One Week!

I've been very busy in the past week or so with school winding down, finals coming up, working on scholarships for South Africa, starting a new job at a travel company and...prepping for London! One week from today I leave for my favorite city! I haven't been back since 2012 so a visit is way overdue. I can't wait to see old & new friends, my school and housing and to be able to come back and share my adventure of a week in London with you all!

So I've been getting all of the essentials for a trip abroad ready to pack. I recently got a new camera and am so excited to use it to document my trip! I don't think it will hit me until I get to the airport next week that I'm going back to London...

So this time next week I'll be on a plane bound for Iceland (sadly just a short layover) then off to London! Wish me luck and send positive travel vibes my way! xx

Around the neighborhood: Victoria and Westminster

Victoria is a small district located in the borough of Westminster in central London, appropriately named after Queen Victoria. In addition, it will also be my future neighborhood whilst I am in London for the year.

Here is a look at some well known spots around my future neighborhood of Victoria, and the borough of Westminster (shown above):


Big Ben

Big Ben: arguably the most recognized symbol of London out there. Big Ben isn't actually the clock itself, like most think. It's actually the bell inside the clock that chimes on the hour that it refers to. Once I reach the end of my street, I take a right and walk straight on for about 15 minutes to reach Big Ben. Totally okay with it.

Buckingham Palace

Another well recognized monument of London, Buckingham Palace: the home of the Royals. This is the closest monument to my building, and my point of reference when I tell people what part of London I'll be residing in. I tell them I'll be living less than a mile from the palace, and even if they do not know London very well, they know generally the area I'll be in.

Westminster Abbey

Along with Big Ben, Westminster Abbey is another must see tourist attraction for those coming to London. The Abbey is most known for the famous royal weddings held here over the years, as well as royal funerals. It's going to be so strange living so close to here...maybe I'll be able to hear the bells  from my building...

Victoria Station

Victoria Station is the main train/underground hub for Westminster. From this station you can get to Gatwick Airport and to Brighton, plus many other places in-between. I predict many a trip across Europe will start here, with me taking the train to Gatwick to hop a flight on Ryan Air or EasyJet to many of the countries available to me.


St. James's Park

St. James park is one of London's famous parks that finds itself running alongside the mall and Buckingham Palace. This is the closest park or green space to where I'll be living and I'm hoping to make this park a part of my routine while I am in London.

As you can see, I'll be living extremely centrally. I've wanted to live in London for so long. I had passed up other opportunities to live outside of London because it wasn't London itself. I knew what I wanted, and didn't want to settle. It was central London or nothing. If I was moving to London, I want to live IN London. While 'central London' can mean lots of different neighborhoods, I feel like where I'll be it's hard to get more central than that. I think even after day 365 of this journey, I'll still be pinching myself that I live in such a good location. I truly could have never dreamed I'd be living in Victoria or Westminster and I cannot wait to call it my neighborhood, my home.

Victoria Station image via Wikipedia.
Buckingham Palace image here.
Other photos by me.

When You Find Something You Didn't Know You Were Looking For: The Journey to Becoming A Traveler

A well loved passport via Instagram | Follow me @stormsatsea 

I have spent the past 5 years traveling abroad. When I am not traveling, I am planning, researching, working saving for the next inevitable trip. With 100 countries and 7 continents on my horizon, my love for travel and incurable case of wanderlust will never be cured. I think one of the most interesting parts of my journey to becoming a traveler is that I didn't discover my love for travel. As silly as it sounds, my love for travel discovered me.

It was September of 2009. I was 19 years old in my 2nd year of community college. I believe at the time I was somewhere in between wanting to major in journalism and sociology, or maybe I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, I can't remember.

One day my mom got the mail and there was some mail addressed to me inside. It was a brochure from my school advertising a trip over spring break in February to London and Amsterdam.

I had wanted to go, but being presented with this opportunity seemingly out of nowhere, I had a lot of questions. I had never been abroad before, and anytime I had been away or on vacation I was usually with my parents. And then there was the cost to think about. But I realized that I would be 20 years old by the time the trip came, and to me, this was a big step but it had to happen sometime. So I decided to do it. I worked and saved, and with that, financial aid and a little help from my Dad, I was able to finance it.

On February 26th, 2010 I left for London, England. I'm sure at the time I was eager to go on the trip, then would come back and continue to take classes and see where it took me. Fortunately, on that trip, something happened to me. In the course of the 9 day trip through London and Amsterdam I had just a small taste of the world and after that, I wanted to experience all of it. I was bit by the travel bug, and hard. Suddenly, I wanted to go everywhere and see everything, and knew I wanted to live abroad. The 20 year old me who left the Tampa International Airport on that day was not the same 20 year old when I came back. That trip changed me, and changed the path I was going to go down, even if I didn't know it yet.

