Kimkim Trip Reviews

Had an amazing trip overall and loved our itinerary to Chile and Patagonia. Overall, the coordination between cities was great and the transfers were perfect. The kim kim platform was wonderful and I really liked this service. However, I would not recommend using the agency or Ana, as she dropped the ball as our travel planner. Specifically, we met virtually to discuss the details of our hike in Patagonia… her lack of knowledge and insight into the W trek led to us staying in a small 4 foot tent in rainy 30 degree cold weather located at the top of a mud hill instead of a warm room dorm that you could walk around in and has individual showers. Additionally there were other scheduling issues that led to us missing our hike briefing, which caused a bit of a mess for us. My expectation is that a travel agent helps you to navigate options, provide insight that you would otherwise not have, and ensure a smooth schedule throughout the trip. This was not the case. Again, the basics of the trip were great… but this is more of a “plug and chug” kind of agency.

We had a wonderful trip to Vietnam and Cambodia - all thanks to Dat and his team. We started planning the trip late and did not have enough time to research and manage everything by ourselves and that's why we started looking for Kimkim's service. And they have delivered!
Each moving part from the itinerary - from the cab pickup to the local tour guide to the accommodations and different recommendations were all to the point and as per expectations and we were able to relax and enjoy the trip. Not once were we stranded anywhere waiting for our ride or contact. We had excellent stays at all the hotels too.
When we had specific plans for a day, they helped us manage that as well.
Special mention to our guide in Da Nang, Mr. Tuan, who went above and beyond and came late evening to take my husband to the local hospital when he fell sick. Thank you, Tuan!
Dat, please accept our hearty thanks for helping us manage this trip in a short timeframe without much hitches. We will be using Kimkim's services again.

I used Kimkim for the first time for my 10-day trip to South Korea with three members of my family (spring 2023), and it couldn't have gone better! The planning went smoothly with Tom, and it showed as soon as we landed in South Korea. We had three very good tour guides that brought us to fascinating and tasty places and made visiting easy (our top places: the National Folk Museum, zip lining to Nami island, and Haedong Yonggungsa). We would like to especially mention our tour guide for Busan, Jade Kim. Jade made the short time in Busan memorable - he tuned in with us straight away, was knowledgeable and accommodating, had excellent driving skills and gave us great recommendations for our next step in Jeju Island (loved the gimbap and doughnut places). All in all, a trip of a lifetime!

Hotel Reviews

Lotte City Hotel Jeju

Jeju

Great breakfast buffet on top floor, nice clean spacious room, friendly and helpful staff, great location and service overall!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Best Louis Hamilton Hotel Haeundae

Busan

Clean room, friendly staff, choice of 3 menu for breakfast, centrally located

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Kdrama Fan Tour

Seoul

I recognize that Petite France is where a lot of Kdramas were filmed; however, as europeans, this wasn't our favorite location (we came to South Korea to see South Korea). Nevertheless, zip lining to Nami island and Nami island was great! Loved the place!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Seoul City Tour with Gwangjang Market

Seoul

Perfect first day in Seoul.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Go to Busan From Andong with Gyeongju Tour

South Korea

The historic center of Silla is a great must-see for anyone interested in the people of South Korea.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half Day Busan City Tour with Gamcheon Culture Village

Busan

The temple of the sea and Gamcheon culture village were breathtaking and fascinating places to visi. However, we think that our tour guide Jade Kim made this day special for us. He shared stories with us about the places, brought us to good places to eat (that fit our style), and was very open minded. We could ask him about go stop card and got the cards in the market, we tried the original hotteok in Busan, and he his driving skills were spot on. He gave us great recommendations for Jeju island too that turned out amazing!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

See the comment above: knowledgable, accomodating, excellent driving skills, excellent English, open-minded, fun

Transport

We, a family of 5 with three teenagers, really enjoyed our time in North Holland.
. First, Haarlem was a beautiful town to stay in— much nicer than staying in Amsterdam! Which was only 15 minutes by train!

