Before I left for my world-traveling adventure, I had a plan. I was going to travel until the first week of August, at which point I would return to Chicago to pursue a cross-functional doctorate in business and sociology, studying the intersection of social challenges (ie: global poverty) and business solutions. In my mind, it … Continue reading The Next Right Thing

This is how it feels to be home: a little bit perfect and a little bit like all I want to do is cry.  I'm what you might call emotionally fragile at the moment. Or maybe, more accurately, emotionally overwhelmed. Because, you see, I lived something. I lived something wild and amazing. Something that took … Continue reading Home.

(No no, this is not a blog about Brexit - yikes - but the timing made this title quite convenient!)  Hello from yet another quick visit to America! You'd be right to think I'm a little nuts for building in two (very out of the way) stops in the US on my trip. Especially because … Continue reading Peace Out, Europe

Before I left for the trip, my best friends made me a flash drive filled with messages and letters and videos for me to play when I felt lonely or missed home. It's easily one of the best gifts I've ever received. And today, I finally watched the last of the messages (not because I … Continue reading Playing Alone

Full disclosure: I'm 100% stealing this idea. As I travel, I listen to a lot of podcasts and read a lot of blogs. Many of my favorites are essentially interviews with cool, creative people. And they all ask some iteration of the same question. Jamie Ivey on the Happy Hour Podcast asks her guests to … Continue reading High Five (or my effort to be as cool as everyone else)

As many of you know, Memorial Day is my second favorite holiday of the year. (Christmas wins. Obviously.) What you may not know is why I love it. To me, Memorial Day celebrates not only our amazing veterans and soldiers protecting our country and freedoms, it celebrates HOME. For years, it was the one day … Continue reading Memorial Day

I'm rapidly approaching my 40th flight of the year, so I think it's time for a confession: I have zero idea how an airplane works.  Every single time I'm in the air, I have a brief moment of panic - wait, how is this many-ton piece of metal FLYING? This makes NO SENSE. It truly … Continue reading Travel, Learning and Lettuce Seeds

Hello, dear readers! It’s been awhile. My bad. I’ve discovered it’s quite difficult to live a full life worth writing about while simultaneously finding the time to write about it. But I promise I’ve been busy and have lots of stories and updates and thoughts to share! I just finished up an amazing visit to … Continue reading Both/And.

Despite my recognition that are there are indeed benefits to traveling alone (not least of which the ability to be totally selfish without hurting anyone's feelings), I feel it necessary to say with total clarity that solo travel will always and forever fall short of traveling with pals. There are many reasons I feel this … Continue reading Traveling is Better Shared

I was ready to be disappointed by the Great Wall of China. Like so many must-see destinations, there was so much hype. Build up. Anticipation. I was going to visit it, obviously, but I was trying to temper my expectations. Hao took me to Mutianyu and by some alignment of the stars (and a 4pm … Continue reading Walls – Great and Otherwise