20 Life Lessons from a Year Traveling the World
October 6, 2015, and I was thousands of miles above Canada en route to Singapore. I had just pulled my eye mask down, put my earplugs in, and settled in to try to sleep, despite the adrenaline…
How I Spent a Perfect Weekend in Barcelona
One of the charming ideas of living in Europe is that you’re able at any moment to just impulse buy a bus/train/plane ticket and be transported to a different country for the weekend. You can go from…
Why I’m Moving to Kiev to Teach English
On February 26, 2016, I boarded a midnight plane flying direct to Kiev. I had scored an amazing $300 ticket, one way to the city that would launch the European part of my nomadic life. The plane…
Getting Cursed Out in Romania, or Confronting Poverty in Travel
It was my first morning in Cluj, and as I walked through the city I felt a joyful buoyancy about my first change of scenery in five weeks. It was Sunday, so it was quiet, and I…
9 Ways I Changed Living in Serbia
My decision to spend over a month living in Serbia this summer was completely random. I had no expectations, just a prayer that I would find a cute coffee shop. While it wasn’t without its challenges, Serbia was…
Why Novi Sad is Fantastic for Digital Nomads in Europe
One afternoon, at the end of April, my name was called over the Kyiv airport PA in the final boarding call for a flight to London. It was the first time in my life I had ever…
12 Things to do in Budapest that are NOT Ruin Bars
Budapest is undeniably a huge party city. With ruin bars, spa parties, and hostels with names like the Retox Party Hostel, it can be easy to think that the only thing to do in Budapest is getting…
How to Rock a Travel Snapchat Account
I am an old person. I realized this back when I was teaching adults in New York City, and I had a hip young Turkish student whose phone was surgically attached to her hand. I gave up…
Deliciously Dangerous Food to Eat in Budapest
When I planned my trip to Budapest, I didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about the food. I was focused on the spas, the ruin bars, the architecture. No one really talks about what to eat…
9 Questions to Ask Travelers Instead of “Where are you from?”
About a week into my solo trip through Europe last year, I was exhausted from meeting fellow travelers. I wasn’t tired of them – I love new people! – but rather the predictable routine of questions we’d…
