travel

Instagram Recommendation List

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In my latest Podcast Recommendation List, Kim commented and requested that I do a similar post about Instagram.  I love fulfilling readers’ wishes, so here you go!  Five people I follow on Instagram that I think other people might like following too.

@lifeinbloomphotos

This Midwestern instagrammer posts simple pictures of life in the country:  leaves, sunsets,dandelions, farmhouses.  The photos are simple and pretty, and they remind me of everything I love best about my homeland.

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@andrewknapp

Momo is the cutest dog on the internet, and I cannot help but feel happy every time a new post appears of her (his?) expressive black and white face.screen-shot-2016-11-07-at-3-58-52-pm

@icelandair

Iceland is at the top of my list of must-visit countries, and this Instagram account fuels my desire with each new picture of stunning mountains, ice blue lagoons, and sweet cityscapes.screen-shot-2016-11-07-at-3-56-49-pm

@sejkko

This Instagrammer specializes in minimalist photos that make my heart feel peaceful.  Therapy in an app.

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@hotdudeswithkittens

With all this natural beauty, it’s only fitting to appreciate the male form too, right?  And it is a scientific fact that male forms always look better with a kitten!

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What Instagram accounts do you like?  

Leave a recommendation in the comments below!

What I Read | October 2016

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Yikes!  I only read five books this month, and two of them were re-reads.  But what I lack in quantity I think make up in quality.  Well, mostly.

51j10qkqfsl-_sy344_bo1204203200_The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer

I adore Amy Schumer, and her memoir only validated my opinion.  Her humor manages to be equal parts raunchy and thoughtful.  This is exactly the tone I like to see when a celebrity gets real.  And boy, does Schumer get real.  I loved her honesty about her experiences with domestic violence and rape – it’s obvious the topics are painful to her, but she desperately wants her fans to learn from her experiences.  I also really appreciated the way she separated her normal self from her stage self, letting us see the things that are her personality versus her performance.

27Neither Here Nor There by Bill Bryson

I re-read my favorite of Bryson’s books, and as expected, it rekindled my “visit every European country at once!!” fever.   Continue reading →

What I Read | September 2016

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This month I filled by brain with murder mysteries, musical histories, travel anecdotes, high fantasy, and (auto)biographies of YouTubers and female saints.  Real on-brand, if my brand is “EVERYTHING,” which it is.

unknownHamilton the Revolution
by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter

THE HAMILTOME.  My mom brought this to me, and it only confirms that LMM is a literal genius.  The background information about how the Broadway musical came into existence makes the show even more impressive (how is that possible), and Lin’s notes throughout the lyrics highlight his intelligence, attention to detail, and humor.  I’m forever grateful to know that he thought of the Hamilton/Burr rivalry as something akin to Harry/Draco.

51e6cmjvnlStrong Poison
by Dorothy Sayers

This little murder mystery was gifted to me by a friend who knew I love witty romances, and it totally scratched that itch!  I did, however, accidentally solve the mystery within ten pages, so the actual plot part was not very exciting.  But Lord Peter Wimsey and his too-good-to-be-true feminist feelings for Harriet Vane?  I swooned all over their conversations.

crazy-rich-asiansCrazy Rich Asians
by Kevin Kwan

“I’m getting kind of tired of hundreds of pages of ‘They are SO RICH, check out this thing they own,’” I said to a friend.  “Tricia,” she responded, “Look at the title, you should not be surprised.”  Despite the almost comical portrayal of sickening wealth, I liked its message that all the money in the world will not solve your problems.  Not an original concept, but I’m considering reading the sequel, so some part of me must have loved peeking into the lives of the fantastical Singapore elite.

unknown4Modern Lovers
by Emma Straub

I got this book because I THOUGHT Straub wrote a different book that I enjoyed.  She did not, which is why it turns out I did not super love Modern Lovers.  It’s not bad or anything, but the full extent of my notes on it read: “Eh – interesting but not memorable.”

original-imageThe Road to Little Dribbling
by Bill Bryson

I love Bryson’s travel books, and this one commemorating the 20th anniversary of his Notes From a Small Island seemed like a good investment.  Unfortunately, this time I found his wanderings around Great Britain to be wildly unpredictable – occasionally great, but too often boring.  There’s only so often I can read about an old man being gently annoyed by the state of the society today.

