Tag: archives

going to college in covid
I know, I know, covid class of 2020 needs to shut the f up about not getting to graduate high school. Personally, I am actually glad I could Irish goodbye my hometown and high school to spread my wings and fly.

My first semester of college was fully remote and what I ended up doing with that time is a story for another day. I finally was able to go up to school in upstate NY in January of 2021 on a few stipulations.
- Everyone had to be Covid vaccinated
- Out-of-state students had to spend 3 nights in NY before going onto campus
- Nobody else could help us move in or enter the dorm building
- 2 night quarantine on campus before accessing the campus
It was definitely going to be different than a typical college drop-off experience. I went with my mom to quarantine at my Aunt’s home in Buffalo (editors note: bittersweet full circle that 3 weeks before my doctoral graduation, I spent a weekend back at my Aunt’s house <3). After our 3 night stay, we made the drive over.

I don’t know why I thought I could just breeze through a lake-effect winter with a light jacket, but I left all of my heavy winter wear in MD. I quickly realized this mistake as I had to singlehandedly move all of my possessions into my dorm building in 2 feet of snow.

My Michigan-alumni mom watched with the smug I-told-you-so grin only a mom can have from the heated car as I struggled to carry my items in. I was greeted in my room with a bag of “provisions”: apples, bananas, a loaf of bread, canned tuna, peanut butter, and chips.

The benefit of a 2-night dorm lock-in was that I immediately got to work unpacking my little room. My roommate would be arriving a day later than me, so I was excited to have a second to myself to assimilate to this new environment.

About 30 mins after my mom left, I decided to Facetime my roommate to show her around. In my infinite wisdom, I decided to leave my room to show her the shared bathroom and kitchen. Of course I left my room without any shoes on (?), no mask (BIG no no), and without my room key. And of course the room locked behind me.

The cherry on the cake there was that my RA hadn’t moved in yet, so to get the lock-out key, I had to walk across the quad shoeless to another building to get the key there. In the 2 feet of snow.

I have so many great, nostalgic stories from this time of my life. I look back on it so fondly. There were a lot of rules we had to abide to and ultimately tried to break as often as possible.
- Weekly covid testing by spitting your morning breath spit into a tube. If you tested negative or forgot to test, you were not allowed to leave your room for a week.
- No eating in the dining hall, have to bring all food back to the dorm.
- Sign up for a 30 min time slot at the gym and had to sign up for specific machines to use
- Only lab classes in person, everything else online
- Not allowed to go into anyone else’s dorm room or building
Some of the fun workarounds we found included hosting parties in academic buildings, sneaking between dorm buildings, and going to the most fun house parties since all the bars were closed.

I look back fondly on the baseball players in my building throwing snowballs at my window as they walked by. Going on long walks in the cold because there was just nothing else to do. Raising caterpillars into butterflies in a little net in my room and releasing them at the pond. Passing my organic chemistry and bio classes with flying colors because I am a very dedicated, focused, and diligent remote student…

So while it was a really weird time to be a freshman, I think it was fun. If I could go back in time to this period just for 24 hours, I would in a heartbeat.
April 23, 2026
living with 20 strangers in san francisco
When I was presented the opportunity to complete a clinical rotation in a prestigious neurological rehab facility in the San Francisco Bay Area, there was no way that I would ever say no. The only minor thing standing in my way was the cost of living in Palo Alto as a broke grad student.

To make matters worse, there was going to be no way that I could find a subletter, so I would be paying both NY and CA rent at the same time. Sigh.

After crunching some numbers, I needed to find the cheapest option possible to be able to afford this rotation. I went to searching AirB&B and similar sites. I came across an interesting phenomena of this region: the Hacker Homes.

These networks of homes across the Bay Area are spaces adults of any background can live for short or long term stays. Surprisingly, they are everywhere here. The reviews were good enough and the places looked very nice.

The communal living room; my favorite place to hide in at 5am for a few precious moments of silence and privacy.

I have extensive experience staying in hostels all over the world, so I wasn’t very concerned about the co-living aspect of things. Additionally, I was moving across the country to a place I have no friends or family at. It honestly felt safer to have SOMEONE that knew I existed out there in case something happened.

