THE HALLGRENS'S
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We're married "30 somethings" who decided to quit our jobs, sell our house in the suburbs, and spend time exploring the world.
We'll try to keep this website as up to date as possible so check back often. And remember you can always contact us at pipkas55378@yahoo.com.
| The Hallgrens's Travel Blogs and Reviews | ||
| Travel Blogs and Reviews | ||
| Title and Date | Location | |
 Our Adventures Apr 07 '06 | The World | |
 We're still at home Apr 07 '06 | Savage, Minnesota | |
Our first stop.....Belle Plaine MN Apr 21 '06 "It's cheap. What more can I say?" | Belle Plaine, Minnesota | |
 Emma Krumbees "It's cheap. What more can I say?" | Belle Plaine, Minnesota | |
A visit with mom and dad Apr 21 '06 "“we found out that Anne, Sara (sister), and Mary (mom) all won "honerable mention" in the Jakes Pizza tshirt contest”" | Mankato, Minnesota | |
Jakes Stadium Pizza "The best pizza in Mankato" | Mankato, Minnesota | |
Plan B begins! Apr 24 '06 | San Pedro, Belize | |
 Banana Beach Resort "home away from home" | San Pedro, Belize | |
Belize ... from Annes POV May '06 | San Pedro, Belize | |
“I'm told BWCA stands for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. If you ask me, it stands for Bugs & ... May 23 '06 "I'm told BWCA stands for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. If you ask me, it stands for Bugs & Woodticks Crawling on Anne." | Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Minnesota | |
Niner Six Eight Seven X-ray, clear for takeoff Jun 12 '06 "I anticipate that I will have multiple job offers soon." | Eden Prairie, Minnesota | |
Aaahh Denver, the sunshine state Jun 19 '06 "it was ok, we were tired, it cost $14, there isn't much more to say about it." | Denver, Colorado | |
Royal rip off Jun 20 '06 "I didn't feel this ripped off since we ate at Arby's for 14 dollars; beverage not included" | Royal Gorge, Colorado | |
The Great Sand Dunes Jun 20 '06 "Who knew the desert could be so unforgiving?" | The Great Sand Dunes, Alamosa | |
We love Gunnison, Coworado Jun 22 '06 "the rafting was interesting" | Gunnison, Colorado | |
Black Canyon National Park Jun 24 '06 "not a place to go when you're drunk" | Black Canyon National Park, Colorado | |
Hooray for Ouray Jun 24 '06 "I laid in my tent wishing REI made a tent with soundproof panels, Brian laid there wishing he had a bear suit so he ..." | Ouray, Colorado | |
Mesa Verde/Four Corners Jun 26 '06 "Mesa Verde fell short of my low expectations" | Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado | |
Moab, UT (Arches NP and Canyonlands NP) Jun 27 '06 "I got a birthday shower!" | Moab, Utah | |
Capitol Reef NP / My Birthday Jun 28 '06 "a cross between Snow White's forest and the Garden of Eden (minus Show White, the Dwarfs, and Satan" | Capitol Reef National Park, Wayne | |
Camping in Duck Creek Jun 30 '06 "It was ok, except for all the groups of redneck ATV riders" | Duck Creek Village, Utah | |
Bryce Canyon NP Jul 01 '06 "We also took much needed $2 showers" | Bryce Canyon National Park, Garfield | |
Zion NP Jul 02 '06 "and none of them spoke a lick of English" | Zion National Park, Utah | |
Glen Canyon Dam Jul 03 '06 "great, another dam tour" | Page, Arizona | |
The Grand Canyon NP Jul 04 '06 "suddenly I had a burning desire to know all about the early settlers who set foot in the canyon" | Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona | |
Viva Las Vegas! Jul 05 '06 "Mr. Vegas I am not" | Las Vegas, Nevada | |
Death Valley NP Jul 06 '06 "nothing, and I mean NOTHING smells worse than a 120 degree pit toilet" | Death Valley National Park, California | |
