TravelStream™ news feed for member sammyjo199 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/sammyjo199 en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 12 Jul 2009 10:05:50 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammyjo199/2/1247407438/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammyjo199/2/1247407438/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammyjo199/2/1247407438/tpod.html Sun, 12 Jul 2009 10:05:50 -0400 Summer 2009

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Taba, Red Sea and Sinai, Egypt

it´s been a full week since i´ve journaled and may I say how absolutelyexcited I am to leave egypt. I had an amazing time and someunforgetable experiances that I will always be greatful for. I sawpyramids and tombs and retraced the steps of moses. But it is not someplace I would return to. I´m glad I went, i´m blessed to have touchedthe pyramids and seen the true beauty as God layed the sun to rest overthe red sea. But I am more excited then any trip before to go home.Backing up I will try and retrace my steps over the past week......onceour falucca arrived in luxor we discovered we were not in luxor at allbut had a 3 hour van ride to Luxor. During the hourney we made 2 stops.The first was to a camel market. This is a very interesting experiance.My photo´s share this market better than my words can describe. Therewere thousands of camels all with their front left leg tied up to avoida stampede. Men were all over shouting at each other in arabic overcamel prices all while the sun seared the desert sand and thetemperature steadily climbed to 125. Yep I was glad that was not myjob. I will never complain again about the lack of airconditioning inmy classroom in late august.the 2nd stop was toEdfu stemple. This was an amazing temple fortressbut was damaged during the crusades. The stone ceiling was blackned foma fire in the 1300´s and I couldn´t help but smile knowing I waswalking through history. The engravings on the wall were not onlyinteresting but so detailed it was hard to believe they had been carvedthousands of years ago. The interesting thing to note was that duringthe crusades the Christians chipped the faces of all the gods away fromthe cravings so the gods were faceless. After walking through thetempls and ready for a change in temperature we headed to luxor. Afterour 1st shower in 3 days and smelling like a camel myself I watched thewater turn brown from the dust and dirt in my hair. But after that Ifelt human again!That night my group and I went to dinner and enjoyed some meat mushcaserole again. Which was actually really good. Exhausted I called itan early night or as early as you can call it when you eat dinner at10pm. The following morning we got up at 5:30 to go see the Valley ofthe Kings. All i can say is wow! I went insdie 3 tombs that ancientpharohs were burried in. The calley is hidden in a mountain valley andhte latest tomb was discovered in 2007. They are still exploring thisarea for more tombs of pharohs as a few have never been found. Becausesome of these tombs were recently discovered the carving and paintcolors are pretty fresh in amazing condition. We explored the tombs andthen went ot the valley of the workers which were the tombs built buand for the workers who built the pharohs tombs. Their hyrogliphicswere very different but interesting. The most facinating thing wastheir drawing contained the family units rather then individual malesas was true of most nobles and high class citizens. Which I would liketo reserach more on when I get home.After our very eventful morning we went to our guides home whre we hadan amazing egpytian lunch. We then went to the hotel took a 30 minutenap and hit the souk (market). Normally I love barganning and bringinghome suvaniers but I didn´t buy anything because I was being houndedand hassled and it was making me clastrophobic and sick. The next daywe traveld to Karnak temple and toured the ruins of one of hte mostfamous temples in the world. I ws supposed to ride a hot air ballon andwatch the sunset but the balloon crashed and killed some tourists sothey cancelled the trip. I guess a hot air balloon ride will remain onmy bucket list and I will have to do it somehwere with strickt safetyregulations.That night we took an overnight sleeper train back to my favorite placein the world (sarcasim)Cairo. The train agent woke me up at 4:30am forbreakfast before the train arrived. I see a vacation pattern ofabsolutely no sleep for 2 weeks.Once we arrived at Cairo we went ot the islamic and coptic christiancenters of the city to visit some churches and mosques. I was lookingforward to this part of the trip but I was so exhausted that I feltnaucious and couln´t enjoy my visist. The heat was not helping eithernnor was my hijab which I had to wear to enter the moques. Once thinkg Ilearned a lot about on this trip is the respect for the women of Islam.Many who are not in great situations or have the choice. These womenthough go about their days even in extreme heat. I will reflect more onthis when I get home.the following morning we left at 5am for St. Kathrines in Sinai. It isa long 7 hour drive which is not a pleasantry when you have extreme carsickness. Anytime you dirve more than 20 minutes I get sick. so It wasa very long morning but after getting sick and educating Ahmead whatcar sick means lol, we arrived at the base of Mt. Sinai. 