I knew it wasn’t ideal, but it was only 10 weeks and I am brave and strong.

What the listings do not address is ratio of males to females in these spaces. When I arrived, I learned it was 5 (including me) girls to 16 boys. My room houses 4/5 girls and the 5th girl was certified psycho, so it was a reallllly interesting dynamic. I also quickly began realizing the differences between a hostel in another country and this.

In a hostel, people are there to save money and make short-term friends for the time being. Here, there were very rich individuals CHOOSING to live in this space for social interaction. If you can imagine 15 socially-challenged tech bros all dying to talk to a woman….. it’s a slippery slope. I genuinely think that talking to me was one of the first times some of these guys got any sort of attention from a girl.

In a hostel, people mind their business. Here, I felt like I was always going to have someone annoying me. I am a friendly person and like to meet new people, but this was too much for me. These people were incessantly asking questions, wanting to know about my personal life, trying to be involved in the things I was doing.

Let me give you a perfect example:

For my birthday, I wanted to have a little entertaining fun and throw myself a party with the odd balls in this house. One individual offered to buy me a cake. He asked my favorite flavor, and then told me his favorite flavor of cake. Great, normal.

On my birthday, he opens the cake and it is HIS favorite cake. Which also happens to be blueberry, which perhaps is one of my least favorite foods ever. He then silenced the room by singing his rendition of happy birthday in Polish at the top of his lungs. Immediately after he asked if he could come to my hospital to have lunch with me. I can’t make these things up.

Birthday photo I forced these people to take with me. Half of my roommates didn’t even show up for my birthday…. rude!

I began a running note of the seriously strange things that were occurring. Some of the highlights:
- Rotting meat in the fridge, owner saying it doesn’t smell bad so he won’t throw it out. It smelled bad.
- Roommate would keep gallons of milk sitting out on the dresser in our room unrefrigerated.
- Roommate getting norovirus and throwing up/pooping in the shower for about 6 hours straight.
- The “gym” in the backyard consisting of a broken mirror, rusty bench + tower with one barbell, and a snapped cables machine. Frequent hangout hotspot for the bros.
- Roommate frequently using a blender at 9:30PM
- Opening the shower to find shaved pubic hair covering everything
- Elderly man roommate telling me he was living there to save up to buy embryos to become a single dad by choice (perhaps the worst one imo)
- Roommate calling the police because she became convinced someone had built a device to open the trunk of her car. I was then selected to be the witness and mediator of their fight.
- Someone leaving the gas burner on the stove on overnight because they “didn’t know it needed to be turned off”
- Bunk mate smelling so bad we bought air fresheners and sprayed her bed daily so the smell wouldn’t waft
- Roommate buying a bunch of cameras and putting them all over the house that only she had access to with no permission or rationale when caught
- Female roommate fell asleep on the couch alone and woke up to male roommate rubbing her feet as she slept.
- Hookups on the communal living room couch
So do I recommend this experience? Absolutely not. I was originally trying to find the bright side to all of this strange behavior, but after being sexually harassed on my last day there, I decided I hated everything about this.

The type of person that will thrive in this environment is a male that is socially awkward, has poor hygiene, is somehow rich, and snores. If that sounds like you, this place is a perfect match!

To give them the benefit of the doubt, there were a handful of normal-ish men living here that I never had an issue with. They tended to spend little to no time at the house. However, I think you have to be slightly weird at heart to thrive here.

Despite all of the above, I loved my time so much in California that if I had to go back and do it all again, I would just to live in this state one more time. However, if I went back to this house I would never talk to anyone and fully keep to myself 100% to avoid the freaks.

P.S. I originally wasn’t going to write this or single anyone out to respect privacy, but after he made inappropriate comments about my body to my face on my last day, I am personally blasting this strange man who wore the ugliest outfits for many days in a row until he reeked. You were weirdest of them all!
April 9, 2026
locked out of our hostel in Peru

This is the story about how me and my dear friend Kate found ourselves standing outside of our hostel in Peru at 12:30am with no way to enter or to access any of our possessions.

