo women travelers, LGBTQIA+ travelers, and people with disabilities or dietary restrictions.

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So what does The Epicurean Vagabond Experience look like?

• Travel Recommendation Services: Already have a trip planned? Let us give you some hot tips and personalized recommendations about where to stay, where to eat, what to see, what to do, how to get around . . . and how to avoid common tourist pitfalls.

• Consulting & Travel Planning Services: Everyone loves the more exciting aspects of planning their upcoming vacation, but it can often be difficult and intimidating when it comes to researching the logistics and booking your trip. As experienced travel agents and professional tour guides, we will work with you to help design your next vacation and help you optimize your travel experience.

• Booking & Full Travel Agency Services: The fully curated Epicurean Vagabond Experience! We’ll create your ideal vacation tailored to suit your specific needs, interests and desires while taking care of all the logistics and travel arrangements for you! Our services include: booking flights, accommodations, transportation (cars, trains, metros, buses, etc.), passes to museums and events, restaurant reservations, guided tours, and daily event planning.

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Book Your Next Vacation with Us!

It’s still January . . . where are you headed this year? Strike while the iron is hot and make your upcoming adventure an Epicurean Vagabond Experience!

We’ll be offering The Epicurean Vagabond Experience to the general public very soon but we wanted to announce it to all of our subscribers first! In addition, we would like to offer all of our subscribers the added one-time incentive of 5% off all our services for free subscribers and 10% off all our services for paid subscribers!

For more information, inquiries or to get a quote about an upcoming trip, please email us at: ryanwildstar@gmail.com

Ryan & Ryan in Barcelona!

Cheers to that!