One of the best nights of sleep I’ve had in my entire time in China has been… on a 16-hour fast train from Beijing to Chongqing!
Who knew that the key to a restful slumber was sticking yourself in a metal box hurtling hundreds of miles per hour through the most populous country on Earth?
For those of you who sometimes forget this, China is larger in area than the United States, so [...Read More!]
Hello from China, all the way across the world from where I was last week!
In the five days since I arrived here, I’ve already hiked the Great Wall, reunited with my dear friend Gareth who is teaching here through Peace Corps, toured the Forbidden City and Tienanmen Square, taken a 15 hour sleeper train to the center of the country, and (continuously) stuffed myself silly on mouth-watering Chinese food. In short, life is [...Read More!]
Perhaps you’ve heard of snowboarding, and perhaps you’ve heard of surfboarding. Both activities are adrenaline-filled and frequently televised… but neither can match the feeling of sand in your underpants that you gain from a little activity known as SANDboarding.
Several summers ago, I lived in Peru and volunteer-taught with my Boston teacher friend, Gareth, in the fish factory town of Chimbote. We lived with the family that owned the school, and got along [...Read More!]
I’m on the train now, zipping southward from Boston, driving the passenger next to me crazy by snapping photo after photo out the window.
Sorry, sir, but the light is golden-perfect, and these photos are going to illustrate something I’ve been longing to sing to the world for a long time: the liminal spaces between cities are AMAZING!
A “liminal space” is defined as the threshold between two places, states of being, or [...Read More!]
Imagine you are schlepping a bulbous suitcase down the stairs in New York’s Penn Station on Christmas Eve, squeezing through hundreds of stressed travelers to board the train for DC. Imagine you’re sweaty and cold at the same time, irritable and achy, overwhelmed and jostled, when suddenly:
HAPPINESS!
Look to the left to see the conductor who greeted us!
People of the world, how can you NOT smile upon seeing such a sweet smile, [...Read More!]
Hello pretty people!
So maybe this here “challenge” will be ridiculously easy for you all, or maybe it will take years for the correct answer to be guessed…
…but the simple fact is that I have just graded 300 hunks of paper (one essay test and one term paper from each of my 150 students) over the course of seven long days, and now everything is a bit hazy and swirly…
…so, dagnabbit, I [...Read More!]
If you are headed to Boston, or if you’ve lived in Boston for a while but are a lazy landlubber, get thy dry butt to the water, pronto!
Boston’s infamous harbor has now evolved to be inspiring.
On land, the Harbor boasts a gorgeous, sculpture-filled “Harbor Walk” which is so long and exciting that it makes for a great field trip or date. But the real thrill begins when you hop aboard a [...Read More!]
My friend Colin told me he had a surprise activity for Sunday, and, like a fool, I thought it would be something tame like a stroll through the woods, or a tranquil boat ride. In retrospect, how naive I was!
The car was chugging North to New Hampshire when Colin turned towards me.
“I probably should tell you now what the activity is,” he said.
My innocent eyes were sparkling with youthful excitement. ”Oh [...Read More!]
HOORAY! Home! Home! After nine months around the world, can I tell you how delicious Boston feels? City of my heart! Country of my birth! And my dearest loved ones! Oh, I love you!
But I made a big mistake this morning that nearly caused me to miss my flight. Read on, so you don’t commit this same error!
Twenty-four hours ago, my alarm jolted me awake at five am. Trying not to [...Read More!]
I nearly fainted right there in the Madrid airport when my G-mail Inbox flickered open and I saw its contents.
Fifteen hours earlier, I had flown out of West Africa, leaving behind my beloved friends and coworkers at Youth Creating Change of Ghana after three stunning months. The flight from Accra to Frankfurt was six and a half hours and I slept for a groggy three. My layover in Germany [...Read More!]
My name is Lillie and I thank you for reading and taking part in this journey.
I am the Boston coordinator of a national series of events on extended travel called "Meet Plan Go." Join the MPG community by clicking here, and jump-start your travel dreams!
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