Our absolute favorite activity was renting bikes and riding to the North Sea! My husband and I don’t normally ride bikes, but with the e-bike rental, it was a breeze! We felt like kids again! And since the Netherlands really was made for biking, there is no better place to revive that!
We also went in a good tour of Amsterdam- Marc was an interesting character and showed us some
Non typical areas of Amsterdam with some traditional Dutch food. Glad to have heard about Dutch history in regards to food influences—makes sense- and got to try Genever— the original gin! Our wonderful tour planner, Mieke, had the forethought of getting us tickets to the Vermeer exhibit at the Rijksmuseum. What a treat to see this! Sadly, Easter Sunday and good weather made crowds, and took away from some of the joy. We’ll be back to the museum when it’s less full. The Anne Frank house was good for our children to see, and is well put together.
We also went to the flower auction just south of Amsterdam. Unfortunately not much to see since the auctioning is now done online. Mostly your busses of elderly folks to fight through.
And we also went to Keukenhof to see the spring plantings. The garden is open for only 8 weeks, I believe, and the gardeners make sure it’s all eye candy for this eight weeks with their brilliant planting methods. Very full, but that’s expected if you’re only open for a brief time.
Mieke was super responsive to our wishes, as well as answering any last minute questions. We could not have asked for a better organizer! Thanks for
Making this trip a memorable one for our family! Again, the biking was the best— do it, and you won’t regret it!

We had a fantastic trip to Peru, a family of four with kids aged 10 and 13. Our trip went so smoothly, can't say enough in gratitude for the support we received from Johanna and her team. They efficiently helped us manage a passport mishap on day 2 of our trip! We truly enjoyed two weeks - dune bugging and sand surfing in the dessert, a trip to the Ballista islands with tons of wildlife, into the Amazon for three amazing days, followed by a week in the Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Manchu Pichu. We have travelled extensively and never had such amazing tour guides or such efficient use of our time away. Johanna was amazing when we needed to postpone making our decision about travel in Peru given the recent political instability and our home countries travel restrictions limiting our access to insurance and sense of safety. She allowed us to take extra time with our decision, we were so grateful we went ahead with our trip. Everyone we met along the way share how happy they are to have tourist back in their country, they shared their struggles with the impact of the Pandemic, followed by the impact on the tourist economy of the recent political unrest. For our entire journey we felt safe, secure, and thrilled to be travelling in such an interesting country, meeting so many locals who welcomed us with open arms. KimKim made the travel experience so easy, my kids tease me that I will keep advertising for this travel platform and look forward to using it in the future.

We had such a wonderful time in Bhutan. It would not have been possible without the help of Vishal (planner), Nim (guide) ang Ugyen (driver). A big THANK YOU to them. They taught us their culture, custom and the history of Bhutan. What a caring country.
Highly recommend Kimkim if you are planning a trip to Bhutan.
Thank you for a lifetime of memories.

Everything about this trip was incredible! Anna Marie did an amazing job planning this vacation. She listened to us and planned things of interest and was spot on to make all of our dreams come true to make it a vacation of a lifetime!

Thank you so much Silvia for everything! It was a trip of a lifetime!!

We had a spectacular trip in Vietnam. Dat, our planning specialist, meticulously planned every detail based on our desired itinerary...even down to anticipating an extended hotel stay due to our late flight plans. His responsiveness extended to being available for calls while we were in Vietnam. There wasn't a single hitch in transportation, and the tours scheduled were fantastic; each of the tour guides were personable, knowledgeable, and flexible.

Andrea was so very patient and accommodating with us from day one. In the end, we wound up with the perfect trip from the pick up at the airport in Rome to the drop off in Venice. The hotels, drivers and tour guides were all fantastic. Rome, Maria Paola took us around and showed us everything including the perfect gelato place. In Florence, Simonea was incredible and we learned so much from her. Alessandro, our driver to Pisa went out of his way to show us the most beautiful spot in Venice and even recommended a great place for dinner back near our hotel. In Venice, Enrico showed us all around Doge’s Palace and went as far as the jails. The trip was impressively perfectly planned and can’t wait to go on another.

