Kori
1. What’s your favorite restaurant (and where)?
Christaki’s in Tustin, California – the most amazing, authentic Greek food I’ve found anywhere in the states!
2. Favorite or ideal date night?
If I’m home in SoCal, I don’t care where it starts if it ends with sitting on a beach watching the sun go down, and then counting shooting stars, listening to the waves crash.
3. Festival, fair or event you never miss?
The Grunion Run! I grew up in SoCal, so it’s tradition to head to the beach at night in the spring and try to catch this elusive moonlit fish orgy.
4. Favorite vacation spot?
Greece! The first time I ever traveled internationally was to the tiny Greek island Ikaria (so named because it’s believed to be where Icarus fell after the sun melted his wings). I spent that summer, and a few others after that, living the ultimate island life – each day I’d sleep in, then lounge on whichever spectacular beach I wanted, until it was time for an afternoon nap, and then a night out to roam the village and chat with the locals over a delicious Greek dinner.
5. Most memorable road trip you’ve taken?
A few years ago, I flew to Seattle, rented a car and drove it down the entire coast through Washington, Oregon and NorCal to San Francisco. I did it alone, took my time, stopped at every stop I wanted to and ate all the seafood I could find. It was an incredible two weeks of sightseeing and getting to know my own self a little better.
6. Where do you go to connect with nature?
Any hike will do – when I’m in the states I love to explore the national parks. At home in SoCal, Joshua Tree is an easy go-to because it’s closest to me, and in the winter, I like to head up to Tahoe to snowshoe with a friend.
7. What’s on your road trip playlist?
It tends to depend on where I’m headed, but there’s usually a lot of Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, The Weeknd and Madonna.
8. What’s your biggest travel peeve?
The things I inevitably forget every time. You would think that as a seasoned traveler, I wouldn’t have this problem anymore. But I do! Whether it’s my toothbrush, the fast charger for my iPhone, an international power adapter, turning on my Out of Office reply at work, or the power cord for my laptop – there is always something. It’s usually something important, and often obscure and/or expensive, and it drives me absolutely insane!
9. Travel items you always pack?
A couple scarves and pairs of sunglasses, allergy medicine, Ear Planes ear plugs and a GoPro.
10. How do you relax after a trip?
I’ll give myself one day to veg on the couch or in bed binging on Netflix. After that, it’s time to pull myself together and dive back into normal life.
11. Favorite snack while traveling?
SuperSeedz Sea Salt Pumpkin Seeds. I take a bag with me everywhere I go!
12. What do you consider beautiful?
There is no greater gift, nor truer beauty, than the wonders of the natural world…I’ve looked up at towering icebergs, been dazzled by thousands of glowworms in a dark cave, watched the waves pound the shore of a thousand beaches, watched the Green Lady dance across the sky. And still, every new experience, every new wonder fills my heart with awe and gratitude for the incredible beauty of it all.
13. Next up on your travel bucket list?
The Atacama Desert in Chile. It’s a strip of desert, the driest in the world, in Northern Chile where it rests between the Andes and the sea and it’s so dry that NASA does equipment testing here before launching it to Mars.
Marissa
1. What’s your favorite restaurant (and where)?
Well, this may never be the same answer twice because I love checking out new restaurants and always want to try something different and my home town of Chicago is amazing for the foodie scene, but one that stands out in my mind as a classic is Au Cheval – best burgers in town! I also need to give a shout out to Beatnik which gives me ALL the Bali vibes, even on a cold wintery day in Chicago.
2. Favorite or ideal date night?
Well, there’s a lot of great date nights I can think of but let’s say it’s during travel. It would start with exploring some part of a new destination without a major plan in place and then popping into a local restaurant where we make sure and eat the local cuisine then going to another local spot for a nightcap and good conversation, followed by wandering the streets to check out the nightlife.
3. Festival, fair or event you never miss?
I have a tight knit group of friends and we all have a certain holiday/event we host. One friend always hosts New Years Eve and it’s in their cozy apartment with about 10-15 of my best friends and at midnight we go outside and bang pots and pans and listen to the city of Chicago completely pop off with (illegal) fireworks. At this stage I would never go out on NYE, but I wouldn’t miss my friend’s cozy party!
