Valerie's blog

You're Traveling Alone?!

Valerie — Wed, 2 Jul 2008 19:27:48 -0500

Most of us who have traveled solo have faced bewilderment from the less travel-savvy for that choice. "You're so brave!" is one of the few compliments I get. More often, the response is more of an interrogation, especially from certain relatives of mine.

"How are you going to get around? What if you...

A Note From Cassie

Valerie — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:17:31 -0500

Cassie, my fellow globetrotter-in-crime, posted a note on her Facebook yesterday entitled "The Official Languages of Me." As soon as I finished reading it I knew it needed to be read by more people than her facebook friends. Those of us who left comments were completely in agreement on everything she...

Re-entry to Real Life

Valerie — Tue, 3 Jun 2008 18:19:38 -0500

I've been back about a week now. Slowly I'm getting over my re-entry shock. In some ways going to Vienna was part of the re-entry process. It was a city I'd been to 3 years ago, so some places were familiar to me, including the hostel I was staying at and the Turkish restaurant around the corner....

Final Numbers Round-up

Valerie — Sun, 25 May 2008 15:33:27 -0500

Days on the road: 51

New countries visited: 11

Cities visited: too many to count

Countries that used to be one country: 5 (Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia - former Yugoslavia) + 3 (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania - a portion of the former Soviet Union)

Fellow travelers I ran into in multiple...

Lovely Slovenia

Valerie — Thu, 22 May 2008 17:33:03 -0500

Slovenia has been described as the "cutest" of the former Yugoslav republics, and I couldn't agree more. It's got a blend of Slavic and Alpine (Austrian) cultures, which makes sense. Ljubljana may be small, but at the same time it's so grand that you don't even care. It's like a super compact...

If You Can't Go to Italy...

Valerie — Sat, 17 May 2008 15:31:29 -0500

I was bummed that I couldn't go to Greece this year, but Montenegro and Croatia have been the next best thing. Montenegro's the next Croatia – the same type of cuisine, history and scenery, but without the, prices, notoriety and crowds (though they're starting to catch up). It's a newly...

Why I Disobeyed My Family and Traveled the World

Valerie — Tue, 13 May 2008 08:33:36 -0500

I've had my first piece published last week on BNT - about choosing to travel the world despite the expectations of my family. Check it out if you haven't already done so and leave some feedback. Thanks!

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I (Heart) Sarajevo

Valerie — Sat, 3 May 2008 06:25:08 -0500

Our tour leader said that Sarajevo would be the highlight of the tour, and for me it truly is. I've never been to a city quite like this before. It's got a bit of Istanbul, a bit of Vienna. I haven't been to Turkey but I have a feeling that the Turkish quarter is pretty close to what I would find...

Hello From the Balkans

Valerie — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:21:20 -0500

To be honest, I haven't always dreamed of visiting the Balkans like I'd dreamed of visiting France, Spain or Australia, or still dream of visiting Argentina and Bali. All those news reports of this region back in the '90s definitely made me weary of this region, the way the Middle East would feel now....

Auschwitz

Valerie — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 17:30:47 -0500

I may have learned my lesson about springtime travel in northern/central Europe - it certainly isn't spring in California or fall in Australia. I've developed a serious cold/sore throat and lost my voice this afternoon, probably due to overexposure to the elements. Tomorrow I'll have a bit of catching...

Numbers So Far

Valerie — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:40:17 -0500

Countries Visited: 5 (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland

Cities/towns visited: 7 (Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga, Majori, Vilnius, Trakai, Warsaw

Reconstructed Old Towns seen: 1 (Warsaw, rebuilt to perfection after being dessimated in World War II and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site)

Tibet...

No Looking Back

Valerie — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 11:50:17 -0500

If I were to describe the people of the Baltics with just one phrase, I would say that they are very forward-looking. Anyone who feared that these former Soviet republics would be lagging behind the rest of Europe would be in for a surprise. Of course, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are still developing...

First Days in the Baltics

Valerie — Wed, 9 Apr 2008 13:18:36 -0500

I wound up buying a new camera to replace the one that went lame on Saturday. While it was not as much as I had initially feared, the price was still pretty steep, but it's a nice one and I'm happy that I can now take pictures! So I took the ferry to Tallinn (Linda Lines, 1.5 hours as opposed to the...

Two Days In

Valerie — Sun, 6 Apr 2008 01:40:25 -0500

Coming into Helsinki, all I wanted was for all three of my flights to be on time and for my luggage to arrive when I did. I may have set the bar a little too low, because suddenly things I never anticipated happening are happening. In the first two days I have:

1. failed to get my wireless internet to...

Sleepless in Helsinki

Valerie — Fri, 4 Apr 2008 19:36:51 -0500

After a 17-hour or so ordeal of flying and waiting in airports, I finally arrived in Helsinki yesterday evening. I actually got a Danish stamp in my passport rather than a Finnish one because that was my layover on the way here, after the one in Chicago O'Hare (a huge and confusing airport). I didn't...

Less Than a Week to Go...

