“TRAVEL IS ABOUT THE GORGEOUS FEELING OF TEETERING IN THE UNKNOWN.” – Anthony Bourdain
When I was 15, my parents and I took a trip to Europe, my first trip abroad since moving to the U.S. as a baby. My mom and I spent the entire flight to Paris giggling as she made up stories about our fellow passengers. We spent that trip buying touristy knick knacks in Paris and eating gelato in Venice. Ten years later, while she recovered from her bone marrow transplant, we planned trips to the Scottish Highlands, to cafes lining the Bosphorus in Istanbul and remote beaches down south.
My mom dreamed of seeing the world. She also dream a future for me filled with adventure, new experiences and friends…of travel to far corners of the world. I promised her I would do just that, I’d see the world for the both of us.
After months of planning, I am so beyond excited toofficially announced that starting September 1, I’ll be embarking on a year-long trip around the world. I’m first heading to our neighbor in the north, Canada, for a two-month trip that will take me from the cobblestone streets of Quebec to the breathtaking views of Banff National Park to the coastal seaport city of Vancouver.
Next I’m planning a road trip down south, where I’m excited to eat my way through Austin, New Orleans and Nashville. I’m hoping to return to the motherland (Chile) by the end of the year to reconnect with family and get to know the country my mom loved so much.
I hope you’ll join me along this crazy adventure. I’ll be writing about my travels here and will keep everyone posted about where I’ll be. If you have any recommendations for places to visit or if I’ll be in your home city, give me a shout!
A few weeks ago I decided to take a solo day trip up to Portland, ME. I’ve heard great things about the port city in northern New England and I wanted to check it out for myself. Portland is known as one of the up-and-coming foodiest cities in the U.S. and it absolutely does not disappoint.
Hopped on a guided tour and got to see the Portland Head Light, a must see when in town.
When you think of Maine, you probably think of lobster and other seafood, and there’s definitely plenty of that. But, since I’m allergic to shellfish, I opted to stay clear of all things fishy. Portland has a wide variety of restaurants and cafes to satisfy all sorts of cravings.
Food, Food and More Food
My first stop in the city was The Holy Donut on Exchange Street, which is famous for its Maine potato doughnuts. They have a couple of interesting flavors, including maple bacon and pomegranate. I decided to go with the pomegranate. The doughnut was different than others I’ve had in the past…this wasn’t your average Dunkin’ doughnut. It was slightly chewy and the pomegranate gave it a tangy sweet finish that I really liked. I highly recommend popping in (and maybe buying a few flavors to get a real feel for them).
Holy Donut’s pomegranate potato doughnut before I devoured all of it in mere minutes.
There were loads of options when it came to dinner, it took me a while to decide what I was in the mood for. Ultimately, I decided to go to TIQA, a “pan Mediterranean” restaurant near the harbor. I can’t recommend Tiqa enough, the staff is incredibly welcoming and attentive. I chose their homemade ricotta gnocchi with oyster mushrooms, basil pesto and tomatoes. It was like tiny clouds of flavor exploding in your mouth. SO GOOD.
Exploring
I’m typically all for exploring cities by walking around. If a city is walkable, then it’s already winning points in my book. Portland is certainly a very walkable city but since I only had a few hours, I wanted to pack in as much sightseeing as possible. Enter: Portland Discovery Trolley Tours.
I hopped on a Portland and Lighthouse trolley tour ($28 for adults; $19 for kids) and I’m so glad I did. I’m a big history nerd, so it was nice getting some history about Portland and its surrounding areas. We also headed to Portland’s Head Light, which was absolutely beautiful.
Portland Head Light in all of it’s beautiful glory.
Maine has a stunning coastline and Portland’s Head Light perfectly encapsulates the best Maine’s coast has to offer. Its definitely a must see if you visit Portland.
All in all, I recommend visiting Portland. I wish I had a few more hours to explore and eat at more restaurants but it’s definitely doable as a day trip from Boston. Amtrak does cheap train rides from North Station and gets you to Portland in around 2 hours. If you’re planning a longer trip in Maine, I also suggest visiting Bar Harbor, which is one of my top New England destinations.
There are two things I try to be really open about in my life: my love of travel (hello, blog!) and my struggles with anxiety and other mental illnesses.
Anxiety can feel lonely and isolating sometimes. I’ve worked hard to not allow it to hinder my travel.
I’ve had anxiety for most of my life but finally came to terms with the fact that I needed help only a few years ago. Having a therapist has allowed me to recognize that it’s okay to be anxious (she tells me every week that it doesn’t mean I’m crazy) and that there are ways I can control it (although not fully because anxiety is a needy bitch).
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned that I need to find a balance between my desire to see the world and my anxiety. I’ll be the first to say it… traveling with anxiety is HARD. I’m someone who desperately wants to let go but knows I need to have some semblance of control to have a good time.
