8 ways to make the travel day suck less

You can tell what I think of the actual commuting day. It’s the worst. I can enjoy the first couple of hours sitting at an airport, but after that, it’s sheer misery. Here’s a few tips to help survive those days – 1. Know it is going to suck – For some reason, I used…

Fruterías in Quito, Ecuador

I forgot about the wonder of the frutería. Being from Wisconsin, we have lots of good food. Cheese curds, ice cream, steak, some corn and apples that are out of this world. However, some other parts of the planet have got a leg up on a few tropical fruits — not to mention fruits I…

Chicken strips and thoughts

There’s times I love being alone. There’s times (99% of the time) that I love being with people. I’ve found in solo travel you get to spend your time with countless people, even more so than when you travel with a buddy or a group. But you know, sometimes you’ll be alone when you didn’t…

4 reasons solo travel is for extroverts too

I am absolutely in love with solo travel. And I never thought I’d say that. I always pictured solo travel being very introverted, maybe a lot of time for reflection, but all around… lonely. I had come to accept that some of our adventures in life we have to experience alone. But I was so…

Travel tip 2: Buy super normal stuff

Let me tell you about my favorite coat. I have this coat that I LOVE. It is a little crazy how much I love this coat, but it is my favorite coat in life. It has a huge fluffy hood, is black with cute buckles and goes mid-thigh (love long coats) and has a sheepskin…

10 ways to meet people while traveling alone

As you may know, I love solo travel. I never thought I would like it until I tried it, and realized – you never actually have to be alone. In fact, I see solo travel as a kind of extrovert’s paradise where you basically get to make a bunch of new friends all the time…

Learning to love being alone

The number of people who run into me on my way to the beach and ask “you’re going… alone…?” like it’s something crazy. Ummmm.. yeah, me and 50 other people beachin’ it. I wanted to go to the beach, no one else wanted to go to the beach right then, so instead of pouting, I…

Travel like you

One thing about travel is, it’s hot. It looks good on Instagram, we see guys and gals with huge backpacks and greasy hair trekking across Asia. I’m going to let you in on something I’m still learning. Travel like you. Some girls go no-makeup, messy buns, cargo shorts, tank tops, Chacos. I would hate that,…

Don’t wear shorts in the mountains

After living 2 years in Quito, I could tell apart the other fair-skinned blondes who LIVE in the city and those who were VISITING the city. It was that easy. One of the biggest ones? Tourists wear shorts. If you’re going to the beach of Ecuador, wear shorts, flip flops, crazy hats, whatever. If you’re…