I'm interspersing this post with pictures of my most recent Romanian adventures in lieu of writing about them outright.
When I initially planned this trip, I thought I would be gone six months, max. Three months in France and Italy, three months in Eastern Europe, home. Then, I decided to add Turkey to the list. Then, I decided to add Spain and the UK and Central Europe. When I left the United States, I didn't have a deadline to go home, but just to see what happened. Since then, my plans have changed constantly. My Google Drive is littered with random timelines and budgets. How long can I go without running out of money? How many farmstays do I need to do in order to stretch out my more expensive travel days?
I knew I'd need to start earning money again at some point. I also want the opportunity to live somewhere for a longer period of time, instead of hopping from country to country. I thought I could transition from traveling in Europe to teaching English is Asia, and proceeded to buy a (now expired) TEFL course Groupon and start researching the best way to land a job in Ho Chi Minh City- which apparently is to don your best clothes, print out a bunch of resumes, and hire a motortaxi to take you to all the best English schools so you can inquire in person. I read blog after blog about teaching experiences and the crazy salaries you would get. I could pay off all my student loans and still come back with money to start up again! Eventually, this idea died after I realized I was too focused on the money and the potential to stick somewhere for a while, instead of the actual prospect of teaching.
As the dream of teaching English was dying, I started looking at graduate schools. There are so many English-language masters programs in Europe at a fraction of the cost of those in the United States. Deadlines aren't as early in Europe, so I could still feasibly apply this spring for a program starting this fall. I looked at public policy programs in the Netherlands, Germany, and the Czech Republic, and nailed down a few I thought would be a good fit. I made another spreadsheet! I also began doing research on schools in the United States, as a contingency plan. I signed up for the GRE. I scratched the surface of emailing graduate schools to figure out what might be a good fit.
And then, at some point a couple of months ago, I had a realization that I didn't need to find ways to stay abroad for a longer period of time. What if I just went home for a while? I would have to head back to the states for some time anyway, to set up any longer-term visas I'd need for school or teaching. What if I decided to return, see how things felt, and decide from there whether I wanted to head back out again?
Furthermore, my ideas for graduate school/future career plans have become increasingly more specialized. Last fall, on the farm in Bulgaria, I had an epiphany that perhaps the best field of policy I could work in was food policy. Makes sense, right? Food security is a problem all over the world, including the United States, including Minnesota, where the food insecurity rate is at 11.2%. What?? The United States is one of the wealthiest, most developed nations in the world, and we can't even ensure proper access to food for our own citizens?
I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to mold this interest into a graduate program. I'd like to have the academic background, hence the graduate school route, and I think enrolling in a program would help me strengthen my professional network as well. If I stay in Minnesota, the Humphrey Institute is the obvious choice, and although they don't have a specialization specific to food policy, I have the ability to self-design a degree, using resources from across the U. There are more dedicated programs in other states, which I'm looking into as well, but I love Minnesota, and would at this point much prefer to stay and work and create change there.
If anyone has any thoughts on this, or can think of someone for me to connect with, please let me know! I could use all the insight I can find.
So, at this point, I'm planning to head back to the States in the fall for several reasons, mainly because I'm going to run out of money and I need to take advantage of my parents' health insurance policy before I turn 26 (got to get the rest of those wisdom teeth out!). Returning in the fall will give me time to apply for graduate schools in the states, and then also give me enough time to decide whether I would prefer to pursue my next educational endeavors abroad.
There you have it, folks. See you in October/November!
Here's a short timeline of what I *think* I'll be doing from now until then.
April: My mother is flying over next week, and we'll spent a couple of weeks traveling in Paris and a few cities in Italy. It'll be the first time I've seen her since last June. Really looking forward to it!
April-June: After my mother flies out of Rome, I plan to backpack my way back through central and eastern Europe, up to Ukraine. I'll be hitting up favorite spots and visiting friends I've met along the way, but will also take the opportunity to go off the beaten path a bit and find new things to see. Trying not to plan too much for this part, just to see where things take me.
July-August: I've accepted an offer to come back to American Village in France this summer, and I'm excited to be a camp counselor again! I'll find out in June where I'll be placed, but I plan to fly from Ukraine to Paris at the end of that month.
September: This is the fun part. I'm not sure! I would still like to visit Spain and the UK. Hopefully I can fit both in.
