Backpacking through Europe for a month has been wild. We’ve bounced our way through eight different countries in only a month and it’s been such a whirlwind. Moving from hostels and Airbnbs so frequently has forced me to really perfect my packing strategy. To avoid packing and unpacking my entire backpack every time I change …
I was so excited to come to Paris! I just wanted to eat Macarons and French Onion Soup and crepes and baguettes and croissants all day. It’s home to the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame and Disneyland Paris, and I’m sure you already know why people are excited about Paris. After only three hours …
I always knew that our year traveling the world would go by too fast. I try to cherish every second in every city because I don’t know if or when I’ll be back. I try to limit myself from saying things like “I can’t wait till…” because the year is going fast enough without wishing …
Back in June, we were two drinks into happy hour at Stout (our favorite Chicago bar) when we hopped on our laptops and registered for the Budapest Marathon. We had intended to try to run a few marathons abroad and Budapest fell perfectly in the month we planned to be in Europe. We probably would …
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 …
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 …
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 …
The technology for this trip was easily the most expensive part of our packing list. Because of that, we put a lot of thought and planning into what we wanted to purchase and bring with us. It needed to be reliable, small and multi-functional. Not only did we need physical devices, we also needed to …