1st we passedunder the suex cancal and saw gaurds with their guns purhces on thehills. Deffintaly not home! that afternoon around 4:30 we started toclimb mt sinai. There are 2 ways to reach the top of Sinai. The 1st isto take a camel for 2 ours up a winding path that has been carved inthe mountain. The other is to take over 4,000 steps (rocks in noparticular pattern= that need to be climbed rather than actual stepsyou walk on. So 4 of us chose to do the steps. Knowing it would beexhausting but well worth it knowing we retraced the steps of Moses andpushed ourselves physically. So with 3 liters of water, my ipod, andcamera I started the 2 1/2 hour climb. It was very challenging but anawesome experiance. Every time we reached another plato I would pauseand snap some pictures. The hike/climb was mostly done in silence as Idrew newar to God through prayer. I kept imagineing the heart of Mosesas he poured out his love and faith even when his people had given upon God. I kept singing we fall down as I watched the sun start to setacross the horizon. Finally the last 15 minutes I put in my ipod as myweary legs continued to go on and ignore the burn and listen to mytheme song, The climb.Maybe because I´m an adventurous person or have a visual mind but as Ilistened to those lyrics and continued my climb I felt a sense ofaccmplisjment and pure joy and peace that I haven´t felt in a longtime. When I reached the top I was absolutely breathless andspeakchless but not from the climb but the beauty that isindescribable. It is as if God took a paintbrush and created a perfectpainting. I have watched sunrised and sunsets all over he world. I haveseen the way the sun hits the water and why they call it the red sea. Ihave seen the sun hit the pond on Angkor wat and create a beautifulreflection but this was spectacular that nothing has come close incomparison to. It was as though I was on top of the world with my Lord,peace calm and utter joy is all I can say.After the sun went down is when my experiance took a turn. I put myhead lamp on and began to hike down the train. It was a 2 and ahalfhour hike down but the path was not falt but rather rocky. 10 minutesinto the hike I fell and twisted my ankle. It was pitch black and icouldn´t see a thing. Long story short I had to get off the mountainand there was no way anyone was going to be able to carry my down sinceit was so rocky, so i tied up my ankle the best to my abilty with myscarf and hiked the 2 and a half hours down. It hurt like hell and bythe time i reached the bottom I had a burning sensation all the way tomy hip. Trying to be touch and yet almost in tears on of the expats atthebottom took 1 look at me and tried to fireman carry me the 15 minutewalk back to the villiage only to dumb me at hte hospital. I said I wasok and it was only a sprain but no one would listen and i got to visitthe most disgusting, dirtiest, oldest hosiptal in the most remotevillage. I had an x-ray with a mchine from the 1920´s that i thoughtmight kill me and a doctor who kept yelling at me in arabic and thentook a large neelde out to drain the fluid from my ankle. That is whenall hell broke lose and i started screaming in english, he in arabicand so um yeah.....Axtually i believe my peaceful joy i felt a fewhours before got to shot to bits in that moment so i will stop thatreflection and go back to the beautiful sunset.that night i didn´t sleep well and the meds they gave me made me sick.So i woke up to visit st. katherines monastery the oldest monastery inthe world. There they had a burning bush and many coptic greek relics.It was interesting. Then we drove the 2hours to the red sea beach camp.The camp was on the north eastern tip of Sinai. Where you could see themountain borders of Isreal, Jordan and Saudia Arabia. It was one of themost clear waters i have seen but the beach itself was a heap of rocksand hard coral so you had to war shoes to swim. The next 2 days werespent at the beach camp. The hut faced the ocean and was a simple stickhut with a matress on the sand and a moquito net around it. We were allvery excited as we literally watched the moon rise over the mountainand turn the sea red through reflection. However we learned the meaningof desert wing which tunrs the air hotter when the sun went down. Itwas so hot and stuffy I thought I would melt if it was humanlypossible. For 2 nights not on of us in the group slept. It was hotunlike anything i can describe. But during the day it was beautiful. Onthe2nd day I went diving in the gulf of aquba. It was amazing the coralwas untouched and the wildlife was beautiful. I saw so many unique fishand had a great dive. After I went back to the hut and met up with therest of the group. We hung out on the beach, told stories, watched themoon rise, watched a beautiful sunrise over the saudia arabian desertand then left for the 8 hour drive back to Cairo. That is once again abad experiance that left a bad taste in my houth for egypt and I willnot discuss it at this time.When we finally arrived