MT WHITNEY, OUR BIGGEST ADVENTURE YET! Jul 07 '06 "I have a tough time going in a public restroom, much less a situation like this" | Lone Pine, California | |
Ridgecrest, CA Jul 08 '06 "merely a stop to sleep in a cheap hotel" | Ridgecrest, California | |
Sequoia NP / Close Encounters of the Bear kind Jul 09 '06 "Brian grabbed the can of bear spray from my pocket and had the saftey latch off faster than you can say "Gentle Ben"." | Sequoia National Park, California | |
Yosemite NP Jul 10 '06 "I now know why it is my father's favorite and also understand why mom titled her piano piece "Yosemite Falls"." | Yosemite National Park, California | |
Pit stop needed Jul 12 '06 "Being on the road is fun, but after 3 weeks we needed a break" | Livermore, California | |
The Monterey Bay Aquarium Jul 13 '06 "Surprisingly my favorite display section was the Jellyfish area - can you believe that?" | Monterey, California | |
What? No Rice A Roni??? Jul 15 '06 "San Francisco was awesome as always" | San Francisco, California | |
The Guy I Keep Running Into Jul 16 '06 "sometimes he is as short as Mini Me" | Standish-Hickey, Mendocino | |
Redwoods NP / Anne's favorite park so far Jul 17 '06 "I would go so far as to call Fern Canyon "magical" and that isn't a word I use often" | Redwood National and State Parks, California | |
Crater Lake, America's Blue Hole Jul 19 '06 "Anne had the courage to make the hike without her new best friend, her missing left toenail" | Crater Lake National Park, Jackson | |
Pit stop in Eugene / Life on the road Jul 22 '06 "I've learned many things after 5 weeks on the road" | Eugene, Oregon | |
McMinnville, Cape Lookout, Mt. Hood Jul 23 '06 "I looked and looked for Leonardo Di Caprio near the Spruce Goose, but never found him" | Portland, Oregon | |
Mt. Rainier NP Jul 26 '06 "I could also choose to live inside a bubble, but I'll leave that to Anne when she Zorbs in New Zealand." | Longmire, Washington | |
Clowning around in Seattle Jul 27 '06 "To anyone that has not been to Seattle, I must say this : The Space Needle is NOT TALL!" | Seattle, Washington | |
Oh Deer! Jul 28 '06 "While driving in NW Washington, the furthest point from Belle Plaine Minnesota, Bambi decided to alter our trip" | Sequim, Washington | |
Yellowstone NP Aug 01 '06 "it was an amazing blaze that scorched 36 percent of the park" | Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming | |
Grand Teton NP Aug 02 '06 "If Brian and I weren't homeless I would want one of those for sure." | Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming | |
Plan B and the stats Aug 03 '06 "The stats for this leg of the journey" | Worthington, Minnesota | |
Our 10th Anniversary Aug 16 '06 | Duluth, Minnesota | |
Our next big adventure is booked! Aug 22 '06 "we finally booked the flights for our next big adventure!" | Belle Plaine, Minnesota | |
Rocky Mt. High Sep 02 '06 "Where's your favorite place in the world?" | Gould, Colorado | |
Ah, Fiji, where the sun never shines Sep 19 '06 "I immediately became religious and cited three Hail Mary's and three Our Fathers" | Nananu-i-Ra Island, Fiji | |
Holy S%&T! We're in Fiji!! Oct 01 '06 | Nadi, Fiji | |
Everybody wants to be a hippie Oct 02 '06 | Auckland, New Zealand | |
Everybody is so nice in NZ! Oct 07 '06 | Whangaruru North, New Zealand | |
Suiting up for the moon Oct 13 '06 "making my skin flake an hour later like I was a molting snake" | Poor Knights Island, New Zealand | |
A trip to the bach Oct 14 '06 "A bach (pronounced batch) is to NZ, what a cabin is to Minnesota" | Whangamata, New Zealand | |
Crossing Zorb off my life list Oct 17 '06 "the real Zorb location is NOTHING like the one shown on Amazing Race" | Rotorua, New Zealand | |
Rap, Raft, Rock; No Roll Oct 18 '06 | Waitomo Caves, New Zealand | |
