My Top Ten Favorite Australian Words (so far)

10. Esky (a cooler)

9. Bushwalker (a hiker)

8. In the poo (in trouble)

7. Dunny (toilet)

6. Chuck (to throw or toss)

5. Sunnies (sun glasses)

4. No worries (you're welcome)

3. Brilliant!

2. G'day Mate!

1. Cheers!!

The Blue Mountains

First, thank you again for reading my blog. It's fun to share my experiences with you! Since Internet is quite expensive here, my blog posts will come in spurts. I also apologize for any misspellings, for the lack of pictures, and for the lame blog template. I am currently unable to upload photos and have little flexibility in choosing blog layouts at the moment. But thank you for following along :)

I spent the last two days in the Blue Mountains about 2 hours outside of Sydney. Base camp was in Katoomba, a quaint little town built up on one of the mountains. The Blue Mountains National Park is about the size of Holland, and it contains the highest points in Australia (the rest of Australia is quite flat). The Blue Mountains get their name from the eucalyptus trees that inhabit the area, as their leaves give off a blue hue when the sun hits them. Guess what else lives in eucalyptus trees... Koalas! Eucalyptus leaves are the only thing that koalas eat, but the leaves do not give them enough energy, so the koalas have to sleep 19 hours a day. Not a bad life.

Actually, the Blue Mountains are not mountains at all, they are all plateaus. A local Aussie from Katoomba described it by saying "It's like the Grand Canyon... with trees!". All of these trees are part of the temperate rainforest in Australia. Also, Katoomba is an aboriginal word for "A Place of Many Waterfalls" (also known as... Ryann is going to love this place)!

We started the first day with a hike to Wentworth Falls (a 260 meter waterfall named after one of the three explorers who first ventured into the Blue Mountains, excluding the aborigines of course, who have been inhabiting Australia for 40,000 to 60,000 years!). Along the way, we saw kangaroos out in the wild, just grazing in an open meadow. One kangaroo even had a little joey in her pouch! Brandon brought up that the kangaroo is to Australia as the deer is to the United States, meaning that they are fairly common to see out in the wild, tend to hang out and graze close to people, and are hunted for sport.

The kangaroos we saw were Eastern Gray Kangaroos, named for their color and the fact that they live on the East Coast of AUS. In fact, many names for flora and fauna in OZ (another way to refer to AUS) are quite straight-forward and obvious. The Western Gray Kangaroo is gray in color and can be found on the West Coast. The Red Kangaroo is red in color and lives in the Red Center of Australia. Furthermore, the squiggly gum tree is a gum tree that has squiggles in it's bark. These squiggles are made by moths.

On the hike down to Wentworth Falls, our guide pointed out lemon tea trees and peppermint trees, both of which have leaves that smell just like lemon and peppermint and are used to make teas, yum! Our guide also showed us numerous funnel-web spiders nests right along the trail. If you remember from an earlier post, the funnel-web spiders in Australia are the most poisonous of their kind. They do not like the sunlight, so they burrow down into the leaves and pine straw, creating a funnel out of their web (more obvious naming) with an opening the size of a dime. They usually don't come out in the daytime unless provoked.

An aside, venturing into the Blue Mountains was my first trek into the bush. Our guide was very strict and made sure that we understood that the dangers of the bush are very real- snakes, spiders, falling trees, getting lost, etc). You can die from a funnel-web spider bite within two hours, if not sooner, and it takes about that time for any emergency aid to get to you. Nowadays, falling trees and branches are the number one killer of bushwalkers. When there is little rainfall, like in the summer months, the eucalyptus trees stay alive by storing all of their water in their trunks and shedding their dried out branches. There is also a bug that eats out the inside of the eucalyptus trees and kills them, but there is no way to identify which trees have been affected until they fall.

