I had the day off from work today so I spent it catching up on sleep, blog work and exercise. First things first, I went down to the apartment gym for 30 min. on the elliptical.
Then what was supposed to be a short 20 min. walk to and from the post office, ended up taking over an hour because I was exploring UVA Grounds. Okay okay, I actually got lost. College campuses can be so confusing. I had to ask for directions twice.
The post office is right next to the bookstore. You know where that is right?
Uhh…no?
At least I got to familiarize myself with the beautiful campus.
Afterwards, I ate the rest of my WFs salad from yesterday–mixed seafood and curried tempeh salad. I could have eaten a salad 4x this size.
Along with Fage 2% Greek yogurt and blueberries.
A little bit later, I snacked on Cinnamon x 2: Cinnamon Roast Almonds and hunk of Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread.
I’m braving the pouring rain to check out two apartments from Craigslist and then I’m heading over to our employee meeting + pizza dinner at the bakery!
***
The Travel Bug
I have majorly caught the traveling bug. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a new bug. I’ve loved traveling my entire life, thanks to my adventurous parents. What I mean is, I want to board a plane and fly overseas…like tomorrow.
I’ve traveled quite a bit over the last year, but there’s still so much in the world I have yet to see and experience.
I was g-chatting with a friend this morning about life, work, etc. I told him about my next project, backpacking through Europe, which I started researching this past weekend. He said if I needed a companion, he’d come with me! Then I told him I’d like to go to Australia and China too.
He said he can only get about 10 days off from work. 10?! I was thinking more like 80. Seriously, there’s a lot to see in this world!
I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to find a way to travel for a living. I could have a show called Where in the world is Allie? Wouldn’t it be cool to work for National Geographic? Or The Travel Channel? Or a cruise ship?
All dreaming aside, I really do want to go somewhere soon. Maybe not tomorrow, but definitely before the year is over. I better start saving up my pennies!
Tell me: Do you enjoy traveling? Where would you like to visit next?
{ 80 comments… read them below or add one }
I wish I could travel SO much more, but unfortunately I am a broke ass college student. I need a job. I miss Nicaragua so much!
I agree college campuses are seriously so hard to navigate ive been at uk 5 years and I still get lost!
I LOVE traveling. I spent a semester abroad in England and then backpacked around Europe for a month with my boyfriend. It was an experience I’ll never forget, but after a year+ at home, I’m ready for more! I’d love to do an Ireland, Scotland, Wales trip next or venture to South America.
Oooh, that’s exactly how I started feeling earlier this year. So I went backpacking through Europe! In fact, my boyfriend and I just got back from a little over a month traveling all around Europe. It was AMAZING. I’d love to go back with you…haha. Hope the planning goes well!
Oh girl, I am right there with you. I would love to just pick up and leave on a round-the-world trip! I just got back from several weeks in Peru and being back at work is torture (but I just have to keep telling myself, at least I have a job that lets me take off almost 3 weeks at a time!).
I am trying to plan a trip to Portugal. I have a friend who is living there for work and that is my favorite way to see new places – through a friend living there. They have the best insight into what to see/do and are free tour guides and hotels
Oh believe me, I am in the same boat.
While there is nothing like summer in California, I reallllly just want to hop on a plane and visit some city.
I went to Hong Kong and Macau last summer for a week and when I was watching the Bachelorette, I was like I want to go back so badly!!
Sooo with you on the travelling! I think it is so important to experience the world, other cultures, other people – and there is no better time to do that than now that you are young and don’t have to worry about so much stuff. Nothing is holding you back!
Personally, travelling has changed and influenced my life so much like I never thought possible. The places I ‘ve been to and the people I met became so important to me that in the end I will end up leaving my original home and move to another continent for good. You never know….
I say go for it!
You sound just like one of my friends. She has major wanderlust and is set on finding a job that enables her to travel. I definitely enjoy traveling, but I’m more of a homebody.
Girl, you should look into travel writing! You clearly love to write, so why not do both?
Also, check out the book “The Lost Girls”- it’s a travel memoir of 3 women who dropped their jobs & traveled the world for a year (I’m actually interning for one of the women right now!)
You’ll love it!
I’m a flight attendant and travel all the time! But there are still some places I would looveee to see, right now Shanghai is at the top of my list. My airline isn’t hiring, but I know Continental is!! You get to see the world for free, best job there is (in my opinion)
Definitely agree with Alex, now is a great time in your life to travel. My husband and I moved abroad just after getting married, and lived in England for 2 years. Just before I turned 30, we decided it was probably best to come home, buy a house and have kids
Those 2 years were the ideal time for us to travel, and it was so easy to take weekend trips across Europe with our home base in England.
