Random Reflections

I’ve written this blog post in my head a dozen times, usually while walking or running through my Petworth neighborhood or in Rock Creek Park. But every time I’ve sat down to try to actually type the words on my laptop, I’ve frozen. I’ve stared at the screen, wondering what was the “right” thing to […]

The thought of blogging again has crept into my mind now and then over the past couple years. I have visited places or experienced things and thought to myself that I wanted to share more than just my photos on Instagram or Facebook. I continue to get messages from readers with questions about my past

I think the title of this post says it all: this is the end of the road for me as a travel blogger. Blogging is no  longer serving me, growing me or making me happy. Anyone who has been following me for the last year shouldn’t be surprised by this decision. I wrote back in

Sometime in February, I passed the five-year anniversary of this blog. I thought of writing something about it then, but never got around to it, in large part because I just didn’t have the motivation to do so – a feeling that has plagued me quite a bit recently. It’s not that I don’t have

It will be five years ago in August that I quit my job as a fundraiser for a Chicago law school to spend 13 months traveling and volunteering throughout the former Soviet Union. At that time, I wrote about what I might do when I returned. In short, I didn’t really know, but I had

  Happy New Year!   I woke up this morning in a new apartment in a new city, ready for a new year. After a disappointing 2015, I am ready for a fresh start in 2016 and it really will be a new start in about every way imaginable. I am in the middle of

Last year around this time, I had high hopes for 2015. Rather than making vague resolutions, I set specific goals. I was going to learn French. I was going to publish an e-book. I was going to pay off all my debt. I was going to reach my ideal weight. I was going to finish

I’m writing this as I sit in my hotel room in New York City, the day before the marathon. I had the best intentions to chronicle my marathon training regularly over the past 12 weeks but as you may have noticed, that just didn’t happen. Life has been crazy busy (read: work has been crazy

I recently hit the proverbial wall – both in my training for the New York City Marathon and in life overall. A few weeks ago, I was celebrating my birthday and excited for the future. I kicked butt in the Magnificent Mile Half Marathon over Labor Day weekend and I was getting ready to go