Traveling Soul

Within a 2-week blur, I submitted my Master’s project, walked in my graduation, packed up my room (my life), visited my mom on the coast and somehow, flew to Paris. The days came by so quickly, each day passing faster than the next, that I did not have a full grasp of how I felt about leaving Eugene. I had spent the last five years there, all of which were for my studies, but I grew to admire the small but loud town. In addition to my old friends that lived there or near there, I made  new friends with my cohort, found a passionate running community  and felt so so comfortable. I knew the best sunset views, the most charming local cafes, the cheapest (and most expensive) delicious food, which hidden alleys had apple trees and which ones had grape vines- the list is endless. But as always, I was itching for more. With the completion of my 15- months Master’s program, I am embarking on  an ( un)organized adventure. My first destination? Paris, France. City of Ligh...

Amongst a list of questions that I receive when traveling, on the top of that list is: How do you afford to travel at such a young age? This question is most asked by friends and peers back home. The truth is, it is not easy. My love for traveling started a couple of years ago when I went to Louisiana as part of a service trip put on by the university. Before that trip, I had never really left the Pacific Northwest. I was 19 years old and felt as if I could conquer the world without knowing it first. Then after that trip, I searched for other opportunities to travel and help others. The cost of traveling was an obvious burden until I found a program called Camp Adventur e. It was the perfect opportunity as a young and curious university student studying international relations. It helped me with traveling while working with children. Because of this program, I've had the opportunity to go to China and the following year to Germany. The program paid for both of my tickets and ev...

As most of you know by now, I am currently in Chile visiting Florent for a month during my summer break. I have started a Master's program at the University of Oregon through the Linguistics Department that focuses on Language pedagogy and language acquisition. It has been a fun and exciting new adventure, but as always, I am yearning to travel and move. In the airport of Amsterdam, on the way to Russia, I discovered that I had a month break after starting the first term of the Master's program. This of course, was the best news that I could receive at the time because I had not seen Florent in over 7 months. So after 2 months of intense studying and working, I bought a ticket to Chile and I have been here for over 2 weeks. Today I am going to blog about the greatest adventure that we just returned from: San Pedro de Atacama. San Pedro de Atacama, as the title suggests, is the driest desert in the world. We took an hour and a half flight from Santiago to San Pedro and then fr...

We landed from our 2 hour flight from Bogota to Leticia on Wednesday, June 7th. Our hostel (Anaira) had complimentary airport pickups and sure enough, waiting for us outside of the gate was a sign with my name on it (I had made the reservations). We quickly got acquainted in our rooms which were constructed on- they were making a door for the room. We listened to the different guide options for the jungle. We had 2 choices - stay in Leticia and go on day trips or spend 3 nights and 4 days in the jungle using military hammocks. As can be assumed, we chose the latter option. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and preparing for tomorrow. There were 2 other travelers who joined Hugh, Juspal and I. The three of us had been teaching in Tunja the previous month. Alice, a Canadian from the french part joined us, as well as Niklas from Germany. They were both traveling by themselves and while Alice was just ending her trip, Niklas was only beginning his. I opted out to not take any malar...