I’ll have to start from the very beginning to help you understand how we ended up here. The story starts with us meeting two English boys in the Amazon Rainforest on our tour. Instantly, we all connected and became a really awesome squad.

They left the rainforest a day before us and were headed to Cusco, which worked out nicely to be our next stop as well. Once in Cusco, we met up with them again to hit a few clubs and explore the nightlife.

One thing led to another and we ended up staying out with those boys until 5am! So scandalous… However, we made it back to our respective hostels and all slept in our own beds. Kate and I had to catch our bus to Ollantaytambo at 9am the next day, so this was the end of our time all together.

We (like zombies) made our 2hr bus and got to Ollantaytambo. I LOVED this city so much, even if we were so tired and hungover. Midday, we get an Instagram DM that they boys had decided to follow us to Ollantaytambo to get to spend one more day with us. Imagine our surprise!

They even ACTUALLY showed up and weren’t just bluffing. We genuinely were too stunned for words. However, we really enjoyed spending time with them and were happy to have 2 more friends with us to explore this city.

We grabbed dinner and payed cards for a few hours in a small bar. At this point of the night, I was so tired I didn’t even feel like I was alive anymore. Pretty sure I was dozing off with my head against the wall while sitting up.

Eventually we decide to leave and head home once again. The gentlemen walk us to our hostel and as we are saying goodbye again, we quickly realize the door is padlocked shut. We start knocking on the door and looking for any sort of intercom or hidden entry with no luck. We even got to the point of desperation of texting people on Hostelworld begging them to let us in, which was also unsuccessful.

Not only are we basically homeless for the night, but reception was not going to open again until 7:00am the next day. We had bus tickets to go to Machu Picchu at 5:30am, and would not be coming back to stay another night in Ollantaytambo. This meant that we would have no way of accessing any of our possessions before the check out of time of the hostel and leaving the city <3

For a situation that was borderline emergency level, we really were not that stressed. I think when really strange things like this happen while backpacking, you just have to kind of throw it to the universe that things will work out one way or another.

THANKFULLY, these boys had decided to come and we had a place we could go so we wouldn’t be sleeping on the side of the road overnight. Had they not decided to come, I don’t know what we would have done here.

Our next day timeline looked like: 5:30am train to Aguas Calientes (1.5-2hr), 2-3hr hike from there to Machu Picchu, and 11am entry time for our tickets to see the ruins. Kate woke up before me and decided to return to our hostel and start calling any number she could find and bang on doors until someone let her in.

It wasn’t until she got let in in that she realized the key to our room was in my purse with me, and not with her. Truly this entire predicament was humbling above all else. She began furiously throwing all of our items into our bags at 5am.

I called her and basically was like hey, we need to just take a second here and really think all of this through. What were we even going to do with our bags once we checked out and went to Machu Picchu. Hike the 3 hours with everything on us? Additionally, I knew there was no way we were going to make the 5:30 train at this point.

Kate and I put our heads together and decided we did need some time to recuperate and figure out what in the world was going on. I returned to our room and we decided that- based on the lack of sleep over the last 2 nights and our general sense of feeling unwell on many levels- a 2-3 hour strenuous hike was a terrible idea.

We bought later train tickets that allowed us enough time to sleep a bit longer, refresh ourselves, and take our time making our way to the train station. Then we caught a bus from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu and still made it in time for our 11am entry slot to explore everything.

As for our bags, our 2 besties came in clutch and transported our luggage back with them to Cusco. Once we made it back to Cusco after our adventures of the day, we collected our bags, and never saw those guys again.

In conclusion, the true kicker of this story is that allegedly there was an intercom button that would’ve immediately let us into our hostel that night had we seen it! So we got no sort of compensation for being locked out because of this<3 Just two dumb girls exploring the world honestly….

March 26, 2026
a sugar daddy paid for my miami trip

Before you immediately go sending my mom this article screaming that I am in extreme danger, I would like to make the disclaimer that I was not the one with the sugar daddy, I just reaped the benefits. I don’t recommend anyone do this or even have a sugar daddy in the first place.

