How to Be Creative
September 20, 2023I have not chosen a particularly auspicious place to work here in the library. I could have joined the studious masses in the main table area, surrounded by the novels of the greats, hearing the soft conversation of the patrons and the librarian discussing books just finished and books about to be embarked on. Instead, I found a corner desk with no natural light and a chipped formica top, facing a shelf of English language learning books. As if my uninspired career has come to taunt me, showing me the only way forward through a comfortable life is through the…
How to Be an American
I’ve been back in the US for eight months. You’d think that’d be enough time to re-acclimate. And, in many ways, I have. I no longer reach out to take money with two hands, Cambodian style. I…
The Best Things To Do in Winter in Ukraine
Dark, freezing, dismal — these might be the words some people associate with Eastern European winter, and on one hand they’re not wrong. It can be all those things. But it can also be breath-taking(ly beautiful), exciting,…
27 Lessons from a 5 Year Expat
Five years an expat! A milestone, perhaps. The sapphire anniversary. A longer commitment than any job, city, or relationship has ever gotten out of me. And yet it feels…. Normal. Perhaps that’s what I should have expected,…
How To Get to Ukraine’s Pink Lake in Henichesk
Visiting a pink lake in Ukraine has been high on my bucket list for years, but the limited amount of information about how to actually do it made crossing this item off seem very unlikely. Then came…
South Ukraine Itinerary: 1 Month (Give or Take)
In the summer of 2020, when Everything Was Cancelled, I had the unique opportunity to explore my adopted country. Well, it was my only opportunity to explore anything, so I went ahead and took it. Being a…
Things to Do in Western Ukraine
For a country that’s about the same size as Texas, Ukraine is constantly surprising me with the depth of adventure it offers. In over two years of living here, my ‘to do’ list has grown, not shrunk,…
Unique Ukraine Hotels: Fortresses, Bungalows, and Campsites
I may have lived here for years, but it wasn’t until I began planning my quarantine summer that I started wondering if I could find any unique Ukraine hotels. Bali has its villas, Scandinavia its eco-friendly bubbles,…
Please, DON’T Teach English to Travel
US and British citizens, this is mostly for you. I know that you’re bored at home, you’re looking for adventure, and you’re trying to figure out how to use the skills you already have to ditch your…
Kyiv Expat Life: April 2020 Round Up
Canceled plans. That was the theme of April in Kyiv. No more IATEFL Ukraine, where I was going to get listed on the same program as Scott Thornbury. Goodbye to that long-awaited visit to Minsk. So much…
Moving Back to Kyiv. Again.
I know they say be careful what you wish for, but it wasn’t like I wished to be back here. I just made a joke, that’s all. It wasn’t even a particularly good one. About a year…
