• Summer

    don’t get lost on flatey

    what trip to the north is complete without a visit to an island? (or a trip anywhere, for that matter?) we had a gorgeous first weekend of august out on flatey, an island out in the middle of the breidafjordur between the snaefellsnes peninsula and the west fjords. the island, which literally translates to “flat island”, is only oneof hundreds in this area but is the only one inhabited all year round! as soon as i got reading about it, i realized this is the island that was the setting for the first of my icelandic film series, white night wedding (2008), which is a really sweet film (but much darker than you’d…

  • Summer

    turning a new page on the iceland book

    have you ever flown into keflavik airport? on the way into reykjavik city, there are miles and miles of nothing but volcanic rock, just like those on which i am “comfortably” perched in the photo above. it’s like a moonscape, otherworldly, like nothing you’ve ever seen anywhere else. i remember staring out at these rocks during much more uncertain days and under grayer, colder skies and started getting all of the same feelies. i wondered, will this time be different? will i learn to really like this country as i’ve always hoped i would? we were shuttled to the blue lagoon, which, say what you will, i think it is marvelous. geothermal water,…

  • Summer

    may: friday things

    hey friends – hope you are having a beautiful may! i always enjoy this birthday month and finally shaking the winter cobwebs away, preparing for the fun that will come with spring… especially more travel opportunities, heh. we enjoyed a gorgeous weekend in prague (above, on kampa) to celebrate my birthday but honestly, i’ve been finding that most of the action is right here in south bohemia lately. hoping that in june we’ll have some time to steal away for some adventures. so! here are a few memorable moments and some things i’ve been into this past month. 1. boat trip! i’m not exactly a boating novice (i wrote about our kayak…

  • Summer

    april: friday things

    hello! is it just me or do things in “blog world” seem to be a bit quieter than usual? i suppose me as well, i’ve been writing only about once weekly, which seems to be a fine pace for a person who is not new to making a transition abroad and being immersed in a completely new culture. i’m feeling pretty at peace with that. but, i think it’s time to catch up on some life lately! so here’s my “five for friday” of what’s been happening lately. (above, some delicious smoothies and koláče picked up from a bakery last saturday and eaten on the balcony) 1. teaching i am…

  • Summer

    eye on the prize

    living in central europe working as an english teacher, you can get by pretty well. i know you read a lot about the wages of ESL teachers in europe being basically enough to just slide by on, but that’s not necessarily true. sure, if we’re talking u.s. dollars, we are totally below the poverty line. however, if we’re talking about the average wages in the czech republic, we are doing pretty well! salary vs. cost of living results favorably. i have talked at length about how it’s possible that we travel a lot on a teacher’s salary. even so, when we live a life in which we should, for all intents…

  • Iceland,  Spring,  Thoughts

    Iceland Uncovered: How My First Ever Trip to Iceland Went

    right around new year’s day, 2011 (about a year and a half before this adventure began), i won a sweepstakes contest to win a trip to iceland. i was naturally ecstatic about this development, as i’d been dreaming about the country for years. about two and a half years ago, i went on said trip. however, after my return the photos i took never really surfaced anywhere and weren’t really shown to anyone… because at the time, the trip was not my idea of an ideal vacation. it left a bad taste in my mouth and a chill in my bones. to be fair, there were circumstances unrelated to iceland…