It had been two years since I last took a vacation. Two years since I boarded a plane. Two years since I left Illinois, the Chicagoland area, at all. I hardly believed it myself when I went to write that in an Instagram caption three weeks...
I used to watch the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest on TV every Fourth of July. For some people, Independence Day meant fireworks, barbecues, parades. But, for me, it meant sitting in front of ESPN and watching a row of gurgitators consume as many...
It had been over a year since I got a hair cut and my frock was getting "trapped in my armpits every time I move" long. That last time I got it cut, over a year ago, I had run to a train station Supercuts...
Have you ever put off doing something because it seemed overwhelming, complicated, daunting, only to find when you finally did it, that it wasn't a big deal at all? I do that all the time. All. the. time. I build things up so much in...
I make projects for myself. I would say, "I always have so much to do." I would say, "I'm always too busy." But, in truth, I know that, on some level, there are very few things on my ever expanding to-do list that I actually...
"Who has a job lined up?" I don't remember, now, who it was who posed that question. A professor? A dean? A parent? A volunteer? It could have been anyone, really. I don't remember who specifically it was that asked, but I do remember that...
When I began my 'round the world trip in 2011, I shared everything. I blogged almost daily, documenting nearly every move I made. Every country. Every city. Every meal. Every day. Actually, that's how I blogged in general before I ever even started traveling. I'd...
My sister gave me a choice for what to gift me for my birthday: cash, a gift card, or a ticket to join her on a Chicago pizza tour with Chicago Pizza Tours. While my debt-ridden bank account always appreciates money and my Starbucks card...
I avoided dating before I left home to travel the world. I was afraid that I'd meet someone and that he would interrupt my plans. Because I had a plan. And I knew what I wanted for the future. And I didn't want anything to...
Last year, I went on date to see the movie Kedi at The Music Box here in Chicago. Kedi, in Turkish, simply means "cat," and the film documents the cats in Istanbul who rule the streets and seem, all at once, to belong to everyone...