unknown3A Contemplative Biography of Julian of Norwich
by Amy Frykholm

“All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of all things shall be well,” is one of my favorite quotes, so I was interested to read this the-best-we-can-do-with-limited-information biography about Julian of Norwich.  It was very helpful to read about just how difficult it was for a woman to study the Bible centuries ago, let alone to have the freedom to write about her spiritual experiences and offer theological doctrines.  I adore Julian’s message of God’s love and am intrigued by her mysticism, so well, I should probably read her actual book, Revelations of Divine Love, now.  Whoops.

unknown2Assassin’s Apprentice
by Robin Hobb

A friend of mine fell in love with Hobb’s universe and suggested I start at the beginning.  I’m glad I knew there was obsessive potential up ahead, because the first half of this book wasn’t enthralling.  By the end, though, I was totally hooked, and I’m eager to see what political disasters Fitz diverts with the help of a little assassination and mind-melding.

it-gets-worse-9781501132841_hrIt Gets Worse
by Shane Dawson

I love Dawson’s brand, whether on YouTube, his podcast, or in his books.  He a furiously controversial figure, and he delights in crucifying himself…but running through the deliberately shocking humor is a wide vein of authenticity, vulnerability, and hope.  He’s a mess, and he’s writing to people who know that they too are a mess, and somewhere in that I find a lot of beauty.  Do many people call Shane Dawson’s work beautiful?  They should!

Sunday Summary #38

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1|  Travel as Therapy – an Introduction by The Book of Life

I love the idea of considering travel destinations in terms of psychological virtues rather than surface level pursuits of a “culture weekend” or “island hideaway.”  And I love their examples of places to go, as well as the accompanying virtue, at the end of the piece!

“In the future, we would ideally be more conscious travellers – aware that we were on a search for places that could deliver psychological virtues like ‘calm’ or ‘perspective,’ ‘sensuality’ or ‘rigour’. A visitor to Monument Valley wouldn’t just be in it for a bit of undefined ‘adventure’, something to enjoy and then gradually forget about two weeks later; travelling to the place would be an occasion fundamentally to reorient one’s personality.”

2|  Yesssss!  The Star Trek cast is killing Dubsmash!

Sunday Summary #37

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1|  Stop Pretending “Sexy” and “Sexualized” Mean the Same Thing by The Mary Sue

YES, thank you.  There are ways to show and appreciate the human form without resorting to gross objectification.

I repeat: nobody has a problem with you being turned on by people you find attractive. This article is not about how you perceive people; it’s about how they are presented to you…The human body is neutral, not inherently objectified just by virtue of being visible. When Olympic athletes are represented in the media, the photographers, journalists and commentators have a choice: do they show these accomplished professionals doing their thing and allow viewers to decide on their own if they find the competitors attractive, or do they choose close-ups, angles and descriptions which draw attention to attractiveness over performance?

2|  What Travel Did For My Body-Image by Travelettes

I love this piece on how travel helps your body image by shifting your priorities and decreasing your opportunities to obsess over your body.

3|  Alia Shawkat & Aubrey Plaza Will Play Hamilton & Burr in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Drunk History Episode! by The Mary Sue

YESSSS, super excited to see this gender-bending, immigrant-appreciating Drunk History about Hamilton and Burr!

4|  Finally, the Try Guys recreate the Ancient Olympics, and it’s AMAZING, obviously.

Happy in my Homesickness

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Yesterday I was feeling especially homesick.  It was a combination of things: listening to Dallas radio stations online, seeing blue lights at a metro station that reminded me of a movie theater in my hometown, talking with friends from several places I call home.

I told one friend:  “I’m occasionally feeling homesick.  I think I’ve been here too long and I need to travel somewhere.”

She wrote back: “It’s funny that your reaction to homesickness is ‘go somewhere else.’  You are a very interesting person.”

I hadn’t considered that my feelings were kind of weird, but as soon as she confused me, she gave me some answers.  “Maybe you need to travel to regain your excitement for being away from home.  And then when you do get back to Athens, it will feel like home by comparison.  Maybe.”

