Everything I read before leaving for my trip said I should watch the sunset from the steps of Sacré-Cœur. Sounded like a perfect way to spend my first evening in Paris. Wander Montmartre (I’m an expert wanderer), find some good food and good wine, check out Sacré-Cœur, sit and watch the sky change colors over the city of lights. Great plan in theory. In practice … Continue reading Bienvenue à Paris
New year, new me? Unlikely. New year, better me? Yea, I think I can manage that. First up, stop procrastinating on things like writing. I’ve been sitting on tidbits and half written stories for months. I just never got around to finishing. I’m finally finishing them now. At first I thought, why bother with months-old travel stories; no one wants to read about a trip … Continue reading New Year’s Resolutions..kinda
French Morning, a site for francophone expats, hosted an event to find the best croissant in New York City. The price of admission came with a glass of wine and samples of ALL of the croissants. 15 bakeries from across the city were represented as finalists. And of course each had more than one kind to try. There were plain croissants and chocolate ones of … Continue reading ALLLLLLLL the croissants
It’s really cold in Albany in January. And snow. My friends Heather and Nate moved to Albany. What a great excuse to see a new city and hang with one of my favorite couples. I think a lot of Long Islanders think of the state of New York in 4 parts: Long Island The City Westchester And everything else is upstate Yes, “upstate” refers to … Continue reading Maybe don’t go to Albany in winter (but do go because it’s lovely)
GoAbroad.com is a website that aims to link travelers to quality, meaningful travel experiences. They provide program ideas and resources to travelers looking for opportunities to study, volunteer, work, adventure, and teach abroad. Twice a year the lovely people at GoAbroad put on a Writer’s Academy. As a member of the most recent cohort, I’ve been honing my travel writing skills and learning about things … Continue reading I’ve been writing, just not here
A mountain a weekend: I think I could get used to that. I went out to Denver because Chrissy, one of my favorite people, was getting married and asked me to be a bridesmaid. How could I say no?! I got to see more of the city than I had last time I was there, and I loved it. I’d move there in a heart … Continue reading The Mile-High City
I’ve been home for about a month now. It feels like longer. Maybe that’s because home is familiar. A lack of jet lag helped too. Top things (besides people) I missed about home: Bagels: good New York bagels I think New York should be referred to as the Big Bagel instead of the Big Apple. No one eats an apple and says, “ah good ‘ol … Continue reading Coming Home
Well this one took forever to write… Layovers can be unpleasant, making an already long trip even longer. My layovers are never long enough to leave the airport and see the city. On our way home from Sri Lanka, however, we had a 14 hour layover in Dubai, giving us plenty of time to see the city. Dubai is the largest of the 7 emirates … Continue reading A 14 hour layover in Dubai
This wasn’t just any massage. Ayurveda is a holistic approach to wellness, developed in India and brought to Sri Lanka about 3,000 years ago. The two main principles are: 1) the mind and body are inextricably linked and 2) you cannot heal the body without the mind. The idea is to change your lifestyle and habits to be healthier in mind and body. In addition, … Continue reading An Ayurvedic Spa Treatment
To get the train to Nuwara Eliya we had to go back to Kandy for one night. So I added yet another hotel to my ever-growing list of sleeping places in Asia: Helga’s Folly. The Lonely Planet entry about Helga’s Folly describes it like this: “Helga’s Folly could have been dreamt up as a joint project between Gaudi and Dali. This hotel/art gallery/surrealist dream has … Continue reading Helga’s Folly
While sitting at lunch in Anuradhapura one day, a nice, older Sri Lankan man started chatting with us. He insisted that we visit Trincomalee because it is the most beautiful place in Sri Lanka. He said that we would not regret it. Two days later we were on our way to Trincomalee. A perk of having a whole month in Sri Lanka is we have plenty … Continue reading Stuck at the beach
I left New York on Saturday, May 28, 2016. That was a year ago. A YEAR! I was never really homesick (except maybe for bagels), which tells me leaving New York was the right choice. I don’t regret any of it. Even when things don’t go the way I want, I’m still glad I took a chance and started this adventure. Sure I could have … Continue reading 365 Days
