Money’s always a bit of a sensitive topic. We’re nervous to bring it up and then when the discussion finally happens, it turns into a ballet dance on a withering sheet of ice so as to avoid insult or offence.
I’ve had a few people ask me, not without uncomfortable pause before, about how exactly I’m paying for all of my travels and life abroad – what with being a broke Millenial crushed by college loans.
Continue reading “How I Afford to Live Abroad in Thailand”
While I may have only started this blog a few years ago, and done a pretty bad job at maintaining it until recently, I have been keeping travel journals since the time I could hold a pencil, quite literally.
It all began when I went on vacation with my family to Portugal in first grade. My teacher gave me a blank notebook to fill in while I was away. “These are memories you will have forever,” she told me. Over 10 years later, I still have that notebook, and many more which are filled with my memories of travel.
Continue reading “Adventure Journal Archives”
The time has come and gone once again, as it always does, and my new 22 is rolling into 23. I feel like 23 is a very oddly shaped and ambiguous number. It’s somewhere in between the newfound fun of 21 and the semi-adultness (yes, new word creation) of 25.
Continue reading “23 Years and Counting”
On the spur of a big night out, I decided to turn off my morning alarms. I missed my flight to Northern Thailand so that I could stay longer in Koh Tao. Little did I know that this would only be the beginning of my procrastination of returning back home to New Jersey.
Continue reading “The Reality of Moving Abroad for the First Time”
I’m currently sitting in the stillness that a house only knows in the early hours of the morning, with the moon just setting and the rooms still quiet. The time change from Thailand to New Jersey has left me wired and ready to take on the day while the rest of the coast is cozy in bed, yet to meet the chill of this December morning.
Continue reading “Home Life After 5 Months Abroad”
Some people have a real knack for extreme adventure sports, live for the thrill of adrenaline pumping through their veins, nerves that heighten the senses. Some might even say that jumping out of a plane or off a cliff are moments that make them feel the most alive. Those are the seconds that invigorate the soul.
I’ve been thinking about it quite a lot on this trip. I always keep a travel journal and am entranced by taking boatloads of pictures and making videos. Why? I’m not a professional. I don’t have thousands of followers, just a very normal blog that’s used as my creative outlet.
Continue reading “Why I Love to Create”
Nestled into a peninsula on New Zealand’s east coast, Kaikoura is simultaneously more and less than I ever could have asked for. More in its amazing scenery, nature, and ability to me bring back to those core essentials. Less because it did all of this with its beautiful, simple charm which reminds me that sometimes we don’t need so much to be ‘happy.’
Continue reading “Kaikoura: Hike, Sea Life, and Reconnect”
When I was younger, I wanted to be a marine biologist so I could swim with dolphins and spend my days on the water. Sadly, I came to the realization that that’s isn’t exactly what marine biologists do…
While those hopes may have been shattered, I did finally get to live out my dream of swimming with dolphins! In Kaikoura, New Zealand, we went out on a tour that was more than I ever could have hoped for. We spent an hour on the boat looking for a pod of dolphins, keeping an eye out for any splashing or fins. When we finally found them, they plopped us right into the water and off we went.
It’s more than I’ll ever be able to explain with words, so I put together this little video of my once in a lifetime experience. It still doesn’t do the experience justice, but it gives you a good idea of just how magical it was.
July 11 has rapidly crept up on me, and in just about a week I will be leaving for the adventure of a lifetime. It feels like the timing is right for me to share this little goodbye video I put together for my friends and family. It has certainly made me realize how lucky I am to have such positive, strong, supportive people in my life. Goodbye will be hard, but I’m thankful to have a home that’s hard to leave.
