Visiting Amsterdam and the Tulip Fields has been on my bucket list for years. Before I left home, my dad asked me where I would choose to travel outside of Ireland and I told him London, Edinburgh, and Amsterdam. Honestly, I’m still in shock writing this. I never imagined that my dreams really could come true. So, come along with me on my final trip! A Day in Amsterdam In true Ryanair fashion, I woke up at 3 am to get to the airport, etc. As glad as I am that I no longer need to plan such ridiculous travel arrangements, I’m honestly really sad that this era is coming to an end. That said, this ..read more

With the turning of the seasons, I decided it was finally warm enough to adventure into other areas of Eastern Europe and embarked on an independent travel trip to Warsaw, Poland over holy weekend (I’m a little behind in blogging). Aside from the gorgeous 76-degree weather and sunshine, Warsaw offered me a glimpse into deep troughs of history, culture, and resilience. I also experienced personal growth, cultivated travel skills, realized the importance of checking calendars before planning a trip, and learned that I am capable of pulling two all-nighters traveling and coming out the othe ..read more

If you know much about me, you’ll know that I have long held a fascination with St Andrews, Scotland, and have been desperate to visit since 2020 during my freshman year of high school. I am fully aware that this is a strange fixation but here me out. I was bit by the travel bug at a very early age. Since then, I’ve been trying to figure out how to move abroad. Studying abroad is the first step in that goal. Here’s where it gets interesting. When Covid shut the world down, the world moved online. At this point, I had already been researching St Andrews University and considering going abroad f ..read more

I spent the past weekend in Scotland, a trip I had been looking forward to since I booked travel back in January. One thing’s for sure–I will miss cheap Ryanair flights when I am back home. I spent the weekend with one of my roommates, Kalysta, exploring as much of Scotland as possible. Get ready for a crazy ride through rainy Edinburgh and the Scottish Highlands! For starters, Kalysta and I “girl-mathed” our way into leaving on Thursday night because the flight was cheaper despite the cost of an extra night in our hostel. Unfortunately for us, our flight was delayed for at least an hour and a ..read more

Bienvenidos! It’s been a minute since my last blog post – these past few weeks have been crazy. Amidst classwork, excursions, and exploring Oaxaca, I haven’t found much time to breathe! My program consists of nine weeks of classes, followed by a short break, and then a month of an internship or an ISP (independent study project). Because of that, the first nine weeks are very academically rigorous. While the classwork itself hasn’t necessarily been more challenging than what I’m used to, the real challenge has been establishing a routine that works for me. Sometimes I feel like I am going thro ..read more

The last month has been filled with a whirlwind of travel, new experiences, and so much good food! All within the last few weeks, I have had the incredible opportunity to visit Switzerland, participate in my first Ramadan, finish my classes, and begin an internship. There has certainly been an abundance of new schedules and routines to get accustomed to in the last month or so, but it has been filled with much beauty and joy, making a lasting impact. Field Visits in Geneva The month began with my program’s long-anticipated international excursion to Geneva, Switzerland. Because of the thematic ..read more

If you look up anything about the Dublin Writers Program, you’ll start hearing about the Writers Retreat. You’ll learn that the location is kept secret until you arrive, that it changes from year to year to keep the mystery alive. If you’re curious, keep reading and you’ll find out where I ended up. Before leaving Dublin at 8 am on Friday morning all I knew was the objective for the weekend: Eat well, sleep well, read well, write well. I seriously couldn’t imagine anything better. Weirdly enough, I didn’t care that I had no idea where I was going. I’m a pretty Type A person. I like to be prep ..read more

They say studying abroad changes you, makes you more independent, teaches you about yourself, and broadens your perspective on the world. All of these things are true, yes, but they are also abstract. Nothing prepares you for what you will see, what you will do, what you will take away.  If I’m being honest, I thought I would have it easy. I’d already moved away from home for college and, really, how different could a ten-hour car ride and an eight-hour plane ride be? I was used to being alone, used to making friends out of strangers however long that process may take. In this respect, no ..read more

It has been a while since my last post, but it has been a busy and joy-filled month or so and I wanted to share some of my recent adventures! The Dead Sea A few weeks ago, SIT arranged for my program to take a week-long trip to the south of Jordan. We began our week with a short day trip to the Dead Sea, which is only about a 45-minute drive from our school in Amman. This was a ‘bucket list’ location for me, which filled the early morning drive out of the congested city with anticipation as we approached the lowest point on Earth. While I have been loving my time in Amman, I had not realized ..read more

Hello again! It’s been a while since I last wrote, so there’s a lot to catch up on! Week 4  This weekend, I went on a quick trip to Rome with a friend from back home who is also studying in Milan but through a different program. We took a high-speed train bright and early on Saturday morning to visit Galleria Colona, the Colosseum, and St. Peter’s Basilica. That night we ate the most incredible truffle ravioli I’ve ever had. Then, after staying in a hostel for the first time, we saw the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon before taking the train back!  That following Monday we finally b ..read more