Hotel Reviews

Ca' Pozzo Inn

Venice

Authenticity & Character

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Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Roma

Florence

Authenticity & Character

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Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Fellini

Rome

Authenticity & Character

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Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

The Jewels of Venice (St. Mark & Doge Palace)

Venice

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Pisa guided walk

Italy

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Florence private guided walk including Accademia Gallery

Italy

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Colosseum and Roman Forum - Private guide

Rome

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Colosseum & Roman Forum skip the line ticket

Rome

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel skip the line ticket

Rome

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel - private guide

Rome

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Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Rome Private Guided Walk

Rome

Maria Paola was our guide who was just fantastic. She was with us for 3 days. You can tell she loves what she does

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

This was an incredible, once in a life time trip. We took a 7 day Everest trek, with our last day being Ama Dablam base camp and then a helicopter ride over Everest basecamp. This enabled us to get a closer view of Everest. The views were amazing and the food was great. The trekking was difficult at times, but they did a good job balancing the level of difficulty. The places we stayed were definitely above average for the area.

I am 59 years old and in moderately good shape. I had no training for the trip and it was still very doable. We truly enjoyed our guides Chhewang and CT. They were accommodating and knowledgeable about the culture and area. They were with us from beginning to end.

The trip was easy to plan. We didn't know exactly where we wanted to go, but from our conversation, Chhweng was able to put a wonderful experience together. They did an amazing job of cultivating a personable experience. I would definitely do another trip without hesitation with them!

The Don Juan Coffee, Chocolate and Night Hike was such a wonderful experience! I did not anticipate learning as much as I did about the processes. Our guide Monica was lovely, knowledgeable and energetic. She answered questions with ease and engaged intelligently in political matters as they pertained to the agricultural sector. The night hike was a pleasant contrast to the experiential learning of coffee and chocolate production. While we did not see a few animals (a frog, a banana leaf spider, a sleeping Mutmut in a tree, and a roaming kinkajou), it was less exciting than I had anticipated, but walking in their forest provided a fun activity. Thank you to Gustavo and Jessica at KimKim for the recommendation! Pura vida.

Activity Review

Chocolate & Night Hike Experience

Monteverde

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our return driver was so kind! I am sorry not to remember his name!

Transport

Patient and attentive drivers in clean and large vehicles

I had never used a travel agency before while planning a trip. I will never not use one. KimKim was outstanding from beginning to end. The planning was easy and their assistance on the trip was invaluable (arranging transfers and even facilitating refunds when a tour got canceled).
All the guides were great but especially Kenneth, our hiking guide, around Arenal and Hector our guide with the horseback riding in Uvita. Hard to pick out favorite experience, but repelling down the waterfalls in La Fortuna, zip lining in MonteVerde and the horseback riding in Uvita were all fantastic and memories to last a lifetime.

Hotel Reviews

Cristal Ballena Boutique Hotel & Spa

Ballena

Nice views. Rooms are nice. Breakfast is ok. It is a boutique hotel so feels a little dated. Main issue was being hot in the room. It was very hot when we were there and our AC never got our room cool. The power would frequently blink off for a few seconds or even a few minutes. This would reset the AC and we would wake up sweating and have to turn the AC back on.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The AC

El Establo Mountain Hotel

Monteverde

Amazing views. Beautiful rooms. We were a little worried when we hear no AC, but is was fine at night as it gets breezy and cool there even in the hottest part of the year.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Arenal Manoa & Hot Springs

Fortuna

Excellent place to stay for a family. Great views. Great pools. Breakfast is superb. Even saw a sloth on campus. Only downside for some of that it is far from downtown, so if you don’t have a car, you have to only eat at resort or take a taxi.

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Staff

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Activity Reviews

Lost Canyon Waterfalls & Rappelling Adventure

Arenal/La Fortuna

Super fun and memorable. Don’t miss it.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Horseback Riding Playa Hermosa, Uvita

Uvita

My favorite part of the whole trip. Once in a lifetime views.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Nature Walk in Ballena National Park

Uvita

Transport was a very old, dirty van complete with cut toenails on the floor. We waited an hour the guide to show up at the center. We were repeatedly told to wait 10 more minutes. After 70 minutes we had to beg them to let us leave and take us back to our hotel.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

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All Day Adventure at Selvatura, including Zipline, Hanging Bridges, and Fauna Exhibitions

Costa Rica

Zip lining is the best you’ll ever do.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Arenal ATV Adventure

Arenal/La Fortuna

Very fun. My son’s favorite part of the trip.

