Contents may have shifted during flight

This time last week I was just taking off from Philadelphia International Airport for a six and a half hour flight to Dublin, Ireland. During the flight I was overwhelmed with a combination of excitement and nervousness as it really sunk in that I was beginning the first day of the rest of my life. Okay, that sounds a bit cheesy… but really, I’m moving to Northern Ireland and I’m not sure what the next few pages in my life are going to say.

My airport experience was smooth (apart from the crew ripping the pocket off the front of one of my suitcases) and relatively painless. I got rid of my suitcase and only had to pay a $100 overweight baggage fee. (I don’t normally pack enough to get an overweight fine but hey, I’m moving countries so cut me some slack!) Just before going through security was emotional saying goodbye to my dad. Hopefully I’ll see him before Christmas. When I got in line for security there were a lot of older ladies who were giggling about being exempt from the x-ray scanner because of their age. I was wearing easy clothes to make sure I caused no problems going through the metal detector. I think leggings and a comfy t-shirt are a girl’s best friend when traveling.

After I got my shoes and sweater back on and my laptop bag zipped up, I stopped off to buy a large bottle of water in Hudson News before heading to find my gate. When I arrived to gate A22 there were only about 12 other people milling around. I found a seat that offered a great view of the sunset and planes coming and going. I settled in my seat to relax and wait till boarding time. I was engrossed reading “Game of Thrones” and an hour later looked up to see that the entire gate had filled up completely.

The air hostesses started making announcements and told us that they’d be boarding the plane twenty minutes earlier than scheduled. I was well pleased with that news. They began calling zones which just ensued in organized chaos as everyone began to line up even though their zone hadn’t been called yet. By the time my zone was called most people were already hovering around the line.

When I got to the front of the line and was showing my boarding pass and passport I accidentally knocked over my carry on suitcase right into the male flight attendant’s shin. He pretended to squeal in pain and give me a hard time about it. I was so embarrassed and apologized profusely but that just made him start cracking jokes about it to the enjoyment of all the passengers around me.

Cringing from that episode, I speed walked onto the plane and did my best not to knock anything else over. I tossed my suitcase into the overhead compartment and got into my seat and pulled out my Cosmo magazine, ipod and exchanged pleasantries with my seatmate. As I sat in my small window seat looking at the crew rush around loading last minute cases and cargo under the plane, I know I had a big silly smile on my face.

The captain announced that we had a full flight and that we were number 8 on the tarmac waiting to be cleared for take off. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes as there is always a delay somewhere in the airport procedure. Not even a minute later the captain came on the loud speaker again and laughed as he told us: “Actually we’re number one in line for take off, so here we go.”

I got to see one last look at the Philly skyline as we flew into the night sky and it was bizarre knowing that it was the last time I’ll see it for a while.

I landed in Dublin at 9am the next morning after a night of no sleep and did not feel tired at all. Looking out the tiny window of the plane at the landscape I saw the trademark patchwork of green fields with cows and sheep that were so small they just looked like dots! As we got closer to the airport and lower to the ground, I could see Dublin city and the rows upon rows of houses. I was thinking about all the people going about their daily business and it made it made me realize that this truly is the beginning of my new life in Ireland!

 

The weather was overcast but the cooler temperatures were a welcome relief from the disgustingly, sticky humid weather back in Philly that I’ve been dealing with all summer.

Weather forecast: Today it was a beautiful, warm, sunny day and the temperature reached 21 degrees Celcius. Over the past week the weather has been nice enough to simply wear  t-shirts, jeans and flats.

My mom and sister moved back a month before me, so my mom was able to pick me up from the arrivals hall and it was so great to see her again. We got in the car and drove up to Belfast to pick up my sister from school. I have to admit it was funny driving on the left side of the road and whizzing around the roundabouts. The drive from Dublin to Belfast (which is the capital of Northern Ireland) only takes about an hour and a half.

At the top of the agenda for my first Saturday morning home was a delicious Irish “fry” for breakfast. In all seriousness, it is possibly my favorite food. A fry consists of sausages, bacon, eggs, soda bread and potato bread – all topped with HP brown sauce (which is something similar to A1 sauce in America.)

It’s strange to think that a week and a half ago I was sitting in my family room with one of my best friends talking over a cup of tea about all the crazy things going on in our lives. And now here I am in my aunt’s house in Northern Ireland 3,000 miles away from Philly. It’s weird to think that I’m now on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

The start of this week has been busy with searching for a house and job interviews in Belfast. On Thursday I’ve got a trip planned to Dublin for a week with my friend from Germany. We can’t wait to shop and catch up over plenty of drinks. 🙂 Cheerio for now!

Wanderlust Wednesday – Paris

Paris, France – June 2013

Happy Wanderlust Wednesday! So this is going to be the first of what I will try to make a weekly (maybe more realistic bi-weekly) venture to highlight a travel tip or place I have been, or would like to go.

