Hello friends, It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything on the ‘ole blog in part because 2014 was kind of terrible. At the very least, there was a lot of upheaval in my life last year. Anyway, I got an email from wordpress a week ago inviting me to look back on my year in blogging, and it was pretty pathetic — I posted seven times in 2014. Seven. I’m hopeful An Opportune Moment will rise from the ashes of 2014 (see what I did there? You know, because my apartment burned down… was that joke too dark?) and become a fun outlet for my writing again. To help…
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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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That Time I Went to Canada for Lunch
I’m in Toronto right now for TBEX (the largest travel blogging conference in the world) and the BlogHouse, and while this is my first visit to Ontario, it isn’t the first time I’ve been to Canada. Nope, I’ve been once before. I got lunch. In Fall 2011, my brother, Ian (who wrote a guest post for me 2 weeks ago), and I spent a weekend in Carrabassett Valley, Maine. We own a condo there, which we inherited when my father passed away two years ago. Carrabassett Valley is a small town in Western Maine, which is known for one thing: it’s home to Sugarloaf Ski Area, a large, destination mountain.…
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It’s My One-Year Blogiversary!
One year ago today, I published my first post on An Opportune Moment. Over the course of this last year, I’ve interned in Washington, DC, backpacked Europe for 3 and a half months, WWOOFed in Hawai’i, and roadtripped down the East Coast of the United States. I’ve crisscrossed New England, enjoyed countless cups of tea, competed in a film slam, and made a list of 25 things to do before I turn 25. I’ve hitchhiked, couchsurfed, felt lonely in foreign countries, and found out that I’m an optimist. I’ve traveled solo, with friends, with family, and I was even there when my boyfriend, E, flew on a plane for the…
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Blog Updates for 2013 and Where I’m Going Next
I made a few changes to the blog today. The most important is that I decided to buy my URL so, for the rest of the year, I am the proud owner of “anopportunemoment.com.” I also came up with a concrete update schedule. For now, I’m updating four times a week. On Sundays and Thursdays, I’ll be blogging about places I’ve been while on Tuesday and Friday I’ll be continuing my weekly features (Tea Tuesday and Weekly Travel Inspiration). Although I got home from Europe a month ago, I still need to write about the majority of The Great European Adventure. For that reason, my Sunday blog posts will continue…
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This Time Last Year…
2012 is coming to a close, so, unsurprisingly, everyone is reflecting on the past year, and hoping for good things in 2013. I can’t help but add my own musings on this last year, particularly with regard to where I’ve been. This is a travel blog after all. And I have to begin with where I spent New Year’s Eve last year–in Ecuador. On December 31st, 2011, I woke up at 5:00 am to hike Fuya Fuya, a mountain just outside of Cotacachi, Ecuador. Although the hike itself was only a few kilometers, at nearly 14,000 ft above sea level, every step was a challenge. I barely stayed up until…
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On My Way
Yesterday morning, I left my mom’s house in Rhode Island to begin The Great European Adventure! Ever the procrastinator, I left packing until the night before, but I think it turned out well. I arrived safely last night in my first stop: Reykjavik, Iceland! And, this morning, I’m ready to start exploring!
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Full Disclosure
I’ve been reading travel blogs for over a year now. This became one of my hobbies not long after I returned home from my semester abroad in Barcelona. My father had just been diagnosed with cancer, and I needed an escape. Dreaming of a future WWOOFing in Australia or tour guiding in Spain was a welcome change from the drudgery of coursework and the disappointment of weekly trips home to see my father while I still could. I mention all this in the hopes of honestly explaining how a 22-year-old is privileged enough to become a world traveler. I’ve read many blogs whose authors recount how they saved money to…
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On the move
This post is coming at you from my new apartment via stolen internet. Thank god for people who still don’t put passwords on their wireless networks. (Don’t worry, I have no intention of stealing my neighbors’ wifi forever–Verizon is just having trouble activating the internet in my apartment.) Lack of consistent internet aside, this has been a busy week. It started on Tuesday with packing up my apartment in Boston. Then I spent one day at home in Rhode Island getting coffee with friends, visiting the ocean, and packing my bags to move to DC for the summer. Because I took the train down to move into my apartment, and…
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Graduation
Yesterday I graduated from Tufts University, and as a (very) recent college grad, many people are concerned and curious about what I’m doing next. Luckily, I landed a fellowship in Washington, D.C. for the summer, so I have a response. I sound fairly legitimate when I say I’ll be working for the US Department of Education, and then I tell people that I’ll see what happens after the summer is over. But the truth, which I’ve been unwilling to share with many people for fear they won’t understand, is that I know what I’m doing when the summer is over, and I have known for a while. I’m traveling. For…
