New Adventures!

Planning a trip to a Spanish-speaking country is the ultimate reward for studying a foreign language. When

you can set foot in a location where your new language is living day in and day out, you get a sense of excitement, of anticipation, of adventure!

I talk about traveling in Chapter 6 of my book, "So You Want to Learn Spanish?". In it, you can really challenge yourself on the language skills you have obtained to that point. Part of traveling is the desire for adventure -- to experience new, different and interesting sites, people and history. I came across a web site that may help you in your planning stages for that upcoming trip. It's called Get Your Guide.

On the site, you enter in the location of where you are headed followed by the date you will arrive and the date you will leave. It will search for tours, special events, activities and attractions that some guide books may miss for that specific city. Some of the items it pulls up may be time and date specific which makes it all the more interesting.

For example, I am planning a much anticipated trip to Spain in 2014. When I arrive in Sevilla in March, I found out about a 3-hour Tapas Tour that I could enjoy while I'm there. It's a private tour that takes you to creatively selected tapas bars that you may or may not normally stumble upon if you just arrived. How fun and unique would that be?! Most of the activities do cost money to participate; however, there are some that are totally free too. For Sevilla, I found a free 2-hour walking tour of the city with a local guide. Would I chip in something for the guide afterward? Of course, but at least it would be on my terms and taste.

So if you are planning that much awaited trip to try out your new language skills, check out your destination on Get Your Guide and see what creative ways you can see the sights. You may be surprised at what different ways there are and how marrying some fun activity along with a tour can help pass jet lag and boredom.

Happy and fun travels!

¡Hasta luego!
~Keith