22 Beautiful Libraries & Bookstores for Your Bucket List

Nothing says calm like a room full of books. When traveling, I love looking out for beautiful libraries or interesting bookstores to stop by, and I thought I’d share my personal favorites. This list of twenty-two gorgeous bookstores and libraries starts with a few I’ve been lucky enough to visit, and includes more I hope to visit in the future! 1. Austrian National Library – … Continue reading 22 Beautiful Libraries & Bookstores for Your Bucket List

Baking Gugelhupf: Austrian Marble Cake

Baking Austrian Marble Cake (Marmorgugelhupf)

I can’t believe that it was two years ago this month that I visited Austria! All the snow we’ve been having is making me miss the cozy Alpine town of Maria Alm, Austria (I may have been stalking the webcam of the nearby ski trails a little bit!). It doesn’t look like travel will be safe for quite a while longer, but once it is … Continue reading Baking Austrian Marble Cake (Marmorgugelhupf)

How To Immerse Yourself in a Foreign Language at Home

How to Immerse Yourself in a Foreign Language at Home

It has often been said that the best way to learn a foreign language quickly is to go the total immersion route – to travel to a country where the language is spoken and push yourself to use it daily in a place where it surrounds you. I have to agree; I’ve been learning or speaking Spanish for about 12 years of my life now, … Continue reading How to Immerse Yourself in a Foreign Language at Home

8 Books to Read While Traveling Peru

Whenever I travel, I enjoy having regionally appropriate reading material for downtime–waiting at airports, on flights, in the evenings, etc. Here I’d like to share some of my selections for traveling through Peru. I will note that not all of these are necessarily set in Peru, because I am looking more to get a feel for the region through literature. Therefore I have a few … Continue reading 8 Books to Read While Traveling Peru

Travels of Ibn Battutah Review

Title: The Travels of Ibn Battutah Author: Ibn Battutah, edited by Tim Mackintosh-Smith Year Published: 1356AD; this version 2002 Places Explored: Northern Africa, the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia, the Maldives, Indonesia, China, Spain, West Africa My Rating: ♦♦♦◊◊ Review: “I have traveled through the countries of the world and I have met their kings.” – Ibn Battutah This quote provides a pretty good summary of The … Continue reading Travels of Ibn Battutah Review

Review of Out of Africa by Karen Blixen

Out of Africa Review

Title: Out of Africa Author: Isak Dinesen (pen name of Baroness Karen Blixen) Year Published: 1937 Places Explored: Kenya, especially Nairobi and the Ngong Hills area My Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦ Review: I knew basically from the iconic first line, “I had a farm in Africa, at the foot of Ngong Hills”, that I would enjoy this book and I’m so glad I read it! The basic outline … Continue reading Out of Africa Review

Under a Lucky Star by Roy Chapman Andrews

Under a Lucky Star Review

Title: Under a Lucky Star – A Lifetime of Adventure Author: Roy Chapman Andrews, American naturalist, explorer, and director of the American Museum of Natural History Year Published: 1943 Places Explored: The Arctic, The South Pacific, Japan, Korea, China, Mongolia My Rating: ♦♦♦♦◊ Review: I first heard of Roy Chapman Andrews about eight years ago, when I was in high school and picked up a book called Dragon … Continue reading Under a Lucky Star Review

Travel Memoir Reading Challenge

Travel Memoir Reading Challenge

I’ve never been one for New Year’s resolutions, but this year I did want to challenge myself in a few ways. I’ve been wanting to work more on this blog and my travel writing, and I’ve also set a higher goal on Goodreads this year than last year. Between these two things I saw an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, so I … Continue reading Travel Memoir Reading Challenge

18 Great Things About Brookings, South Dakota

18 Great Things About Brookings, South Dakota

After spending the last five years in Brookings, SD while pursuing my degrees, I definitely became attached to the community. My husband and I met there, had our wedding there, bought a house there, have lots of friends still living there… it’s safe to say that the decision to move away was a big one! We were ready for new jobs and a new location, … Continue reading 18 Great Things About Brookings, South Dakota