back to Cairo we had dinner and I was so upsetI tried to get hte earliest flight possible out of egpyt. I flew torome at 4am after the 4th sleepless night in a row. Right now I sit onmy flight from Rome to Madrid ready for weatern culture and reallyready to go home....one more day!Egypt was amazig minus some not so good people and the heat. I swa someawesome sights, I experianced some unique culture, I touched thepyramids, walked in ancient tombs, visited restored templed, retracedthe steps of biblical figures and saw God´s painted beauty with so manysunrised and sunsets. All together I did love my adventure and willcherish the 2 weeks I spent in Egpyt. But as the same time I won´t goback. There are many more unexplored places yet to be discovered andits time for me to follow my heart and go home where my friends andfamily are and where I can peacefully rest my head with a peace knowingI am right where I belong. So, so long Egpyt and time to rest, relaxand recover and enjoy home before i start planning my nextadventure....until next time!!!! --- Samantha Jo
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammyjo199/2/1246893809/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammyjo199/2/1246893809/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammyjo199/2/1246893809/tpod.html Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:24:36 -0400 Summer 2009

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Aswan, Nile River Valley, Egypt

It has been a few days since I have had a chance to journal. Egypt is awesome but quite a culture shock. I traveled all throughout south east asia, i've rouched it hiking through the mountains in thick jungle, but nothing has prepared me for this trip. I can not complain because I have seen and experianced amazing things but at the same time I can honestly say this is not what i expected. I am not sure what I expected but this has been a challlenge and while i will cherish this trip and remember the memories I will also be glad to be home. I guess I wanted to prove something to myself. i wanted to seek that adventure and through inner strength explore the unknown. I love adventure, I love the thrill, I love the new experiances but what I didn't realize until this trip is I love home as well. I spend so much time planning for my next adventure and talking about my explorations I forget to appreciate home. I love to cook and entertain, to go dancing with my girls, to sit in the bath and relax. I love talking on the phone with kim for hours even though i should just drive to her house. I love raising my hands high in worship on sunday mornings. I love giving my kids a high five when they score a goal or succeed in the move they have worked on for weeks. I love home and while I will always travel and seek adventure, I know where at the end of the trip I belong. So now about my experiance in egypt.....I arrived in Aswan after a comfortable overnight sleeper train in egypt. Notice I added egypt so comfortable is not by american standards. Tired though I was actually rocked to slep by the crazy train and arrived at a rather nice hotel with a balcony view of the nile. This put me in grave spirits ready for the next adventure.After a shower eric, rebecca and I headed to the markets to try our hand at bargaining. After about an hour and a half I had enough and didn't buy a thing. Got a lot of marriage proposals where I kept laughig because my thought was that the boys did not know what they were getting themselves into. They like to hide their women behind a hijab or burka and i am one o the strongest most independant women I know. No hiding anything about me. But needless to say it got quite a bit annoying after a while and the men got more agressive which is a story for another time so i left.Later around 4pm we got on a motorboat to the nubian beach We crossed down the nile to end close to the sudan boarder. Of course i didn't realize where we were. The guide joked that we should climb this huge sand dune to get a better view of the villiages. Of course the guide didn't realize that american girls would take him seriously and left for the climb. The sand we very deep so every step forwarded resulted in 2 steps back. But we made it to the top and noticed higher hills in the distance. A long time later we found these interesting stacks of rocks in piles all around the rocky desert. I thought it looked like a really cool paintball field (blond moment number 4356) and erin hid behind one of the stacks. Then as I approached i noticed spatters of blood everywhere and we got out of there real fast, well as fast as you can when you are in the saharah with no water.so notes on that adventure: take water with you when entering the desert. Dont wander by yourself into unknown territories. and most importantly pay attention! I think the head and dehydration made me forget the omst important rule while traveling.That night we went to the nubian village and had a home cooked dinner. It was interesting the way the mud houses are set up to allow for maximum coolness. All though coolness is a relative term it was 120 degrees during the day and dry dry dry heat so it can be slightly hard to breath. After the villiage