The magic of the mountains is hard to describe, it feels like words can’t do justice. I did not understand it until I lived there, and even then, I don’t know that I fully understood it until I left, and yearned for home. Couple that sense of physical place and grounding with the love I…
A faux celeb summary of my solo female travel adventure for 2.5 weeks living out of an adult backpack in Europe… I had an awesome time, nothing life altering happened, I was safe as could be all the time, I loved all my airbnbs, I love Norway, and I am happy to come home. To…
In journalism or travel writing, many travel pieces are intended to be “service” pieces—to serve the reader by giving recommendations, telling them what to do, etc. You can plan for these types of stories and actively take note of your activities, restaurants, itineraries as you’re traveling. Then there are “personal essay” type pieces intended to…
The Challenge: Pack for Norway including hiking, Copenhagen, Dutch countryside retreat, and Amsterdam for 14 days + 4 days in Orange County, including a wedding, in late August (temps 50s – 90s, rain) in a 30L backpack that fits under the seat in even the cheap airplanes. For my post on the Briidgs backpack I…
After all that research on what backpack to bring backpacking as an adult, I went rogue and backed the Briidgs ($150) on Kickstarter (where it was $90), which arrived—as promised—one day before my trip. I love it. Here’s why I picked it: Size: starts at 30L, can expand to 39L Straps/function: can be carried as a…
I mean, milk those cheap European flights, right? I had 18 hours in Copenhagen, wheels down to wheels up. Here’s what I did: Airport – train – 5 min walk – Check in to badass attic airbnb in Nyhavn. Badass = historic building, attic = no seriously an attic, Nyhavn = the place to be;…
A week ago, I was on an airplane flying to LA from Amsterdam. After a weekend of wedding shenanigans, I finally landed back in Austin on Monday at midnight. Tuesday, I closed on my new house. A friend who I am exceptionally grateful for helped be excited for me when I was too tired to…
I am 34 tomorrow. Thirty-four is somehow so much older than 33, and two weeks ago I prepared a post for this Feel Good Friday that didn’t actually feel very good, deep in the angsty throes of self-reflection about what it means to be a certain age at which I suddenly feel like I should…
Being a faux celeb, I’m certainly not going to do what the tourists are prescribed to do!… except, that, I want to see all the good stuff in a mere three days and there’s a reason the tourists do what they do. There’s a Norway tour called Norway in a Nutshell that takes you from Oslo…
Travel. I am grateful I get to travel! Norway was beautiful, soul-searching, painful, and I’m deeply in love with it (sounds a bit like love eh?). Copenhagen was quick and charming. More on both to come soon. And now I’m off to the Circling Festival and Amsterdam… wish me luck! Follow my adventures on ig…