The Many Ways to “Go Solo”
The anxieties of going out solo. Photo courtesy of http://jazzymint.wordpress.com Struggling with the pressure of showing up somewhere solo is common among both the newly single and lone travelers. But there are many levels of anxiety and impressiveness when it comes to going solo. There is a hierarchy. One can quite confidently sit solo at the beach, because there’s a valid excuse for doing nothing–sunbathing. Working out... Read More
Wishlists
I’m sure that 90% of people reading this are the same as me and that somewhere hidden safely away (so as not to be a constant reminder, but equally a heavenly escape) have a ‘wish list’. Now this could be a list of anything-you may even have multiple wish lists of varying topics (in case you hadn’t noticed, I’m one of those ‘list’ types!) But the one specifically in my mind today is, naturally, my travel wish list. Wish lists come in... Read More
The Travel of Love
WoopWOOP Family love! There are many reasons that people love to travel. The freedom it brings, sights you see, things you learn and experience, but especially the people you meet. I have found that the older I have been when I’ve gone travelling the better the friends I made are. The friendships created are more realistic and less superficial than when travelling at 18. (As I said, this isn’t a rule, but seems to be the case for me!)... Read More
Looking for an Extreme Read?
[pullquote] Why are we so fixated with such tales, gory and clichéd as they may be? The very gruesomeness of the material is an undeniable source of fascination. Yet our national obsession with extreme survival tales stems not only from their content but the fact that they are true…As opposed to works of fiction, true-life extreme survival stories are granted a special type of immunity and cultural authority. How do you critique the truth?…But... Read More
Zanzibar
My two friends and I didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into when we decided to take a little vacation in Zanzibar. It was listed as one of the “10 places to visit in 2011” by the New York Times; how could we resist? Armed with all of the cute clothes we brought to Africa that we hadn’t worn yet, we arrived at the ferry station in Dar es Salaam. Stepping out of the cab was like stepping onto the red carpet, minus the... Read More
OneWorld
It has been over two months since my return from London. It has been about a month and a half since the beginning of the spring semester. Wellesley has now entered midterm season which somehow continues on until final season. How it is possible to have a midterm the week before a final, I will never understand. And yes, there are classes here with that structure. Thank goodness none of the classes I am taking this semester rely on exams for assessing... Read More
Barcelona: The City of Yiddish Proverbs
My grandmother, replete with Yiddish proverbs, had left a message on my phone. The content, “Man plans, and God laughs.” As a woman of a few words, she keeps her calls simple and to the point. My flight to Barcelona had been cancelled on account of the most unexpected of reasons: an Icelandic volcano. A volcano that had been dormant since 1823 had decided that on one sunny Thursday in April it would reawaken. Only it forgot one small detail–... Read More
Review: The Places In Between
Review on the Go: The Places In Between chronicles Rory Stewart’s walk across Afghanistan in the winter of 2002. Part travel memoir, part history lesson, and part rumination on all things from global politics to local hospitality, The Places In Between is engaging, well-written, and definitely worth a read. Map of Afghanistan. Full Review: It’s odd to write about Rory Stewart’s The Places In Between for Go Girl, mostly because his journey—a... Read More
The Wait
Dinner with friends is always a good idea You’ve bought your ticket and felt the excitement of finding that perfect deal to get you where your heart longs to visit; now what? There are X months of waiting and anticipation, on top of all of the time you have already spent dreaming, saving, and imagining, so what do you do while you wait? If you are someone like me, you head straight for the literature. Whether they be travel books, fiction... Read More
Kids and Travel
“Miss, when are you going home?” In the usual hustle and bustle of work, surrounded by students of all ages, I missed this question. But the 4th grader was persistent, “MISS, when are YOU going HOME?” I stopped and crouched down to better hear the kid and answer his question. ”Home?” I asked, “Well, I live in Chicago, just like you.” “No!” He said. ”Home to India?” I... Read More