Sometime before November: When I fly back, I'll fly to New York, and plan to spend almost a month in NYC, DC, and North Carolina so I can visit friends before going back to Kansas City to hang out with my family. Eventually, I'll make my way back up to that northern star :)
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| Voronet Monastery in Bucovina |
When I initially planned this trip, I thought I would be gone six months, max. Three months in France and Italy, three months in Eastern Europe, home. Then, I decided to add Turkey to the list. Then, I decided to add Spain and the UK and Central Europe. When I left the United States, I didn't have a deadline to go home, but just to see what happened. Since then, my plans have changed constantly. My Google Drive is littered with random timelines and budgets. How long can I go without running out of money? How many farmstays do I need to do in order to stretch out my more expensive travel days?
 |
| In Cluj-Napoca |
I knew I'd need to start earning money again at some point. I also want the opportunity to live somewhere for a longer period of time, instead of hopping from country to country. I thought I could transition from traveling in Europe to teaching English is Asia, and proceeded to buy a (now expired) TEFL course Groupon and start researching the best way to land a job in Ho Chi Minh City- which apparently is to don your best clothes, print out a bunch of resumes, and hire a motortaxi to take you to all the best English schools so you can inquire in person. I read blog after blog about teaching experiences and the crazy salaries you would get. I could pay off all my student loans and still come back with money to start up again! Eventually, this idea died after I realized I was too focused on the money and the potential to stick somewhere for a while, instead of the actual prospect of teaching.
 |
| Gorge near Zarnesti |
As the dream of teaching English was dying, I started looking at graduate schools. There are so many English-language masters programs in Europe at a fraction of the cost of those in the United States. Deadlines aren't as early in Europe, so I could still feasibly apply this spring for a program starting this fall. I looked at public policy programs in the Netherlands, Germany, and the Czech Republic, and nailed down a few I thought would be a good fit. I made another spreadsheet! I also began doing research on schools in the United States, as a contingency plan. I signed up for the GRE. I scratched the surface of emailing graduate schools to figure out what might be a good fit.
 |
| In Cluj |
And then, at some point a couple of months ago, I had a realization that I didn't need to find ways to stay abroad for a longer period of time. What if I just went home for a while? I would have to head back to the states for some time anyway, to set up any longer-term visas I'd need for school or teaching. What if I decided to return, see how things felt, and decide from there whether I wanted to head back out again?
Furthermore, my ideas for graduate school/future career plans have become increasingly more specialized. Last fall, on the farm in Bulgaria, I had an epiphany that perhaps the best field of policy I could work in was food policy. Makes sense, right? Food security is a problem all over the world, including the United States, including Minnesota, where the food insecurity rate is at 11.2%. What?? The United States is one of the wealthiest, most developed nations in the world, and we can't even ensure proper access to food for our own citizens?
I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to mold this interest into a graduate program. I'd like to have the academic background, hence the graduate school route, and I think enrolling in a program would help me strengthen my professional network as well. If I stay in Minnesota, the Humphrey Institute is the obvious choice, and although they don't have a specialization specific to food policy, I have the ability to self-design a degree, using resources from across the U. There are more dedicated programs in other states, which I'm looking into as well, but I love Minnesota, and would at this point much prefer to stay and work and create change there.
If anyone has any thoughts on this, or can think of someone for me to connect with, please let me know! I could use all the insight I can find.
 |
| One of the many 14-15thc painted monasteries in Bucovina |
So, at this point, I'm planning to head back to the States in the fall for several reasons, mainly because I'm going to run out of money and I need to take advantage of my parents' health insurance policy before I turn 26 (got to get the rest of those wisdom teeth out!). Returning in the fall will give me time to apply for graduate schools in the states, and then also give me enough time to decide whether I would prefer to pursue my next educational endeavors abroad.
There you have it, folks. See you in October/November!
Here's a short timeline of what I *think* I'll be doing from now until then.
April: My mother is flying over next week, and we'll spent a couple of weeks traveling in Paris and a few cities in Italy. It'll be the first time I've seen her since last June. Really looking forward to it!
April-June: After my mother flies out of Rome, I plan to backpack my way back through central and eastern Europe, up to Ukraine. I'll be hitting up favorite spots and visiting friends I've met along the way, but will also take the opportunity to go off the beaten path a bit and find new things to see. Trying not to plan too much for this part, just to see where things take me.
July-August: I've accepted an offer to come back to American Village in France this summer, and I'm excited to be a camp counselor again! I'll find out in June where I'll be placed, but I plan to fly from Ukraine to Paris at the end of that month.
September: This is the fun part. I'm not sure! I would still like to visit Spain and the UK. Hopefully I can fit both in.
Sometime before November: When I fly back, I'll fly to New York, and plan to spend almost a month in NYC, DC, and North Carolina so I can visit friends before going back to Kansas City to hang out with my family. Eventually, I'll make my way back up to that northern star :)
I love reading travel blogs and I didn't know you had one, so this was a fun find today. Sounds like you've done some incredible things, but have even more amazing experiences lined up. I'm very biased toward Spain (I'm always ready to go back) so that part at the end of your post especially peaked my interest. If you need any suggestions on places to go, let me know! :)
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