I was looking at pictures on my laptop and reminiscing about my trip to France for a week last year with my friend. Here’s a little summary of what I got up to during my wonderful trip. We decided we would keep the trip as cheap as possible, so we booked into a hostel with the least number of alarming reviews and hoped for the best. Our mantra was, “we only need a bed to sleep in because we’ll be out and about the whole time.” We packed lightly and were both like excited puppies for our first time in Paris. Our flight was delayed, so as soon as we landed at Charles de Gaulle  we had to jump in a taxi (which got stuck in traffic for an hour) to take us from the airport to check in to our hostel. The old man at the front desk of the hostel scolded us for being over an hour late to check-in and gave us plenty of attitude as he handed us the key to  our four person female room. We climbed the steep, circular stairs (past a bathroom that reeked of urine) and to our room at the end of a narrow hall. It was a stuffy, hot, tiny, dingy room with a single, floor to ceiling window that offered a glimpse into a noisy courtyard and two sets of red, metal bunk beds. There was ONE outlet for the entire room and four people to share. It was laughably ridiculous. My friend was annoyed and left to use the communal bathroom on our floor to freshen up. I rested on the bottom bunk and I felt so tired that I wasn’t too bothered about the state of the room. My friend returned from the bathroom with an appalling story of the filth and stench. I decided at that moment that I wouldn’t be peeing here tonight.

We pushed our small travel size suitcases under the beds and abandoned the room. We walked down the street to explore our surroundings and remedy our less than perfect arrival to Paris with a nice stroll and a search for something to eat. It started to rain heavily as we were walking and I’m cringing as I write this, but we spotted a McDonalds not far down the street and we made a run for it. Sitting comfortably in the McCafe with our Chicken McNuggets and fries, we spread a map of Paris across the table and got our bearings. We used the toilet at McDonalds (as neither of us were looking forward to returning to our hostel bathroom) and headed back out into the night to wander around a bit more. Our hostel was not far from the Bastille so we planned to jump on a bus tour the next morning there. We ambled back to our hostel wondering about who our roommates were going to be for the night. As we unlocked the door to our new room our question was answered immediately. Our roommates were two Spanish girls who preferred to walk around in just their underwear, which was tremendously awkward, especially because they pretty much ignored us. So much for my wishful thinking of making new friends. It was around 10pm so we decided to get our PJ’s on and call it a night so we’d be ready to explore all the next day. (That was the earliest night we had the whole trip.)

The next morning I awoke to a sensible pair of underpants hanging over the railing of my bunk bed and couldn’t help but laugh. These girls were complete strangers to me, yet they didn’t have a care in the world what I thought of their habits. I could hear water running because my friend was already taking a shower in the grimy shower room the size of small closet in our room.  As soon as she came out she happily told me it smelled like bleach. I took the fastest shower of my life because the smell of bleach was so powerful yet the shower was still gross. Dressed and ready for the day, my friend and I sat facing each other on opposite lower bunks and mutually decided that we’d check out of the hostel and book into a cheap 1 or 2 star hotel to spend the rest of the week. We’d both stayed in hostels before and were disappointed with how low quality our experience had been so far.

We walked down the street and checked out two hotels that were too expensive and wanted to give us each a suite, until we found a simple 1 star hotel with friendly owners who showed us the room and then gave us a good rate for the rest of the week. Our new room was small and basic but it was bright and clean. It had two single beds, a sink and mirror in one corner and a nice big window to look out on the street. It also had two outlets so we could charge our cameras and phones at nighttime. There was a shared bathroom two floors below between EVERYONE in the hotel and you had to get the key from the front desk to use it. But the shower was nicer than the hostel and somehow it worked out that all the guests took showers at different times and I never had to wait in a line. Buoyant with our success and happy with our new home for the week, we set off to explore Paris.

Almost every morning we stopped in to buy pain du chocolate and an apple from the grocery store down the street from our hotel. By this point in my year abroad I had gained a lot of weight. I was squeezing into cotton dresses that just a few months before had been swinging on my hips and had plenty of extra room in the waist. So I distinctly remember during this trip that I was trying to be conscious of my eating habits… but the Parisian patisseries were calling my name.

Our favorite spot to eat and shop was the Latin Quarter. We found an amazing small restaurant that served us a 3 course meal for 10 euros! We also found a lovely cocktail bar that served us delicious pina coladas that left us feeling instantly buzzed in the searing June heat.

Over the course of the week we got to see all the sights of Paris. The Eiffel Tower, the Sacra Coeur, the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Pantheon, the Moulin Rouge, etc, etc. All of it was beautiful and just as I had seen in so many movies and read about in so many books. It was so surreal walking around and actually seeing the Eiffel Tower in person casually peeking out behind buildings and taking my own pictures. And my picture taking was hilarious. I just had to get pictures of the Eiffel Tower at every angle with every imaginable prop. At the end of the trip I had sooooo many pictures of the Tower, and hardly any pictures with me in them!

My Top 3 Favorite Moments:

1)Sitting in the park in front of the Eiffel Tower and waiting til dark to watch it light up and sparkle.