I haven’t gotten to do much traveling. The biggest vacation I have ever been on was to Chicago. This is something that I would really like to do more of once I graduate!
I’ve sadly never been outta the country… it’s my goal to de-pristine my passport before it expires in a few years!
I’ve always had the travel bug too! It’s tough when your husband doesn’t have the same affinity! I did convince him to do Ireland this year by saying it’s the same flight time wise as going to California for us.
I have the traveling bug big time! I studied abroad in Paris and got in lots of traveling then. I just found out I’m going to London next spring for an accounting internship, so I’m just now starting to think about where I want to travel when I’m there! I’m thinking Scotland, Ireland, more of France so far.
I love traveling! I really want to go to to Italy this upcoming year, I’ve even started learning Italian at my university.
College campuses are fun to explore-I would love to venture around UVA a bit. I love to travel and explore new places. I actually have a small notebook of countries, monuments, cities etc I would like to visit
the travel bug bites me all too often. thankfully i’m on the road at least once a month this summer.
I LOVE traveling! Sooooooo many places I want to go– don’t know when Ill get to them, but I will! I really want to go to Thailand, China, Australia, Spain, the Netherlands, Peru, Ecuador and Galapagos…. jeez, I think the list is even longer haha
I totally am backpacking Europe next summer, before I find a real job…with traveling involved!
Maybe you could try to find a job in Europe. Teach english for a year and then come back to the states.
I love travelling so much. Yes, backpacking through Europe (especially Eastern Europe) is my dream! I would love to stay in an urt in Mongolia too…that would be awesome. China would be amazing – holding a panda, climbing the Great Wall…And North Korea! Next year is the 100th anniversary of Kim ll Sung and I’d LOVE to go see the big celebration. *sigh*I just want to go everywhere:)
I am going to Moscow for college in September. It is going to be a blast – but I am a Texan and definitely not used to super cold winters. Eeek!
I remember moving to college and being so scared I’d get lost on my way to class. They’re so confusing!! I remember a girl telling me when she was a freshman, she was the girl with the map constantly in her face with the same fear..but within a week she knew the place like the back of her hand. So yeah, it’s ridiculously confusing if you don’t have to navigate it every day!
I might go to Italy in September for two weeks
I loooove traveling. I saved up in high school so I could travel, and I’ve been to Europe twice and Australia once on my own dime. Even though I am now poor and majorly behind on school, I wouldn’t trade those experiences for the world!
I am traveling to switzerland and barcelona in a few weeks!! I will let you know how it is!
That is a dream job!! Go for it girl.
Australia ROCKS!
I am biased though, as I live here…
Seriously though, so so so many beautiful places to go here… Melbourne, Byron Bay, Daintree Rainforest, actually everywhere in Tropical Nth Queensland is fabulous, Sydney, Great Ocean Rd in Victoria/Sth Australia…. ahhhh heaven!
The New South Wales Coast is simply the most stunning place to drive up. Have done it many times, and its just gets better and better!
Places I would like to visit is Holland, Ireland and the north west of Australia. And I would be a happy lady!
Enjoy the meeting and pizza night! Matts pizzas always look incredible!
Oh, man – I wanna go EVERYWHERE! Europe, parts of the Middle East. Every. Where. I even have some money saved up for it! My problem is finding people to go with – all my friends are broke college students (as I am). Sometimes I just wanna GO, but I realize its probably not the BEST idea for a female in her early 20s to just take off alone ;P Someedayy
izzyy
I have never even been on a plane! I have traveled all around Canada and most of the States. I would love to go to Britain though
What?! What are you waiting for???
Maybe this will inspire you to find a way to travel for a living…
http://proplayerinsiders.com/from-nfl-cheerleader-to-national-geographic-host/
Cool! Thanks for the link to that article.
I love to travel! Sadly, I am too poor to do so. If I could afford it though, I would like to explore the West coast–San Diego!
I LOVE traveling!!! I’ve been to Ireland twice and I’d give anything to go back!! I also want to see more of England and France and Italy.
If you go to Australia, come to New Zealand too!
I’ll tour guide you!
I’d love to get back for another trip to England and Europe, and I’d like to explore much more of the States. I’ve only been to Los Angeles, and that was in 1999.
I totally agree, come to NZ! Laura – where in NZ are you? (I get all excited when I come across New Zealanders in the blogosphere
)
Sorry, Christie, only just saw your comment! I’m from Otago – I’m a post-grad student at Otago Uni and live half the time in Dunedin and half in Central Otago. How about you? I’ll have to check out your blog.
