Welcome back for the third installment of the Golden Hedgehog Awards for Lodging, wherein we recognize the finest and most spectacularly wonderful places we stayed on our round-the-world trip! In this installment, we'll be covering award-winners #3 and #2.

It can be difficult to understand feeling homesick when you're in a faraway land. With so many new things around to experience - some of which might be once in a lifetime experiences - it's easy to think you should just be able to snap out of any funk. But just because you're on the road doesn't mean your emotions aren't with you too.

I knew before we left on our round-the-world trip there would be times when I'd have to use the fine art of haggling. Hailing from the US where haggling isn't done, I felt a mixture of excitement and dread. What if I paid too much? What if I appeared greedy? Or worse, what if I haggled in a place where it wasn't appropriate to do so?

We never book ahead when we travel. Note that I'm not really talking about plane tickets here - that's a interesting topic for discussion, but it will be the subject of another post. I'm talking about hotel rooms, bus tickets, boat tickets, train tickets, event admission... all that sort of stuff.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for the second installment of the Golden Hedgehog Awards for Lodging, wherein we recognize the finest and most spectacularly wonderful places we stayed on our round-the-world trip! In this installment, we'll be covering award-winners #6 through #4.