My fellow foodies will understand my sincerity when I say this: I didn’t know what Chicago Restaurant Week even was until a few months ago, but after partaking this month, it has become my version of the Super Bowl. I will still enjoy going out to eat in Chicago, finding deals and happy hours and…
As a travel photographer, I’m a sucker for an Instagrammable storefront probably a bit more than the next person, and there is surely no shortage of them in a city as gorgeous as Edinburgh! Nearly every street you walk down will have something either stunning or quirky for you to take a snapshot of, from…
In my 1.5 years of traveling abroad full time, I’ve gotten very accustomed to planning very chill day trips. A lot of my time is spent in busy cities, or being busy with work, or being stressed about something or other, so when I plan quick visits to new places, I try to keep those…
Bilbao was a city that flew way under my radar up until fall of 2023, when my friends and I decided to take a road trip to northern Spain. I had zero expectations, but Bilbao somehow exceeded them fully! We visited the city just for one full day, but I honestly fell in love with…
There’s nothing quite like cruising down the highway with your friends in the hills of Andalusia, singing your favorite songs, staring out the window at the cows and olive trees flying by, knowing you’re on your way to fill your bellies with tapas and wine for the weekend. That’s exactly how I spent Thanksgiving weekend…
Córdoba is a gorgeous city in southern Spain known for its unique mix of cultures, incredible food, and beautiful architecture. This Andalusian city has a mixture of Roman, Moorish, and Spanish influences and a rich history dating back to the 2nd century. If (and hopefully when) you find yourself in southern Spain, Córdoba definitely needs…
I took a day trip to Basel on a whim during my week of Christmas market adventures, and I am SO glad I did! Basel is a gorgeous city in Switzerland on the borders of Germany and France, in a perfect location to visit from either country. It sits on the river Rhine and is…
Colmar at Christmastime is exactly what you’d imagine a fairytale holiday to be. The town itself already looks like it’s made of gingerbread, so naturally it really comes to life during the Christmas season. This quaint storybook town is the perfect backdrop for an array of festive decorations and Christmas market stalls–it’s truly a dream,…
If you’re looking to visit a picture-perfect French city that goes all-out for Christmas (and the whole holiday season), Strasbourg needs to be on your list! This city is the capital of the Alsace and Grand Est region, and is famous for its Gothic architecture, rich history, and eclectic culture. Plus, they call it “the…
I’ve wanted to visit Heidelberg since my mom started traveling there for work years ago, so when deciding which cities and countries I wanted to visit for the holidays this year, Heidelberg was at the top of my list! A small German city with quaint streets, gorgeous architecture, and Christmas markets galore? Sign me up….
I spent the month of May in Montreal exploring the city on my own, eating plates of poutine and wandering down cobblestone streets and admiring the incredible springtime scenery. Montreal is a relatively average city, about double the size of Boston but less than half the size of London. It’s extremely walkable (I definitely don’t…
While I only got to spend about two weeks in Poland, Kraków easily became one of my favorite cities I’ve visited so far! For me, the city was a great size; big enough to take trams around but not so big that it was overwhelming, with quite a bit to see just by walking around…
“For ever let this place be a cry of despair and a warning to humanity, where the Nazis murdered about one and a half million men, women, and children, mainly Jews from various countries of Europe.” Auschwitz-Birkenau, 1940-1945 ✰✰✰ Before visiting Poland and touring Auschwitz-Birkenau, I didn’t know what to expect. Of course I had…
Like most people, I’m a sucker for a gorgeous old European town, and Bratislava ranks pretty high on my list! I’ve always been very drawn to Baroque and Gothic architecture, so this city definitely checked off those boxes for me. I’m also much more drawn to smaller, walkable cities because they’re less crowded and easier…
When looking for fun things to do in and around Bratislava, we found a farm stay on Airbnb that looked wildly popular. Granted, there wasn’t a whole lot to do in the area, but the reviews looked phenomenal and we were looking for a fun weekend trip, so we reached out to the hosts. Initially,…
After a couple hours of driving around Vienna taking in all the sights that crisp spring afternoon had to offer, we hopped off the bus in search of one thing: lunch. I, specifically, was in search of one thing in particular: schnitzel. I had amazingly never tried it before, and yes, I knew it was…
When my step-sister and I planned out our five months of international travels, we knew we would need a relaxation break at some point. We were staying in a new city every month, traveling from country to country, sightseeing as much as possible in limited amounts of time. We wanted to experience as much as…
If you’re visiting Sicily, one of the absolute best things to do (besides eating your body weight in pasta, pizza, and cannoli) is taking a tour of Mt. Etna! It’s one of the world’s most active volcanos, and while you can see it from afar in tons of towns in the area, nothing compares to…
