Featured image: Old Street, where I take the underground to UCL. I’m starting to get to the point in my year abroad when I’m realizing just how little time I have left in London. I’m doing my best to not let my brain—which loves doing this—start any sort of official internal countdown. But a nagging thought does surface unbidden every now and then: Enjoy it while it lasts, you don’t have much longer here. Judging by my last few posts,…
Featured image: The view of Marrakech’s Medina (old city) from the roof of the riad where I stayed. Riads, many of which have been turned into hotels, are traditional Moroccan houses centered around an interior courtyard. I know you just clicked on a post tagged, “London, England,” but sorry, this is a dispatch from Morocco. I promise that I am living in London, do have classes to attend there, and don’t spend all of my time traveling. I will be…
Featured image: The courtyard of Istanbul’s Süleymaniye Mosque. Istanbul is gorgeous. And fascinating. And overwhelming. My mom (who is visiting me in London) and I recently spent four days in Turkey’s cultural capital, which we soon realized was not nearly enough time. Somehow, despite wanting to visit for most of my life, it had escaped my notice that Istanbul is the fourth largest city in the world, with a population of more than 15 million—not including the millions more who…
Featured image: A street in North London I’ve never been happier that I decided to spend an entire year abroad than I am right now, in the middle of writing final essays, with two days left before I fly 6,000 miles home to California for winter break. I arrived in London exactly three months ago today, and while I can’t wait to spend a few weeks with my family and our pets, I’m nowhere near ready to leave London for…
Featured image: A map on my bedroom wall at home of my dream travel destinations. I meant to write this post about London, my new sort-of home for the next year—well, eight months—but I just got back from a week traveling elsewhere in England and in Ireland, so it felt more appropriate at the moment to write about travel. On the trips I’ve taken so far this year (to Brighton, Cambridge, Kent, Edinburgh, Dublin, and Galway), I can’t stop thinking…