We decided to have dinner in the park. We like to save money and eat well when we travel, so we rode our bikes over to the Hakaniemi Market Hall and decided to take our food to go so we could picnic at Kaisaniemi park, right in the heart of the city. We had only been in Helsinki for … More Talking to Strangers
2014 was, to date, the best year of my entire life. I can’t even begin to count how many times I’ve said that as the end of that year approached and the new year began. This past year I traveled to 8 different countries, countless cities within those countries and my own, and learned more about other cultures … More New Years Resolutions… And Why They’re Not Called Rules
I’m sitting in the Frankfurt airport on a 7-hour layover looking out a big window at all the Lufthansa planes. My flight got delayed 4 hours, and, being that it’s the holidays, all the others were full. So here I am sitting at a little table by myself, listening to the same announcements in German over and … More Traveling Humbles
There are a lot of things I’ve been meaning to write about for the past few weeks, but it’s been a very consistent difficulty for me to find time to write about some of the things that have been the most incredible because I get so caught up living in them that I forget to … More An Autumn Stroll
This post has been a long time coming, but it’s from my second day in Iceland, and needs to be published exactly as it was written; from me to you with love. I don’t quite have the words to explain how full of joy, pleasure, contentment, and happiness I am. I have had the most … More Over the Fjord and Through the Lava Field
I stepped outside and the goosebumps began. I shuffled back and forth a little, jumped a few times and rubbed my arms, ready to begin. The sun barely peeked over the top of the apartment building beside me, and the clouds gathered, wispy and gray overhead. I started running. I ran down my street, rounding … More The Gift of the Sunshine
I’m sitting on the metro and the cutest guy I think I’ve ever seen is sitting across from me. I so badly want to look up and make eye contact. I’ve tried a few times to casually look around, so that it’s not obvious that he’s what I’m looking at. I feel him look at … More Eye-contact
What is one do when offered the world? Should they laugh? Cry? Weep, even? Or just sit, content and pleased, feeling only how rich it is to be so fortunate? This past weekend I felt like doing all of the above. I visited Strasbourg and a small town in Alsace in France, and Freiburg and the … More Experience, “The World,” and Far Too Little Sleep
I’m currently sitting on my bed, eating my fourth popsicle of the day, listening to classical music as I prepare to do my reading for the class on impressionism that I’m taking here. It’s overcast and grayish outside, and I just woke up from a 2-hour nap. I started getting sick on Friday, and was … More Small Victories and Swollen Tonsils
I’m home this morning, sipping coffee I just made in my new percolator, getting ready to go for a run and start all of my homework for the week ahead. I have so much to do today, and all of the tasks are work-related, but I feel so happy and at home that I felt … More Perspective Changes a Monday
The Transition Artist 