After hiking to Wentworth Falls (a medium level hike that I think would be labeled "difficult" in the States), we ventured over to a lookout of the Three Sisters and Solitary Mountain, two famous plateaus/outcroppings of rocks. It was beautiful!! After climbing down into the rainforest valleys, we took the Scenic Railway back to the top. The Scenic Railway is the steepest railway in the world, and was originally made to haul coal up from the coal mines that are dug through the mountains. The mines are no longer active.

In the evening there was a vintage car show in the Katoomba City Square. We wandered through there for a while, and it was neat because most of the car owners were dressed in period wear, like from the 1930's. It was fabulous! Brandon and I spotted a 1931 Ford Model A Sport Coupe, which is nearly the same as Georgia Tech's mascot, the Ramblin' Reck (a 1930 Ford Model A Sport Coupe). But the 1931 Ford at the car show wasn't as nearly as awesome as the Ramblin' Reck, mainly because this particular Ford was red and black... VOM! The car show ended with a swing dance under a big white tent and with the sun setting over the Blue Mountains from Cahill's Lookout, which Brandon and I literally ran to so that we didn't miss the sun dip behind the mountains.

On the second day in Katoomba, Brandon and I went ABSEILING AND CANYONING! What an extreme adventure! I still can't believe that I did this. I'd never heard of abseiling before, but it's similar to repelling. You get hooked onto a rope at the top of a cliff, and you abseil to the bottom, or to the next ledge. The day trip ended with an abseiling off of Empress Falls, a 30 meter waterfall!

So we joined a group of six travelers and two guides, all around our ages. The male guide Tim was, mmmmm Aussie. Also in our group were Nick from New Zealand who is interning in Sydney for Merril Lynch, Sarah from Ireland who quit her two jobs back home to travel for a year in Australia, another Nick who's a local from Sydney, and Biorn from Belgium. We practiced abseiling on a 3 meter dry cliff, then we moved to a 20 meter dry abseil, and then a 30 meter abseil (7 abseils in the morning among these three cliffs). On the 30 meter abseil, you spend the last 20 meters hanging in mid air as the cliff face is too far underneath for your rope to reach. So you just slide down the rope to the ground whilst looking out at the vast expanses of temperate rainforest and tall plateaus. Heaven.

Here's some terminology for you- the guided standing at the top who hooks you in is the "chucker", and the guide who stands at the bottom with the safety rope is the "catcher". So you chuck and you catch. I very much enjoyed being chucked over a cliff. Hah and the first person to abseil is always called the "knot tester".

We took a break for lunch and then put on these awful (I mean wonderful) wet suits. They were extremely thick and difficult to put on and move in. It reminded me of putting on the LZR for swim meets. And of course we were dripping sweat while pulling these on, but it all just makes the frigid canyon river water more appealing. The wet suit did the trick though- it was very warm and protective from rocks in the river. After "slipping" into our wetsuits, we threw our dry packs onto our backs and went canyoning, which means slipping, sliding, jumping, and crawling through the river deep in the canyon. At some points you had to jump down 3 meters into the water to proceed to the next part of the river. It was super fun, but it was also tough to swim with the wetsuit, tennis shoes, and the backpack, so it was a bit unnerving.

And then you get to the waterfall.

And the only way down the waterfall is to abseil over the edge.

Yes, you put your feet right on the lip of the cliff where the water is rushing over. In the first two meters off the lip, the rock dips under, so you jump backward from the lip, swing under the waterfall, and plant your feet on the dry rock underneath the overhang. But this is only a brief respite, as the rest of the abseil you are proceeding down the 30 meter waterfall with water pounding on your head and only slippery, slimy rocks to place your feet on. It was crazy fun!

There are parts that I don't remember from this abseil, mainly because I was so focused. I kept telling myself out loud to sit back, since I needed to apply a lot of weight to the rope to get it to slide through the Figure 8 Ring, since the wet rope created way more friction than the dry ropes earlier in the day. I remember about half way down the waterfall that I was forgetting to breath haha, but other than that it was just pounding water :) And then when there were only 4 meters to go, the Catcher called out to jump, and that's when I pushed off of the waterfall backward, let go of the rope with both of my hands, and landed in the pool of water at the base of the waterfall. Pure ecstasy!

