After Istanbul, Katie and I hopped a flight to Athens, Greece. I’ve spoken to a number of travelers who found this city too dangerous, too dirty, and too touristy. I have one friend who, when you ask her about Athens, replies, “well, I stepped off the bus into a drug deal, so, that was my introduction to the city.” While I can’t blame her for fleeing to the Greek Isles after that experience, based on my own time in the city, I think it’s worth spending a few days in Athens. For starters, the city didn’t feel dangerous to me. This may have been because Katie and I were couchsurfing…
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First Flush Tea
This Tea Tuesday, I’m drinking First Flush Tea from Charleston Tea Plantation, and friends, it is everything a cup of black tea should be. What is First Flush tea? The “First Flush” is the first harvest of the year, which occurs in the spring when tea plants experience escalated growth following a winter dormancy. The term “First Flush” is most often used to refer to Darjeeling tea, which is grown in the Darjeeling District of the West Bengal region of India. In Darjeeling, tea is hand-picked four times a year, which results in four distinct flushes: First Flush happens in late April or early May Second Flush lasts from early…
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An Opportune Moment is Going to India!
Many of you who know me in real life have already heard about this trip because I’ve been planning it since I was still in Hawai’i. After a few months at home, I’m definitely feeling ready to embark on another international trip. Seriously, though, when I scroll through tumblr and see an inspiring travel photo, lately I’ve been having a physical reaction — my chest tightens, my expression unintentionally turns wistful, my gut says, “get thee to an airport!” It’s like the early stages of falling in love when you can’t stop thinking about them and you hope you’re on their mind too, and it’s blissful and distracting and a…
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Istanbul: Last Look
On our last night in Istanbul, Katie and I went to Hodjapasha Culture Center to witness the Sema (in English: Sama) Ceremony. This is a dance ceremony performed by the Mevlevi Order of Sufism (a mystical Islamic tradition), but you’ve probably heard them called “whirling dervishes” because of the revolving, rotating, spinning movements that make up the Sema, and bring the worshiping performers closer to God. There is something strange about a bunch of tourists watching a religious ceremony, but tourists are actually part of the reason this tradition has been preserved. In 1925, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, a secular Turkish government came to power and outlawed…
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Travel Linkspiration: August 2013
This has not been a traveling summer. Other than quick visits to my mom’s house in Rhode Island, and E’s folks’ house in New Hampshire, I’ve just been at home in Revere. It looks like September is going to be more of the same, but, October? Oh man, is October going to be different! I’ll be visiting a new-to-me continent (number 5), and a country I’ve been hoping to visit ever since I represented it at my high school’s Model UN. I’m currently making visa preparations and reading about the food and, in particular, the tea! So, stay tuned for that announcement, and, in the meantime, check out what you…
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Understanding Istanbul
There were many things I liked about Istanbul: The steep, narrow streets that led Katie and me to Galata Tower, which, mercifully, had an elevator and rewarded us with this view: The contrast between the Hagia Sophia’s somewhat faded exterior and its cavernous, rich interior. The tea that our hostel always had on offer. The pampering we received at a hammam. The day we spent wandering around the city trying to find a post office to no avail because apparently the people of Istanbul like putting post offices on maps, and then moving them. And then not updating the maps. The morning I awoke to the sound of the dawn…
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Charleston Tea Plantation!!! (The Most Exciting Tea Tuesday Yet)
Back in May, I took a road trip with two of my closest friends from college. Our trip started at my former apartment in DC, where Lisa was still living, and took us South to Miami and back. On the way, we stopped in Williamsburg, VA, where I learned that colonial history happened somewhere other than New England. Okay, theoretically, I knew this, but I live in Boston, so when I think colonial history, I think Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill, the Boston Massacre, the burning of the Gaspee (slipped a little Rhode Island knowledge in there for you #homestatepride). We breezed through North Carolina (sorry NC, I loved you…
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And then I got published in a newspaper
Remember my list of 25 thing to do before I turn 25, which I wrote back in April? Of course you do! You’re a loyal reader of An Opportune Moment! (Aren’t you?) Well, over the last couple of months, I’ve been chipping away at that list, and I decided it was high time you all received an update. The first item I’m officially checking off the list is #8: Get paid for any sort of writing. I included this on the list because I thought that once I had been paid to write, I would feel confident calling myself a writer. Well, I’ve been paid for something that I wrote.…
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Maui: Last Look
My last night on Maui, I slept on a beach. My friends and I arrived after dark, pitched our tents, and fell asleep to the sound of waves crashing just a few feet away. We awoke to this view: It was the perfect end to two months in Hawai’i, and it’s also the end of my blog posts about that trip. People think it sounds ridiculous when I tell them I lived on Maui for two months, but I’ve learned that traveling to “dream” destinations doesn’t have to be expensive. I spent less than $1,500 to enjoy two months on Maui, and at least half of that went towards my…
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Travel Linkspiration July 2013
I spent July settling into my new apartment in Revere, MA, watching Orange is the New Black, and attempting to take my writing career seriously. The rumors are true: freelancing isn’t easy. The one trip I took in July was to a lakeside cabin in New Hampshire where I spent a few days with some of my oldest friends. What were you up to last month? Did you happen to read any of these awesome travel articles? Jodi Ettenberg of Legal Nomads wrote a piece for Medium about how travel gives us perspective, and it’s an insightful, complex read. Shannon O’Donnell of A Little Adrift shares with Vagabondish readers: 5…
