independent, intentional travel
A great view from spending Christmas in Salzburg
While we traveled around Germany, Austria, and Italy for almost 2 weeks around the holidays, we spent Christmas in Salzburg. And I learned that being away from your “home” on Christmas definitely comes with some unique challenges. If you’re traveling somewhere that celebrates Christmas, most of the things that might be considered typical tourist destinations will probably be closed.
First things first… [Read more…]
A couple of weeks ago, I returned back to Madrid after the most ambitious Eurotrip I’d planned in years. I think the only other one that comes close was when I went to Dublin, Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam with friends over 10 days while studying abroad. This time, while Matt was visiting for the holidays, we spent nearly two weeks traveling through Germany, Austria, and Italy. [Read more…]
Part of the Cabalgata de Reyes parade
As I sit down to start writing this, it’s nearly a week into January 2019. I’m in my favorite coffee shop with a café con leche (of course) and a ham and cheese croissant (yum). And Christmas music is blasting overhead. Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Last Christmas, Little Drummer Boy – the English classics – as well as Spanish favorites like El Burrito Sabanero, which I’ve only just managed to get out of my head after listening to my third-grade class practice it for weeks. [Read more…]
I’ve been living in Madrid for four months now, and I decided not to go home to Kansas City for Christmas. It was too expensive and I figured the money I would’ve spent could be saved and used for other things (read: other trips).
But that didn’t mean I particularly wanted to spend Christmas totally alone. Most of my friends in Spain were traveling – home or elsewhere – for the holidays. So I went to spend Christmas with my family on this side of the world – with our exchange student from last year, Gaia, and her family in Sardinia, Italy. [Read more…]
Merry Christmas Eve! Our house is busy wrapping the final presents, watching football, and playing in the snow that fell overnight. My Italian sister, Gaia – who joined our family this year through the AFS program – is in the kitchen making tiramisu for Christmas dinner. Since this is Gaia’s first Christmas away from home, I decided to find out her thoughts on the holiday season in the U.S. and how it’s different from where she lives in Sanluri, Sardinia. [Read more…]