Side note: the guides said that I had the best waterfall abseil of the day, like a pro :) All of the other guys face-planted on their way down, one guy even flipped upside-down! Face-planting happens when your feet slip off of the rock and you swing into the cliff face first. At Empress Falls, this happens so often due to the slippery rocks that the face-plant has been dubbed the Empress Salmon, because you end up sliding down the waterfall on your belly, with your hands pressed to your sides, face against the cliff. Fun stuff to watch!

Welcome to the Land of OZ: Sydney, Australia

It's the end of my second day in Australia, and I must say that I LOVE it! Sydney is so refreshing! It's a clean and bustling city with tall office skyscrapers as well as buildings with an old English feel. Darling Harbor and Circular Quay are two of my favorite spots, both during the day and at night. From Circular Quay you can access the Botanical Gardens, the Harbor Bridge (built in the 1930s), and the city's famous icon- the Sydney Opera House. Sydney also has several large, beautiful sandy beaches that have been carved into cliffs by deep-blue water and the biggest waves I have seen.

I enjoy walking along George Street in the mornings and watching the Aussies commute to work. This includes train, metro, the bus (there are more of them on the street than cars), taxis, by foot, and on ferries across the harbor! I am fantasizing about working in Australia, and I hope that Deloitte can send me there on an extended project :)

The Aussies are extremely friendly people. So kind and helpful to travelers and tourists. Before I left the States, a friend Mr. Wuttke from Adelaide, Australia described the fashion in AUS as "grundgy". I must say... it is, and I LOVE it! Styles are not as clean cut here. In fact, there really are no styles- anything goes. Most of the Aussie women are not done up either, hardly wearing any make-up and rarely have their hair done. It's all very simple. I really like the relaxed attitude, I feel like I fit in.

Sydney is expensive. The US dollar and the AUS dollar are 1:1. However in Sydney, the prices are double and portions are halved. Think about a typical burger and fries that you can get at a tavern in Atlanta for $12. At a local Sydney grill, this meal costs $24, and you don't get the fries. I've been eating mostly sandwiches from street cafes and bakeries for lunch and dinner, while snacking on granola bars and fruit from the grocery store. There is really no Australia cuisine (other than beer and wine), but I am hoping to try some kangaroo meat and emu meat while I am here.

Things that I've done so far in Sydney include:

-Saw a show at the Sydney Opera House one night

-Walked across the Harbor Bridge for a fantastic view of Circular Quay

-Took a ferry across the harbor to Taronga Zoo to see kangaroos, koalas, and Tasmanian devils

-Visited the Sydney Olympic Pool (check!)

-Got lost in the alleys and back streets in the Rocks, a local shopping, cafe, and bar district

-Wandered along Circular Quay, a tourist hot spot, as well as George Street and the Queen Victoria Building

-Body surfed and BBQ'd at Coogee Beach

-Walked the 3.6 miles from Coogee Beach to the famous Bondi Beach along the soaring cliffs and crashing waves

-Watched surfers at Bondi Beach

Going to the Land Down Under

I'm currently on the plane, about to land in Sydney, Australia! I am traveling with a friend from school, Brandon Kearse. We have planned to explore Australia and New Zealand for about a month (I think I may stay longer). We got stuck in L.A. for a few days trying to get a flight out to AUS, but it was nice to explore the Los Angeles area - Santa Monica, Hollywood and the Walk of Fame, and Manhattan Beach.

Recommended by friends from school, Pete Johnson and Tyler Jackson, on two separate occasions, I am reading the novel In A Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson while I am in Australia. Several of my posts will probably have quotes from his book. He is a brilliant author!

The flight to Australia is 15 hours, but we arrive as if we had been flying for 39 hours. Crossing the International Date Line adds 24 hours to our day. We left L.A. on Jan 25 and are arriving on Jan 27. we didn't experience Jan 26 in the air (as our flight is only 15 hours), but it is as if we never lived it. I will never see Jan 26, 2011. Crazy! Imagine the pilots and crew that fly this route all the time! They' missing out on so many days.

