We got into Krakow at 8 AM after taking the over-night train from Vienna. It was nine hours on a stop-and-go train, that was running an hour late (ask me how I feel about train logistics, I dare you), with crappy sleep in 20 minute increments. We hadn’t showered and our walk to the hostel …
I walk into a coffee shop in Prague and the barista is chatting in Czech with the customer in front of me about what I assume involves whether she wants her muffin for here or to go. When they’re finished, I smile and say, “Hello.” I do this intentionally, not only because it’s polite, but …
When we were in Medellin for three weeks at the beginning of this trip, I made a comment that I didn’t really feel like a backpacker, yet. Even though I had a backpack and was in a different continent, I didn’t feel like I’d earned my stripes. Europe has earned me my backpacker wings. Every …
October First is a holiday I made up to celebrate the start of fall, my favorite season. I realize that Fall technically begins in late September, but September always felt like more of a back-to-school month and it was always too hot in Illinois, anyway, to really feel like fall. The origin of October First …
I can’t actually figure out if I love Prague, or if I love Prague in Fall specifically. Autumn has turned what I’m sure is an already beautiful city and painted it with the most stunning reds and sparkling golds and popping yellows. I have walked into a fall fairy tale, and the coming weeks will …
This is our second year in a row at Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany, and we truly love it (obviously, what’s not to love). Even having done my research the first time around, Oktoberfest was not at all what I expected. I couldn’t fully comprehend the size or energy or quality of the festival until I …
If you asked me before we started this year-long trip what my favorite city was, my answer was always “Munich during Oktoberfest or London any other time of year.” The first time I stepped off the train and into Marienplatz, I just fell in love with the city. After making our way through many amazing …