“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” – Bill Bryson
Hey there!
I’m Ashley. I’m a wine drinker, bookworm, and travel enthusiast. Since college I’ve au paired in Paris, backpacked the world solo for a year, lived in Colorado and Uganda, and walked the Camino de Santiago. Read more on my About Me page.
Latest blog posts
What Living in Kyrgyzstan as an Expat is Really Like
Today, our American Expats series takes us to Kyrgyzstan where we meet Brittany, an English teacher living in Kyrgyzstan with her husband and daughter. We talked about living in Central Asia's only democracy, raising a baby abroad, and the one...
What Living in Madrid as an Expat is Really Like
For this month's American Expats series, our next stop is Spain. Cat Gaa, a Chicago native, moved to Seville, Spain, in 2007, and now lives in Madrid with her Spanish husband and young son (with another on the way!). Here, she talks about churros, unique Spanish...
20 Photos That Will Inspire You to Visit Tbilisi, Georgia
Browsing through my photos of Tbilisi, Georgia, was a slightly surreal experience. Was I really in Tbilisi last summer? Did I actually spend four days in the Republic of Georgia, a tiny country located on the other side of the world? I wasn't in Tbilisi long, but...
Popular posts
Tieks by Gavrieli: My Favorite Travel Flats
On most of my backpacking trips, I packed only two pairs of shoes: flip flops and running shoes. Which of course meant I had nothing to wear in dressier situations. In Asia I was even turned down at several clubs for not having proper footwear. (Like at the Skybar in...
How to DIY a Budget Yoga Retreat in Bali
One of my goals at 23 was to get in the best shape of my life, and where better to do so than beautiful Bali? But as a budget-conscious backpacker I knew I couldn't afford a $1,500+ packaged yoga retreat- so I devised a plan to do a yoga retreat on a budget. More...
How to Become an Au Pair
One of the most frequent questions readers ask me is, "How did you become an au pair?" So I thought I'd take the time today to finally answer that question, as well as talk about my personal experience working as an au pair in France. What is an au pair? An au pair is...
Travel tips
12 Travel Accessories That Drastically Improve Long-Term Travel
As many of you know, I've spent months, if not years, living out of a backpack. By the end of my year-long RTW trip, I had gotten packing down to a science and could pack and repack in thirty seconds or less (thank you, packing cubes). Which is why I wanted to make a...
How to Plan an Inexpensive but Awesome Trip Abroad
There is a widespread (and erroneous) belief that traveling has to cost a fortune. Let me let you in on a little secret- it doesn't. I have traveled to 35 countries and besides family vacations as a kid, all on a tight budget. With a bit of finagling, you can save...
How to Become Fluent in a Second Language
So you want to learn a second language? Good. In my humble opinion, everyone should learn another language. But let me first say- it's not easy. In fact, it's really hard. But, it's also incredibly satisfying, fun and rewarding. And not to mention useful. What is...
Books I love
10 Excellent Books to Add to Your 2019 Reading List
Hey guys! I hope you're having a good 2019 so far. Today I wanted to share my top reading recommendations for this year. 2018 wasn't my best reading year (I had so much reading to do in grad school), but I still managed to finish around 25 books. Here are the ones I...
8 Wonderful Books to Read in 2018
As much as I love blogging about travel, I also enjoy writing about books. This is in large part due to you guys - whenever I write a post about books, you give the best recommendations. It's how I've found a lot of my recent favorites (see: 97 Orchard and Born to...
Why I Don’t Do Reading Challenges
Reading challenges seem to be all the rage these days. The annual PopSugar Reading Challenge is especially popular, which prompts you to read an impressive 40 books in a year. The list ranges widely, from 'a book from a nonhuman perspective' to 'a book involving...
Musings
Do Readers Grow Up to Be Travelers?
Since I was a child, I've been entranced by two things: books and faraway places. Though I didn't leave the country until I was 15, I explored as much as possible without going anywhere. I read stacks of books. I took my red wagon to the library. I called an empty...
Career Advice for Lost Twenty-somethings
Me at my college graduation in 2012 In my twenties, I've felt so much pressure (both internal and external) to find the right career. I think most of us have. Since graduating from college, I've worked in sales and marketing. I've freelanced and blogged and au paired....
My 7 Favorite Cities in the World
To quote Carrie Bradshaw, I'm what you might call a bonafide city girl. From the time I left home at 18, I've lived in as many cities as possible: Chicago, Buenos Aires, Paris, Denver, Boulder, and Kampala, Uganda. Excitingly, I just moved to a new city -- Ann Arbor,...