Now that that’s out of the day, I am sure that you are wondering how I exactly found myself in this situation. I had met a great friend (Fiji for this story, her camp counselor name <3) while we both worked together at a summer camp in 2022.

For spring break 2023, we were dying to reconnect, and what better way for us to do this than returning to the state where it all began: Florida. This time the west coast.

She wasn’t 21 yet, and honestly we were both pretty broke overall. Miami in the middle of March isn’t exactly cheap and we were working through our options. Fiji let me know that she had an ~alternate~ source of income that would be helping her out…

From my understanding, she never exchanged anything sexual or freaky with this man. He liked that she would laugh at his jokes and keep him company and would pay her for her time. Honestly kinda seems like a dream. Why am I even laughing at any man’s joke if I am NOT getting paid.

Anyhow, she pitched the idea of him covering her costs for the trip and he went one step further offering to cover some of MY expenses too so she wouldn’t be there alone. At first I felt a little weird about the situation thinking he would expect something from me as well, but that part never came. They also lived on the other side of the country from me so I felt a little safer about it for some reason.

It really didn’t feel real that I was going on this trip not fully funded by myself until I was laying on the beach with a $3 capri sun cocktail that some random man sold me. We probably couldn’t have pulled the money together in time to be able to go otherwise.

The culmination of this experience was when he got us a reservation at the Versace mansion and paid for the dinner. I have seldom felt as glamorous as I did this night since then. We had the best time!!!

I asked her later on about the entire situation and she said after she got back he got weird and freaky so she cut it off. But he never asked for any of the money back or anything like that. I guess thats just part of the job??

Anyways, sorry if this wasn’t the juicy, freaky story you were looking for. It truly was as simple as me having to do nothing to get a trip to Florida. Perhaps the benefits of being a good friend? We both look back on this trip with such good memories and I’ve only slightly been begging her to find a new sugar daddy for our next trip.

March 19, 2026
the cast of characters we met in munich
Kate and I have the very lucky ability to talk to anyone and make friends wherever we go. This was extremely helpful during our time in Europe together and led to many fun detours on our route. On our only night in at the hostel while in Munich, we went on a rollercoaster of personalities and characters.

Our night started with kate and I relaxing on our bunks after dinner minding our own business. All of the sudden, a group of drunk girls with one especially drunk girl barge into the female dorm. They basically drop her off and turn to Kate and I and say “can you watch her?” and then leave.

Obviously not our problem, but suddenly now something we are dealing with- we watched her stumble into (presumably) her bed and fall asleep. We kind of just hoped she would stay there until her friends came back and we left.

We just went to the common space of the hostel where there was a small bar and lots of board games/ping pong/pool, etc. Kate and I order drinks and notice a particular man staring us down. Like uncomfortably staring us down. He makes a few advances that are shot down relatively fast.

As we awkwardly try to enjoy our drinks, a Kiwi (RJ) approaches us and asks if that guy is making us uncomfortable. He quickly becomes an ally and joins our small party. The next time the onlooker (we’ll call him Mr. Hug… foreshadowing) approaches, RJ handles the situation politely and Mr. Hug disappears.

We join a group playing cards in the common area. Of this group, we have Louise, the most unique Scottish woman I have ever met in my entire life. Kate and I started a shared note of the things she was saying, including:
- “Conshume yer alchool”
- “The last time I drank vodka I went to jail”
- “I did five grams of cocaine” (we then asked, isn’t that like 30 lines) “no it’s more like 150”
- “I told him please don’t send me dick pics while I’m on the bus”
- “Whores “(often)
- “All I’ve had to eat today was soup for breakfast”
This was just a small glimpse of the big personality we were in the presence of. She was extremely determined to have us all participate in the various drinking games she knew. She was looking for any opportunity to force others (mainly herself) to drink as much as possible.

Louise and I

At one point, she randomly stands up and says she has to go meet her sugar daddy at the bar and leaves. Lol ok. And just our luck, Mr. Hug has returned from wherever he went and is back again to socialize.

