Balabanova All Over
#TakeYourTimeOff
About Nadya
Hi there! I am so glad you found me! My mission is to empower you to #TakeYourTimeOff and explore the world. I started this blog as a way to keep family and friends in the loop when I went on a 3-week trip to Asia in 2011. Although I’ve always enjoyed traveling, it wasn’t until a trip to Peru in 2012 that I started to think about ways to make travel a… Read More
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Top Posts
[Portland, OR –> Austin, TX, Apr 25, 2026] It was time for my annual conference again, which took place in Austin, TX at the end of April. The University of Texas at Austin was hosting, which meant that I stayed close to campus. UT Austin hosted the conference back in 2012. Back then, I added a couple of extra days to visit San Antonio. I didn’t have the opportunity for an extension… Read More
This itinerary is ambitious. It is a point-to-point trip that covers 1,200 miles in the Midwest from St Louis, MO to Hot Springs, AK. Be prepared to pay a substantial fee for returning your rental car to a different airport from the one you picked it up from. If you want to avoid that, you’d have to drive back to St Louis from Hot Springs, AK, at the end of the trip… Read More
Oregon’s Central Coast stretches for about 80 miles between Lincoln City and Florence. Newport and Lincoln City deserve their own couple of days, which I will cover in a separate post. This itinerary focuses on the sights between Yachats and Florence, a 26-mile stretch. It can be completed in a long weekend if you’re already in the PNW. Otherwise, add another full day for travel. When to Visit July and August are… Read More
[Cape Perpetua, OR, Sun, Jan 18, 2026] We started our second full day in Florence quite early. Florence had no Tesla superchargers, so we had to hightail it an hour north to Newport in morning. We grabbed coffees and a blueberry coffee cake at the Chalet Restaurant & Bakery while waiting for the car to charge. We timed it all so that we would be back down at Cape Perpetua about an… Read More
[Florence, OR, Jan 17, 2026] We woke up to a crisp but sunny morning. Our hotel’s breakfast room had a gorgeous view of Florence and the Siuslaw River bridge. Sea Lion Caves Our first stop for the day was the Sea Lion Caves. The system of sea caves and caverns is located about 11 miles north of Florence. It is the 10th longest sea cave in the world and the longest in… Read More