By Nancy O'Hare
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Travel Blog

How Humans Erased a Sea

6/8/2019

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Written in dedication to World Oceans Day after visiting this sea-turned-to-desert from its Uzbekistan shores in 2019.
Mongolia-Aral-Sea-Ships
Photo credit: Chad O’Hare
Thirty years ago, my eyes would have been blinded by the reflection from the Aral Sea’s waters. Today, they stared at sand and saxual bushes that merged into a hazy horizon no matter which direction I turned. Our Landcruiser had been bouncing along a four-wheel-drive track for nearly ninety minutes. We were driving on the seabed, or what remained of it. A rusted-out bus rested upside down and scorched at the side of the road near where we had left the Ustyrt Plateau and entered the Aral Sea’s former seabed. Since then, I had seen little else beyond the occasional gas rig or pipeline marker - the latest business of choice in a fishing region erased of its sea.

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Remote Travel Required to Catch these Festivals

5/25/2019

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These are some of the most unusual festivals from around the world!
Bhutan-Sakteng
Photo credit: Chad O'Hare
One of the quickest means to gain a sense of a place is to step inside a local celebration. Some of my best memories have come from stumbling upon a quirky festival and letting myself become immersed in the unexpected.

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Four Easy Ways to Reduce Plastic When Travelling

5/21/2019

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Save-Plastic-Travel-Tips
Tips for sustainable travel:

​These tips help you to easily reduce your use of plastics, say goodbye to leaky liquids and minimize carry-on liquids for flights.

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Svaneti Piglets

5/15/2019

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Discover Georgia's Svaneti Towers and other hidden wonders in this beautiful region. I wrote this after walking along a narrow street between ancient stone houses in the town of Mestia.

Towers built to resist the enemy rose around me. Not consecutively but scattered across the valley, each attached to a home built from the same worn blocks of stone. Time roughened their edges, rain nibbled their sandy grout and flashbacks of former raids hid between nooks and melted into shadows. Today, yellow flowers painted a tapestry at the foot of certain towers while white-blossomed trees soothed their memories, lifting troubles of past generations lightly in the breeze.

The towers stood for resilience. Resilience of the town’s ancestors and strength of community that still filters through neighbourly life. Koshkebi (“stone towers”) define the Svaneti region of northern Georgia, yet my eyes were transfixed by what lay lower to the ground.

Georgia-Svaneti-Towers
Photo credit: Chad O’Hare

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Interview with Birds of a Feather Press

5/9/2019

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Birds of a Feather Press interviews “travel writers with an independent spirit” in their Author Interview Series and I am happy to be featured in their latest edition!
Not all travel guides are created equal, and I love the approach this week’s travel writer, Nancy O’Hare, has taken with her books. They’re not a dry collection of facts and figures to help travelers explore off-the-beaten path locations. Instead, she weaves the information through travel narratives so readers are transported to the destinations Nancy is excited to share with them.

The first draft of my travel guide was strictly informational, but during the second draft I added travel narratives to make it inspirational too. I think this content balance is the best formula for travel guides, and it’s up to the author how much of each ingredient they include. ~~ Jay Artale of Birds of a Feather Press
Full Interview
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Urban Trips: Three Cities Beyond Ordinary

4/27/2019

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For an urban vacation, here are three very different experiences to choose from:
Lithuania-Travel-Tips
Photo credit: Chad O'Hare
Vilnius, Lithuania
​
Stroll through a city where European comfort fuses with the medieval past to form a medley of arts, culture and contemporary urban venues.
The streets were deserted. Had we fallen into a fairy-tale city decorated like a fancy wedding cake but without any guests? The morning felt oddly serene as we wandered the cobblestoned lanes and wound our way to Vilnius’ central Cathedral Square." ...continued in the Fallen Kingdoms Chapter of Searching for Unique.
Favourite Cafe: Crustum Bakery and Café earned its place as our favourite coffee and bakery spot in Vilnius: crustum.lt.

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Azerbaijan: Get Here before Mass Tourism Does

4/18/2019

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Thinking of travelling to the Caucasus? These places were some of my favourite destinations in Azerbaijan and worth adding to your itinerary.
Azerbaijan-Mountains
Greater Caucasus Mountain Range
All Photo credits go to: Chad O'Hare

Azerbaijan is a place where genuine hospitality remains engrained in its culture. Whether an elderly gentleman points out the way to an ancient Caucasian Albanian church or a waiter decides to give you complimentary çay (“tea”), the Azeris certainly make you feel welcome.

​As far as things to do, this nation offers a diverse mix. Stroll through restored archeological palaces or step back in time at a Zoroastrian fire temple. View petroglyphs thousands of years old or stretch your hiking legs in the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range. If you time it right, you can even catch the Formula One Grand Prix race through the streets of Baku.

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Take a Virtual Google Maps Tour of Searching for Unique

3/31/2019

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Visit remote destinations in my latest book, Searching for Unique, with a virtual tour in Google Maps. 

Trek through untouched valleys with more sheep than people in the blustery Faroe Islands. Feel the heat of an ancient Buddhist fire ceremony in the secluded Kingdom of Bhutan. Discover these and twenty-five more places across five continents through bite-sized narratives and on-the-ground travel advice.
Virtual Google Maps Tour of Searching for Unique

Searching for Unique was released in November 2018. For more about the book and links to buy a copy, click the link below:
More About Searching for Unique
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A Virtual Google Maps Tour of Dust in My Pack

3/30/2019

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Follow one traveller's journey across all seven continents in a virtual Google Maps tour!

​Enjoy excerpts from Dust in My Pack and links to destinations covered through Google Maps. You just might find inspiration for your next adventure holiday.
Virtual Google Maps Tour of Dust in My Pack

The book is available as an eBook and paperback at most online bookstores and in-store at select shops. For more about the book and links to buy it, follow the link below: 
More About Dust in My Pack
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Prairies Book Review: Searching For Unique

3/19/2019

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Prairies-Book-Review-OHare
"​Certainly a keeper…
Nancy O’Hare was pursuing a successful career in finance after earning an executive MBA when the pull of leading a simpler, healthier lifestyle took her to discover different cultures across foreign lands. She never looked back. Searching for Unique, O’Hare’s second book is a sincere effort at creating a well-informed travel to remote, challenging places."
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Click the link to The Prairie Book Review for the full review. 
The Prairies Book Review

About the Book
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    Nancy O'Hare has lived and worked across five continents and travelled to over eighty countries. Her writing shares insights from her travels and musings about the world around us.

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  • Home
  • About
  • Books
    • From Wages to Riches
    • Reclaim your Financial Wits
    • Searching for Unique
    • Dust In My Pack
    • Next Travel Book
  • Travel Blog
  • CONTACT