| Napier, New Zealand | |
More bathroom talk Oct 27 '06 "do you think we should turn around?" | Masterton, New Zealand | |
Windy Welli Oct 29 '06 "there was this big ball of flaming gas in the sky and we realized it was the SUN" | Wellington, New Zealand | |
Assorted Photos Nov 01 '06 | Wellington, New Zealand | |
Pipkas in Picton Nov 02 '06 "there would be no whistle blowing in their expected future" | Picton, New Zealand | |
Mysterious Disease Nov 03 '06 "they are being cheap and trying to save a buck" | Blenheim, New Zealand | |
Hiking our butts off in Abel Tasman NP Nov 06 '06 "The hike turned out to be more tiring than anticipated, and by mile 10 we were pooped" | Abel Tasman National Park, New Zealand | |
A hotel, a Jackass, and a pizza from Hell... Nov 07 '06 "we both left the theater with headaches from laughing so hard" | Nelson, New Zealand | |
The Marathon Nov 12 '06 "compare it to navigating a 4x6 piece of plywood through an F5 tornado" | Hokitika, New Zealand | |
Milford Fjord Nov 15 '06 "God do I hate those bugs" | Milford Sound, New Zealand | |
A taste of chocolate, ice, and beer Nov 18 '06 "still fun to drink as much free beer as we could in 15 minutes" | Dunedin, New Zealand | |
Big round rocks and heaps of Germans Nov 21 '06 "We did manage to push aside a few of the more frail tourists to get some decent pictures" | Moeraki, New Zealand | |
A lesson in New Zealand English Nov 22 '06 "To that I say "Good on you" Brian" | Otaki, New Zealand | |
To part with Goldie Nov 23 '06 | Christchurch, New Zealand | |
New Zealand Engligh - Defined Nov 27 '06 "The answers you've all been waiting for...." | Wellington, New Zealand | |
Final thoughts on New Zealand Nov 29 '06 | Auckland, New Zealand | |
Most expensive G and T Nov 30 '06 "33 dollars for the 700 ml bottle of gin" | Blue Mountains National Park, Australia | |
Renes Pizza "Damn good Pizza" | Blue Mountains National Park, Australia | |
Sydney - the greatest city in the world Dec 02 '06 "Brian took off down the stairs leading to the beach, then suddenly came running back up towards me with a look of horror on his face" | Sydney, Australia | |
Visiting friends in Tumut Dec 06 '06 "we walked around town, only to complete the Australian salute several times over" | Tumut, Australia | |
A mini bush safari Dec 09 '06 "This experience for us was one of the best and is what we wanted out of Plan B" | Kosciuszko National Park, New South Wales | |
Melbourne - get me out of this city!! Dec 10 '06 | Melbourne, Australia | |
Three day tour to Adelaide Dec 13 '06 "I would jump too if I lived in Melbourne" | Apollo Bay, Australia | |
Adelaide and wine in the Barossa Valley Dec 17 '06 "Breaking Rule #2 of Brian’s travel rules" | Barossa Valley, South Australia | |
Working on a dive boat in the Great Barrier Reef Dec 20 '06 "It was an unusual x-mas to say the least" | Great Barrier Reef, Australia | |
Sweaty in Port Douglas Dec 29 '06 | Port Douglas, Queensland | |
Fraser Island Jan 02 '07 "This would turn out to be another deranged social experiment with us trying to fit in as the "older couple"" | Fraser Island, Australia | |
Steve Irwin, R.I.P. Jan 07 '07 "I think I'll be a zookeeper" | Beerwah, Queensland | |
Likes and Dislikes for Australia Jan 08 '07 ""little man" syndrome that the Melbournian's face" | Brisbane, Australia | |
Bangkok Jan 09 '07 "I have never felt so out of my element and overstimulated in my entire life" | Bangkok, Thailand | |
Sweaty in Koh Tao / AC too expensive Jan 12 '07 "There was no option other than to yell for help" | Ko Tao, Thailand | |
Swindeled in Suratthani Jan 18 '07 "I would like to wish the extortionist the Karma he deserves" | Surat Thani, Surat Thani Province | |