I love traveling. Definitely got my fill of it when I was studying abroad this past spring semester, but now I’d like to see more of my own backyard! I’d love to visit New York City, D.C., & Seattle!
I love traveling! It’s just hard to find the time and cash to do so. Since I’m living in Korea it should be easy since there are so many close places but when I went to volunteer at a dog shelter one pup stole my heart and now I’ve had her for four years. Makes it hard to travel when you live in a country that isn’t dog friendly (i.e. not much in terms of boarding facilities).
My next trip will be around the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos (and possibly Thailand) in January after my last semester of grad school ends. The Philippines part MAY be pushed up to the first week of August.
I would totally be you backpacking partner…backpacking through europe is like the number one thing on my bucket list!
I love traveling and discovering new places – there is so much to see in the world!
You should teach overseas! I taught English in Thailand for a year and it was amazing. An added bonus is there is a lot of vacation time and so many amazing places nearby. During my year I went to Vietnam, Cambodia, Bali, India, and all over Thailand. Definitely a great way to travel and experience the world.
I thought loooong and hard about teaching in China, but it was too far off in the distance. I guess it’s time NOW to apply if I want to. Hmmm..
I also spent 2 years teaching ESL in S.Korea before starting grad school here. There are soooo many resources out there for teaching. I get emails all the time from one company about teaching in China. I say do it!
Hey Allie! We work with this study abroad provider a ton in my office back home, sending students on their programs. I did a lot of looking into their teaching programs for a work-related project, but it looks exccellent!
http://www.ciee.org/teach/
I’ve actually looked into that program (the China one!) pretty in depth. Looks like I’ve missed the August departure deadline though.
I would give my left arm to be able to travel for a living too
…but yes most people have to work and pay bills girl!! 80 days off?! Unless I had a really rich trust fund….or won the lotto…sigh (dreaming).
Are you just living somewhere temporary there now or going to school as well?
Well 80 days would be LITERALLY backpacking…like living in cheap hostels, couch surfing, etc. And probably more like 30 days
. Just living here while working at GH. I’m not going to school–no money!
I love to travel but definitely am nervous and need a companion or two! My next U.S. trip will be to Philly and I am hoping to go to Europe sometime after I graduate grad school next year
Ahhh I was just talking about traveling tonight! Why does money have to be such an obstacle?? I would love to travel but always feel like money gets in the way. Please tell me you have some travel budget secrets??
As far as traveling for a living, my cousin actually works for LiveStrong. She has always been a traveler and even was in the Peace Corps for awhile. But then she got a job with LiveStrong and they have literally sent her all over the world on business! I seriously think she’s been to every continent and dozens upon dozens of countries. It’s totally possible!
Hmm I have been thinking about trying the fage 2%. I don’t know though, I really love the sour flavor in the non-fat Greek yogurt. What taste difference do you get?
It’s extremely creamy! You must try it! It’s so much better than 0%–still sour too.
To my knowledge there is no travel show on the travel channel about eating healthy while traveling around the world. You would be a great host for a show like that
France has been calling my name lately, a little town in the French countryside and biking from shop to shop sounds incredible to me.
I love how you’re so motivated to eat healthfully all the time! I was wondering.. do you ever crave junk food? Even the ones you had from your childhood? I always crave bad carbs especially from my childhood (since I was a really fat kid but lost weight during puberty) and always find myself bingeing on them.. any advice?
I don’t really crave the junk food that’s not within my reach like chips, Cheetos, Oreos, and that kind of stuff. I do crave cereal, granola, pita chips, bakery cookies, etc. that are a little healthier but not by much! There are times when I eat a lot of processed food. I feel like crap and that’s usually motivation not to the next time around.
In terms of advice, I’d have to channel my inner psych major and say there are probably other factors causing you to binge…and you are probably “craving” them for a different reason (not that you’re hungry or miss them). Perhaps you’re feeling sad or angry or happy…? Bingeing is very complex!
I love to travel and see new places! There’s so much culture that is itching to be explored (or at least I am itching to explore
)! Backpacking across South America or Asia are actually on my bucket list, I know both would be an experience of a lifetime!
I’ve always been a nervous traveler, but I’m starting to love it more and more! I’m going to California on my own in a few weeks (holy crap) and it will e the first on-a-whim trip that i’ll be taking by myself. excited and scared!!
I absolutely love traveling! I’ve been blessed to go to many places, but my favourite area of the world is the Middle East. It’s a beautiful area with amazing people and delicious food!!
I adore traveling! I really want to go to Latin America, but that’ll have to wait until I have more money.
