The Avant-Grand Tour

26/11/2017

Hey Friends, If you are looking for any last minute holiday gifts for those tough-to-buy-for peeps we are still selling prints on our website in a range of sizes and prices! We also offer free shipping because we love you! Happy holidays all!

http://www.theavantgrandtour.com/shop-photographs/

09/11/2017

Hi friends, family, travelers, and adventurers! We have a couple exciting announcements for you all! First, we now are offering photo services of all kinds. Chelsea has a new website for portraits, bo***ir, product, you name it. More info can be found at chelseanattiel.com. On another note with the holidays just around the corner we wanted to remind you our prints are still available for purchase on our website and they make the perfect gift for those tricky people. Plus we will ship them fo free! www.theavantgrandtour.com Cheers Y'all!

Welcome to the living record of our travels. We invite you to follow along as we traverse the European continent in search of cultural enlightenment on the cheap.

01/02/2017

We've been fortunate enough to travel to some-awe inspiring places, but are far more fortunate still to have such a beautiful country to return home to. Congress may officially value public lands at $0, but those of us comprising the nation at large know they're in fact priceless. Please take a brief moment to protect these landscapes for posterity by calling or writing your representatives and signing the following petition:

The majority of Americans want to keep public lands in public hands, but most policymakers have been slow to speak out against the land heist. Until they hear from their constituents, policymakers won't spend political capital to fight this issue. Their reluctance to engage has enabled this idea to…

20/12/2016

Hey Fellow Travelers and Wanderlusters! If you haven't heard yet, we are now selling prints of our favorite images from our travels. Most of them are available in three sizes, including a huge poster, and we are offering Free Shipping for the holidays. There are only a couple days more to take advantage of 2 Day Shipping, so get your gift orders in ASAP!

http://www.theavantgrandtour.com/shop-photographs/

15/09/2016

An awesome article by a traveling friend Quinn Hargitai. We will cherish every moment we had in Albania and continue to tell everyone it is an incredible place to go.

At a time when refugees are being turned away at borders all over the world, it seems that there is a lot to learn from Albania’s penchant for hospitality.

14/06/2016

We travel so that we can abolish our own misunderstandings and ignorance about other cultures, peoples, countries and entities. The news about Orlando is both tragic and terrifying because of the further anger and hatred it has caused. This isn't about types of people, this isn't about skin color, this isn't about sexual orientation, and this isn't about religion. This is about fear, misunderstanding, blindness and a lack of compassion or love. We hope that through all of the tensions that seem to arise more and more daily, you still choose to travel and explore the world. When you immerse yourself in another culture, you understand that there aren't good people and bad people, there are just people. It would be much better if we could just love each other no matter what, since our time here is so devastatingly brief. On that note, please enjoy our photo journal of our time in Rome, a city where love certainly feels abundant.


http://www.theavantgrandtour.com/roma

Welcome to the living record of our travels. We invite you to follow along as we traverse the European continent in search of cultural enlightenment on the cheap.

22/05/2016

Peoples of Facebook- please help us help Europe's displaced migrants!

As part of a team including Jordan Burns, Stephanie Warren & Katy Caballero, Michael has submitted a proposal to the What Design Can Do Refugee Challenge, co-sponsored by IKEA and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. To move the proposal forward and potentially receive funding for real-world implementation they need you to vote and comment on the design!

This is an international competition with over 500 entrants from more than 30 countries, so any support you can give will prove critical.

In order to participate first register a free account:
https://refugeechallenge.unhcrideas.org/app/index.html…

Then view the proposal at:
https://refugeechallenge.unhcrideas.org/Page/ViewIdea…

The challenge is focused on alleviating the struggles of urban refugees and helping them to integrate with their host communities.

Thus, they've suggested a rapidly-deployable modular shelter powered and empowered by an attached greenhouse.

Not only will the greenhouse passively heat and cool the living space as well as purify the residents' air, more importantly it will offer refugees a productive and therapeutic way to pass the time they spend waiting in asylum, a lasting connection to their customary crops and exchangeable economic assets in the form of surplus produce which can be taken to market or prepared as food for sale.

In turn, host communities will gain new sources for locally grown fresh vegetables and opportunities to learn about migrants' cultures via their cuisine.

According to refugees they've interviewed in Denver, many migrants come from agricultural areas and would be extremely interested in spending some portion of their asylum gardening.

Thanks in advance for your votes of confidence. We also encourage you not to miss the chance to view some of the other ideas, many of which are very innovative and compelling.

If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. Also, please share this post with anyone you feel may be interested. In the meantime, keep fighting the good fight!

28/03/2016

After spending an Easter weekend reminiscing of Easters past, we began missing Italy even more. Our attempt at eating pasta at a local restaurant here was tasty, but not the same. Today we are dreaming of a dark, mysterious place filled with nooks and crannies of delightful seafood shops, bubbly wine, Aperol Spritz, jam packed avenues, dead ends, creaky boats, creepy masks, and beautiful glass. Today we are dreaming of our brief but romantic time in Venezia (Venice), Italia. Please share with anyone who needs a little travel motivation ;)
http://www.theavantgrandtour.com/venezia

Welcome to the living record of our travels. We invite you to follow along as we traverse the European continent in search of cultural enlightenment on the cheap.

23/03/2016

In Colorado it's a complete blizzard today, so we are hiding inside and daydreaming of Tuscany. It was there where we learned new phrases, drank local wine with friends, shared a vegan Easter meal with our honorary Italian family, explored gorgeous villages, took a cute dog for walks, visited museums, and drank endless cappuccini. This place holds a special home in our hearts and palates. Take a little wanderlust journey into Firenze, Siena, Certaldo Alto, and many others.
http://www.theavantgrandtour.com/tuscany

Welcome to the living record of our travels. We invite you to follow along as we traverse the European continent in search of cultural enlightenment on the cheap.

16/03/2016

In the South of England there lies a village so quaint and so charming, even the most skeptical of travelers can't help but squeal with delight when they stumble upon it. Welcome to Chagford, the incredible place we called home for a month. We spent our time working in a cheese shop, baking bread, making English Ice Cream, sharing meals with our loving host family, meandering through Dartmoor National Park, making friends with the locals, visiting their gardens, and basking in the beautiful spring weather. We were shocked by how much we enjoyed our time in England and by the end we didn't want to leave.

http://www.theavantgrandtour.com/chagford

14/03/2016

In a city that was once torn in half because of religious and political tensions, we found ourselves feeling a sense of darkness. Our time in Ireland was coming to an end, but there was something more. The very energy of the city showed that beneath the gloom there were cozy places to meet smiling friends and the artists could rule the city by expressing what was lost and still not found. Welcome to our brief but eye-opening experience in Belfast, Northern Ireland
http://www.theavantgrandtour.com/belfast

Welcome to the living record of our travels. We invite you to follow along as we traverse the European continent in search of cultural enlightenment on the cheap.

10/03/2016

In a quaint village where the local dolphin has a name (Fungie), the pubs are filled with cozy fires, and the coastline calls your name to its shore, we couldn't help but snicker every time we uttered its name...Di**le. A sneak peek of our travels to Di**le, County Kerry, Ireland are on our website now for your enjoyment and giggles. Thank you for all the love and please feel free to leave us comments on our website with any and all feedback!

http://www.theavantgrandtour.com/dingle

Welcome to the living record of our travels. We invite you to follow along as we traverse the European continent in search of cultural enlightenment on the cheap.