2)Wandering around the Jardin du Luxembourg on our last day when suddenly the rain starts pouring and we only had one umbrella. We had to walk in sync to try and stay dry but it was raining at an angle so we still got soaked. We found a lovely café serving hot chocolate and croissants to wait out the rain and people watch. Paris is beautiful even in the rain!

3)Getting our exam results (Passed with flying colors!) in an Irish bar overlooking Notre Dame and celebrated the rest of the night with many pints of Magners.

My trip to Paris was so much fun but much too short. I am looking forward to returning to Paris to explore the less touristy side of the city and take a day trip to see Versailles. I was gutted that I didn’t get to see the golden palace during this trip but I’ll be back! 😉

Icecream shaped like a flower! 🙂

All smiles at the Louvre.

 

Farewell Philly

The official countdown to my next destination begins TODAY. It is exactly ONE MONTH until I leave for Ireland!! Excitement does not fully explain the happiness I feel about this decision.  Instead of joining the mad rush for finding a job in the highly competitive job market of recent graduates in Philly, I’m packing my bags and heading off to Europe.

Having just graduated college in May, I am raring to go begin the next chapter in my life.

Truthfully, Ireland isn’t a new destination for me. I was born in Northern Ireland and grew up in the U.S.

I am 100% Irish but am equal parts American and Irish having grown up in the States. It’s often difficult to categorize myself because when I’m in America my friends view me as Irish but when I’m in Ireland, I’m viewed as American because of my accent. I guess I understand that home really is a fluid word and I’m lucky enough to have two homes: Ireland AND the U.S.

Over the years growing up, my family went home for a month in the summer to visit the rest of our family and do some sightseeing so we could see where we came from. My sister and I always enjoyed hearing ancient Celtic myths and legends. We’ve kissed the Blarney Stone, climbed over the Giant’s Causeway, explored Dublin and wandered around Cork’s picturesque cobblestone streets.

I absolutely love the country and the people and am really excited to return to live in a permanent capacity, instead of my previous trips as a visitor on vacation or as a student studying abroad.

I am lucky to call myself Irish and American, especially in a world where there is so much conflict and countries in chaos. I’ve gotten to live in two amazing countries that offer their people freedom, democracy, and beautiful sights… Any of my fellow travelers experience belonging to two places at once?  It’s definitely not a bad thing, and brings me that much closer to being a true citizen of the world.

It will definitely be an emotional farewell to all my wonderful friends here in Philly but I can feel it in my bones that its time for me to move on and explore new things. The travel bug was sparked long ago and wanderlust runs in my veins as my parents were also frequent globetrotters to England, Holland, France, Germany, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Bulgaria and of course the U.S.

Moving to Ireland is only the beginning of a very lengthy and busy next couple of years. My twenties is going to be EPIC. I ‘m eager to try out many places over the course of my lifetime. I am ambitious and curious enough to step out of my comfort zone and plan to try living in Australia (tentatively 2016?), London (tentatively 2017?) and Spain one day.

I feel a combination of excitement and stress now that my departure date is not far away. I still have so much packing and sorting to do before I leave, but I know that this is the beginning of a great adventure!

Greetings from Somewhere Else!

Hello and welcome to BrunetteTraveler! I’m so glad you’ve stumbled across my page. Join me on my journey as I blog about my life and travel adventures around the world.

I like to think I’m a chic and sophisticated brunette traveler who is most definitely a City lover + Bacardi connoisseur + Sun worshiper + Aspiring writer.

I live my life by the simple philosophy: “travel more and worry less”.  Before I was a seasoned traveler, I stressed about EVERYTHING. But after a year of studying abroad and some city breaks around Europe, I learned that life simply does not EVER go according to plan. And you just have to deal with it. I realized that in order to live a happy (stress-free) life, I should relax my over the top organizational tendencies and become more easy-going. (After all, it was only me that was setting these impossible expectations and probably annoying everyone around me.) Immediately I noticed a difference in my happiness because I no longer felt like I had to be in total control of everything. Because of this I was able to enjoy the rest of my time spent abroad in a blur of fun and spontaneous trips.

Traveling has taught me to “worry less” and now I take life one day at a time and just go with the flow. 🙂

I enjoy the excitement of traveling: exploring new places; trying new things and tasting different foods. From the start of a trip setting out for the airport, to coming home with a suitcase full of dirty clothes and souvenirs, the satisfaction cannot be rivaled. Going “somewhere else” teaches you about another culture, but it also allows you to learn about yourself.

So as you can probably tell, I have a serious case of wanderlust. The word “wander” is so accurate because I never make an itinerary for roaming around a new city. It’s impossible to tell what the weather will be like, or if you’ll get hungry and need to stop for a snack, or if your feet hurt from walking and you need to sit down and rest, or if you get lost and wind up in a different place than the itinerary called for… It’s much better to explore a new place by wandering around it to find the hidden gems off the beaten trail.

I’ve already been to Ireland, U.S., England, Germany, France and Canada but my travel bucket list is ENDLESS. I’m setting out for a big adventure to see the rest of the world and send my greetings from lots of “somewhere else’s”!

Check out my Instagram @BrunetteTraveler

Stay tuned for my next post about my upcoming travel destination!