Unraveled Travels – Real travel. Real stories. Real life.

Journeyers over Consecutive Seasons

August 21, 2018

A couple weeks ago I reunited with a large contingent of my Remote Year Ikigai friends as 25 of us celebrated the wedding of one of the couples from our crew (congrats to Todd and Rebeca!). Seventeen of us stayed together at the loveliest cottages in rural Washington. That Saturday morning, I woke up before the rest of my amigos. While everyone else slept in, I made…

Remote Year

How to Live Like a Remote in Your Own Town

May 14, 2018

Many people who seek an experience like Remote Year are looking to expand their horizons and take them out of their routine. Remote Year definitely does that. But there’s a limit that’s built into program that’s in the name itself: It’s just for a year. And if you’re like me, you have a home to get back to. After a year of…

Remote Year

The Questions I Keep Answering about My Remote Year Experience

October 14, 2017

As I’ve been reconnecting with friends and family around the country, I’ve found that the same questions keep popping up about my 12 months of traveling with Remote Year. I find myself kinda glazing over and starting to give the same rote answers, which is never a good way to engage in conversation. So, here I’ve put together a bit of an FAQ about…

Infographics, Remote Year

The Documented Year

October 8, 2017

It’s impossible to remember everything packed into the past year, but I found a couple of ways to document the experience of 12 months of travel and adventures with my Remote Year Ikigai crew. One little passion project was the yearbook that some friends and I created as a gift to our group. A digital version can be seen on the Blurb website. (Half of the…

General, Remote Year

Please Don’t Make Me Answer This Question

October 2, 2017

What was your favorite place?I’ve been back from Remote Year for almost two months now, and this is by far the most popular question, which means it’s also the question I’m most bored of answering. It got to the point that when a friend of a friend asked that question, my response was, “Nope, you can’t ask that question. Try again.” #SorryNotSorry…

Remote Year, Unraveled

Contemplating Contradictions

September 18, 2017

I’m sitting on a rock overlooking Lake Mary, about 25 minutes outside of Flagstaff, Arizona. My laptop is balanced on my knees, and I’m a conflicted ball of emotions. Remote Year is over. It’s been over for 50 days actually. I’ve been back in the US for 44 of those days, bouncing from state to state, crashing with friends and family, and flexing…

Remote Year

I Thought My Spanish Was Improving. Then I Moved to Argentina.

June 29, 2017

I was feeling pretty proud of my progress in picking up Spanish along the way as I travelled through Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. It was slow going at first, but I felt like I was hitting my stride when I traveled to Arequipa, Peru with my mom. She’ll be the first to admit that foreign languages are not her forte, which meant that I…

Photo Gallery, Remote Year

Lovely Lima & Beyond

May 27, 2017

If the third time’s the charm, then my third visit to Lima, Peru really charmed me. I had visited the city eight and six years ago, first for a wedding and then to hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. Lima didn’t leave much of an impression on me back then. Don’t get me wrong, I had a fabulous time both visits, the food…

Infographics, Remote Year

You Guys! I’m Habla-ing…ish!

May 24, 2017

Yesterday I arrived in La Paz, Bolivia, all by myself for a couple days of solo travel. For the first time ever, I spent more of the day speaking Spanish than speaking English. It was one of my proudest days on Remote Year. It was basic Spanish, but it was still Spanish.My First Test: Get into the CountryUpon arriving in La Paz, my first test…

Photo Gallery, Remote Year

That Time I Spent An Entire Week’s Food Budget on A Single Meal #worthit

May 11, 2017

This weekend I saw a sign that said (in Spanish), “I want to be the lime in your ceviche.” Considering how much it resonated with me, I realized that Peruvian food might just be my love language.So when I had the opportunity to join some friends for a dinner at Maido, the eighth best restaurant in the world (and the second best in Latin America), according…

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