Quality of Experience

Pop

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Family Biking Tour

Arenal/La Fortuna

Nice ride with nice bikes. Guide was great. First half is nice and flat. Gets quite hilly after the snack break. It was hot that day. They have support van following so my daughter was able to get in van when the hills got too steep.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided Hike in Arenal Volcano Park 1968

Arenal/La Fortuna

Our guide Kenneth was the best of our whole trip.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cowboy Experience, Rancho La Merced

Costa Rica

Super fun for the whole family. Hector was amazing.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our trip was absolutely perfect! Our guides Isabel, Pilar, Lola, and Mariana were all amazing! They shared great facts and knew the best places to take pictures. Food was great and the hotels we stayed at were very clean and nice. I cannot say enough wonderful things about our anniversary trip, Patricia thought of everything! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Hotel Reviews

H10 Villa de la Reina

Madrid

We enjoyed our stay at this hotel, particularly because of its proximity to the Prado Museum. The staff was friendly, and the breakfast provided was of high quality!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Villa Oniria

Granada

While we had a great stay at this hotel, it was our least favorite of the four. The location was good, but the breakfast was not as comprehensive as the other hotels. This could be because it was the end of our trip and we were tired!

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Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

H10 Casa de la Plata

Sevilla

This was one of our favorite hotels during their trip. We loved the laid-back environment, comfortable beds, and amazing breakfast. The location was also perfect for our tours and activities planned in Seville.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Intur Palacio San Martin

Madrid

My husband and I enjoyed their one-night stay at this hotel, its location was perfect for the tour we had planned that day. The staff was also very friendly, and provided a comprehensive buffet-style breakfast.

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Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private guided tour of the Alhambra Palace and Generalife Gardens

Granada

We enjoyed this tour and appreciated the extensive history provided by our guide!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Seville - Ronda - Hiking of El Caminito del Rey - Granada

Spain

The hiking portion of this activity was a highlight for us and their tour guide was both knowledgeable about the area and made sure to maintain a pace that they could keep up with. He also pointed out good spots for taking pictures and provided information about local wildlife!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private guided tour of Seville old Quarter

Seville

We found this tour to be very informative and enjoyed learning about the history of the area. We were impressed with the knowledge of our tour guide and appreciated the pacing of the tour.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Evening out for flamenco & tapas in Triana Quarter

Seville

This was one of our favorite experiences on the trip. We highly recommend seeing flamenco dancing in Seville and we appreciated the delicious tapas served after the performance, including snails! Our guide was amazing for this tour.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Madrid tapas, interactive blind wine tasting, & history tour

Madrid

We enjoyed this activity, particularly the blind wine tasting! It was a very cool experience we were given two red wines, and we blindly had to guess their flavors and what kind of wine they were. Our guide was very knowledgeable! The history tour was great as well, being from the U.S. it was really cool to hear about the history of these old buildings.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Out tour guides and driver Yassine were incredible. Yassine thought nothing of going the extra mile in customer service and did that the day I hurt my ankle. As a Human Resource Professional, Yassine is the type of employee I want on my team!
Morocco scenery and people were beautiful.
My absolute favorite was the Sahara desert and riding the camel!

Christos and his team were the most professional, efficient and highly experienced travel and trusted people I have had the pleasure to work with from the very first contact I made with him.
The itinerary was very well planned and detailed. We had the friendliest and most knowledgeable guides, who allowed us to create wonderful memories. The islands were breathtaking, relaxing and picturesque and our catamaran cruise was the high point of our leisure time, and a must do. The city was a captivating blend of ancient and metropolitan environs. We experienced history we learned and read about. Food and wine tasting were enticing and enjoyable as we dined in luxurious ambiences with the backdrop of the Acropolis. The visits through the marketplace, the churches and orthodox Easter celebration were unforgettable experiences. Overall Santorini won us over. Thanks to all, Mary Helen (please correct if wrong) in Mykonos; Konstantinos and Iakovos in Santorini and Apollon in Athens for the warm welcome to Greece 🇬🇷. YAMAS!!! EFCHARISTO!!!

