Tallying Up My Travels

This Thursday, I’m sharing the nitty-gritty details of everything I spent on my travels over the past couple of months. Before I set off on my first trip, I decided that I was going to make an effort to write down everything I spent so that I could keep track of where my money was going, and also not let things get too out of control. I knew that the total after tallying up my travels over the course of 25 days on 3 trips in 2 countries, 2 states, and more than a half-dozen cities, with transport via planes, trains, and automobiles, was going to be significant. But as I’ve shared recently, I really value experiences over the accumulation of stuff and this time after the bar exam before my new job and next phase of my life begin was a wonderful opportunity to see new places with old friends and make memories that will last a lifetime. The monetary value of tallying up my travels ended up totaling roughly $3,685.30. The rest of it? Well, that can’t be measured in dollars and cents.

 

Hiking near Keswick, England

 

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Five Useful Packing Tips for a Long Trip

Happy Friday, everyone! All this travel for me has meant I’ve been planning, packing, unpacking, and repacking for what seems like a month. I’ve gotten pretty good at it over the years, actually. I am one of those people who stands at the check-in line simultaneously untying their shoes and pulling their electronics out of their carry-on luggage to go through security. And I always get a sense of satisfaction when I use every item that I’ve packed in my suitcase and didn’t bring anything that ended up coming home untouched. So I figured I could share a few of the tips and tricks I’ve picked up! In this post are five useful packing tips for a long trip. I’ll throw a few for shorter jaunts your way in a little while 🙂

 

California Here I Come

I can’t believe it’s the first day of September already. As I mentioned yesterday, I am determined to hang on to summer as long as I can. The weather here in New England is complying with my wish. It’s going to be in the mid- to high-80s all week, and pretty humid – so warm that when I head to Southern California on Thursday I may be heading into temperatures just slightly cooler than in Connecticut (although not by much!) I just whipped up a batch of my No Bake Peanut Butter Berry Bars because the oven is not coming on around here for a little while.

 

A bar with some strawberry ice cream to cool off

Run. Eat. Listen. Watch. Read. 8/30/15

I’m back with the second round of Run. Eat. Listen. Watch. Read., which is basically a Link Love to gather up everything that’s caught my eye for the past couple of weeks. Go here to see the first round from the beginning of August, and read on to find out what I’ve been enjoying lately!

 

Pond Hopping Part 6: London Bits and Bobs

Today, I’m sharing all the little bits and bobs of my trip across the pond that didn’t make it into any of the blog posts thus far. I made the most of my time in England and wanted to gather my thoughts on the experience as much as I could while still living it, but of course there was so much to see and do and think that inevitably some adventures fell by the wayside – until now, that is! Here you’ll see a visit to the Victoria & Albert Museum, a stroll in the heart of classic London through Kensington and Chelsea and the City of Westminster, snapshots of Notting Hill, Richmond, and Kew Gardens, and more.

 

Mayfair, London

 

Eating Gluten Free in England

Hello and happy Wednesday! I returned yesterday from my fortnight-long excursion across the pond, and I hope you all enjoyed following along with me as much as I loved being there. In case you missed anything so far…

My Pond Hopping Trip

Part 1: First Days in London

Part 2: Hiking and Eating in the Lake District

Part 3: More Lakes Adventures and Fun

Part 4: Workouts and Running Hyde Park

10 Tips For Running in London

 

Tomorrow I’ll be sharing my further thoughts on the trip as a whole, but since this is the day of the week when lots of us like to showcase our eats, I figured I’d take the opportunity to talk about what it was like to eat gluten free in England, both in London and in the countryside.

 

Pond Hopping Part 4: Weekly Workouts and Running Hyde Park

Greetings on the lovely Monday morning! I’m coming at you after a weekend filled with friends, food, and fun – and running. This is the last post straight from England, and I’ll be recapping my weekly workouts and running Hyde Park (well, more like 10 days of workouts, all over London). I fly home Tuesday morning, so look out for a few more posts on the whole experience later in the week. And without further ado…

 

10 Tips For Running in London

After all of the hiking in the Lake District and exhausting fun of it, I needed to get back into the running groove while on my English vacation. I wanted to not just as preparation for my upcoming races at the Dumbo Double Dare but because I’ve found that running can be a great way to explore a new place while traveling. So on Wednesday morning, I headed out for a long run starting in the Wandsworth area of London, heading over to Battersea, crossing the Chelsea Bridge into Kensington and Chelsea, and looping through the neighborhoods of Sloane Square and Knightsbridge on my way back. I covered 9.5 miles running and another mile or so of warming up and cooling down, and got to see familiar London sights and new places along the way. I also picked up 10 tips for running in London to share with you all (plenty are applicable to any new city you want to go run-sploring in!)

 

Albert Bridge

 

 

Pond Hopping Part 2: Hiking and Eating in the English Lake District

Happy Wednesday! I just returned from five days of hiking in the English Lake District with Elli, one of my best friends from college. We walked 85 miles in five days and fueled up with many, many eats that I couldn’t wait to share. I’m going to check in again tomorrow with more thoughts on the experience (and next week with more London adventures) but for now, I hope you enjoy this peek at the journey so far!

 

 

Pond Hopping Part 1: London Run and Brunch

Greetings from England! I thought I wasn’t going to post while here, but I have so much I want to jot down so I can remember it for myself that I changed my mind. It’ll be a picture per sentence kind of day since I’m writing on my iPad and have spent all day out and about, but here’s a look at the first three days of my trip across the pond 🙂