we went back to the hotel at 11pm only to have our alarm go off at 2:45am___________________________________Wednesday July 1stToday was the big trip to Abu Simbal the sight of the temples of Ramsee II. In order to get there 6 of us from the group met in the lobby at 3am to join our van. The van drove us to a military station where we met up with armed guards and other vehicals to have a convoy transport us the 3 hour journey to abu simbel. Abu Sinbel is on the boarder of egyp and sudan which is why I later found out we had the armed guards along. We arrived around 6:45am and there are 2 beautiful temples there that were amazing! Both are carved in the mountain. The hyrogliphics were such great condition you could still see the colored paint on some as though it was just painted. The temple for the Goddess hathor (disco) was smaller but just as beautiful. The sun was rising so we saw an awesome sunrise across the desert that hit the temple statues perfectly. All together it was a beautiful scene.The interesting thing about these temples is the relocation of hte temples when the high dam was built in the 70s. The temple had to be moved in order for it not to since into the nile river. During the dam being built unescor led the efforts. It was amazing that a temple that size was removed and put back together. After 2 hours there we joined the convoy back to Aswan. After a much needed nap Erin and I headed to the nubian village and spent a few hours in there (air conditioned museum!!!) reading all about nubian history and checking out the artifacts. I then was laughing at the propaganda written about the chrisitan era which was obviously recorded by muslims. Needless to say I could tell I was in a strickt islamic area.After the Musuem Erin and I enjoye the cooler evening (104 degrees) and took a walk along the nile. Then we stopped at Aswan moon a boat restaurant on the rive and enjoyed banana milkshakes and egpytian cuisine as we watched the sunset on the nile river. BEAUTIFUL!The days here are long but amazing. I really enjoy egypt even if its not my "princess" style vacation. I love the thrill and seek adventure. Now as I mark another check off my bucket list it is time to sail the nile on a falucca._____________________________________Saturday July 4th It is the 4th of July and that is slightly depressing as no one and I mean no one shared in my excitement of one of my favorite holidays. I think to back home where the bbq's are in full swing and the familie are gathered together to celebrate. I miss my family and our big bbq at kurts this year. I miss the fireworks and dressing in red white and blue to show off patriotism. Maybe I just grew up in a different household because I was reaised to be thanful for the 4th and celebrate how proud I am to be an american. The other american from cali sort of laughed at me though and said that it must be a midwestern thing that patriotism isn't so strong where she is from. I think there is something wrong with people. I am proud of my heritage even though i'm thousands of miles from home.As for the last 2 days they have been exhausting and relaxing at the same time. We spent all day thursday sailing on the nile. I must add thoughthat 5 out of 12 people were hospitalized for food illnesses before we even set sail. The rest were pretty sick but I must have a solid stomach because I was thankfully ok. So the rest of the group and I set sail. At night we docked at a nubian village. We played a soccer game with the nubian children whom wanted me on their team. I got to teach them the rainbow which they thought was so cool. I think they wanted me to stay. The funny thing is we watered the sand before playing soccer to avoid kicking up so much dust. I had never seen that before. After the game we had a ty[ical numbian meal at the homestay and then crahshed on the matresses piled on the floor. It is intereting sleeping on the floor in a hot room with a bunch of peole and windows and doors open all around with no glass or coverings as the house was made of mud. Needless to say I got eaten alive by mosquitos. Man oh man where did the west nile virus come from again?The next moring we climbed on the falucca at 8am and remained on it all day sailing the nile I really enjoyed it! We played cards, read books, napped. They served us breakfast lunch and dinner aboard, there were no toilets though so we docked at night. When we docked there was a big fight between the farmers and the falucca men and a lof of yelling and pushing in arabic. We girls all stood back a little afraid they would start pulling out weapons, not a good area to be in. But Ahmead our guide calmed everyone down and we went to dig a toilet.Yes that is right...so much for a vacation, I had to dig a dang toilet in the middle of the desert. I wont get into the difficulties of this portion of my trip (and no i am not talking about a toilet, just the culture in general and adaptations) while i make everything sound exciting and fun it was rough a few days. I loved sailing and that was fun but we didn't bathe or shower or even have water to brush our teeth for 3 ays. It was about 120 degrees so we hid in the sade on he boat and still sweated. We had to dig our own toilets and I got chased by wild dogs (again another story) It was challenging for me in many ways but I will talk more about that upon my return home. It most definatialy was not a vacation but it was an adventure I will never forget! 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammyjo199/2/1246369526/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammyjo199/2/1246369526/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammyjo199/2/1246369526/tpod.html Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:46:21 -0400 Summer 2009