Traveling abroad full-time has given me the incredible opportunity to see some amazing places all over the world, and doing so has sparked a love of architecture within me. I’ve always found interest in different architectural styles, but getting to photograph so many different beautiful buildings and landmarks has been a really cool creative outlet…
If you had asked me five years ago where I imagined myself traveling in my twenties, I probably would have listed twenty countries before Hungary. Honestly, it wasn’t even on my radar until less than a month before I traveled there–but after visiting (and spending a whole month there), I can’t imagine Budapest not being…
Stepping out of the bar into the brisk January air, I felt warmer than ever. Twinkling lights surrounded us, setting alight the streets filled with other groups of friends on their way to find their next pint. Raspy voices could be heard crooning into microphones every time a pub door opened, inviting in the drunk…
Simply put, Belfast was a dream. I’ve wanted to explore the UK and Ireland more than any other area since I knew I wanted to travel, and when my friends reached out last year wanting to visit the UK for a month I couldn’t have been happier. Unsurprisingly, Belfast, Northern Ireland was decently cheaper to…
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I LOVE guided bus tours! I think they’re an incredible way to explore new areas without the added stress of planning the trip yourself. There are so many options no matter what country or city you visit, and this tour in particular was one of my…
I’m a huge proponent of taking guided tours when traveling to new places–why stress out about planning your own excursions and tours when you could spend nearly the same amount of money and have someone do it for you? I’ve taken guided tours in almost every single city and country I’ve been to, and I…
I put my suitcase on the luggage rack and slumped into my seat on the tram, finally able to stretch my legs a bit and relax. It was around 8:00pm, already dark outside, and I had a 30 minute ride plus a 30 minute walk to my apartment, hoping my re-used UK SIM card didn’t…
Walking through winding city streets, crossing bridges and busy streets, we were eager to make our way to the famous Villa Borghese Gardens for a bit of natural scenery–what we weren’t expecting was to find an incredible oasis in the middle of the biggest city in Italy. It was as if the surrounding noise of…
The end-of-summer sun beat down on my bare arms as I leaned my back against the bridge, just as brutal in September as it was in July. My hair was hot to the touch as I brushed a few strands away from my face, content with my chosen resting spot overlooking the Arno River. Unwrapping…
As we pulled our suitcases down the steep cobblestone hill for the last time, passing by the weathered pastel buildings home to wine shops, produce markets, and souvenirs galore, I reveled in the fact that there was no one around yet. No tourists arriving for their vacations, no vans honking at pedestrians to give way…
I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face if I tried to that day. My jacket and shirt were soaked through, and my hair had probably never looked worse, but I sat in a restaurant full of chattering Italians listening to a new friend order food and wine for the table as if we’d known…
When we chose our home-base for our six weeks in England, we knew we wanted to stay in a city that was far enough away from London that we’d be able to relax, not being right in the center of a huge city. Leicester was the only place with an Airbnb cheap enough to fit…
I turned 26 (ew) during the last week in July, and all I wanted for my birthday was to see Scotland–so that’s what we did! Scotland and Ireland have both been at the top of my travel bucket list for many years, and I would’ve been insane not to visit at least one of them…
The one thing my mom wanted to do on our parents’ trip to visit me and Amanda in England was to explore the Cotswolds. Granted, there are about 800 square miles of land that make up the Cotswolds, but she did her research for weeks to find a town truest to the *English countryside aesthetic*…
Day 5 of our sightseeing trip across southern England was spent on a guided tour of Stonehenge and Bath. We figured that instead of trying to find the cheapest trains and buses and make as few changes as possible to get ourselves there, we might as well just take a tour and have someone else…
We got to Watford in the late morning on day 3 of our trip, and we stayed in another super walkable area. We had a little bit more planned out for our two days here, so it was nice to have more of a timeline for both our activities and free time. We had one…
If you know me at all, you know how big of a deal this tour was for me. If you don’t know me, the fact that I cried tears of joy while riding Harry Potter and The Forbidden Journey at Universal Studios as a full-grown, 23 year old adult should tell you everything you need…
I’m currently staying in central England for about six weeks with my step-sister Amanda, but at the start of July, our parents flew out to visit and take us sightseeing throughout London, Bath, and Bourton-on-the-Water. We spent eight days exploring new cities and all the food, sights and history they had to offer, and I’m…