Valerie — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 00:26:09 -0500

and I'm both excited and nervous. It was less than 3 months ago that I was on my last trip, and next week I'll be off on my major overseas trip for this year. Spring has more or less arrived here in the Bay Area, but where I'll be going (or at least where I'm beginning my trip) it'll still feel like...

Happy New Year!

Valerie — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 23:46:36 -0600

I'm actually only a little more than two weeks late in saying this - the lunar new year started on February 7 (my dad calls January 1 the "imaginary" new year). It's been pretty uneventful thus far for me, aside from my temp job ending last week, earlier than expected, and I'm going to be scrambling...

Wedding in St. Thomas

Valerie — Sat, 2 Feb 2008 22:19:59 -0600

No, I wasn't the one getting married in St. Thomas (it was my cousin from Minneapolis), but I've more or less decided that if/when I get married, it will be a destination wedding just like this one.

I first heard about this wedding in the fall of 2006, and when my parents decided we were definitely going...

Eastern Europe, Here I Come! (Suggestions Greatly Appreciated)

Valerie — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 01:37:29 -0600

So I've been back from my Caribbean trip and I still haven't put up pictures or a trip report, but I promise I will soon. In the meantime, I've booked a plane ticket for Eastern Europe, where I will be traveling for most of April and May! I'll be flying into Helsinki, spend a couple of days there...

Times of Celebration

Valerie — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 00:21:48 -0600

Yesterday was a busy day for my family. We had two celebrations to attend, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. The first was a ginger egg party for my new "niece" and the other was my grandpa's 90th birthday. Most of you are probably wondering what a ginger egg party is, so I'll explain.
In...

Anderson Cooper's Dispatches From the Edge

Valerie — Fri, 7 Dec 2007 01:11:53 -0600

I recently listened to the audiobook of CNN correspondent Anderson Cooper's memoirs of his life as a war correspondent. It's an eye-opening and provocative read (or in my case, listen) for those of us interested in world affairs. If you don't feel like sitting down to read it, I would highly recommend...

The Other Side of the Tunnel

Valerie — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 23:10:21 -0600

I wrote a blog earlier this year about re-discovering the eastern half of the East Bay after years of not venturing out that way. I just made my second trip there this year last Friday, to do a little bit of after-Thanksgiving shopping with a friend. Of all the places I could have gone shopping that...

Favorite Markets Around the World

Valerie — Mon, 5 Nov 2007 21:35:52 -0600

I'll admit that I like to shop when I travel. I wouldn't travel solely for the purpose of shopping, but it does offer a peak into the local culture. Even going to the grocery store or a department store can provide a lot of insight. I was surprised to find a wide selection of cereal when I was in...

China's Me Generation (Time Magazine Article)

Valerie — Mon, 5 Nov 2007 00:57:14 -0600

Last week's issue of Time featured an article on China's "Me" Generation, the current generation of young people who have more or less grown up in a China that is open and industrialized. Of course, this is still just a fraction of the population, meaning those living in urban areas, but still, the changes...

Remembering San Diego in 2003

Valerie — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 20:47:59 -0500

As we continue to hear about the wildfires raging in San Diego, I think back to this time of year 4 years ago, in the fall of 2003, as I was beginning my last year of college at UC San Diego, when similar wildfires burned in San Diego and Los Angeles. I remember the day it began, on a Sunday morning....

Re-discovering Paddington Bear classics

Valerie — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 01:30:52 -0500

Recently there was a bit of an outrage among fans of the Paddington Bear series about the use of his image in TV advertisements for Marmite, the English yeast spread (kind of like Australia's Vegemite, but I've heard it's a cheap and watered-down version). As you may remember, Paddington always ate marmalade...

If I could own five houses...

Valerie — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 20:31:07 -0500

It's weird to think that people my age are now buying houses or saving up for one. I would like to say that I was doing the same thing but it's hard for me to decide whether I would want to stay where I am now (the SF Bay Area) for the rest of my life, or at least for the next 5-10 years. Part of me...

For Those of You Planning Fall Foliage Trips...

Valerie — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 22:38:11 -0500

I'd never thought about doing a fall foliage trip until I was asked to write a series of articles on leaf-peeping road trips by the Travel Channel. Being from California, fall foliage isn't the big event it is on the East Coast or other parts of the country. But after finishing my research and writing,...

I'm going to OZ! (and Hawaii)

Valerie — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 00:54:47 -0600

So I haven't had much luck with the job search and all, and I've had this trip semi-planned since last year and really wanted to go before the southern hemisphere's winter, so last week I got crazy and bought my super-cheap bargain ticket to Hawaii and Australia. I'm leaving a little less than a month...

Wish I'd gone to UCLA

Valerie — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 16:45:04 -0600

Sometimes I wonder how my life would have turned out if I'd gone to UCLA instead of UCSD. Perhaps I wouldn't have discovered my love of travel, since UCSD, and especially Eleanor Roosevelt College, pushes the study abroad experience more than the other UCs. But now that I've spent some time in LA and...