In October 2016, I went to Austin, Texas for the first time. I spent the first two days on my own, and the next two days with my friend culminating in seeing Taylor Swift at Formula One before heading down to have lunch in San Antonio and visit another friend in Corpus Christi. It was too short a trip, but it was the perfect 6-day getaway. This is a monster post of everything to see, do, and explore if you go visit! (more…)
Careening up a narrow mountain path in the open back of a red pick-up truck was not how I imagined my first day of volunteering with Art Relief International in Thailand. Nonetheless, this city girl took it in stride when we found out, moments after arrival at a dusty, mountainside, primary school campus, that instead of the planned art workshops we were supposed to be facilitating in conjunction with students from an American university study abroad program, today was “Scout’s Day” at Wat Prachakasem Hill Tribe School. (more…)
It had been years since the four of us went on a family vacation other than to visit my sister in Boston, and at 28 and 24, my sister and I have been more apt to travel with friends and lovers than with our parents. We were overdue for a stress-free family bonding time. (more…)
I love music festivals. That said, I haven’t been to many. I initially really LOVED the lineup for Osheaga in Montreal, but I couldn’t convince any of my friends to come on what seemed like an expensive and complicated vacation. At the last minute, one of my college friends was able to get her passport expedited, and with another college friend, we were able to make it happen – affordably! My friends drove to up from Delaware, picked me up in NYC, and we continued through scenic upstate New York to Canada, where for some reason they decided to let us cross the border 🙂 (more…)
The one promise I made to myself before going to Southeast Asia was that I wouldn’t get on a motorbike. After reading posts about it from some of my favorite bloggers, like this one by Audrey Bergner, I knew it wasn’t in the cards for me and I wasn’t worried about disobeying myself – I’m not one to risk physical harm and besides, I don’t even know how to ride a bicycle or drive a car! Nonetheless, on my first full day in Chiang Mai, Thailand, I hopped on the back of a motorbike. The day was packed – I took my first motorbike ride, went to the Chiang Mai Art in Paradise 3D Art Museum, and had my first Pad Thai at my first Night Market – Sunday Walking Street. (more…)
I arrived in Chiang Mai on a Saturday afternoon in January to a sweltering, tropical climate. My pasty skin was in shock coming from frigid New York! The assistant director and the driver from my volunteer program picked me up from the airport and told me all about Chiang Mai and what to expect in the next few days as we headed toward the volunteer home. Exhausted from my journey, I tried to ask good questions and show my enthusiasm, but I couldn’t help getting lost staring out the program van’s window and absorbing my first sights of THAILAND. I made it! (more…)
Even after sixteen hours of not sleeping, entering the bright and sleek Hong Kong airport felt like waking up. At the Hong Kong airport I thought I’d have 4.5 hours to spare until my connecting flight to Chiang Mai, but after frantically trying and failing to get the wi-fi to work on my phone and not knowing I was supposed to fill out a form for Hong Kong Customs – thereby getting cut in the customs line by a giant group of tourists – by the time I checked in for the connecting flight I had only a little over 3 hours to spare.
While waiting to board my 16 hour flight to Hong Kong, I was thinking more about my past than about the amazing things to come in the next 70 days. After hugging my parents goodbye and painlessly making my way to the gate, I drafted thank you notes to my former coworkers and bosses that I planned to write on stationery from Thailand, and berated myself for once again, as on every flight, forgetting my earphones and needing to buy new ones from the overpriced airport store. I didn’t even try to imagine what my life would be like after flying halfway around the world.