The Adventure Begins! Exploring the Baltic Captial My first thought when I stepped out of the airport in Vilnius, Lithuania, was, “It’s cold.” Indeed, no amount of internet research and mental pep talks could have sufficiently prepared me for the frigid weather that greeted me. After the shock of the weather had left my system, …
Category Archives: Travel
And That’s A Wrap
It’s been two weeks now since the program ended, and I write this final post back at my house, surrounded by my family, my cats, and a roaring fire to fight the Illinois cold. The program ended in a blur after arriving to Baños for our final retreat. While there, we took some time to …
Solo Trip: Nara Edition
One goal I had for my time here in Japan was to embark on a weekend solo trip. Thanks to Japan’s transportation system, agreeable prices, and the normalcy of being alone, this trip was easily made possible. I wanted to share an overview of my experience! Planning I’d actually picked Nara as my travel destination …
Fall Travels in Japan
I originally planned to study abroad next semester in the spring, but as this semester comes to an end, I couldn’t be happier I chose the fall semester. Autumn in Japan is beautiful. I’m accustomed to Midwest falls that start in September, followed by a temperature drop in October. Here in Japan, until around mid-to-late …
Treasured memories: my time on the UK DiscoverIES field trips
A few weeks before I left for my semester in London, I was sent the UK DiscoverIES field trip sign up. For IES London, the field trips were to Bath and Stonehenge, Canterbury and Dover, Windsor, Edinburgh, and Oxford. At first, I was hesitant to go on many of them because I knew that there …
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Temples, Terai, and Tranquility
On paper, a month can sound like a long time, but based on how fast my time in Morocco flew, I was determined to squeeze every last drop out of my month ahead in Nepal right from the moment our plane landed, and fortunately our orientation gave us an exciting insight for just how much …
Does traveling with your parents really conquer homesickness?
An overarching struggle that many students seem to face while studying abroad is homesickness. This could be triggered from various things such as illness, seeing a dog that reminds you of your dog, something going wrong while traveling, and the list goes on. One thing that I was really nervous about upon entering my abroad …
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Morocco Vol. II
You never really realize how much you’ve missed the quiet — the type that comes only from being in nature — until you’re finally experiencing it again. After spending two weeks in the heart of San Francisco, flying to Morocco, and then spending two more weeks in some of the largest urban areas, it was …
Life in Japan, so far
Inuyama, orientation week, dorm or homestay?, & Kanazawa こんにちは！Since you last heard from me, I’d made it into Nagoya. IES orientation week went great; I was able to meet everyone in the program, do some sightseeing, and had the incredible privilege of a nice hotel room to myself for the duration of orientation. Inuyama. On …
Speedrunning Tokyo
36 hours in Tokyo & how we spent it At the end of September, my friend and I set off for a weekend in Tokyo. To get there, I booked us overnight bus seats. It’s a cheaper, though lengthier and less scenic, convenient alternative to taking the Shinkansen (bullet train). We boarded at 11PM on …
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