So I haven’t written in a few years, but I’ve been feeling a spark again. (By “spark” I really mean that I had a few too many cups of coffee one day and got a little bit overzealous with my planning.) So now that I have come back down to Earth, I am going to have to try to live up to those plans and actually start back up again.
The problem is that as an English major, I was trained to introduce what I plan to write about, and I absolutely refuse to start writing without laying out the why and the how. So without further ado, here is the plan for my series of travel-based, money-centric posts.
The Why
I think even though the themes are fairly common, nobody really bothers to compile their know-how for others after the fact. It’s just sort of assumed that people either know what they’re doing, they have someone to ask, or else they’ll just have to figure it out themselves.
I did my research before I went most places, but there were a lot of things that I didn’t even think to consider or plan for that would have made my experiences way easier, cheaper and efficient. So let me tell you about the things I wish I had known!
Travel is honestly a super common thing to write about and there are plenty of books, blogs and posts about it. There is so much content, but none of it is exactly what I am looking for. It’s either a complete travel guide that has a million places to go (none of which I can afford), or it’s like one or two tips. I want to hear about the whole thing- how to get around, helpful phrases, places to go and places to avoid, awesome places to eat, and how to save money while doing it.
I think as a reasonable, average, poor, young person instead of a professional, full-time traveler, I have something else to offer. I’ve done SO much research on how to do everything in the cheapest way, and I have a good knack for filtering out the overrated tourist stuff while not missing anything important.
The How
I plan on doing two sets: a city series, and a general advice series.
My city series is going to be a post about my experience (in case you’re reading these because you actually know me) and then a separate post to list of objective “must-sees,” objectively overrated places, off the beaten path attractions, the BEST thing in each city, and how to budget. (I might be using the word objective a little loosely.)
As of now, my city list is: Madrid, Toledo, El Escorial, Paris (is anyone really qualified to give advice on Paris?) Berlin, Krakow, Prague, Milan, Legnano, Lugano, Cinque Terre, Venice, Rome, Naples, Florence, Sorrento, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. I’m currently living in China, so hopefully my list will have more Asian cities and not be quite so Euro-centric.
General advice is a little bit less structured, but I’m just going to give all the advice I know how to give. Things I kind of know about include: applying for colleges/scholarships/jobs, (don’t even get me started) fafsa, university, study abroads, working abroad, teaching English packing tips, cheap flights, living in Italy, living in China, and the best travel apps.
Beyond writing to fulfill my own personal need to write for my own mental health, and beyond writing to help the every day traveler, the true pipe dream is to someday write for Atlas Obscura- my one true love, my go-to for anywhere I travel, and the greatest website of all time.
I reference Atlas a lot, so if you’re going to keep reading my blog you best familiarize yourself now. 😉 atlasobscura.com
Finding Eden 