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Cairo, Al Qāhirah, Egypt

I'm in egypt! wait for it....I'm in egypt!!!! I actually saw a pyramid up close. I touched a pyramid. WOW! 1st impression of egypt, its a desert, actually its really dirty and the slums are everywhere. I think my skin is going to be permenantly black from the durst and the heat making it cling to my sweat like a magnet. My feet are black from the sand and when I scrubbed them they remain black. But i'm in egypt and that rocks! It's hot here...actually hot doesn't describe it, grossly hot and dirty begins the discription and i don't think showering makes a bit of difference. But none of that matters because i'm on an adventure and not a vacation. I think I will go on a nice vacation to the beach or something later this year but right now i am living the ancient history. I am seeing ancient life at my finger times. WOW!!! So the ride from the airport was interesting. I hired a driver to meet me there since my flight got in late which was delayed and arrived at 3:30am. The driver helped me through the visa and immigration process, then took me to my hotel. There were a few shady parts of that trip but those stories are for another day.I finialyl got to my hotel and crashed around 4:30am only to be woken up at 9am. So I got up went to breakfast and then tried to go back to sleep. At that point Erin a girl from California came into my room and introduced herself as my travel buddy and roommate for the next 15 days. She is really nice and I swear everyone i meet from the states over here is from cali. It must be heir crazy ideas and liberalism that gets them to travel, as for me and my diehard republicanism I guess people like me don't travel as much. Anyways so Erin and I decided to hire a driver and head to the olded pyramid shakra and other sights. We literally walked around a sandy desert for 2 hours with no water or sunscreen (not my smartest move). We almost passed out and there once again learned an important lesson of coming prepared! Must carry lots of water! Aftr we both got our focus and could stand and walk again we headed back to the hotel, where there is airconditioning and water. I bought and drank 3 liters of water lol...I was very very thirsty!So now Erin and I are just waiting to meet hthe rest of group we will be traveling with. Should be interesting, the packet that I was given read this as its opening paragraph for the trip..."armed convoys and security while traveling....while in egypt you will b etransported in armed convoyes while traveling between towns. Convoys are used to insure your saftey, between some towns it is customary to have an armed guard on the vehical to ensure your safety. This is common practice, please do not be alarmed it is perfectly safe to travel in egypt.".....RIGHT! So that is the first thing I read when I arrived in egypt and i keep thinking what have I gotten myself into...oh well let the adventure begin and what an adventure it will be!!!! MONDAY JUNE 29thToday has been an extrememly busy and exhausting day. We got up early this morning to go see the great pyramids and the spinx. Once we arrived close to the pyramids we jumped on camels for the remander of the trip....WOW what a sight!Check two things off my bucket list, riding a camel and seeign the pyramids. Camels are pretty much hores with attitude and it was quite funny trying nt to fall off when he was standing up. But i held on tight figuring a broken arm might ruin my trip. lolThe pyramids are amazing and nothing like the pictuers i saw as a child. Just to awlk up to them and touch them was awesome. The Sphinx wasn't as big as i imagined but was still a really cool sight. We speant about 3 and a half hours at the sight. The hot sun and vry dry air was making us all a little faint so we went down the street for some koshiri (an egyptian dish) It was good but very different tasting then other american and european foods. I enjoed it though and am blessed to have grown out of being a picky eater.After lunch we spent three hours at the egyptian museum in cairo. 1st the museum was not airconditioned, 2nd it was very hot and stuffy. But really amazing to see all the ancient artifacts. I got to see king tuts mask made of 384 ounces of gold. I discovered mumification and castings and how their tomb chambers were laid out. Talk about an awesome history lesson. If only I could bring my students here! I think they would appreciate ancient history so much more. At 4pm we went back to the hotel and went grocery shopping for water and snacks in order to prepare for our over night train to Aswan.Cool thoughts....I am learning arabic which is a fasinating language. I can now read the numbers and a few words so it should be interesting what i can do with the language in two weeks time. 2nd the people i am travelign with are cool. 3rd did i mention i touched a pyramid and rode a camel!!! AWESOME!Samantha jo