So how do I do it? Well, let me tell ya…
No. 1: I plan like my life depends on it, because sometimes it feels like it does. I will never be the type of person who goes out and says, “Alright, lets see where the day takes me.” I always plan ahead so I have a good idea of what I want to see and what restaurants I want to check out. I did this when I went to Seattle in February and even my day trip to Providence last month. This doesn’t mean I don’t allow myself to explore outside of my plan, it just means that I have a strategy to avoid any anxiety triggers.
I spent a few hours planning my trip to Portland, which isn’t for another few weeks.
My next day trip is out to Portland, Maine and I actually spent a good chunk of this glorious Sunday planning out where I wanted to go. New places can be really intimidating, especially to someone with anxiety. I feel much less anxious knowing which parts of the city I’m looking forward to visiting and which parts I can just avoid.
No. 2: I tend to travel alone. Okay, so this one is a little complicated. I generally prefer to travel alone because it means not worrying about others having a good time. I can choose to go or not go somewhere without consulting with anyone to see if that’s cool with them. It’s incredibly liberating. It also means that if a place I visit doesn’t turn out how I expected it to, no one but me will know.
On the flip side, when I travel myself, I tend to not go out too late. I was mugged a few years ago when I first moved back to Boston and it left me with some (fairly mild now) PTSD. It’s a part of my anxiety I am hyper aware of and one that I continue to work on with my therapist.
Props to my brother and sister for not murdering me while I made most of the travel decisions during a trip to Europe.
While I typically choose to travel alone, I do still have loads of fun traveling with friends and family. It’s all about balance.
No. 3: I give myself down time. I think this is one of the most important parts of traveling with anxiety. Getting some down time during longer holidays (and even during day trips) lets me process everything that has happened and gives me the opportunity to reassess what I want to do. While I was in Seattle, I purposefully built in random hotel hours during the day to just decompress. It was probably one of the most helpful uses of my time.
These ways of coping with anxiety while traveling won’t work for everyone and that’s okay. Anxiety doesn’t manifest itself the same way for everyone, so it’s good to figure out what works for you when you’re traveling. Most importantly, know that your anxiety doesn’t have to be in your way if you want to see what the world has to offer.
I’d love to hear what other tips fellow travelers have for dealing with anxiety on the road. (And any suggestions for when I head up to Portland next month!)
Last weekend a couple of my friends and I took a day trip to Providence, RI. I was planning to write a 12-hours in Providence post and was fairly excited about it. Unfortunately, the “Creative Capital” had other plans.
I’m going to be honest, it wasn’t my favorite city. I feel like Providence has the potential to be such a vibrant, hip city but it isn’t there just yet. It was weirdly devoid of the amount of people you would expect from a major city and had an abandoned feel to it. Providence felt…empty. But, there are some cool aspects to the city! Here are my top 3.
Walkability
I always enjoy a city that’s walkable. It’s not only good to get your steps in, but I believe you get to see a location better when you can walk around easily. It was pretty quick to get from one part of the city to another by walking. We didn’t use public transportation because we were lucky enough to have my friend’s car, but I’d say you could see most of Providence by walking.
There is one major exception: the Museum of Natural History and Planetarium. The museum was fairly far away from the center of the city and took a solid 20-ish minutes to get to via car. It’s an good spot to visit, especially if you have young children.
Architecture
Providence has lovely architecture. The city touts itself as the “Creative Capital” and I think you can really see that in many of the historic buildings. The Providence Public Library was by far one of my favorites.
The historic Fleur-de-Lys Studios was opened in 1885 in the College Hill neighborhood of Providence.
As we were getting ready to leave the city, my friend pointed out an interesting house near Brown University. The historic Fleur-de-Lys Studios is in the College Hill neighborhood. The building, designed in the Tudor Revival style, stands in stark contrast of the colonial-style buildings surrounding it.
If you ever visit Providence, I definitely recommend doing a tour of all of its historic buildings.
Its Potential
I wasn’t kidding when I said I think Providence has potential to be a really cool city. One of the things I actually loved about the city were the beautiful murals painted on the sides of multiple buildings around town. The murals best captured the city’s claim as the “Creative Capital.”
Providence had several really amazing murals painted throughout the city.
Providence also has the beginnings of being a hip college town. I think it would have been nice to see a vibrant downtown area since it mostly felt sad and empty. However, College Hill was alive with people and shops. It was like visiting a completely different city.
It may be that I visited at an awkward time or that I missed some interesting spots. I’d definitely love to hear if people have recommendations for what I should’ve done or seen while I was there.
So I’ve been sitting on this post for over a week after getting back home from Seattle. You often forget about “the real world” when you’re traveling but life has a good way of smacking you in the face when you come back!