The even crazier part is that you "get the time back " on the return trip when you cross the International Date Line again. Sure you get the hours back, but not the date itself. Fascinating. Also, on the return trip I get to experience going back in time. The flight leaves Sydney on Feb 23rd at 11:25am, and it arrives in L.A. on Feb 23rd at 6:00am. Crikey!!

So far Brandon and I plan to spend a few days in Sydney and hike the Blue Mountains. We hope to book an excursion to Uluru (Ayer's Rock) in the Red Center of Australia, and also visit Alice Springs, the city that is farthest into the Outback. We then plan to spend ten or so days driving and hiking along the South Island of New Zealand, and then return to northern Australia and visit Brisbane and dive at the Great Barrier Reef. There have been terrible floods in Brisbane though, and the Reef is currently closed to snorkelers and divers, so we'll see how things pan out. We may dive in a different area, or go explore Melbourne (the Australian Open is currently going on there), or explore the North Island of New Zealand.

Now I am going to let Bill Bryson tell you a bit about Australia:

"Australia is the world's sixth largest country, and it's largest island. It is the only island that is also a continent, and the only continent that is also a country. It is the first continent conquered by the sea, and the last. It is the only nation that began as a prison.

It is the home of the largest living thing on earth, the Great Barrier Reef, and of the largest monolith, Ayer's Rock (or Uluru to use it's now-official, more respectful Aboriginal name). It has more things that will kill you than anywhere else. Of the world's ten most poisonous snakes, all are Australian. Five of it's creatures- the funnel web spider, box jellyfish, blue-ringed octopus, paralysis tick, and stone fish- are the most lethal of their type in the world. Eighty percent of all that lives in Australia, plant and animal, exists nowhere else. Australia is the driest, flattest, hottest, most desiccated, infertile, and climatically aggressive of all the inhabited continents. (Only Antarctica is more hostile to life).

In short, there is no place in the world like it."

What is it like to stand in the shadow of the Great Sphinx?

Soon after celebrating the beginning of 2011, I jumped on an airplane with good friend and sorority sister Kelly, along with her mom and dad, for a week-long trip to Egypt. With our packed schedule, we were able to see so much in Egypt in our short amount of time. Below is a synopsis of our itinerary followed by few of my thoughts and learnings while in Egypt.

Day 1: Flight into Cairo. Upon exiting the airport, my first thought was "the air smells so sweet!", and it really did, I still don't know why. The winter climate in Egypt is dry and warm during the day, chilly at night. We checked into our hotel where we enjoyed a small dinner and prepared for busy week. I decided to read the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini during my time in Egypt. It was really neat to read about the Middle East while experiencing it. Hosseini used many Arabic words in his novel that I would use and hear on the streets!

Day 2: Breakfast and pick-up at our hotel by our guide Waleed and driver Yaser. Waleed was 22 like Kelly and myself, he majored in Egyptology at university, and he loves his job as a tour guide. He is dedicated to his customers and to his country. Though Yaser did not speak English, his friendly and comical personality definitely showed.

Waleed took us to Memphis (the capital of old Egypt) to see the largest statue of Ramses II (yes, the Ramses from the time of Moses, "Let my people go"). Then we went to the Step Pyramid of Zoser, the first pyramid built in Egypt. Did you know that there are 99 pyramids in Egypt? Finally we ventured to the Great Pyramids of Giza and the Great Sphinx!! It also rained in Cairo on this day, for the first time in 8 months! It was a short rain though, but they were huge and cold rain drops! We ended the day by watching the light show at the pyramids.

Day 3: We spent the morning at the Egyptian Museum where we got to see the entire King Tut collection, including is solid gold mask and giant sarcophagus. Then we went to Old Cairo to see a few churches and synagogues. One of the Churches was where the Holy Family stayed during their three months in Egypt. We ended the day with a little night sailing down the Nile (I reached over the side of the boat to touch the Cradle of Civilization)!

