The Unicorn of Skiing: The French Alps (Are we there yet?!)
If you’re anything like me, you may have grown up skiing or boarding east coast North American mountains; which, quite frankly, do the job but are found wanting in terms of altitude, snow caliber, and basic atmosphere. We’ve all dreamed of those lofty mountains, meters of powder snow, adorable mountain villages nestled within a valley: you know, the images we have from our childhood fairy tales, like fairies, gremlins and unicorns. This unicorn... Read More
Beyond Pen Pals: Friends From Afar
In elementary school, having a best friend meant buying matching necklaces or charm bracelets, eating lunch together every day, and gathering for the first of many sleepovers. As we grow older, a best friend is the one who listens to you lament your love life, discusses college or career plans with you, and makes sure your level of intoxication on the night of your 21st birthday is higher than it has ever before been. But what does it mean... Read More
COWS
Now, I don’t want to get the reputation as the girl who always writes about gross things, but the story I have prepared for you today does dip into the unsavory. I promise there will be no graphic images or anything that will disturb you from meals you may be eating, but you should still be aware that the following tale is not so pleasant. Warning out of the way, now we can begin. One of my favorite parts about traveling is not only meeting... Read More
Down with the Sickness
Traveling around the world inevitably means coming down with some form of illness or another. Whether it’s a simple cold picked up from fellow fliers, or the more uncomfortable experience of the local variation of Montezuma’s curse, having a well-supplied med kit is a must for all foreign adventurers. My own experiences getting sick in distant lands somehow end up being more dramatic than most people’s, with the result that almost everyone I... Read More
The Baffling Bretons
During my sophomore year of high school, my parents allowed themselves to be convinced that I should study abroad. Parameters were set, applications were completed, checks were signed and mailed. My first choice was France (I studied French starting freshman year and got an A each grading period, which practically made me a native-French speaker) and my second choice was Portugal (because I like the ocean, so it’s only logical to pick a country... 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
All Good Plans of Mice and (Wo)men
So here I am: At a McDonald’s outside of Gare d’Est in Paris because I have nowhere else to go, listening to a terrible rap song played on repeat over the speakers. Seriously, I think I have the lyrics memorized already: “…I see them coming from afar… they know who we are: from Kingston we come through, Kingston we come through…” For those of you who know me, I think its important to mention that at this... Read More
Travel Haunts
“Cemeteries are fascinating, they’re a living representation of the culture, the history, the passion of the civilization that deposits its dead there; they’re a spiritual link to the past.” -John Berendt, author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and EvilFor both the living and the dead, cemeteries can be the most peaceful of places: beautiful landscapes to take a stroll, visit the past, and contemplate life. Here are a few of our favorites: 10.... Read More
A Plane, Six Trains…and an Upgrade.
In what was beginning to sound and feel like the 12 days of Christmas, I recently embarked on an epic marathon journey home. It’s funny the extent people go to in order to get home to their loved ones for Christmas-I love Christmas and although nature seemed to have a different idea, I was determined to get home for this Christmas-our first together in our new family home. Booking my travel arrangements back in June-it all looked pretty straight... Read More
Our Newest Go Girl in Avignon
Having studied French since middle school for eight years, I had many expectations, most of them pretty stereotypical, about the beret-wearing, cheese-eating nation of France. I was drawn to the French language ever since I learned the names for colors in my first seventh grade French lesson. The sound of each syllable was fresh, exciting, and like a new genre of music to my ears. As I took more and more French classes, the complexity never ceased... Read More