4. Favorite vacation spot?
Can’t pick a favorite. Literally just can’t. But, Top 5 are: Greek islands, Chiangmai, Tuscany, Iceland, Bali. But, if we’re talking pure “vacation” and not “travel” then I’ll go to Tulum, Mexico any day of the week to do some yoga and sit on the beach with a book with a view of the Caribbean Sea.
5. Most memorable road trip you’ve taken?
Without a doubt, Iceland! It was me and 6 of my close friends in a van roaming the Icelandic countryside for a week and it was beyond incredible. I don’t think we would make it 15 minutes before we’d need to stop again and get out of the car to marvel at the sights. We laughed, we played pranks, gossiped, took turns sleeping in the car, blasted music and open windows to keep us awake…it is one of my favorite travel experiences ever, despite several times not making it to a town in time for dinner and begging the hotel to serve us their leftover soup and bread so we wouldn’t go hungry. But that’s a story for another day.
6. Where do you go to connect with nature?
My favorite connection with nature is the ocean shore. That is where I truly re-center. But, living in the Midwest in the US, I am not near the ocean and for some reason Lake Michigan, while it looks like the ocean, it doesn’t have the same effect. Perhaps it’s the tides. But, if I can’t do the ocean, then a walk through the quiet woods will do. Particularly when fall colors are in full swing. Autumn is my favorite time of year.
7. What’s on your road trip playlist?
Well, I have a really varied taste in music (like a lot of different genres) but my favorite for the car is the type of music that you turn up really loud and press the gas pedal a little harder. 🙂 Like, music that puts you in danger of getting a speeding ticket. But, when I’m on a road trip with friends, we usually start a shared playlist we all contribute to. On my last road trip this past Fall it was basically Lizzo on repeat.
8. What’s your biggest travel peeve?
Well, traveling is always kind of a pain for one reason or another, but I think what irks me the most is how people seem to lose every shred of civilized humanity about getting on a plane (or getting off, for that matter). Like, the weird lawless crowd at the airport gate and how everyone clumps up and pushes to get on the plane and the lines are never organized. Also, how everything at the airport costs 3x what it should. Like, why is this gross chicken sandwich $20?
9. Travel items you always pack?
Always my Kindle. Always headphones. Always downloaded podcasts for the plane.
10. How do you relax after a trip?
I always like the feeling of home when I get back. I make sure my house is clean before I leave so when I get home it feels good. I take a long, hot shower and get in my comfy clothes and chill on the couch. When I’ve been out of the US, I always miss the giant cups of ice water I love to drink so I make myself American-sized big gulps of ice water. I never seem to get good ice when traveling. I’m looking at you, Europe.
11. Favorite snack while traveling?
For some reason I always go in those airport snack/newsstand places and then get paralyzed by the snack options. I finally pick something then regret my decision on the plane. So, regret is the only travel snack I know.
12. What do you consider beautiful?
I see beauty in so many things. I walk nearly everywhere at home since I live in an urban city and my eyes are always framing little slices of what I see as if they were a picture. I focus on color and light and people and I can honestly see beauty in the weirdest of places. But, my number one thing of all time is the sunset. Ideal if it’s with the ocean or desert or somewhere you can really get a good view, but honestly sometimes I make it a point to look out the little window I have in my bedroom that faces west and just see the glimpse of the pink and orange sky over the neighborhood.
13. Next up on your travel bucket list?
Hmm… you got time? There is SO MUCH on my travel bucket list but exploring Japan is very far up there as is road tripping New Zealand. And, I’d love to be back in Southeast Asia – that is a really special part of the world.
Check out our upcoming destinations! We roll out new trips regularly and have some excited things in the works!
Rise & Rove is a modern group travel company with curated, led trips across the globe for like-minded, rad women. Small group size, unique activities, boutique accommodations, experiences with locals. Come solo, leave with new friends!
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