Mr. Hug does not know much English, but with the words he does know, he expresses how much he loves Kate. He asks her OFTEN for hugs, hence the name. We entertain his presence but are firm on the no hug rule.

We played a few rounds of beer pong and everytime Kate threw her ball and it rolled away, he would chase after it to be able to grab it and touch her hand while handing it back to her. And maybe, she might even hug him as a thank you. He held his arms out with a curious look on his face each time in lost hope.

Kate and Mr. Hug

Eventually it was honestly becoming too much. Even as we all tried to just have a conversation, every maybe 5 sentences he somehow looped it back to how he wanted to hug Kate. RJ was sooooo angry and giving up on trying to educate him on being a normal person.

Once RJ gave up and left, Kate and I decided it would be best to stop engaging with this guy. We went back to our (thankfully!!! locked) all-female dorm room. Within maybe 5 minutes, he is knocking on the door saying he wants to apologize and how sorry he was for acting that way.

We kept telling him to leave and he would not go away. We weren’t really scared or anything, but the only problem was that to get to the restroom we had to exit this dorm room and go down a corridor. We knew we would pass him if we went, but we both REALLY needed to pee.

We decided to make a break for it and of course he follows us and is waiting outside of the bathroom. We are loudly discussing a game plan from the bathroom when our savior emerges and asks whats going on.

Chloe is a lovely French girl who was staying in the same room as us and is a member of the French military. She was not going to play around with Mr. Hugs antics. She saw him and sternly told him to get lost and escorted us back. She was so badass!!!

We invited her to join us for the next day as a thank you for her help. Then we headed to sleep dreaming all about the very unique personalities we had encountered that night.

Chloe and I the next day

I recently asked Kate if she had anything to say about this experience and her only response was “Dear God”. How lucky we are to get to experience nights like these!
February 26, 2026
photo challenge in the louvre

During our 2018 French class trip to France, we had the best tour guide ever. Rania was the sweetest Italian woman with whom I shared my deep love for ice cream and chic sunglasses. Part of what made her so amazing (among countless other things) was that she planned out daily photo challenges for us students.

These challenges ranged from “best Eiffel Tower pic” to “re-enact pirate activity on the shores of the English Channel”. The winners of each day got a special treat hand-picked by her. My best friend on this trip (Hailey) and I always gave it our best attempt, but only had one winning submission during the entire trip.

The day when we went to the Louvre, our challenge was to bring artwork to life. We BODIED this challenge, and would stop at nothing to nab this win. Honestly, I don’t really remember much of anything else from the Louvre other than this challenge.

Enjoy our collection of submissions below, ranging from least to most chaotic.

Soooo anyways we won by a landslide. Nobody came close to our creativity and willingness to lay on the floor. We won some fancy lilac candies in Honfleur for our efforts. Although, I have 0 recollection of how they tasted or if we even liked them. Upon texting Hailey, she states “I feel like they definitely tasted like air freshener”.

February 19, 2026
i cried over cheese in florence

There are very few things I would change about my trip to Italy in December of 2024. Specifically, Florence was nearly 100% perfect from start to finish.

However, there is one moment that stands out as potentially not being my finest. The night prior, we had the best experience EVER at our wine tasting and brought a bottle home. Obviously, this needed to be finished by the time we left Italy in just 3 nights (light work).

The time is early afternoon and the vibe I was looking for was wine cheese cracker grape if you know what I mean. The person I was traveling with had the bad habit of leaning into the jet lag, so she wanted to take a nap. No problem! I would just run out and grab the snacks while she slept.

I set out on my little walk with no set destination other than to find a block of cheese to gnaw on. Everything else I imagined this vibe with we had already, but I just needed the cheese. We are literally in Italy, this definitely would not be hard.

I begin walking around the blocks and am casually window shopping as I go. After about 30 mins, I am starting to be a little confused about how I have yet to pass a single grocery or cheese store on this trek. After an hour, my concern turns into frustration.

