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Life Around the Map

Trip: WorldNomads Scholarship

There are [14] stories from my trip: WorldNomads Scholarship


Dead Guys Make Great Connections

SPAIN | Thursday, 11 Sep 2014 | Views [1043]

We were too early, and I kept apologizing. We were finishing up our journey of tracing  Hemingway ’s steps through Madrid. I remembered partly along the journey that we had started too early for the Spanish. It was only 10, and the entrances ... Read more >

Tags: connections, food, friends, hemingway, pig


Home Sweet Home Away From Home

SPAIN | Monday, 8 Sep 2014 | Views [1017]

  I missed the water. The music of the lapping waves. The scent of wet sand and driftwood.  The festival in Bilbao was fascinating, but there was a lull in the afternoon and the coast was calling to me. I wasn’t even sure if I could ... Read more >

Tags: beach, home, plentzia, spain, water, waves


My First and Last Fight

SPAIN | Saturday, 6 Sep 2014 | Views [1066]

The way her nose crinkled in barely disguised disapproval when I told her of my plans came as a bit of a shock. I knew the younger generation in Spain was by no means a fan of bullfights, but I did not think it would be so frowned upon for me, a curious ... Read more >

Tags: arena, bilbao, bulls, matador, spain


Remember to Breathe

SPAIN | Thursday, 28 Aug 2014 | Views [1206] | Comments [1]

I was wrong. So very, very wrong. And as usual, I had to learn it the hard way. I never thought travel could wear me out. I thought I was invincible, constantly dreaming of the next place to go, the next thing to do, how I would love to be on the road ... Read more >

Tags: break, exhaustion, learning, rest, travel


An Inspirational Wedding Failure

SPAIN | Thursday, 28 Aug 2014 | Views [1082]

It’s not every day you marry your cousin. It’s also not every day that your wedding day turns out to be a complete disaster. But such was the fate of Queen Isabella II of Spain. Oh the things you learn on walking tours.  Crowned ... Read more >

Tags: arts, madrid, opera, spain, teatro real, theatre, wedding


Hello, Bilbao!

SPAIN | Sunday, 24 Aug 2014 | Views [1138]

It started out as a rainy miserable day. I had to catch an early train from Barcelona to Bilbao and thankfully it was only a ten-minute walk, as it was just starting to drizzle. With the clouds hanging like an impending doom over the train, I had trouble ... Read more >

Tags: aste nagusia, basque, bilbao, festival, rain, spain, train travel, travel


Nameless Friends

SPAIN | Saturday, 23 Aug 2014 | Views [1199]

Considering the fact that I spent close to an hour panting behind her like a woman in labor, I’m surprised she acknowledged my existence, let alone wanted to talk with me. We had spent the past hour headed up to Montserrat Monastery on a lovely ... Read more >

Tags: barcelona, friends, la rambla, monastery, montserrat, spain


Not All Who Wander Are Lost...But Some Are

SPAIN | Friday, 22 Aug 2014 | Views [1266] | Comments [1]

You know you are lost when you can’t find your destination on a map. You know you’re REALLY lost when you can’t find your current  location on a map. The directions from the airport to the hostel were simple. Catch the train, ... Read more >

Tags: communication, gaudi, help, hope, lost, wander


Losers Win

CZECH REPUBLIC | Thursday, 21 Aug 2014 | Views [1049]

He started and ended in black pumps and a pleated navy skirt, his crimson lipstick a shade too bright for the lighting. He made the announcement in Czech that we were boarding for Barcelona and to take our seats for departure. There was take-off, beverage ... Read more >

Tags: acrobatics, circus, daemen, letni letna, losers, theater, winners prague


Marionettes: A Prague Nightlife Alternative

CZECH REPUBLIC | Wednesday, 20 Aug 2014 | Views [1263] | Comments [1]

Over the course of two hours the “actors” ran into the set, a player went on public strike, and the conductor threw water at us in drunken fits (and I was lucky enough to be directly in the line of fire). Not keen on the typical nightlife ... Read more >

Tags: communication, don giovanni, languages, marionettes, performance, prague, theatre


Crying for the "Bad Guy"

GERMANY | Tuesday, 19 Aug 2014 | Views [1529]

My tour guide made me cry today. Not an uncontrollable sob, like when I said goodbye to my fiancé at the airport for four more months apart, but a heart-wrenching painful stream of tears that I could not fight back. I was thankful for sunglasses ... Read more >

Tags: berlin, germany, history, mistakes, sides, wall


Photos: Travel Scholarship Road Trip

GERMANY | Sunday, 17 Aug 2014 | Photo Gallery


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East Side Gallery: Who Gets a Voice?

GERMANY | Sunday, 17 Aug 2014 | Views [1176]

Perhaps Thomas and Karine are both descendants of survivors, high school sweet hearts, or simply Berlin lovers. But does who they are even matter? Does their heritage, talent, or popularity deny or grant them a voice? That was the question I asked ... Read more >

Tags: berlin, berlin wall, expression, hope, street art, symbolism, voice


Beluga Smile

USA | Tuesday, 13 May 2014 | Views [10017] | Comments [7] | Scholarship Entry

It was the smile that confounded me. I had not prepared for the joy. My students rushed out the school doors towards the beach with shouts of elation. I had never seen the village so alive. Compared to the gentle pace of village life, today was a torrent ... Read more >

Tags: 2014 Travel Writing Scholarship - Euro Roadtrip