travel thoughts – The Girl Who Goes

Last Updated on February 2, 2024

Coronavirus Update: Madrid, Spain – April 27, 2020

Hi everyone. It’s been over a month since I last wrote something, and I think that may be the longest time I’ve ever gone without posting. As of this month, I’ve been writing as The Girl Who Goes for three years! (A fact I was reminded of when I was prompted to renew my domain registration.) So, it looks like I’ll be the girl who’s going for the next three years, at least. 🙂

Obviously, Spain has been in the news a lot over the past couple of months. It’s the second-most affected country in the world after the U.S., and third in number of deaths after the U.S. and Italy. That being said, as I begin Week #7 of lockdown – honestly, it’s more than just quarantine – I have seen a lot of changes over the past 6 weeks and glimmers of hope for the next weeks to come. [Read more…]

Last Updated on February 2, 2024

Coronavirus Update: Madrid, Spain – March 20, 2020

Day 1 of coronavirus quarantine in Spain

It feels a little bit like end times, doesn’t it? A month ago, even though we knew that coronavirus was happening *elsewhere* in the world, we didn’t anticipate its spread to be quite this serious and far-reaching.

My mom came to visit me the last week of February into the first week of March. We traveled down to Sevilla, in Spain’s southernmost region of Andalucía. Spain’s coronavirus cases at that point were around 100. We didn’t notice really any change in daily life; all we did differently was be more vigilant about washing our hands. [Read more…]

Last Updated on January 3, 2023

Foreign Exchange Student Connection in Thailand

Dinner with Boong in Bangkok

As you may remember, this year my family is hosting a foreign exchange student from Italy. Gaia has joined our family through a program called the American Field Service (AFS for short). These students live with host families in the U.S. for 10 months, from August until the end of June.

When I was Thailand a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to meet up with a former exchange student from my high school days. Boong was an AFS’er from Thailand at my school during the 2008-2009 school year – almost 10 years ago! We follow each other on Instagram, so I told her when I’d be in Bangkok and we planned to meet for dinner. [Read more…]

Last Updated on July 10, 2024

Travel Mistakes: 4 Experiences That Made Me a Better Traveler

When you’re traveling, the road isn’t always straight. I’ve made my share of travel mistakes.

What are the best things about traveling? Trying new foods, meeting new people, embracing a new culture? Is it the feeling of your long flight beginning its descent, getting a new passport stamp, or watching the sun rise on a Sunday morning and the city slowly come to life?

Those are a few of the things I love — but as we know, traveling is not always glamorous. Things sometimes go wrong, and sometimes we make travel mistakes. I’ve been fortunate not to have many of these moments over the years, but they do occasionally happen. And if we’re looking on the bright side, I can admit that each of them have made me a better traveler (in their own, twisted way).

Here are 4 of my biggest travel mistakes from over the years. [Read more…]

Last Updated on February 2, 2024

Bringing the World Closer: Hosting a Foreign Exchange Student

foreign exchange students - football game

High school friends at the football game (including foreign exchange students Saara, from Finland and Pietro, from Italy)

Ten years ago, I started high school. Along with the first homecoming dance and first AP class came my first experience with foreign exchange students. I had never met anyone from Japan, or Colombia, or Finland before — yet, here they were, playing alongside me on the school soccer team. [Read more…]