Oh that is my ultimate dream job! It has been my dream job for years. I love pretty much everything about traveling. New food, new people, new place, new culture….. the list goes on.
I haven’t been to South America and backpacking in there is my lifetime goal. Also I would love to travel in Thailand and Vietnam.
wow. I wish I’m as motivated as you to workout Allie. Currently I’m very verrrrrrrrry lazy to take my butt out of the house. I dont even know why. (No actually i know. The internet is the bad guy
)
Anyways, I hope u can do like a post on how u kept yourself motivated to workout.
If you have your own travelling show, i’ll glue my eyes on every episode! I love travelling to. I went to Australia few years ago for 2weeks trip. But I still haven’t have the chance to explore all place that I wanted. Wish I could go there after I finish my studies
Good luck Allie !
Oh goodness, anywhere would be fine with me! I love to travel but the husband doesn’t seem to have the same passion for it that I do… Someday? Maybe?… I’ll cross my fingers!
Haha sleep, blogging, and exercise pretty much sum up my days off too!
I love to travel, but I haven’t really gone many places. I’m dying to go to California, Italy, France and Greece! I’m hoping to get a chance to do a trip after I finally finish my undergrad next year!
Allie, I ALWAYS have the travel bug. Having a full-time job and going to school really holds me back, but I’m itching for a tropical getaway, Greece, and Paris. And maybe some wine tasting in California.
I really want to go to Korea right now. I love Europe and have so much more to see of it but I have friends in Korea and their FaceBook pictures make me so jealous of that beautiful country.
If not there Ethiopia. We want to adopt a little girl from Ethiopia and I’d love to see the country for all it has before we adopt. (note: Traveling won’t affect our decision to adopt from there.)
I love traveling too – some of my favorite trips have been Thailand, New Zealand, Spain, and Peru. Next on my list might be another trip to Southeast Asia, maybe Laos? I also want to see more of South America.. oh and more of Europe, and well, as you say there are SO many places to see!
Do it! I have the travel bug bad too, and I’d love to just take off after graduating next year. I have a bunch of international friends from the summer camp I work at, and next summer, I’m thinking about living/working in New Zealand for a couple of months.
Haha I’ve gotten lost on my own campus. I go to W&M in Virginia so I hope to visit Great Harvest in Charlottesville this semester!!!
I LOVE traveling and am dying to do to Greece next – so jealous of all the fun places you’ve been!! We went to France last year and it was AMAZING. I would love to go back there.
I also really want to do a trip to London.
That salad looks even better than it did the first time!
Love when it has time to “marinate” a bit.
Gingie and I have already said that if (er, when
!!! *wishful thinking*) we get married, we’re going to have a totally low key wedding and just GO TO TOWN with the honeymoon and travel all over! I’ve been to a few different islands/tropical locales but really want to go to make my way through Europe!
I want to travel… so bad. You are so lucky to have been to all of those awesome places! I’ve only ever been to Michigan and South Carolina (lived in both those places, so it doesn’t count!), Tennessee, and Florida, and the states you have to travel through to get to those places. THAT’S IT! I would love to travel somewhere… even just in the states. Like Yosemite or Yellowstone. Or Alaska… *dream*
Its never going to happen. I’ll have to live vivaciously through Animal Planet and Discovery and National Geographic channels.
um YES! LOVE travelling! I have been to a lot of places, but there is SO much world to explore!! I want to go to Greece, Brazil, Bahamas, China, and New Zealand/Australia. OH what I would give to do that RIGHT now!!!!
Europe is AMAZING. You should totally go….just sayin’
I love traveling! I’m thinking about studying abroad in Australia or New Zealand next summer!
I have had that traveling bug as well! I want to return to places I used to live and miss greatly (like Boston), as well as explore new places – both in the US and overseas. If I could find a job where I get to travel for a living or find some other way to do it I would. For now…I don’t get to and instead have to save my pretty pennies.
I’m modeling in Milan right now! Travel+get paid=best job ever
you could always intern with a photographer…since you are so amazing at it!
Ha I am going through the same exact thing- except that I’ve never ventured beyond Mexico or Canada! I think about traveling alllll the time, alllll day long. I just started researching global volunteer programs, but can’t decide if I should just land somewhere and be a nomad, staying at hostels and going wherever, or do a formal volunteer program, or miraculously find a job!?
80 days sounds just baaarely long enough.
Looking forward to following your planning process!
Hi Allie, We met in the line at the WF closing! So happy to be getting your blog.
My Europe backpacking trip was about 80 days and I’ve always regretted it wasn’t longer. I wanted to do a year trip around the world, but let people talk me out of it. Go for as long as you can!