Last Tuesday, I shared a recipe for making chai concentrate, and I was sure to point out that it can be served hot or over ice. I mentioned this because most of my readers are from the United States, where it’s currently summer, and the weather is hot. Although many cultures persist in drinking hot tea year around, in July and August, Americans typically like their beverages cold. While iced tea is not unique to the United States, it is more popular here than in many other countries. Maybe it’s because iced tea was supposedly invented in the US at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. According to the…
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What She Packed: 2 months WWOOFing on Maui
It’s my very first packing post! I don’t usually write about what I bring with me when I travel, even though it’s a topic people ask me about. But, before I left for Hawai’i back in January, I did take photos of everything I was bringing with me, so, I figured, why not blog about it? Wondering what to take with you to work on an organic farm in a tropical climate? Or how to fit 2 months worth of items into a 50L backpack? Just feeling a little voyeuristic and want to look at all my stuff? This is the post for you! What I brought to Maui: Clothing:…
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Tea Tuesday: Chai Concentrate
My tea making adventures didn’t end when I left Hawai’i. Just because I can no longer collect leaves and herbs while wandering from my cabin to the kitchen doesn’t mean I can’t visit my local co-op, pick up some spices from the bulk section, and make my own tea blends. So! E and I made a chai concentrate, and you can too! Full disclosure, we loosely followed this recipe, which teaches you how to make chai concentrate as a homemade Christmas gift… (Christmas in July, maybe?) However, this beverage can be enjoyed year around — all you have to do, if you’re suffering from a summer heat wave, is serve…
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Welcome to The Beach House
Blogposts have been sporadic for the last few weeks because I’ve been moving. After a year of traveling – 3 months in Washington, DC for an internship, 3 and a half months backpacking Europe, 2 months working on an organic farm in Hawai’i – interspersed with living at my mother’s house in Rhode Island, and overstaying my welcome at my boyfriend’s parents house in New Hampshire, I’m settled. Well, as settled as a travel blogger ever is. I have a home base now. I’m writing this post from my 4th floor apartment in Revere, MA – just a quick T-ride away from downtown Boston (the T is Boston’s subway system).…
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The Pros and Cons of WWOOFing on Maui
Do you want to live in Hawai’i for free?! Um… maybe. The answer to this question isn’t as simple as you might think. I lived and worked on Maui for 2 months by WWOOFing. To refresh your memories, WWOOF stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, and provides people with the chance to take part in work-trade programs all around the world. In exchange for room and board, volunteers work part-time as farmers. I’ve written about this program and other alternative ways to travel the world before. This time around, though, I want to talk specifically about my experiences WWOOFing, and share with you the pros and cons of…
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Quality Content, Dream Jobs, and the BlogHouse
Lately, I’ve been thinking about content creation, content creators, and what I want to do with my life. I started thinking seriously about these topics earlier this month at TBEX, and, more importantly, at the BlogHouse. You probably remember me talking about TBEX — the largest travel blogging conference in the world, which bills itself as “the future of new media” — and Navigate Media Group‘s BlogHouse — an opportunity for up-and-coming junior bloggers (like me!) to live with established senior bloggers for three days of intensive group workshops and one-on-one mentoring. If you don’t remember me talking about TBEX and the BlogHouse, you clearly don’t follow me on twitter,…
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Guest Post: Pampering Yourself Turkish Style
(This guest post is from Katie Little, who was my backpacking buddy for three weeks, and, as such, appears frequently on the blog. When she’s not busy being written about on An Opportune Moment, she’s working at an animal hospital, practicing her sign language, or trying to convince herself that teaching English in South Korea for a year isn’t a big, scary commitment.) I was a bit apprehensive when Emma said she wanted to go to a hamam as we were throwing around ideas for what we wanted to accomplish in Istanbul. (My list consisted of markets, tea, and lokum, all of which we experienced in abundance.) I had never…
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This Tea Tuesday, It’s Actually Ti Tuesday
I decided not to write a new post on Sunday because it was Father’s Day, and, if you don’t know why that matters, please see the previous blog entry. You don’t even have to read the post, you can just look at the title. I’m back today because it’s Tuesday, and on Tuesdays I drink tea. Well… I drink tea everyday, but I write about drinking tea on Tuesdays. Except this post isn’t about drinking tea. Oops. It’s about a different plant, which I encountered while living and working on an organic farm on Maui, called “ti.” And, yes, pronounced “tea.” So, it’s Ti Tuesday. (Ha!) And, for Ti Tuesday,…
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Let’s talk about my dead dad
(Note: As the title would suggest, this post is not about travel, nor tea, but rather, my dead dad. If you’re interested, read on, but if you were looking for travel or tea, come back next week.) Tomorrow is Friday, June 14th. The two-year anniversary of my dad’s death. And this Sunday is father’s day, which is not a large, in-your-face holiday, but its closeness to my dad’s death feels a bit liked being kicked when I’m already down. It’s been a rough week. Every task has seemed wildly difficult, and I’ve been on edge. My mother and E have been patient while I’ve stormed around the house on the…
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Turkish Tea: Dark, Rich, and Economically Sustainable
Maybe you’ve heard of Turkish coffee, known for being thick, dark, and rich in flavor. Well, Turkish tea is actually quite similar. Traditionally made in two kettles, which are stacked on top of one another, the larger bottom kettle is the one that is filled with water. Once boiled, the water is poured into the smaller top kettle, which contains several spoonfuls of tea leaves. This makes for a strong cuppa, so some of the boiled water is saved in the larger kettle, to be used by each individual tea drinker to dilute the beverage to their preferred tea strength. At the end of the process, it is acceptable to…
