Welcome to the launch of the Irish Odyssey website. As many people from around the world, I found myself with a job in Ireland for three years and this was my first time living in Ireland. As a newcomer, the first year I was still learning how to live more like a resident and less like a tourist. There were a lot of lessons learned experiences.

I often bumped into tourists from America and observed how they were like a "fish out of water" and were not getting the most out of their time. One couple had just retired and they planned an week long vacation in Ireland that they had talked about for many years. We talked and it seems they were more stressed with all the tour schedules than enjoying themselves and also wasting money on such things like overusing taxis, using hotels instead of B&B's which for them would have been a better option. Being in Dublin, I showed them where to buy all-day public transport passes and how to use the Dart light-rail and Dublin Bus schedule App, and good value pubs and restaurants and other helpful tips that I discovered through local word of mouth and my Irish roomates and co-workers.

The purpose of this website is to collect tips and advice from people that have spent some time in Ireland for whatever reason or have been frequent visitors and would like to share their magic formula for a good experience with tips, lessons learned, hidden gems off the beaten path, and any other hacks. This is aimed at people finding themselves planning a 7-10 day mini-vacation to save them from many hours of online searching for hotels, restaurants, activities, pubs and sites to visit among other things. My experience has been, my plans almost never lived up to my expectations and lost valuable time and wasted money that I didn't need I could have avoided. For a first-timer, Ireland can be overwhelming so I would like to help these visitors get the most out of their short stay with other peoples experiences and their tips and do's & dont's.

I am putting my own short-vacation idea based on my three years there figuring these things out as an example. If you would like to contribute with your own great short-vaction ideas in Ireland, submit your photos, comments, etc. and get it added to the website. Years after I left, I came back several times on my own short vacations and alway felt like I had never left and best of all, not making tourist mistakes.