Six Weeks of Travel During Corona

Six Weeks of Travel During Corona

Yesterday I arrived back to Lyon after 41 straight days traveling. I am left wonderstruck by a trip that was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: to see Europe without tourists. It was absolutely wild. I mean, I saw the Roman Colosseum with just a couple of other people in the arena for company. Rome itself was empty compared to normal summers. I can’t emphasize enough how unique this was. Of course, there were other travelers, but they were mostly from fellow European…

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Porquerolles’ Stunning Beauty

Porquerolles’ Stunning Beauty

A weekend exploring the French Mediterranean Friday night in Hyères, we arrived at the restaurant to the sound of live music as the sun was setting. We had to walk down a forest road for half a mile before finding the hip place, which sprawled over the beach and had tables a stone’s throw away from the water’s edge. I felt so happy: sipping cocktails, sharing tapas in the violet dusk, listening to a band, gazing at the twilit sea,…

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Instagram Advocacy in the BLM Movement

Instagram Advocacy in the BLM Movement

Distinguishing Performance From Action Header art courtesy of the talented @shirien.creates As voices swell around the world advocating for racial justice and Black liberation, I feel more hopeful about real change happening in regards to systemic racism than I have in years— since Trump got elected, to be exact. It’s exhilarating to see all the support for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, though disheartening to know that this wasn’t sparked from words and wokeness but rather from the tragic…

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Missing Home While Discovering a New One

Missing Home While Discovering a New One

Quarantined in France I’m delighted that my essay on my confinement experience in France was published by The Culture-ist, a wonderful online travel magazine. It is passionate about covering topics that inspire its readers to travel widely, give back, and live well. Check out my article at this link if you are curious about my reflections on togetherness during this difficult time. Feel free to comment below and let me know how you are doing, beloved subscribers!

Carnaval in Sitges, Spain, ft. sangria, glitter, and drag queens

Carnaval in Sitges, Spain, ft. sangria, glitter, and drag queens

It’s hard to imagine right now with all the social distancing, but just six short weeks ago I was squeezed shoulder to shoulder with glitter-covered people of all ages, sipping sangria and swaying to samba music. This was an innocent time, when the supply of confetti was more of a concern for Spain than face masks or hand sanitizer. During my Barcelona trip, my friend Ana and I took a day trip to Sitges for Carnaval. Countries all over the…

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A line of people waiting to get inside a French supermarket
Life in France: Quarantine Edition

Life in France: Quarantine Edition

The Facts When I imagined my year abroad in France, I never once pictured experiencing a level 3 nation-wide quarantine. But c’est la vie, I guess. It is day two of the official coronavirus quarantine in France, and life feels unreal. All schools, restaurants, bars, cafés, cinemas, etc. are closed— even parks. Only essentials are open: supermarkets and pharmacies (and the occasional boulangerie because it’s France and bakeries are vital). Everyone who can work from home is doing so. If…

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Chasing the Sun: February in Barcelona

Chasing the Sun: February in Barcelona

Gaudi’s Casa Batlló On my second afternoon in Barcelona I sat on the terrace of a restaurant called La Bombeta with my friend Ana, sunshine hot on my skin. Ana was glowing, and not just because of the light but because she was so happy to be sitting in the sun after months of cloudy winter in France. Ana is an au pair too, and as she was leaving to spend a week with me in Barcelona her host kids…

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Chapel Hill Love Letter

Chapel Hill Love Letter

In French you don’t say “I miss you” but rather tu me manques— “you are missing from me”— which I think is wonderfully poetic. Being in France away from home, it strikes me how accurate that phrasing is. Despite my love of being here there are moments when I feel an acute sense that home and loved ones are missing from me, as if a hollow space has been carved out from my chest. Sometimes when my mind drifts to…

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Snapshots: London, Sheffield, Edinburgh

Snapshots: London, Sheffield, Edinburgh

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and while I did consume alarming amounts of chocolate I didn’t feel particularly festive considering I was also alone in my room while doing so and thousands of miles away from NC. Both my host parents were traveling so it wasn’t worth cooking anything special, and the only Thanksgiving-ish thing in France is a half-hearted Black Friday. But! This weekend I’m making an apple crumble and having my three best friends here over for a Frenchified Friendsgiving….

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Chateau Chez Moi, or, Proof that France has made me bougie

Chateau Chez Moi, or, Proof that France has made me bougie

I will never stay at a hostel again! (Jk I literally stayed in an 8-bunk hostel room days after the chateau, but you know.) Departure One Friday night in mid-October my host dad came home around 8 p.m. and told us to pack our bags: we were headed to the grandparents’ chateau. As one does. We hadn’t planned on leaving until the next day, but it’s a spontaneous household, so we took off in the night after an hour of…

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