I texted my two friends who had studied abroad here asking about where I could find cheese and they jokingly responded along the lines of “anywhere”… Finally I was given the name of a grocery store. I maps-ed it and the closest was conveniently a full hour in the opposite direction of where I had walked 🙂

I was honestly giving up on my dream of wine and cheese. I walked into LUSH to calm down and rubbed free lotion samples all over my body to try to distract from my failed cheese mission. Am I just stupid to think that walking around Florence for an hour that I would just stumble across cheese?

I moped back to the hotel a different path from the one I had taken originally and, you guessed it, still did not come across a single vendor selling cheese. I did find this outdoor leather market which was cool, I guess…

When I got to the hotel room I laid down on the bed with my glass of wine, cheese-less, and cried. I wasn’t actually that torn up, but I just REALLY wanted a piece of cheese </3 You just wouldn’t understand unless you craved parm reg as much as I do. The person I was traveling with certainly didn’t, LOL.

Finally I got over myself and we made our way to dinner and everything was fine. But I will never forget my failed cheese mission and feeling so humiliated over a block of parm.

p.s. I DID get my cheese when I made it to Venice and had my moment, so this is a life lesson that good things come to those who wait.

February 5, 2026
the longest guatemala travel day ever

In December of 2026, I booked a yoga retreat on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala with Eagles Nest Atitlan. I was looking for a retreat that was more or less all inclusive in Central America and this checked all of my boxes. I booked the reservation, my flights, and closed my computer.

I got an email later asking if I would like to book a shuttle from the airport to the retreat for $150 one way. Do I look like I am made of money??? I would figure it out one way or another how to get there. Thankfully, I did my research ahead of time and came prepared for what was in store.

step 1: guatemala city to panajachel

I booked my shuttle ticket through Guatego ahead of time to pick me up from the airport at 1:45pm. My flight was landing at 1, so I figured that was probably enough time to get through customs and find my driver.

They sent a very stern “we will only wait 5 minutes for you” message and if I missed it I would definitely be SOL because the next shuttle wasn’t until around 6pm.

Customs took a smidge longer than expected, and I found myself running out the door. The Guatemala City airport exit is a lot more overstimulating than one might expect! There are many taxi drivers offering to drive you wherever, family members greeting their loved ones with big, flashy balloons, and a lot of people in not a lot of space.

I made it through the crowed and exited the airport to be sure I knew where my shuttle driver was picking me up. I figured I would get my eyes on this spot, then go back into the airport vestibule to find an ATM to take out some Guatemalan Quetzal (cash). Unfortunately, once you exit the only way back in was through security again.

I wasn’t super stressed about not having cash at this point. I knew I would eventually need cash for the ferry and tuk tuks, but we had a stopover in Antigua and there must be an ATM there, right?

I connected with my shuttle driver and took the back seat. I notice that there are no outlets, so I am immediately mindful of how much I am using my phone. I knew I had a long trip ahead of me. Our shuttle ended up leaving with 3 less passengers as they had not been as lucky as me to make it through customs in time.

We were off to Antigua! I spent my time napping, reading, and journaling during this trip. I was especially obsessed with the Chicken Busses which are reclaimed school busses decorated beautifully and used as public transport for the locals.

After about 3 hours, we made our stop in Antigua. My plan to find an ATM here was quickly lost after our “stopover” consisted of me stepping from one shuttle into another and immediately leaving the city. I’m still not stressed though!

By the time I got on the second shuttle, the sun was setting so reading and journaling were off the table. I used this shuttle to continue catching up on sleep. About an hour before our destination I made a bit of an alarming realization.

The last ferry to get from Panajachel to San Marcos leaves at 8pm, and it looked like we were going to get to Panajachel at 7:45 pm. Which left very little time for me to find an ATM and the docks, lol. I’m still not really stressed, honestly. One way or the other, I am making it to this damn yoga retreat.

step 2: panajachel to san marcos

As we arrived to the docks in the shuttle, our driver’s accomplice met us. He, in broken English, explained that the last ferries have left and our only option is to pay for him to take us on his private boat. But don’t worry, he takes card!

The crew he was telling this to included me, 2 British girls, and a Mexican man (A). A came in clutch here because he was the only one of us that spoke Spanish. He was offering us the discounted price of $13 per person if the 4 of us went with him (the ferry is typically $3 per person).