I want to start off this blog post by saying this: If Seattle isn’t on your bucket list of travel destinations, add it now. I have to say, Seattle is, by far, one of the coolest and maybe underrated cities in the US. I am so happy I visited and absolutely plan on visiting again.
If you guys read my last post, you know that this trip was part whim/part honoring my momma after her passing. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from my trip and tried to have little expectations about what I would get out of it. Seattle, by far, exceeded any expectations I had and was exactly what I needed as I navigate life in the wake of my momma’s death.
There are loads of exciting museums and sights to see in Seattle and its many cool, unique neighborhoods. I’m going to talk about what I got to see/do while I was there and share some recommendations. In the coming week, I’ll also drop a post devoted to Seattle’s incredible food scene, so stay tuned for that.
museums and sights, oh my
Seattle is home to some incredible museums that cater to every type of person. Due to my limited budget/time, I visited five museums/hot spots: the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP), the Space Needle, the Chihuly Garden and Glass, Pike Place Market and the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park.
The MoPOP, housed in a cool, modern building, has a number of interesting exhibits from David Bowie and Star Trek to the Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl win. I was lucky to get 1/2 off admission thanks to Seattle’s Museum Month, which is good because I don’t think it was worth its full-ticket value. Don’t get me wrong, the exhibits were fun and informative, but I was left just a bit underwhelmed.
Enjoy my generic ‘I went to the Space Needle’ photo! Haha
The Space Needle has beautiful views and I highly recommend visiting it with a buddy. You’re going to want to take amazing photos with Seattle and Mt. Rainier in the background, so it’s always fun to take those with friends or family. It’s currently under renovation but I don’t think that should stop you from visiting. I highly recommend getting the joint Space Needle/Chihuly ticket because…
The Chihuly Garden and Glass is the most stunning museum I have ever visited. Seriously gorgeous. My eyes were open real wide during the entire time I was there because I just wanted to soak in all the beautiful colors and shapes of the glasswork. It helps that many of the exhibits/rooms are primo Instagram backgrounds!
I wish I could do the colors and shapes justice. The Chihuly is a must visit.
I loved learning how sculptor Dale Chihuly combined his mother’s love of gardens with his love of glasswork. If there’s anything you should absolutely see in Seattle is the Chihuly.
I want to talk briefly about the Pike Place Market here because I’ll be delving more in my upcoming foodie Seattle post. For those of you who have visited Boston’s Faneuil Hall, you’ll have an idea of what Pike Place Market is like.
It has a really cool feel to it, but I’d say it is way less touristy-feeling than Faneuil. Pike Place Market also has some really cool walls, particularly the Gum Wall. It is literally a whole alley way covered in used gum. Sounds gross, is a bit gross but also pretty cool looking. Walking back from the Gum Wall to the market I stumbled upon a wall covered in some fun posters and artwork. It was there that I took perhaps my silliest but also my favorite selfie.
This was appropriately taken on Monday, my last day in Seattle.
On my last day, after visiting Pike Place Market like four different times, I walked down to the Pioneer Square neighborhood. There I popped into the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. It wasn’t originally on my radar but it was free (!) and a good place to kill off an hour or so. I learned a lot about a point in history I’m not too familiar with, so wins all around.
In all, I had a blast in Seattle. It is a phenomenal city, with an amazing food scene and loads to keep you busy. I highly recommend devoting a couple days to your visit there and giving each neighborhood its due. I primarily stuck around Belltown (shoutout to the Belltown Inn, the awesome hotel I stayed at), Downtown, Seattle Central and Fremont. I wish I had stayed longer to further explore the city.
Have any other Seattle-based recommendations? Share them below! I will absolutely be visiting Seattle again and would love to hear everyone’s take on the Emerald City.
As I write this, I’m sitting at Gate 30 in Logan International Airport waiting to board my flight to Seattle. It’s been a while since I traveled for fun and this trip holds an extra special place in my heart.
When my mom passed away last December, it felt like my world was crumbling down. She was, and will always be, the most amazing mom and best friend a girl could ask for. During her last weeks, as she fought against an aggressive recurrent endometrial cancer, she encouraged me to travel again and chase my passion. She knew how much it meant to me to travel, meet new people and experience unique adventures.
I promised her I would and became determined to honor her memory by visiting new cities and finding my bliss–whatever that may be.
Enter my friend Alexandra. Alex and I met during our junior year of college when we both studied abroad in London. Though we weren’t close, Alex reached out to me when my mom passed away to offer her sympathies and her support. She had lost her dad a few years prior and knew what I was going through.
Her message, whether she knew it or not, became a lifeline. She offered to talk whenever I needed to and invited me to visit Seattle if I ever needed time away. I didn’t need to be told twice.