She was totally right.  But it got me thinking…so what happens when Athens DOES feel like home? Continue reading →

A Weekend in Berlin

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One of my goals for living in Greece for a year was to visit five other countries.  I don’t want to waste these cheap European flights!  So when Kaitlyn, one of my friends from Dallas, said she was going to Europe, and could we find a city that was cheap for both of us to get to, I said YES.  We wound up going to Berlin for two days, and I have…mixed feelings about the trip.

Kaitlyn arrived at the airport a couple hours before me and kindly waited for me to arrive so we could make our way to the hostel together.  We immediately hit a snag when we were directed to the most unhelpful help desk in the airport.

Me:  Um, hi!  We need to find the S-Bahn.
Help Desk Woman:  The S-Bahn?  The S-Bahn!?  This is the airport!
Me:  …I know.  But, uh, we need to take the S-Bahn to our hostel.
Help Desk Woman:  There is not S-Bahn here.  This is the airport, we have airport transport.
Me:  Okay, but.  The directions our hostel gave us say to take the S-Bahn, so is there, like, a way to get to the S-Bahn from the airport?
Help Desk Woman:  There is no S-Bahn here!
Me:  ….???
Help Desk Woman:  …But if you go out that door, there is a bus to your right that will take you to the S-Bahn station.

Continue reading →

Video Blogs of Jenna’s Visit!

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I really like editing together vlogs with varying levels of seriousness, so when Jenna said she was okay with my documenting our adventures, I had a ball!  Here are the vlogs I made of her four-day visit!

1|  Jenna arrived in the afternoon and we hurried downtown to do a little sight-seeing and a LOT of eating.

2|  We made the most of our tourist day by visiting All The Things:  the Acropolis and its super-cool new museum, the Temple of Zeus, and the 1896 Olympic Stadium, where we were big weirdos and it was so much fun.   Continue reading →

The Good Girl’s Guide to Getting Lost by Rachel Friedman

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9514649I realize that a part of me must also have been implanted somewhere along the way with the kind of curiosity inherent in people who ultimately stuff all their worldly possessions into a backpack and disappear for months at a time.  What happens when we lose the things that anchor us?  What if, instead of grasping at something to hold on to, we pull up our roots and walk away?  Instead of trying to find the way back, we walk deeper and deeper into the woods, willing ourselves to get lost.  In this place where nothing is recognizable, not the people or the language or the food, we are truly on our own.  Eventually, we find ourselves unencumbered by the past or the future.  Here is a fleeting glimpse of our truest self, our self in the present moment.  After that, maybe we can finally go home–or maybe not.

The Good Girl’s Guide to Getting Lost just might be my favorite travel memoir.  I identified so strongly with Rachel – a perfectionist young woman who is tired of caring so much about pleasing other people and finds peace and self-confidence in traveling.  I loved reading about her adventures throughout Ireland, Australia, and South America.  She starts with Big Red, an enormous suitcase, and ends with a backpack.  She starts by running away, and ends by running forward.  She starts with a lot of questions and…she ends with a lot of questions!  But they are different questions, deeper, more personal, and more important.

Reading Friedman’s book reminded me of all the reasons I love traveling so much.  Her descriptions of the places she visits are vivid, and I was left with three new destinations on my “Must See” mental list.  But undoubtedly, the strength of her memoir is in her reflections and how she interprets her experiences.  She discusses privilege, fear, and self-acceptance, and I definitely finished the book richer because of her honesty.

I hope she writes something else, because Rachel Friedman just jumped to the top of my favorite travel writers.   Continue reading →

The Martian by Andy Weir

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18007564There is nothing I can say about The Martian that hasn’t already been said.  It’s as good as the hype!  It’s a technically dense book that somehow makes mechanical engineering exciting.  It’s an survival story that captures the loneliness and desperation of space travel.  It’s a rescue operation that builds the tension to the breaking point over and over again.

It’s so fun!  Mark Watney’s personality is what elevates the novel from boring science-speak to a touching story about one man’s endurance and humor in the face of oblivion.  His logs are funny, occasionally irreverent, and alternately joyous or devastated.  When the book opens up the world so that we get perspectives from NASA and his crew on Hermes, it gets even better!

Honestly, the story is disorienting.  I don’t know enough about space engineering to know if anything he says is accurate, but it sure SOUNDS possible.  So why aren’t we on Mars yet?  Let’s agree to put Andy Weir in charge of NASA – nothing could go wrong with that plan.   Continue reading →