Personally, I am completely down for this option. $13 is not ridiculous to me and I don’t have cash! Once we walk down to the docks, the other public ferry operators are yelling “last call” and the 2 girls take off. Apparently to them $13 WAS ridiculous….

This left me and A. The private boat operator now was saying that because they bailed, the price would be raised to $26 per person. Honestly, I’m still ok with this LOL. This seems to be my only option at this point and I still don’t have cash. A and I chat and A thinks he can get him lower on the price.

I watch like a damsel in distress as they have a bartering match in Spanish over the price. Finally, they settle on $19, which- you guessed it- I’m fine with! We boarded this boat in the dark and set sail across Lake Atitlan to San Marcos.

A offered to put his card down and then I could give him back cash once I found an ATM. The ferry ride was about 20 minutes and we pondered if there was a Loch Ness Monster-adjacent entity living in this lake (or anything else that could kill us)

step 3: downtown san marcos to eagle’s nest

Once we landed at the dock, there is a narrow street of vendors leading from the water to the main downtown of San Marcos. I figured A was just going to accompany me to find the ATM, but he decided to part ways towards his hostel. This left me wandering the streets alone at 9pm for an ATM.

To get to the retreat, I could either hike up a very steep volcano in the dark or hire a tuk tuk to drive me up. I figured the latter was slightly safer at this time. The downtown wasn’t super massive, so I figured I could just wander around and come across an ATM.

While I found many beautiful Christmas lights, dogs, and locals cooking delicious-smelling food, I did not find any cash. Let me just remind you that I have not had access to a bathroom or any food since the airplane approximately 10 hours prior 🙂

I eventually decided wandering around aimlessly was probably a bad idea. I approached one of the tuk tuk’s and was surprised to find the driver to be a boy who couldn’t have been older than 8 years old. I held up my phone at 10% with “Where do I get cash” in google translate to Spanish. He pointed me to a little bodega and finally I had my quetzals.

I came back and found the same little boys and they offered me the ride for $2. I honestly loved this random little ride with these boys and felt like I was funding the livelihood of Guatemalan youth. Even if at the end he told me it was actually going to be $2.50… Sneaky little boys.

Finally, I had made it to the entrance of the retreat. Any by entrance, the beginning of the 10 minute hike through the jungle to the retreat. Of course my phone was dead by this point, so I was just vibing with my moonlit hike and made it there in one piece!

The most clutch part of this experience was having a super light backpack so it was easy for me to quickly transition from transport to transport. At no point did I ever feel truly unsafe or stuck. I guess that is just the magic energy of Guatemala!

At the end of the trip, I was greeted with a bowl of warm soup and super great vibes at the retreat! And THANKFULLY a bathroom. I had officially made it in once piece and was excited to finally able to relax! The end.

January 29, 2026
my last day of work in cape may, nj

From June-August of 2025, I was on my first physical therapy clinical rotation in Cape May, NJ. I was working in an outpatient physical therapy clinic treating orthopedic conditions (think joint replacements, strains, broken bones, etc.).

I had a really mixed experience at this clinic. I enjoyed my patients, the location, and the autonomy I was allowed as a student. On the other hand, I was lacking in mentorship, had an extremely busy schedule, and was frustrated with the experience I was having with my advisor.

In an outpatient clinic you see each patient 2-3 times per week. I was only there for 8 weeks, so most of these patients I had been seeing the entire summer and developed great relationships with. I don’t know what it is about goodbyes, but for some reason I always cry. This day was not excluded from this pattern as I was given thoughtful gifts and said farewell to patients.

I think I may have even been loud enough about wanting a grand farewell that a patient I didn’t even see that often brought me an ice cream cake. I was gifted books, gift cards, and very sweet notes of appreciation. I was having a really great day and looking froward to an even more fun evening. As my farewell gift, the staff were going on a booze cruise in Wildwood, NJ together at sunset.

I was on top of the world and feeling so proud of my time here. One of my last requirements to finish clinical is reviewing the rubric students are graded on by their clinic advisor that is sent to their school, which determines if we pass or fail.