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammyjo199/2/1246014203/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammyjo199/2/1246014203/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammyjo199/2/1246014203/tpod.html Fri, 26 Jun 2009 07:06:07 -0400 Summer 2009

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Madrid, Madrid, Spain and Canary Islands

During my travels I usually try to find one song that sort of acts likea theme song. Last year through my 2 month adventure through southeastasia it was "life is a highway" by Bon Jovi. This year the 1st time Iheard "The Clim" by Miley Cyrus I knew I had found my song. Listeningto the lyrics I knw this was the encouragement I needed to face mydemons and grow. This ws the lyrics that would remind me that strengthis not contained in how far and long one can run or how much weight youcan lift but rather inner strength is something we only discover whenwe reach the brink of disaster and survive.This year has been interesting and amazing at the same time. It hasalso seen room bottom, brok my heart and srengthened me beyond words.The best things have occured and the worst, but I have no regrets. Istarted dancign the day I returned from Asia and that in itself hasopened a world of passion to me that has changed me life. That hobbyhas seen me through good and bad this year. Making friends or I shouldsay developing a close friendship with Kim and Kelly has been asurprising blessing this year. I have always held people at a distancebut I finally let someone in which shows a huge leap of personalgrowth. These girls are a true blessing from God and my lifelong bestfriends whom I love with all my heart.That may seem normal but as I said I have a hard time letting peoplein. When I moved out on my own Labor day the girls were there to calmmy nerves and i remember saying we were done as the piles of boxes werestacked in my living room. It was then that Kim looked at me and said,"we aren´t done yet, lets unpack!" and as I stood there in amazementthe girls organized my closet, reassembled my kitchen and created ahome for me. I truly am blessed.This year was about forming friendships, about learning to dance,learning how to be me. I remember in August when we went to the ranchthe 1st time and sat on the stage too scared to try one line dancebecause they all looked so hard...thn getting brave and trying to learnthe stationary cha cha at the gym with the boys or the girls and Idoing the watermellon crawl in my living room! Wow that was less than ayear ago and while we are in no way pros we have improved from a groupof "southern baptist" girls who DONT DANCE!! LOLThen winter hit and I ended up in a mess of a 4 month relationship withBill which had disaster written all over it from the beginning. Thereis a reason you shouldnt date your good friends! When that ended I wasdevistated but sadly relieived at the same time. I love to travel andwas debating not travling since i was in a relationship. As I prayedabout it, it became clear my heart was 1/2 way across the world and Ineeded to go.When we broke up I was heart broken allthough looking back I am notsure why. In reality I was not entirely happy and I enjoyed ourfriendship but started to hate dancing with him because of hiw jealousstreak of me dancing with other men and his overly critical examinationof my dancing erros. However even admist that at the time I was lost. Iwas so upset I couldnt function. I would go to work and barely make itthrough the day. The weekend it all happend I will never forget Kelly´shuge heart and the truth that I had people who love me unconditionally!She practically picked me up off the floor and took me for ice cream atmy favorite place (cookiedough creations). I staryed that wekend at herand Ashleys since they were afraid to leave me alone and even had tosleep in her room one night. I was so upset I couldn´t eat or workoutand coaching my kids the one things i love most in the world was abattle to try and stay focused and not cry. Looking back now I laugh atthe dramatic reaction I had because I wasn´t all that happy with Billin the first place. I was most upset for another failed relationshipthen the relationship itself.All I have ever wanted in life was to be loved unconditionally bysomeone who in turn I could love the same way. But boy is that easiersaid then done. However after that failed raltionship I learned a veryimportant lesson. 