The next year, I heard my school was going to abroad again, this time to Italy. To have the opportunity to see another country, I knew I had to go. Right before I went, a favorite professor of mine told us 'Travel is the best education you can have. Travel now, while you are young. Don't wait until you are my age, do it now.' And even then, I knew he was right. And I took his advice to heart, knowing that I wanted to see the world.

After Italy, I had set my sights on getting to Paris. At this time, I had transferred at a university in Orlando, and knew that a new school meant knew opportunities to travel. The same time the next year, in 2012, I got word that my former school was going abroad again, this time to Germany, Austria and Paris. I knew I had to go, but my school break didn't coincide with the trip. Somehow I made it work, determined to go. I missed school that week, but it was worth it (even though I paid for it dearly when I returned; I was stressed trying to catch up until finals). I spent the week in Paris, Germany and Austria then traveled for the first time by myself from Munich to Paris to stay with a friend for the week. It was a great experience, seeing Paris through a friend who lived there. It was different than seeing Paris as a tourist. We even took the Eurostar to London for a day, hardly knowing that London would play a big role in both of our futures.

That summer I went abroad again through my university, back to London, Paris and Rome. Going back to the cities I had been to two or three times before, and going back in summer were very different experiences than going to a place for the first time in winter. A group of us took a week and traveled around more of Italy after, so I was able to see even more of Italy I had missed the previous time.

Around this time I knew that travel was important to me, and I didn't just want it to be a hobby or something I did in college. I really loved it and wanted it to be somehow a part of my career. At 22, I finally figured out what I wanted after having no idea for so long.

I moved out of state back to New England to study Travel and Tourism. I think sometime between my summer trip abroad and moving to major in travel I realized I wanted to become a traveler. In that time and since, I have sent my sights on thousands of places all around the world to experience. Travel wouldn't be a once in a lifetime thing for me, it would be constant. I realized travel was not a luxury for me, it is a necessity.

I think that first trip abroad was the big step is setting the stage for me to become a traveler. The more I saw the more I wanted to see. One trip has manifested itself into 5 trips, soon to be 7 trips abroad to 4 other continents and 8 countries.

Never did I think 5 years ago on that first trip I would see so much of Europe and South America as well as South Africa coming up. Never did I think I'd be moving to London and be able to see so much more of Europe. People say I have seen a lot, and I have traveled a lot. To a traveler, though...the world is my playground. To me, I have not seen enough, or done enough. There is always more to see, to experience.

To become a traveler, if you wish to do so I think the biggest thing is the first step: to take a trip abroad. Take a trip to Asia, South America, Europe...study abroad, volunteer abroad, work abroad...anything to get you there. Once you get a taste of the world outside of your home country, you'll want to see so much of what our world has to offer. And maybe, once will be enough and you'll settle back into your home country, and that's fine. Or maybe, like myself, once will be enough, and you won't be able to get enough and want to travel to every corner of the world.

Travel showed up in my life during a time when I wasn't looking for it, or looking for anything really. That day I got that brochure in the mail was the day I found the thing I didn't know I was looking for. Out of travel I had found not only myself, but the best version of myself. Out of my adventures abroad I am proud to now, and forever, call myself a traveler.

"We travel, initially to loose ourselves; and we travel, next, to find ourselves." - Pico Iyer

A Life In London

As excited as I am to move to London, I'm actually looking forward to settle into a routine there. Sure, the first few weeks I will be on that high of having just moved, the honeymoon phase of moving if you will. I'm very much looking forward to, after a few months, having a routine in the city. I think one reason why is the thought of living in London and building a routine there, going to some of the same places each day or week, getting used to the idea of being there, is something I never thought I'd get to experience, so it means something to me. Here are some things I'm looking forward to in my London life:

Baker Street/Madame Tussuads. This will be a part of my routine because my campus is located here. I take the Tube to the Baker Street stop (I have been here in the past; I'm sure I passed my building before without even knowing!) then my building is right across from Madame Tussauds wax museum. It'll be pretty cool to be greeted by the green domed building each time I exit my classes.

Starbucks. While I don't hope to make this a frequent part of my routine as Starbucks is expensive (especially in London with the prices in pounds), I imagine it's a place I'll stop once in awhile. I always seem to find my local Starbucks wherever I live, and London will be no different. I know there is one near where I live, which is convenient, but I'm going to try to stop there only when I absolutely have to to try and save some money.

Riding the tube. I know many Londoners have a love/hate relationship with the Tube, however I happen to love it. Coming from a city with an unreliable bus system, having a widespread, efficient underground transit system is like heaven. Each morning I'll have class I'm looking forward to walking to my Tube stop, Victoria, riding it to class and getting off at the Baker Street stop where my campus is.