December 26, 2004. Jan 19 '07 "I want to stay here forever" | Khoa Lak, Thailand | |
Nanthong Bay Resort "Beautiful hotel on the beach," | Khoa Lak, Thailand | |
The Best Diving Yet? Jan 23 '07 "Anne and I have logged over 100 dives" | Similan Islands, Chanthaburi | |
My love/hate relationship with Thailand Jan 28 '07 "Rule #4" | Chiang Mai, Thailand | |
3 day, 2 night jungle trek Jan 29 '07 "we had enough culture for some time to come" | Chiang Mai Province, Thailand | |
Likes/dislikes of Thailand Feb 01 '07 "I can't wait to get back to eat some authentic American pizza and have turkey sandwiches with Miracle Whip" | Bangkok, Thailand | |
The temples of Angkor Wat Feb 02 '07 | Siem Reap, Cambodia | |
Up in arms Feb 05 '07 "1.7 million Cambodians were executed" | Phnom Penh, Cambodia | |
Still in Saigon Feb 08 '07 "God Bless the USA" | Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam | |
Sick in Hoi An Feb 12 '07 "Unfortunately for me I saw only the inside of our hotel room" | Hoi An, Vietnam | |
Motorbike Mania Feb 14 '07 "Perhaps Vietnam could teach Thailand how to run a rail system" | Hue, Vietnam | |
Nearing the end Feb 15 '07 "the micro organisms in my digestive system were celebrating their own little TET" | Hanoi, Vietnam | |
Bright Lights, Big City Feb 24 '07 | Hong Kong, China | |
A brief stop home Feb 28 '07 "Here are some stats for the last leg of our journeys:" | Belle Plaine, Minnesota | |
We´re off again! Apr 19 '07 "men engage in odd rituals of smooching" | Buenos Aires, Argentina | |
17 hours on a bus, butterflies, and lots and lots of water Apr 23 '07 "On the day we visited the falls we got lucky and had glorious weather" | Puerto Iguazu, Misiones | |
Don´t cry for me Argentina Apr 27 '07 "I´ll start with the dislikes...." | Buenos Aires, Argentina | |
I can´t breathe Apr 28 '07 "Anne´s rule of travel number 44 - if the hostel sells t-shirts, I don´t want to stay there." | Cusco, Peru | |
The search for love and sleep on the Inka Trail May 01 '07 "Well, I haven´t had a drink in eight days" | Machu Picchu, Peru | |
NEVER AGAIN! May 06 '07 "Once again we boarded the world´s slowest boat" | Lake Titicaca, Peru | |
Quick stop May 10 '07 | Quito, Ecuador | |
Millions of years of evolution May 11 '07 "Trying to get quality photos of these creatures furthered my appreciation for professional photographers of the deep" | Galapagos Islands, Ecuador | |
Cruising the Galapagos and Going Broke May 16 '07 "It was a great trip, and despite the astronomic costs, the Galapagos is an amazing place to visit and completely worth it" | Galapagos Islands, Ecuador | |
Here´s to my health May 23 '07 "p.s. I would like to thank the manufacturers of Ciproflaxacin" | Panama City, Panama | |
Limoncillo "Finer dining" | Panama City, Panama | |
A trip thru the Canal. zzzzzzzzzz May 26 '07 "With excellent people watching like this, who even needs to see the canal??" | Panama Canal, Panama | |
Welcome To My Secret Volcano Lair May 30 '07 "ample opportunity for a free falling death." | La Fortuna, Costa Rica | |
Getting High on Life Jun 02 '07 "The highlight of our stay was the giant plate of nachos we shared during our first evening." | Tamarindo, Costa Rica | |
Day Trippin´ Jun 05 '07 "relentless traffic" | Poas, Alajuela | |
Do I Want to Become an Airline Pilot? Jun 07 '07 "too painful to further write about" | San Salvador, El Salvador | |
| San Pedro, Belize | |
I'm a giver and a winner Jun 30 '07 "I think the short hair makes me look a bit younger" | Mankato, Minnesota | |
What's the FPA? Jul 05 '07 "Pika and I could live here...if we just had jobs and money" | San Diego, California | |
