“It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.” — Sir Arthur Conan Doyle I’ve been known to get things wrong before, especially when it comes to travel bookings. Booking my flight home for Christmas, I purchased it so fast I didn’t realize my return journey to … Read More
“Paying attention, I learned again, is the foundation of great travel writing – and as a bonus, it deeply and resonantly enriches your everyday life as well.” — Don George It had been a week to remember. A brisk drop in temperatures preceded Britain’s earliest snowfall in nearly two decades, since November of 1993. But … Read More
“And finally Winter, with its bitin’, whinin’ wind, and all the land will be mantled with snow.” — Roy Bean Snow day. Can you think of two words with a more magical connotation? Growing up near the beach, I can remember waking up and holding my breath for a quick moment right before pulling back the … Read More
“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” — G.K. Chesterton The last Thursday in November is inevitably the one day of the year where my homesickness soars to unprecedented levels. Being away for Christmas is hard, but there’s something about Thanksgiving that makes … Read More
“A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes is certain for those who are friends.” — Richard Bach It’s been almost two years since I went to Paris. As I wasn’t working during my last few weeks in London, the subsidized trip offered by the International Student … Read More
“Conurbation: noun–an extended urban area, typically consisting of several towns merging with the suburbs of a central city.” I learned a new word yesterday: conurbation. It’s one of those words that sounds tricky, but when broken down to its roots actually makes a lot of sense: the Latin words con, “together,” and urbs, “city,” combined … Read More
“When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.” — Samuel Johnson Well, it happened again. Just like my walk through Surbiton last Monday, I took too many pictures while exploring central London yesterday. I was “on assignment”–by which I mean I’ve … Read More
Tomorrow is a big day. Not only do classes begin at Kingston but – and what’s about to follow eclipses even the excitement of finally starting my master’s – I get to move into my flat. It has been a long two weeks at my hostel in southeast London. Of course the price was right, … Read More
It had been a long flight. Of course, the six and a half hours from Toronto to Heathrow pale in comparison to past flights to and from New Zealand, but what I hadn’t realized was how lucky I’d gotten on them – on my ten-hour flight from LA to Fiji, I had a row of … Read More