**I apologize for any spelling or grammar errors you may find in this piece. I wrote it quickly and passionately and then got too angry to look well for errors.** De Pere, Wis., has a sister city in Sweden – Amal. A small, beautiful city in Western-Central Sweden, in 2010 it held 9,065 citizens. But … More People from s##thole countries already knew they weren’t wanted

I’ve been home for several weeks now, and I still cannot comprehend the wonderful adventures I was able to have and memories I was able to make while I was abroad. In just four months, I visited eleven countries, traveled through more cities than I care to count, and met so many wonderful people that … More My Five Days of Doing British Things, Then Coming Home

Around Christmas in 2011, I met a girl online on a site called Goodreads. I had a Goodreads account before I had a Facebook account, which might give you a better understanding of who I wanted to be and thought I was in high school. Her name was Sophie Andrews, and we were astonished to … More Basildon Park: Featured in Downton Abbey and Pride and Prejudice (2005)

Paris goes by many names: “The City of Light,” “The City of Love,” “The Place Where I Got Engaged!” Just two weeks ago I spent the weekend in Paris, and in addition to seeing the sights and wonders that Paris would normally bring, I got to say yes to my love of over four years … More Paris, France

Hyde Park Kensington Gardens Green Park St. James’s Park Kew Gardens Crystal Palace Park Greenwich Park Morden Hall Park Hampstead Heath and Highgate Cemetery Regent’s Park Victoria Park – unfortunately I have no pictures of Victoria Park, but it was a lot like St. James’s!

After spending five nights in Dublin – a long stretch at any one hostel that brought about many odd looks from the receptionists – I hopped on an early morning plane to Brussels, Belgium. Brussels was never really on my radar as a tourist, and you can tell from the city itself that most European … More Brussels, Belgium

Contrasting to my first two days in Ireland, my last two were spent in the capitol city of Dublin. Dublin is a city packed with history and charm, and just like Edinburgh was small enough to be able to traverse easily in a day. I stayed at a hostel downtown, which I loved because the area … More Dublin, Ireland

“Amazing,” “awesome,” “incredible.” These three superlatives are used so frequently that I feel they can’t really encapsulate what the Irish countryside is. But truly, places like Giant’s Causeway, the Cliffs of Moher, and others are awe-inspiring, and they did amaze me. My first two days in Ireland were split between the two different countries: Northern … More Northern and Western Ireland

With the absence of Thanksgiving in the academic calendar and its late start into autumn, schools in the UK typically have a “reading week,” which is a week without classes halfway through the eleven-week term. Officially, it starts this Monday, but because I don’t have classes on Fridays, I started my week of vacation Thursday … More England: The Lakes; Or: Hiking Boots, A Love Story

I realize it’s been quite a while since I posted – so sorry to keep all four of you in suspense! This past weekend I had a minor disappointment. I had planned to take a National Express Coach to the Peak District, national park in central England where Elizabeth Bennet went on a holiday with … More England: Bath and Stonehenge