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GERMANY | Sunday, 19 Jun 2016 | Views [870]
Something reminiscent of ashes brushed across my face and landed in my hair as I approached the entrance to Dachau Concentration Camp. They were floating around everywhere, creating a disorienting haze in the unseasonably brilliant early spring sun. ... Read more >
Tags: concentration camp, dachau, germany, khalil gibran, kz dachau, sabbatical, solo, travel
GERMANY | Sunday, 5 Jun 2016 | Views [644]
My last days in Germany found me in Frankfurt am Main, a city I had never visited despite having passed through so many times before, both by plane and train. I am not the only traveler who has been skipping it. Out of the millions of people who transit ... Read more >
Tags: asparagus, budget, craving, frankfurt, germany, main, sabbatical, solo, spargel, travel
CROATIA | Thursday, 19 May 2016 | Views [521] | Comments [2]
Why Croatia?
Trundling through the Austrian Alps, I was excited to finally see Croatia, a country that had been calling to me for some time, even before the sabbatical began to take shape. The pleasure of solo travel had worn thin in the preceding ... Read more >
Tags: balance, budget, croatia, enough, red rooftops, sabbatical, solo, travel, zagreb
GERMANY | Saturday, 7 May 2016 | Views [623]
Munich’s lesson for me was this: I need people.
I know it’s obvious, and everybody says it, and I have even said it. I have known it to be one of those universal truths, but I haven’t really always believed it, not deep down on a ... Read more >
Tags: germany, maugham, munich, people, sabbatical, solo, travel, truth
GERMANY | Sunday, 1 May 2016 | Views [744] | Comments [1]
Leipzig was planned as a time for me to rest and reacquaint myself with Germany, but it had more in store for me than just that.
Reacquaintance
My first ever solo flight was when I went to Germany for my exchange student year more than ... Read more >
Tags: completion, germany, leipzig, reacquaint, readjust, realize, rest, sabbatical, solo, travel
CZECH REPUBLIC | Tuesday, 26 Apr 2016 | Views [597]
I wish I had more to say about Prague, but I just don't. After Bulgaria and the Baltics, Prague did not have very much of an Eastern European feel to it. It just felt like a big, modern, Western European capital. It was beautiful and it lived up to its ... Read more >
Tags: budget, czech republic, guilt, prague, privilege, sabbatical, solo, travel
BULGARIA | Sunday, 24 Apr 2016 | Views [569]
I've had pretty good luck in my travels so far, so I really can't complain, but I wanted to share some bumps in the road that I've encountered. I've hesitated to mention these out of superstitious fear that if I complained about these minor things, it ... Read more >
Tags: backup, planning, preparation, sabbatical, travel
BULGARIA | Tuesday, 19 Apr 2016 | Views [564]
Bulgaria had the mysterious power to line up external circumstances and ambiguous expectations in such a way that provided us with a fabulous time. It started in my husband's childhood. He had a calendar that featured a different European capital each ... Read more >
Tags: black sea, budget, bulgaria, ovech, provadia, sabbatical, sofia, travel, varna
LATVIA | Tuesday, 12 Apr 2016 | Views [513]
I usually have an impression of a place before arrival, and that often predetermines whether I will like it. The impression may or may not be based on anything very substantial. Perhaps I have tucked away a vague memory of a news report or a photograph, ... Read more >
Tags: budget, latvia, riga, sabbatical, solo, travel
ESTONIA | Saturday, 9 Apr 2016 | Views [459]
It's time for a confession: I usually dread going to new places.
How is that possible in a person with wanderlust , in a person whose driving force is to experience the unknown? I've been honest about the fears I've had traveling solo, but this is ... Read more >
Tags: dread, estonia, kalev chocolate, sabbatical, solo, tallinn, travel, wanderlust
FINLAND | Friday, 1 Apr 2016 | Views [557]
Leaving Norway on an Aurora High
My goal in going to Norway was realized in the end - I saw the northern lights!!! Going on guided light chases will certainly wreck your budget (see below), but it was totally worth it. You have to be able to get ... Read more >
Tags: aurora borealis, budget, finland, helsinki, northern lights, norway, sabbatical, solo, travel, tromsø
NORWAY | Sunday, 27 Mar 2016 | Views [680] | Comments [2]
March’s full moon accompanied me on the last leg of my arrival in Norway, hovering just over the wing of the plane from Oslo to Tromsø and giving me my first view of the country. In the south, there was only patchy snow on the watery land, ... Read more >
Tags: aurora borealis, easter, northern lights, norway, population density, sabbatical, snow, solo, travel, tromsø
USA | Sunday, 27 Mar 2016 | Views [363]
I never posted the final overall numbers for Trip 1, so here they are. They include all accomodation, transportation, food, admission fees, etc.
30 days
4 countries, 10 cities
5 flights, 4 buses, 2 trains
Redeemed 40,000 AAdvantage miles ... Read more >
Tags: budget, sabbatical, travel
IRELAND | Tuesday, 16 Feb 2016 | Views [556]
I've struggled with what to write about the UK and Dublin. I had a great time, but the problem is that they felt too familiar to say much about them. My muse is a combination of strangeness, solitude, self-reliance, and idle time. There wasn't enough ... Read more >
Tags: budget, cotswolds, dublin, james joyce, sabbatical, swenys pharmacy, tea, temple bar, travel, warwickshire
UNITED KINGDOM | Thursday, 11 Feb 2016 | Views [720]
England does not feel very strange to me, maybe because I've been there a few times before, or because of our shared cultural roots, or because of our common language. In cultures that feel different, and especially when you do not speak the language, ... Read more >
Tags: american, british, culture, english, sabbatical, travel
SPAIN | Friday, 5 Feb 2016 | Views [659]
Last Night in Spain
I starting writing this in Seville, but it has been difficult for me to finish. I haven't written much about Spain/Andalusia yet because, to be honest, the cities just didn't inspire me as much as Lisbon did. It's not really ... Read more >
Tags: andalusia, budget, córdoba, granada, lisbon, maugham, sabbatical, seville, travel
SPAIN | Sunday, 31 Jan 2016 | Views [675]
After staying in about 10 different hostels in my early 20s, I had not seen one in 15+ years. If you're in a similar boat, or have never stayed in a hostel, here's the experience I've had so far with staying in three different hostels in my late 30s.... Read more >
Tags: budget, hostel, over 30, sabbatical, travel
SPAIN | Thursday, 28 Jan 2016 | Views [667]
The curious case of lights
If you go into a bathroom in Europe and can't find the light switch, that's probably because it is outside the room. In the hallway. Where any passerby could turn the light off while you're using the bathroom and leave ... Read more >
Tags: europe, language, light switch, lights, sabbatical, travel
PORTUGAL | Saturday, 23 Jan 2016 | Views [665] | Comments [1]
Last Night in Lisbon
I am sorry to see my time in Lisbon come to an end. It ushered me so gently into this endeavor that I have begun to feel quite comfortable here, and I am looking ahead with a little bit of nervous anticipation again. I have ... Read more >
Tags: budget, lisbon, portuguese, sabbatical, travel
PORTUGAL | Thursday, 21 Jan 2016 | Views [651]
Lisboa, Lisbon, Lissabon, Lisbonne
Quote from Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935), Portuguese poet, born in Lisbon:
"Over seven hills, which are as many points of observation whence the most magnificent panoramas may be enjoyed, the vast irregular ... Read more >
Tags: lisbon, sabbatical, travel
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