Sophie À La Carte!

So far the trip has been pretty great. We’ve made it into Latvia, and have plenty to catch up on. Traveling through the Baltics hasn’t been too difficult, and our only regrets so far is not having enough time to see everything. My partner Scott and I spend plenty of time together, but not since last September/October when we bopped around Barcelona and Ukraine for two weeks have we had this much “us time.” And on this go-around, we’re stuck with each other for three weeks. I think both of us are looking forward to seeing if/when we crack. Before I dive into specifics of how things are going/all the quirky things we’re learning about Estonia, I wanted to give you an overview of how we planned and budgeted for this trip. To start off, we ended up picking the Baltic States because we found fairly cheap tickets over. Through Momondo, we found roundtrip flights to Tallinn/from Vilnius for $700 through the Delta/KLM/Air France Skyteam, and booked them back in January. For me, I...

Hello, friends- long time no update! Accurate picture of me stepping into CDG Exactly two years ago today I touched down in France and began my 15-month adventure. It’s been almost 9 months since I’ve been back, but that trip touches me every day in some capacity, especially when I get lost in my own thoughts. This time of year gets me thinking back to sweltering away at American Village , the camp I worked at for two summers. I miss it, in some weird way. Just thought I’d give you a quick update on what’s happening in my life, what’s coming up (spoiler: a lot) and how I’m “coping” with being home. After a crazy legislative session, I’m working part-time with my government relations firm through the end of July. I’m also working part-time with a University of Minnesota research project to collect data at farmers’ markets, and I recently became a shopper at Instacart to earn extra cash (it’s like Uber for groceries). I’m training for a half marathon which is NEXT ...

I've been pretty terrible at keeping the blog updated since I arrived back in the states. Part of my lack in updating comes from sheer laziness, but I think part of it has something to do with the end of my trip and feeling a little down about that, so I haven't had the motivation to update to the end. But here it goes! August - The end of my time at American Village was welcome, though I was sad to leave the camp and the people I worked with. I definitely was not as burnt out as I was the year prior, which was great, but it was still time to move on. One of my favorite activities of the summer came during the last session, we hiked out to an open area to camp overnight. I eschewed the tent in favor of sleeping under the stars, which was pretty amazing. I had never done anything like that before, and it was surprisingly comfortable! At the end of August, I said farewell to kids and counselors alike an embarked on a high speed train back to Paris, where I met up with m...

Hey friends, I've been back in the United States for a month. It's been an emotional whirlwind of ups and downs, a little more stateside travel, some serious readjustment, a major binge of Parks and Rec (how have I never watched this show!?), and plenty more that I'll get into later. Last backpack photo! (At 4:30am, after pulling an all-nighter) You may have noticed it's been a while since I've last updated the blog. I've started drafts of the remainder of my time in France and Spain, vaguely thought about relaying my epic adventure through Ukraine with my partner Scott, and imagined how I would handle documenting my return to the states and trips to New York and Denver. However, I haven't been able to bring myself to publish anything. I think I've been in a bit of a funk since I've been back that I can't really define or describe. Instead of attempting to catch up, I figured I'd start from where I am now and write more about my final ...

Dear friends, It's been a long while since I've posted anything, mainly because there hasn't been enough time in the days to think about anything more than camp. This year I returned to American Village in the role of Head Language Counselor (technically Assistant Director, but since I don't have the French Diplome I can't be called that). I was sent back to Saut du Loup for a month, and have since transferred to Aurabelle, a beautiful site in Provence. I'll give you a small recap of my last seven weeks, and then a big update on what's coming up next for me. Being back at Saut du Loup was almost surreal, as when I had left the place last August I was certain I would never see it again. But, as luck would have it, I was assigned there to help the new team get used to the site and activities. It was a lot of fun- we had many counselors who were working at AmVil for the first time, so it was an exciting process to introduce them to the crazy culture of bein...

Hello, friends! Last week I hit my one year anniversary of jumping on a plane and starting this crazy journey. This post serves to collect my thoughts about some of the more important lessons I've learned on my trip, but first, an update: Me and Mihaela in Timisoara After the farm in Bulgaria I hung out in Bucharest and Timisoara in Romania for 10 days. It was fun to see friends in Bucharest and have some downtime, and it was awesome to hang out with my adopted family in Timi for more than two nights! After Romania I flew to France for camp training, and now I find myself back at Saut du Loup in Miramont, working as the Head Language Counselor/Assistant Director for Adventure Camp. If you want a recap of my time at camp last year, you can read here and here . This time's a little different- new role, new responsibilities. Armed with a running plan and a pact to avoid processed sugars and baguette, I'm hoping to be a little healthier this time around! But regardles...