How I Like to Travel vs. How Travel Blogging Wants Me to Travel

This article was supposed to be a Weekend Wanderings post about my visit to Manhattan this past weekend. Last weekend, I posted a bunch of photos from my Labor Day Weekend back home on Cape Cod. They were beautiful to look at, and I enjoyed reflecting on how picturesque my home is, but as I said in…

Weekend Wanderings: LDW on Cape Cod

I never think to take photos when I’m home (to be honest, I’m not really a photo person, and taking them is always a conscious effort). But home is just it, it’s home. To me, it’s ordinary, fairly unchanging, a normal place that I deeply adore, but a visit there is none too remarkable. I…

How to Survive a Long Haul Flight

For me, preparation for a long haul flight always starts two days before takeoff. In high school, my coaches always told me that what you put into your body two days before has the biggest impact on your game time performance. On the field, this meant carbo-loading and lots of hydrating. While a pre-match pasta…

Is Frequent Travel Actually Bad For You?

Buckle up, because this is going to be a bit of a long one. Make yourself a cup of tea, put on your comfy pants, and get ready. (Ok, it’s not actually that long, just a little longer than the typical posts I write on here. And that’s because I HAVE THINGS TO SAY). The Economist…

Something You Probably Didn’t Know About Your Stop Over in Istanbul

This post brought to you by my extremely high excitement levels over my recently booked trip to Istanbul. No, sadly Turkish Airlines is not showering me with extra special free perks, although I did get a free piece of baklava from them at a fair once, and the available-to-everyone perk I’m about to tell you about…

Travel Plan Update: What’s My Next Big Adventure?

Such exciting news!! After my setback with my planned trip to Cairo this month, I have officially booked my tickets to go to Cairo for my other cousin’s wedding, with a three day stop-over in Istanbul. I’m absolutely elated to be going back to Cairo to visit my family for the special occasion, and to…

Weekend Wanderings: Manhattan and the Hamptons

A couple weekends ago, a close friend from grad school came to the US for a visit. One of the highly anticipated visits of the summer. Because my Stateside grad school friends are scattered across the East Coast- I live in Boston, our other friends live in DC, and yet another in NYC, we once again…

How to Maximize Your Entry Level Vacation Time

Getting your first “big kid” job is an exciting time. All of a sudden, someone is paying you more money than you’ve ever had in your life along with a suite of mysterious “benefits” like healthcare, 401K’s, commuter benefits, and other fun things that you aren’t quite sure what to do with. Among this list…

Weekend Wanderings: Portuguese Festival in Provincetown, MA

In the spirit of sticking to my 25 for 25 goal of taking advantage of local culture and travel opportunities, last weekend I went home to Cape Cod and took a day trip to Provincetown for the annual Portuguese Festival and Blessing of the Fleet. Provincetown, a tiny spit of sand on the outer tip…

How to Minimize Stress at the Airport

Know your airport. Know what terminal you need to be in, and when the gate closes. Seems simple, I know. But getting to the airport and realizing that you’re in the wrong terminal is bad news. Especially if you’re in a large airport, it could easily take you 30 minutes to get over to the…

Change in Travel Plans: No Egypt in August

I’ve had yet another twist in the plot of my 2015 travel plans. As I’ve mentioned before, #taxpocalyse in January really put a damper on my travel plans, knocking the conference in Paris in July off the table, and making Egypt and London planned trips unlikely. I did manage to get to London few weeks…