Day 4: Took an overnight train to Luxor in the south where we were met by our guide Mohammed, who likes to go by the nickname Super Mo. Here we toured the Valley of Kings where many tombs of old Egyptian kings have been discovered (King Tut's is the most recent find in the 1960's, and it is famous because it was still mostly in tact and not pilfered by grave robbers, probably because it is underneath the tomb of Ramses IV). Then we went to The Temple of Hatshepsut, where once the Nile flowed right up to it's stairs and created a green and lush paradise. Finally we toured through the Temple of Karnak and the Temple of Luxor.

Day 5: We took the overnight train back to Cairo, and Waleed picked us up from the train station. We spent the morning back at the Great Pyramids, taking pictures, climbing up a few levels of the limestone bricks, and simply marveling at their creation and existence. We spent the afternoon shopping around at the bazaars, which included my purchase of an Egyptian cotton scarf and a stone inlaid backgammon board.

We went to the airport that night to fly back to the US, however the airline did not put any standbys on the flight, even though the plane left with 40 open seats (there were five standbys...). According to a fellow standby named Dave, they put all of the ticket passengers on the plane, then load up the rest with cargo. Dave had been trying to get on a flight for the last three days. This resulted in a frustrating purchase of a ticket home for all of us. Dave brought us back to his dormitory/apartments where other missionaries and non-profit workers stay. They had a few empty units that they generously let us use for the night. Dave had been volunteering in Cairo for the last 8 months, helping a local company with their accounting and financial practices. He was so wonderful to take us in for the night.

Day 6: Bonus day! Spent some time in the neighborhood where Dave lived while in Cairo, then we went to the airport and boarded our flight home.

Impressions and Findings:

-Only 4% of Egypt is inhabited by people, and it's all along the Nile River. The other 96% is desert. "Lower Egypt" is in the north, and "Upper Egypt" is in the south. It's based on the direction that the Nile flows, south to north, as the Nile River delta is in the north.

-Egypt is 90% Muslim, so it is very prominent across the county. Almost all of the women where hijabs to cover their heads, as well as long sleeves and long pants, even in this hot desert environment. I kept forgetting that the Hebrews, Abraham's and Moses's people, lived in Egypt. Now there are only 42 Jewish families in Cairo.

-Poverty is prevalent in Egypt. The streets of Cairo are dirty and smelly, but it was ok wit me, it remind me of China. The largest industries in Egypt are tourism, petroleum, and the Suez Canal. Many Egyptians make their livelihood out of tips, so it is very common to have bathroom attendants, people asking to help with your luggage, etc.

-Cairo is the largest city in Egypt. I don't remember the square kilometers, but there are 85 million people living in Cairo, which is more than twice the population in New York City! While Cairo is a dusty and busy city with no apparent traffic laws, traffic lights, or traffic lanes, Luxor in the south is a calm, quiet, and lush city nestled along the banks of the wider Nile. Luxor even had palm trees and fresh air!

-The Great Pyramids of Giza were fascinating! Built by father, son, and grandson, the tombs of these pharaohs lie under the ground, not within the pyramid. The pyramid is simply a topper on the tomb, like a headstone. Well, a giant headstone! Some believe the building of the pyramids was an extension of the pharaoh's search for immortality. Well, didn't they succeed. We are still speaking their names and telling their stories today.

The city of Cairo is built right up the to pyramids, there's no need to drive far into the desert as I had thought we would. The pyramids were build around 2500 B.C. and there are intriguing theories surrounding their construction. I am fascinated by the fact that the pyramids are 4500 years old. That 's more than twice as long as we've known Jesus as a man! It's just incredible to touch something that old. My favorite quote from the trip is "Man fears time, time fears the Pyramids".

-Standing in the shadow of the Great Sphinx was one of the most humbling experiences. The Great Sphinx has seen Cleopatra, Caesar, Alexander the Great, and Napoleon! All I could think of was "I am not worthy!". It's also interesting that the Great Sphinx was buried completely under sand for some time before being uncovered the last century.

