Scandinavia Day 6 - To Lofoten
August 21, 2026
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We woke up early in Alnes and made our way to the airport, where we took a flight from Alesund to Oslo and then on to Bodø, Norway. We rented a car in Bodø and made our way directly to the dock where we boarded a 3 hour ferry to to the island of Moskenes in the Lofoten archipelago.
Simply put, the Lofoten islands were the absolute highlight ou...
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Scandinavia Day 5 - Geiranger and Trollstigen
August 20, 2026
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We woke up on the island of Godøy. Seth and I went for a walk while the others were getting ready to head out.
We drove though Ålesund and grabbed some pastries,
on our way to the town of Gieranger at the mouth of the most famous fjord in Norway. The Geirangerfjord is a branch of the huge Storfjord, located about 2 hours from Ålesund. It is...
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Scandinavia Day 4 - Western Norway: Godoy, Alesund, and the Hjorundfjord
August 19, 2026
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We woke up super early in Bergen, headed to the airport, and took a short flight to Oslo and then to Ålesund, Norway.
Ålesund is a beautiful town scattered over several islands in Western Norway. The infrastructure is jaw-dropping. The airport is on the island of Vigra, which is connected to multiple adjacent islands by a series of bridges and u...
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Scandinavia Day 3 - Norway in a Nutshell
August 18, 2026
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We woke up in Bergen and headed to the train station for a day of unabashed tourism. Our full-day "Norway in a Nutshell" tour began at the Bergen train station, where we boarded a train with hundreds of other visitors (not my favorite way to vacation) and headed into the countryside. Still, there is a reason so many people do the tour. The scenery...
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Scandinavia Day 2 - Bergen, Norway
August 17, 2026
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Jetlag helped us wake up early in beautiful Bergen, Norway. Ada and I went on a walk exploring the empty streets before the city woke up.
The Bryggen from the other side of the harbor:
We met up with the rest of the family for a pastry and kanelboller (cinnamon roll) breakfast at Godt Brød, and then made our way to the Fløibanen funicular, wh...
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Scandinavia Day 1 - Arriving in Bergen
August 16, 2026
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We flew Iceland Air to Oslo, with a quick layover and passport check in Reykjavik.
After landing in Oslo, we gathered our bags and immediately checked in for our short Norwegian Air flight to Bergen.
By this time the kids were exhausted, but we caught a second wind once we arrived at BGO, took the train into Bergen, and walked our bags a few...
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Franch Polynesia Day 13 - Tahiti last day; Taravao
August 30, 2025
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We spent our last day in French Polynesia on Tahiti. We visited the nearby Taravao plateau for a beautiful view of the Taravao isthmus.
We visited the nearby Vaipahi Water Gardens
We had a really amazing late breakfast/lunch in Taravao.
And then enjoyed the afternoon at our place near Taravao, paddleboarding and kayaking.
We s...
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French Polynesia Day 12 - Rangiroa and back to Tahiti
August 29, 2025
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We had most of the day in Rangiroa before our flight back to Tahiti in the evening. There was no one checking in to the Villa so Le Coconut Lodge let us use it the rest of the day (so we didn't have to worry about getting up and checking out). We spent the morning at the beach reading and relaxing before jumping on the bikes and riding down to Tipu...
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French Polynesia Day 11 - Rangiroa and the Blue Lagoon
August 27, 2025
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We woke up to a beautiful morning at the Coconut Lodge, and had a beautiful breakfast of fresh fruit, yogurt, and crepes.
We even had the cutest little visitor at breakfast, a baby gecko (mo'o).
After breakfast we were picked up by Rangiroa Excursions in front of Le Coconut Lodge and brought to the Avatoru dock for our day at the Blue Lagoon.
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French Polynesia Day 10 - Bora Bora to Rangiroa
August 27, 2025
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We woke up early on the lagoon and had breakfast before packing our bags and heading to Vaitape. We dropped off the car and boarded the ferry to the airport, where we caught our flight to the island of Rangiroa. Rangiroa is the second largest atoll in the world. (What's an atoll? Its a ring-shaped island which includes a coral rim encircling a lago...
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French Polynesia Day 9 - Bora Bora relaxation
August 26, 2025
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We woke up in our bungalow over the water to a beautiful sunrise on the lagoon.
We walked down the pontoon towards the beach for breakfast at the hotel restaurant.
And back up the pontoon for a busy day of relaxation at the bungalow.
Then we went across the street from the hotel to Matira beach (it's a tiny peninsula, with Matira B...
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French Polynesia Day 8 - Moore'a to Bora Bora
August 25, 2025
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We woke up again to a beautiful sunrise at the Sofitel resort.
Once again, we ate our luxurious breakfast which included everything from the standard stuff (eggs, omelettes, bacon, sausage, pancakes, waffles), to french stuff (pastries, crepes, yogurts and baguettes, cheese and charcuterie), to polynesian stuff (poke and poisson cru), to fresh...
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French Polynesia Day 7 - Moore'a resort life
August 24, 2025
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We woke up feeling pretty luxurious, to the sunrise over the lagoon out our windows.
We walked to the hotel restaurant for breakfast,
which was opulent and delicious. We felt like spoiled tourists in an episode of White Lotus.
In the morning we went snorkeling in the lagoon in front of the hotel villa.
(threadfin butterflyfish)...
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French Polynesia Day 6 - Swimming with whales and dolphins
August 23, 2025
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We woke up early and packed our bags in the car, then headed to a marina on the northern aspect of the island, where we were picked up by our guides from The Native Expedition for a full day excursion on the seas and reefs around Moore'a. Tuteahu (our main guide) and Vetearii (our boat captain) took us on an adventure around Moore'a we will never f...
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French Polynesia Day 5 - Moore'a, La plage de Tipaniers
August 22, 2025
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We woke up and drove to Belvedere lookout near the center of the island, which includes a beautiful view of Mount Rotui (which separates the principle bays on the northern end of the island).
Then we did a small hike around the lookout (smaller than Lindsay wanted).
Saw some fungi along the way:
And some neat polynesian chestnu...
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