Hotel Reviews

Amalia Hotel Athens

Athens

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

De Sol Hotel & Spa

Thera

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Belvedere Hotel Mykonos

Mýkonos City

Very friendly and accommodating staff.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Acropolis & Flavors of Athens

Athens

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Morning Catamaran Caldera Cruise

Santorini

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Santorini Driving Panorama

Santorini

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Santorini Wine Tour

Santorini

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Konstantinos, our driver

Transport

Private Guided Mykonos Island Driving Tour

Mykonos

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Lorena was extremely helpful with planning an itinerary for our trip. She was conscientious of our needs and time frame and highlighted the ideal spots for us to visit and experience. Dealing with KimKim eased a lot of our worries as Lorena took care of all the finer details, which not only proved to be a great time saver, but also took the stress off us while planning a long and complex trip. At first, we had reservations due to the lack of transparency in costs, but if you can get past that then you are in great hands.

Guides Lina and Aladdin were awesome! Loved seeing the Pyramids and Valley of the Kings. We were a little disappointed in the docking location of the Movenpick boat. We saw a number of other boats docked near the city center in Luxor, a much better location. We also had a very limited liquor selection on the boat. Food was awesome, staterooms very nice. Overall, the trip was very nice.

Out trip to Peru was fantastic. Mathias was extremely helpful with all aspects of planning. When we were in country we got a respiratory virus and Mathias went out of his way to help us and get us home safely. We did get to enjoy a week of travel in Peru. The country is amazing. Our guide, Aldo Sanchez was marvelous. He was extremely knowledgable about the Incas and all aspects of life in Peru. He took excellent care of us and also was a tremendous support when we became ill. I would %100 recommend KimKim and Aldo for any adventure in Peru.

Hotel Reviews

El Albergue Ollantaytambo Boutique Hotel

Cusco

Amazing hotel right at the train station. Large bathtub! Good food. Beautiful gardens.

Authenticity & Character

Lots of little special things like fresh flowers in the room

Location

Right at the train station

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Taypikala Boutique Machupicchu

Machu Picchu

It was fine for the night before we went to Machu Picchu. Great location, beautiful view.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Las Qolqas EcoResort Ollantaytambo

Ollantaytambo

Very lovely peaceful setting. The food was great. We had a wonderful welcome drink!!

Authenticity & Character

Eco lodge with luxury

Location

Just outside of town on a river. The sounds soothed us to sleep.

Staff

We met the part owner. He was very interesting and passionate about the hotel.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Florencio Casa Hacienda

Pisac

Lovely room. The owner made us a fire in our room in the evening and walked us to dinner. No breakfast in the morning though, since it was a holiday.

Authenticity & Character

Beautiful courtyard and authentic furniture

Location

Just off the square

Staff

Very accommodating. We used google translate to communicate.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Andean Wings

Cusco

Lovely old hotel with beautiful courtyard and great bar.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Very close to the historic center of Cusco

Staff

We became ill and they went out of their way to help us.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Nice and clean

Casa Republica Barranco

Lima

Excellent service and a wonderful breakfast.

Authenticity & Character

Lovely inner courtyard

Location

Beautiful sunset views at the end of the street.

Staff

Wait staff at the restaurant were very accomodating

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Ruins, Weavers & Inca Salt Factory

Ollantaytambo

Not to be missed. Who knew that is how salt was made?

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Aldo was wonderful!

Transport

Machu Picchu Excursion: Aguas Calientes - Machu Picchu

Peru

Aldo was fantastic. Best guide ever. Machu Picchu was out of this world.

Quality of Experience

An amazing place with an amazing guide!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Aldo took us to the museum which most people do not see. It was so interesting!

Transport

Coffee and chocolate in Chichubamba - Train ride to Aguas Calientes

Peru

We learned all about the process of making chocolate and coffee. It was not at a farm though.

Hot springs and biking

Peru

Hot springs were very authentic. Only saw one other group of tourists while we were there. Bring a towel though! The biking was super fun. Downhill almost the whole way. The road was next to a beautiful river with waterfalls. Really got to see the countryside.

Quality of Experience

Food

Great boxed lunch. Something for everyone.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Pietra was a fantastic guide.

Transport

Exploring Pisac

Pisac

Aldo was amazing. He is very knowledgeable, funny and kind. He totally made our trip!!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guinea Pig!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

City Tour Cusco

Cusco

Aldo was very knowledgable and friendly. We saw so many cool things.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

City Tour Lima

Lima

Arthuro was excellent. We ate our way through a local market. We learned so much!!!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Hamed was absolutely brilliant. He is much more than a driver and magically made us feel as if we were the first to ever visit his country. The countryside is spectacular and we shall look forward to returning and exploring more.