-The Valley of Kings was one of my favorite visits. It was fantastic walking down into the tombs, thinking about the workers who carved and painted that hundreds of hieroglyphics and murals over the walls and ceilings. The color and carvings are still so prominent and vibrant. interestingly, the Christians hid in these tombs during the persecutions, and they defaced several of the paintings because they didn't agree to the paganism. It's sad that pictures so old and precious was destroyed by people of my faith. It's hard to wrap my mind around it.

-The Temple of Hatshepsut was wonderful! Hatshepsut was the first female ruler, and she gained the title in her own right, being the daughter of the pharaoh rather than marrying into the family. Her temple is carved into a cliff and surrounded by tombs of nobles. Hatshepsut refused to be considered a queen. She had her tomb built and is buried in the Valley of Kings rather than the Valley of Queens. She wore a fake beard like the men, and made sure that statues carved in her likeness included the beard.

There's a crumbled temple right next to Hatshepsut's that has little remaining. It was built with mud bricks and belonged to a male king who challenged Hatshepsut that she couldn't build a grander temple. Well guess what, she built hers much bigger and right next to his, and she built it out of stone. It still stands today. What a woman!

Sadly when Hatshepsut died, her own son ordered all of her statues to be destroyed. He was so embarrassed of her as a female king that he wanted to erase her name from history. He was unsuccessful.

-Dave was telling me of the theory as to why Egypt is such a humid city in the middle of the desert. There are air conditioning units on almost every window in the city. The moisture created by these units has made the city air humid. Interesting!

To wrap up, here are some notes about statues of pharaohs:

-The statues are built with the left leg forward because that is the side of the body where the heart is, and this symbolizes immortality.

-A statue of a pharaoh with a straight beard means that the statue was carved when the pharaoh was still living. A statue of a pharaoh with a curved beard means that the statue was carved when the pharaoh was no longer alive.

-The pointed hat represents Lower Egypt while the draping headdress over the shoulders represents Upper Egypt. Statues of pharaohs wearing both represents the union of Upper and Lower Egypt.

What is a Life Break?

With my December graduation from Georgia Tech approaching, I contemplated if I wanted to start work right away. While I like to hit the ground running, especially since I'm starting a career, I decided to ask companies that I was interviewing with for a delayed start date. The original plan was to find a professional internship abroad or work on the International Olympic Committee (which is still one of my life dreams). Soon, thoughts evolved to volunteering with a non-profit group in another country, either working directly with the people the organization serves or working on internal system improvements.

After some research and seeking advice from some of my mentors, I decided to take a Life Break. When will I ever be able to pursue my passion for traveling with no strings attached? I've got two college degrees, a job lined up for July, no apartment or house to pay rent on, no romantic relationship to worry about (not that I wouldn't love to have one), so why not just leave the country and indulge in my passion for traveling? I am certainly going to miss friends and family back home, but the time is right, so I am going to embrace it. Here goes traveling for the next 7 months, sprinkled by visits back home. By the time I am done, I will have been to all of the continents (except Antarctica) in my life. It's not a Christmas Break, or a Spring Break, but a Life Break. Game on!

Here's the tentative itinerary:

Jan 2-8, Egypt

Jan 14-16, Chicago

Jan 23-Feb 23, Australia and New Zealand

Mar 13-Apr 9, Chile

May, June, July for Alaska, Spain, Greece, and maybe Ukraine :)

Euro Trip 2010

In May of 2010, I backpacked through Europe with my wonderful friend Agatha as a celebration of our undergraduate graduations from Georgia Tech. While I did not keep a blog during the trip, I would like to begin this blog by sharing some of our stories. We left the States on a flight to Zurich without a planned flight home and a loose idea of what we wanted to see.

Zurich, Switzerland:

Ag and I landed in Zurich and were met in the airport by a great friend of mine Jeff Vogeli. Jeff showed us around Zurich that day, i bought lots of Swiss chocolate, and we went to Jeff's family's home where Ag and I stayed for a few nights.

