Why Visit Odessa, Ukraine, for a Film Festival
If you’re looking for general recommendations about what to do when you visit Odessa, Ukraine, including food, bars, and beaches, please scroll to the bottom of the page. It was 9:58am, and I had just run across…
Two Years of Expat Life, Three Lessons Learned
Today is my two year anniversary of getting on a plane and flying over Canada to Tokyo, where I’d spend a brief, adrenaline-pumped fourteen hours before continuing on to Singapore. It was the start of my expat…
It’s a Bit Strange to Visit Rivne, Ukraine
For practical advice how to visit Rivne, how to get there and what to do, please scroll to the bottom of the post. For my impressions on this petite Ukrainian city, read on. I woke up from…
How to Get to the Tunnel of Love in Ukraine
You’ve seen the pictures. A lush tree canopy over a train track, stillness and peace radiating from your computer screen. A leafy tunnel that looks like it leads to Narnia or Titania and Oberon’s realm or at the…
A Solo Female Traveler’s Guide to Drinking Alone
When I was twenty and really traveling on my own for the first time in England, I was devastatingly afraid of drinking alone. I’m not talking about 2am G&Ts up in the club. Nope, just a refreshing…
Kiev Street Art (+ a Side of Brunch)
He looks like he knows the answers to everything. I stand there, munching on my blueberry Pop-Tart (aka sugared cardboard) and imagine that if this were the Harry Potter universe, he would come to life and dish…
It’s Not About the Castle, Vladimir.
I was walking alongside the road, in a Ukrainian village I couldn’t have pointed to on a map before this trip, when I met Vladimir. We had been riding on the same bus, but he discovered I…
My Magical Weekend in Cluj Napoca, Despite the Odds
Perhaps I had grown lazy, or over-confident, but at the time, catching a bus for a weekend in Cluj hadn’t seemed like such a big deal. I had done some vague research on departures from Bucharest, and…
Dear Tasty Mexican Food, I Still Look at Our Photos
Dear Mexican Food, I’ve had a crush on you from afar all my life. As a kid, my favorite food was a cheese quesadilla from La Cocina (hold everything but the cheese, please – that’s right, just…
10 Examples of What Solo Female Travel is REALLY Like
It would be nice to think that, here in the 21st century, solo female travel wouldn’t be that much different than solo male travel. It would be nice. But ignoring the differences between male and female solo travel…