Camping "up North", the Colorado cabin, a special Anniversary and OUR NEXT ADVENTURE! Jul 29 '07 "Tomorrow we leave for our next (and last) adventure of Plan B" | Gould, Colorado | |
Our first and last visit to Iceland Aug 04 '07 "Iceland. Been there, done that, won't do it again" | Reykjavik, Iceland | |
Proud to be a Swede Aug 08 '07 | Stockholm, Sweden | |
A Little Geneology Aug 10 '07 "continuing the traditions of our strong gene pool" | Skara, Vastra Gotaland | |
Will the rain stop? Aug 15 '07 "surviving on 7-11 muffins for breakfast" | Oslo, Norway | |
Floating thru the Fjords Aug 17 '07 "Annes Travel Rule # 137 - ALWAYS double check the dates of your tickets" | Flam, Sogn og Fjordane | |
Berlin - an overwhelming lesson in history Aug 19 '07 "I can assure you he won't make that mistake twice" | Berlin, Germany | |
Train'n, Bus'n, and Boat'n through Germany Aug 21 '07 "Europe is turning out to be a fantastic leg of our journey" | Koblenz, Germany | |
The Romantic Road to Rothenburg Aug 24 '07 | Rothenburg Ob Der Tauber, Germany | |
Beer in Fairyland Aug 25 '07 "I learned my lesson and didn't touch anyone" | Munich, Germany | |
Czech this out Aug 27 '07 | Prague, Czech Republic | |
Outclassed in Vienna? Aug 30 '07 "Mozart turned over in his mass grave" | Vienna, Austria | |
Soaked in Salzburg Sep 01 '07 "Oh well" | Salzburg, Austria | |
| Schaan, Schaan | |
Yes, it's the Most Beautiful Place on Earth Sep 05 '07 "dangerous combination" | Gimmelwald, Bern | |
Culture shock in Rome Sep 07 '07 "we have never seen so many in one place outside of America." | Rome, Italy | |
Finding the Magic and Charm of Italy Sep 10 '07 | Florence, Italy | |
The Italian Riviera Sep 11 '07 "unaccustomed to such lavish surroundings" | Cinque Terre, Italy | |
The Polite French? Sep 13 '07 | Arles, France | |
BARCELONA! Sep 16 '07 "European Senior bikini day" | Barcelona, Spain | |
Injustice in Madrid Sep 19 '07 | Madrid, Spain | |
Toro! Toro! Sep 20 '07 "while it was an interesting evening and a new cultural experience, we won't soon be repeating it" | Lisbon, Portugal | |
The Hard Rock Cafe "Avoid the Nachos" | Lisbon, Portugal | |
Bored - deaux, I mean Bordeaux Sep 23 '07 "tack the extra days on to Paris" | Bordeaux, France | |
Paris: Rain, Rings, and Restaurants Sep 25 '07 "behind the glaring bulletproof glass" | Paris, France | |
The Trifecta: Beer, Chocolate, and Fries Sep 29 '07 "toasting the last night of a very successful European adventure" | Bruges, Belgium | |
This is it! Oct 01 '07 "Number of countries visited in Europe?" | Amsterdam, Netherlands | |
Crazy Cairo Oct 02 '07 "overloaded population" | Cairo, Egypt | |
Camels, old stuff, mosquitos, and a boat ride Oct 05 '07 "I don't think she was saying "Welcome to Egypt, my new American friends"" | Aswan, Egypt | |
It's So Hot Oct 09 '07 | Luxor, Egypt | |
Still Alive Oct 10 '07 ""frankly Brian, we don't give a damn"" | Dahab, Egypt | |
19340, That's a Jumbo Jambo Oct 17 '07 | Kilimanjaro, Tanzania | |
A Four Day Safari - Our Grand Finale to Plan B Oct 24 '07 "walking thru the african wilderness with a man carrying a sub-machine gun" | Ngorongoro Crater National Park, Arusha | |
This is the End...Beautiful Friend...The End Nov 01 '07 "Top 10 list" | Atlanta, Georgia | |
Continued Travels Apr 02 '08 "IQ's diminished with increasing altitudes." | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | |
| Standalone Reviews | ||
| Title and Date | Location | |
Banana Beach Resort Apr 24 '06 "home away from home" | San Pedro, Belize | |
Emma Krumbees Apr 21 '06 "It's cheap. What more can I say?" | Belle Plaine, Minnesota | |
Jakes Stadium Pizza Apr 21 '06 "The best pizza in Mankato" | Mankato, Minnesota | |
Fraiser Island, Australia
Khao Lak, Thailand
Angkor Wat