I am beyond excited to be heading to the Emerald City. I already know it’ll be an amazing trip and will be the perfect test run for my future plans (but more on that later). Look out for some Seattle-related blogs in the coming days!
Waterfountain at Agamont Park in Bar Harbor, Maine
It’s been a while since I’ve written. I have luckily snuck in some traveling in the last year, with a couple trips coming up in the upcoming months.
The summer has allowed me to visit some of New England’s best spots, including Cape Cod, MA and Bar Harbor, ME. While I definitely enjoyed the Cape’s lovely beaches, Bar Harbor blew me away with its beauty. The town of Bar Harbor is a must see for anyone coming to New England during the summer. It’s a vibrant town with loads of history and amazing sites. Some of the views from Frenchman Bay—named after French explorer Samuel de Champlain—reminded me of the stunning views from Oslo, Norway.
As the summer wraps up, I’m also getting ready for yet another trip to the Old Continent. This time, I’ll have two travel companions: my sister, Ally, and brother, Kevin. It’s Kev’s first visit to Europe, so we’re squeezing in as many stops as possible. I’ll also get to cross off one item off my travel bucket list when we hit Berlin, Germany. But more on that later…
This past weekend, I got to spend time with two of my Norwegian cousins when they came to visit us here in Frankfurt. We had an amazing weekend getting to know one another, touring Frankfurt, enjoying the nightlife and taking a day trip on Sunday to the Rhein-Main area.
Vineyards in the Rhein-Main region.
The Rhein-Main region, where the two rivers intersect, is dotted by some of Germany’s best vineyards. We first stopped at Eltville am Rhein, a small town known for its Rheingau Riesling grapes. While there, we stopped by a Weingut Belz stand for a glass of wine and probably the best grape juice I have ever had. Crisp and cool, Weingut Belz’s grape juice was the perfect drink for a hot summer day.
A glass of fantastic grape juice from Weingut Belz in Eltville am Rhein.
After our brief drink pit stop, we headed over to Eltville’s Electoral Castle. The grounds surrounding the castle were absolutely lovely, with a variety of roses adorning the walls and gardens.
Statues surrounded by roses at Electoral Castle in Eltville am Rhein.
We then headed to Rüdesheim am Rhein, a quaint, touristy winemaking town. Despite the cloudy and even rainy weather, it was great to walk around all of Rüdesheim’s restaurants and shops.
Afterwards, we briefly visited Mainz for some ice cream. While most the city was closed down (shops are closed down on Sundays), Mainz is an absolute must visit, especially on Saturdays. The city comes alive with its giant outdoor market and dozens upon dozens of stores. It’s also home to a Chilean restaurant called Patagonia, a great eatery with delicious food from my South American homeland.
Just spent another lovely weekend visiting a new region in Germany. After a few days resting from our wonderful trip to Norway, my cousin and I headed down to Bavaria to visit her work friend’s family.
Tucked away among rolling hills and green farmland, their family home was a hidden Bavarian paradise. We spent the next two days eating great food, enjoying superb company and getting to know the surrounding villages.
Eating Bavaria
Typical Bavarian meal of soft pretzel, weisswurst and Bavarian sweet mustard.
The first order of business was trying out the local cuisine, including traditional Bavarian white sausage (weisswurst), soft pretzels and Bavarian sweet mustard.
Traditional Bavarian soft pretzel. July 2014.
I’m normally not a fan of pretzels or mustard, but both were quite delicious. The pretzels were fresh and were perfectly salted, while the mustard was both sweet and tangy.
Weisswurst: traditional Bavarian white sausage. July 2014
I am, however, a big fan of sausages, so I was really excited to try out the weisswurst, which literally translates to “white sausage.” The parsley flavored sausages were boiled for a few minutes until they turned gray and were served in the broth they were cooked in.
Tradition has it that the sausages are not to be eaten after noon, so that they are eaten at their freshest.
Obatzda: traditional Bavarian cheese spread. July 2014.
I also had the chance to try a traditional Bavarian cheese spread called obatzda. The orangey cheese was slightly spicy, but tasted great on the soft pretzel.
Bavarian Festivals
After a delightful afternoon relaxing at home, our hosts took us to Marktfest, an annual medieval festival celebrated in the village of Markt Wald. I’ve never been to a medieval festival and it was great seeing all the locals dress up in medieval Bavarian costumes.
“Vikings” charge through Markt Wald’s annual Marktfest.
Not only did we get to witness a pig eye spitting contests (yes you read that right) and see “vikings” invade the festival’s main road, but we also got a chance to eat some really delicious food. My favorite had to be the “arme ritter” or “poor knight,” which is similar to French toast and is paired with applesauce.
While our weekend getaway was absolutely lovely, we definitely could have used more time to see all the sights Bavaria has to offer.
Road Dispatches 