TravelBlog » Courtney Jo

Courtney Jo - Courtney Lohmann

Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, I always looked forward to the adventure of going into "the city." At a young age, it was always a great adventure! As I got older, I took those adventures all over the US and abroad. I'm well on my way to seeing all 50 US states...I have 35 under my belt. And each year, my world travels continue to grow. I've been to Canada, Mexico, Panama, Grand Caymen, Jamaica, England, South Africa and New Zealand. I think the best part about traveling is opening your eyes/mind to new experiences, people and outlooks on life. If you go into a country with an open heart and an open mind, you find a warmth in everything around you. In so many ways, the world is so similar and in so many ways, each place I've been is incredibly unique. Traveling has changed my approach to most things in my life. And with every trip I take, I look forward to the next that much more. My advice to travelers setting out for the first time...soak it all in! Don't be afraid to take your adventures to the next level and challenge yourself. Some of your best adventures come from nothing more than the exchange of your first name and a handshake. Don't believe...read my blog about paragliding in Christchurch, New Zealand. Red is the best guide and one of my favorite persons I met on the trip!

Seek adventures...seek new people...and soak up life!

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Backing Packing New Zealand
November 18th 2005 -» December 15th 2005 Cape Town, South Africa
September 10th 2008 -» September 19th 2008 Oktoberfest 2009
September 17th 2009 -» September 28th 2009

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Joined on: November 13th 2005
Last Login: November 11th 2009

Blog Entries: 26
Photos: 78
Recommended by 1

TB Code: [blogger=8813]
Status: BLOGGER

Blogs & Travel Journals

by Courtney Jo, order by Date newest first.

By Courtney Jo
October 28th 2009

The last day...and our most interesting night yet! Europe » Germany » Bavaria » Munich

The Olympic Tower

I woke up on Sunday morning and found that for the third morning in a row, two of the people (one boy and one girl) in our group were sleeping in their clothes. Funny, funny stuff! For the first time in Munich, I had a real breakfast. I think my body was happy to have the protein from eggs! Four people in the group decided to take an all day trip to this castle about 2 1/2 hours away from the city. Its the castle that Walt modeled his Cinderella castle after at Disney World. The pictures are amazing, but I [View Full Entry]

The monument I can't remember the name of

By Courtney Jo
October 20th 2009

Day 3 and we finally see a bit of Munich Europe » Germany » Bavaria » Munich

The drizzled wet sand castle
Really, the New Town Hall

We wake up on Saturday morning and after counting heads, realize we're still down a man from last night. He didn't make it back and again, since he was a "man" doing "man things" no one seemed too worried. Today we didn't have reservations at a tent at the fest which really gave us some freedom to explore some of the city. Five of us left pretty early to head downtown into the old part of the city. Everyone is moving just a bit slower this morning. No one is really hungover as much as it's just a bit of left [View Full Entry]

By Courtney Jo
October 13th 2009

Day 2 - Back to the Fest Europe » Germany » Bavaria » Munich

One of the tents
Zimmerman's is where we ate at the end of the night.

I awoke the next morning pretty early...around 8 am. And I've found the beauty of Oktoberfest...the tents close around 10:30 pm which makes for early to bed, which makes for lots of sleep and a limited hangover. When I stood up, I was actually surprised that I didn't fall over. I was feeling a-ok and starving! Few people were awake yet but people started to stir. I left with a few folks to grab some breakfast. Today we have reservation at the Hippodrom at noon. Oh, that's right, noon. We have a table for 3 hours and we're kicking our day [View Full Entry]

By Courtney Jo
October 10th 2009

Oh the beer...so much beer Europe » Germany » Bavaria » Munich

Our Tent
This is where we had a table.

To pick up where I left off...I took a 7:30 am train out of Innsbruck to Munich on Thursday. This train trip was very successful! Again, totally different seating, but I picked a seat that was not reserved and avoided being yelled at in German. This equals a successful train ride. It was quite foggy, so not much site seeing on this trip. I was a bit sad to leave the mountains. They were so impressive...I miss them. Anyhow, I ended up reading through my Munich book to try and prep what I wanted to do while I was there...other than [View Full Entry]

By Courtney Jo
October 6th 2009

Photos from Innsbruck - paragliding and the ski jump Europe » Austria » Tyrol » Innsbruck

Pre Flight
I'm ready to run off the mountain...wait, I need my helmet.

And here are a few photos from Innsbruck. The next blog will be Munich and Oktoberfest! [View Full Entry]

By Courtney Jo
October 1st 2009

Photos from Salzburg Europe » Austria » Salzburg State » Salzburg

Streets of Old Town

Hi all, Thought I'd add a couple of photos from my time in Salzburg. [View Full Entry]

By Courtney Jo
September 30th 2009

Crystals as art Europe » Austria » Tyrol » Innsbruck

The Giant
The Giant at the entrance to Kristallwelten.

I'm back in the US, but thought I'd finish up my blogs. The good thing is, the y and the z are in the right spot on the keyboard :-) I woke up early on Wednesday at my hostel. I had to check out that morning and move to another place. The hostel was full for the night and it worked out for me because I moved closer to the train station. After another nice breakfast, this time with two types of jam, I headed out to catch the bus to Swarovski Kristallwelten. It was a beautiful ride on the bus. [View Full Entry]

By Courtney Jo
September 22nd 2009

oops i did it again... Europe » Austria » Tyrol » Innsbruck

and no, this has nothing to do with me re-enactig brittany spears... hold on mom...you might want to sit down before reading this...to preface, i came back with all of my fingers and toes... the real reason i couldnt sleep last night was because i was so excited about today. now, historical buildlings, paintings, architecture, even the sound of music sites are great...but i also need adrenalin. today, i got it. innsbruck sits in a narrow valley in the alps. both sides of the city are surrounded by extremely high mountains. the tallest peak is just over 2700 meters and most [View Full Entry]

By Courtney Jo
September 22nd 2009

hello innsbruck Europe » Austria » Tyrol » Innsbruck

my arrival in innsbruck was interesting...but let me back up... my train trip was great! i met a couple from chicago and ended up sitting with them on the train. turns out the austrian trains are a bit different than the german trains and i originally sat down in a reserved seat. three older people were yelling at me in some language shoving their tickets in my face...um, sorry, ill move. i wondered the train for a while and then found the chicago couple. they had an empty seat so i took it. one train ride to go...i hope i actuallz [View Full Entry]

By Courtney Jo
September 21st 2009

sound of music and more Europe » Austria » Salzburg State » Salzburg

to continue from where i left off... the bus arrived back in salzburg and we had to switch to a different bus. we had a new guide, gary, and a new driver. both of which were very funny! we departed from downtown and first headed toward the home used for parts of the movie. this first home, palace, mansion, whatever you would like to call it was used for the scenes when they showed the back of the house. it is also on a small lake. the lake is where the children fell out of the boat. the road on the [View Full Entry]

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