We sit down in this meeting and my ego is instantly popped. I see the words “decreased in competence and initiative” in the very first box. WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!? I felt every single human emotion in the span of 5 seconds, but landed on rage as the winner. You’re meaning to tell me, after a summer of teaching myself, this is how you’re summing up my experience to my school? BUT, you still like me enough to pay for a booze cruise to send me off?? Honestly none of it makes sense to me to this day.

I held it back as best as I could and stayed professional. I let it roll off my back and knew that the patient’s didn’t share his opinion and that was what mattered to me. I also knew there was no way I could fail this clinical. I finished the day quietly and let a single tear creep out as I headed to my booze cruise.

Flash forward about an hour as I watch this same man shotgun a White Claw on the side of a boat in a mildly-offensive golf shirt with a lei on. We only booked an hour, so he wasted no time pouring drinks. I just kept asking myself what the hell was going on. But hey, I will never say no to a free boat.

As we finished our trip, I promised I would come back the next week before officially leaving NJ (I didn’t…) and Irish goodbyed that man and my strange strange experience.

Leaving confused, tipsy, and with really mixed emotions about the experience, I found myself in Stone Harbor. Something about everything going on told me I needed to take myself out to dinner and specifically for a margarita.

Some people have a really hard time asking for a table for 1 at a restaurant. I don’t have whatever gene that is. I would take myself out to dinner every single day if I was rich. This night, I had a coconut margarita, chips & guac, elote corn, and fish tacos at Agave. YUMMMM.

Once I finished my meal and reset my vibe, I was ready to celebrate. I texted my friend living in Philadelphia and asked how soon she could be here. I was DETERMINED to have a damn good last day. Once she said 2 hours, I knew I had just enough time to run into the ocean in the dark, get home, shower, and be ready to party.

So anyways, that was the weird story of my weirdest last day of work. The moral of this one is that it really doesn’t matter what anyone thinks of you, so you should probably just do whatever you want all the time. You’re the only one that can fix your own vibe!

January 15, 2026
my second time moving across the country

Currently, I am typing this from an airplane to Atlanta. Once I land, I will seek out either a slice of cheese pizza or the impossible burger from Burger King. Then I will make my connection and head to my new home for the next 3 months: San Francisco. Poignantly, I am reflecting on the last time I moved across the country in 2022.

In 2022 I was wickedly depressed and freshly broken up with. All I could think about from my snowed-in dorm room was how much happier I would be living somewhere hot. I liked kids, I liked Florida, and I liked doing things seriously out of my comfort zone, so I applied for a job at a summer camp in Palm Harbor. I assumed the name “Calypso” and became the pseudo-mommy of fifteen 7-9year olds weekly.

I LOVED this time in my life. I was the head of the zipline course and spent my days encouraging girls to face their fears. When I wasn’t on the zips, I was paddling in the Gulf of Mexico, lounging on a beach, making the BEST banana boats over a campfire, and consoling little girls with splinters (there were a loooooot of splinters).

When I look back, I wasn’t afraid whatsoever to leave my home and dive into this. I live for that tingly feeling in your stomach when you step into the unknown.Traveling for leisure versus traveling for escape are very different things.

So now, nearly four years later, I am once again packing the same luggage for another trip across the country. Instead of tiny crop tops and bikinis, I now have scrubs and lab manuals. Thankfully I have left the depression in 2022. Once again I know not a single soul living in my accommodation or pretty much anything about the job I am walking in to. My only line of defense against the anxiety of it all is leaning into how exhilarating it is to be able to do what I do.

I love my home and I love my family and I will ALWAYS cry hugging my mom goodbye. That doesn’t change the fact that I silently cringe when my peers tell me they are choosing to do all of their clinical rotations at home (or even worse staying in Ithaca!) I feel so lucky!

If I hate it, it’s only 3 months. When I love it, I will be begging the days to go slower and time to freeze. And then in a few years the cycle will start all over again. Maybe Hawaii? Arizona? Australia 😉

January 8, 2026