Bern, Switzerland:

A lovely day trip to the capital of Switzerland, the city of bears! Warm and sunny weather during the day, beautiful river winding it's way around the city.

Lucerne, Switzerland:

Rainy and cold, but Ag and I braved the weather with our spiffy ponchos. We looked so great that we even got laughed at by a little boy. We saw the sleeping lion and explored the castle where we were fascinated by the bell tower.

St. Gallen, Switzerland:

We visited Jeff at his university and stayed at his flat for the night. Jeff cooked us a fantastic dinner that we shared with his flat mates friends.

Munich, Germany:

Ag and I spent one day in Munich, arriving on the morning train and leaving on the midnight train. We stored our bags at the train station and saw several churches, ate lunch at the Augustiner (beer, brats with lots of mustard, kraut, and big pretzels), and spent the evening at the crazy fun Haufbrauhaus for more and more beer, good times, and making friends. We stumbled our way to the train station a bit before midnight, complete with a stop to get ice cream along the way!

Lublijana, Slovenia:

Ag and I spent time in Slovenia visiting Vida, a fellow swimmer on the Georgia Tech team. We stayed with her at her family's farm, saw beautiful mountain scenery and waterfalls, and went to mass at the Catholic Church on their property (yes, mass was in Slovenian, so cool).

Bled, Slovenia:

One of our favorite places! A gorgeous village nestled in snow-capped mountains and surrounding a clear blue lake with an island in the middle topped by a beautiful stone church. We hiked outside of Bled to Vintgar Gorge that was carved by ice cold crystal blue water!

Zagreb, Croatia:

Spent some time in this capital city of Croatia, then caught a bus to Plitvice Lakes National Park (another favorite of the trip). Plitvice is a large, multiple-elevation lake that is connected by waterfall after waterfall. The foot path winds along and across the lakes that change in color depending on the current mineral content. The tall waterfall at the end of the hike was spectacular!

Split, Croatia:

We took a train down to southern Croatia to the beach town of Split. It's a quaint city with lots of character, built inside the walls of Diocletian's palace, which served as this Ancient Roman's summer getaway. We passed the days at the rock beach, swam in the Aegean Sea, and ate amazing sea food!

Budapest, Hungary:

My favorite city of the trip, mainly because I felt a sense of belonging from the time I first set foot in the city. These people looked like my family members! We took a walking tour, learning about the churches, castles, and bridges, and then passed the afternoon at a Hungarian Bath House. It was heaven with so many therapeutic pools of varying temperatures. Glad we saved this stop for the end of the trip when we were sore and tired from all of our walking. We ate Hungarian Gulash every night with paprika, yum!

Prague, Czech Republic:

I felt a sense of belonging here as well. It was neat to hear my last name pronounced in it's original tongue. Here we explored the city and churches, went on a bar crawl and to the famous five-story dance club, and bought crystal vases as souvenirs. I bid Ag farewell from Prague, as I returned to the US to start my summer internship with Accenture while she stayed to visit her grandmother in Poland and meet up with fellow GT swimmer Kelsey in Spain.

Let the Blogging Begin!

Welcome to my travel blog! Thank you for your interest in following my adventures around the globe. It is going to be a pleasure to share my experiences and joys with you from countries across the world. Let the games begin!

The goal:

To see as many places and experience as many cultures as possible in my lifetime. Simple, straightforward, and there's plenty of room for creativity, right?

The inspiration:

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

I am blessed to have had a rich travel experience growing up. Trips to numerous USA National Parks, to Italy, to Switzerland, and on a mission trip in Jamaica were fantastic starting points. Thanks Mom and Dad!

My study abroad trip during the summer of 2008 to Singapore and China was the first time I traveled without my family, and to put it simply, this trip only whetted my appetite to see more and do more than I ever imagined before!

So here I am... with an insatiable desire to explore, to dream, and to discover!