Buckingham Palace. Possibly one of the most exciting things in my routine...weekly walks past the palace. I'll be living less than a mile from here and am going to try to walk around the area (even with the hoards of tourists) even if I have to go a bit out of my way, simply because I want to soak up the fact that I am practically neighbors to the Queen. I want to relish in the fact I live so closely to a famous monument that practically every visitor to London comes to see.

Regent's Park. A 5 minute walk from my campus, Regent's Park is one of the many parks of London dubbed 'the lungs of London'. Being so close to my campus I'm looking forward to spending many an hour in this park, walking around, taking in the relative quiet and open spaces. On days where the weather permits, I'm hoping to do some reading for my classes in this park before I head off to class for the day.

St. James Park. Another one of London's beautiful parks, this time located a few minutes from my building of residence. I've actually never been in this park before, so I'm looking forward to morning walks in the park, coffee in hand, exploring the park and catching glimpses of the top of the London Eye along the way. I think I'll enjoy living to close to this park most in autumn when the trees start to change all sorts of colors and I can surrounded by my most favorite season of the year.

The "Right" Path

In late 2012, I made the decision to leave my current public university, one semester shy of graduation to move out of state to a private university because I wanted to switch my major to Travel/Tourism.

It was a huge risk, and still is. Only recently I've started to say 'it's been worth it so far' and have believed it.

This decision was a huge risk because I didn't know if I was doing the right thing. Maybe I should stay and finish my degree and try to get a job, a bi-weekly paycheck, a 9-5 cubicle. That's what most people view as 'success.' Make money, pay off loans...whatever.

Some people didn't care that I hated my degree. I wasn't proud to have it, and I knew that whatever job I ended up in, if I could even get a job, would have made me incredibly unhappy.

So in changing my degree I have gained internships and experience, been to South America and soon South Africa, and am pursuing grad school and living abroad. Would I have done any of this if I had stayed where I was? Absolutely not.

In pursuing grad school I am once again faced with another huge risk. Probably the biggest risk thus far in my life. And sometimes I wonder if it will be worth it, if it will pay off.

Those times when the crippling fear of debt seems to consume me, seemingly out of nowhere something about London comes up and it reminds me: this is going to work. You're going down the right path. You are doing the right thing.

Maybe it's a sign, or maybe I'm just making it up in my head. Though I know choosing what I really want, and pursuing my own path in my own life has taken me to some incredible places so far, so I'm going to continue to go down my own path and see where it leads me.

September. London and a one way ticket. Let's see where it takes me.

Venice

I was fortunate enough to go to Venice in the summer of 2012 on a trip around Italy with some friends. I had never been to Venice before and was so excited to experience this city.

We took the train in to the train station in Venice which is one of the few ways to get here. The moment I walked out of the train station, suitcase in tow, is a moment I wish I could relive a thousand times over. It truly was a magical feeling, seeing the grand canals, and boats flying past me. I think that moment I fell in love with Venice, and that moment cemented Venice as my favorite place I have been (besides London). 

We got a water taxi at the station and the boat whizzed us off to out hostel. As we rode down the grand canal I realized first hand what a magical place Venice was. It was truly a surreal experience, looking around and seeing boats and water instead of cars and roads.

From the moment I arrived, Venice had me. We got to our hostel after getting very lost, and I was itching to get out and explore more of the city that had taken my breath away from the very beginning. 

I knew I had all of Venice at my feet, and wanted to explore; I wanted to fall more and more in love with the city with every step that I took....and that is what I did.

*As you can see, my photos from previous posts have disappeared. Google+ and I are having some issues, so please bare with me until I can get all of the photos back up.

In 10 years

"Ten years from now, make sure you can say that you chose your life, you didn’t settle for it.” -Mindy Hale

When it comes down to it, me moving abroad is me choosing my life. Yeah, I could stay here in the U.S., where I have lived my life for 24 years. Yes I could go to grad school here in Boston or somewhere else, or not go at all. Yes, I could try to find a job as soon as possible and be there for a few years until I move on to the next thing.

But to me, going this route would be settling. This would be going down the easy route, and settling for 'this is good enough' in my life.

But while moving to London is taking the harder route, but it allows me to say 'this is great' in my life.

So in 10 years, I know I'll look back on my time abroad, and whatever is to come from it, and know that my decision was simply choosing my life and the path I want to go down. I know this journey will be hard and frustrating at times, but I will come out on the other side saying I didn't settle in my life.

In whatever terrifying financial scenario I've imagined in my head from time to time in going to grad school, I know that in doing this for myself I am not settling in what I ultimately want my life to be. I am pursuing a goal and dream of mine that's been a long time coming, and I'm going after it at full speed, no matter what. And I refuse to settle.