1st agape or unconditional love only comes from Godand we can only love someone agape when our love comes from God. 2ndlove is less important with a man because you must love yourself. Ihave learned to love myself unconditionally. To laugh at my ownstupidity and smile at my own errors and to stand tall no matter whatbecause I do know who I am. I thought I had reached that point after mypersonal growth journey through asia but I hit a bump with Bill.However that allowed me to grow in ways I could never regret. The 3rdthing I realized is I do have love and I am loved. I have an amazing family and friends who will unpack my oxes and whowill take me for icecream and let me sleep over, friends who willsacriice sleep just to go dancing with me because I need to get out ofmy house. That is love and what more could a girl ask for.So going back to my theme song, which I will include the lyricslast, it made me think.There have been so many things in my life that have tried to tear mydown. There have been so many road blocks that still haunt my dreams atnight. Just when I think I´ve arrived I realize I have only just begun.However, I do not hae any regrets. Talk about a sobbering moment, mymind goes back to april, facing my giant of the stairmaster working tolose some weight and seeing my exhusbands face flash across fox news.Life in prison....I wasn´t sure how to respond, my heart sank and rightthere amist the crowd I had to choose how to respond. I chose to smile,not at the sad reality of his fate but at the truth that I am asurvivor and a strong confident woman who wont ever let a man destroywho I am. I am an intellegent woman who holds a masters degree when myexhusband told em to drop out of college because it was too expensiveand I needed to take care of him. Good thing I followed my heart onthat one! I have traveled the world and bring more reali lifeexperiance with that than all of my years of school combined. So as thsong says, its not about the final destination or what waits on theother side of the mountan, its about the climb. The journey of gettingthere. I have no idea what this year holds for me when I get back. Ihave a good feeling it will be an amazing year but at the same time itsnot about where I will be a year from now, its about the journey. At some point this year I will make a mistake, at some point I willlose a battle at some point I will face trails but its not aboutrunning up that mountain to face the other side. Its about thetrip...and as I sit on a train from Pisa to Rome...I realize my journeythis year has only just begun and what an adventure it is going to be!"I can almost see it, that dream i´m dreaming,but theres a voice inside my head, saying you´ll never reach it.Every step i´m taking, every move i´m making, feels lost with no directionmy faith is shaken, but i´ve got to keep trying, got to keep my head held high.theres always going to be another mountain,i´m always gonna want to movetheres always gonna be another battle,sometimes i´m gonna have to lose.It aint about how fast I get there,it aint about whats waiting on the other side,its the climb.The struggles i´m facing, the chances i´m takingsometimes might knock me down but no im´not breakingI may not know it,but these are the momentsi´m gonna remember mostjust got to keep growing and i gott a be strong got to keep pushiing onbecause there is always gonna be another mountain...keep your faith, its all about the climb." - the climbSo right now I´m climbin on a journey. I have no idea what this year hold but I´m excited about the journey to get there!Ciao Samantha jo
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammyjo199/2/1245768064/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammyjo199/2/1245768064/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammyjo199/2/1245768064/tpod.html Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:42:46 -0400 Summer 2009

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Pisa, Tuscany, Italy

Sunday june 21stI love italy! where Rome is busy and noisy and crowded much like Chicago, Florence and the countryside is peaceful and quiet. It is wonderful! i believe i was always meant to be a country girl prefering the quieter, slower pace than the hustle and bustle of city life. So Florence was a brilliant change of pace.the rainride was uneventful and I got to read some of the book I have been reading. Caitlin and I planned out our florence adventure choosing to skip the ques in the museums and leave the city tourist thing to get a taste of true italian culture. When we arrived our directionally challenged selves got lost and missed the street to the hostal, which normally would not be a big deal but can be difficult when lugging heavy packs around. Once we found the hostal I was pleasantly surprised that they had an extra room since I did not have anything booked in Florence. One of the thigns I do when traveling is book my 1st night in a country and then figure things out as i go so that I have the flexibility to change plans which is exactly what i did. Originally I was going to stay in Rome 4 nights but I had seen what I wanted to and decided a wine tour of Tuscany sounded nice and since I met Caitlin it was good to have someone to travel with. So we dropped our bags off and began to explore florence.Florence is beautiful, its a city but at the same time a country village. There are no sky scrappers just ancient buildigns amist the fresco painted walls and tiled streets. It is cute and sweet and felt more like home than the crowded city I grew up in.While we were walking the Piazzas we ate gelato and laughed. We talked about everything under the sun and I realized it felt like I had known Caitlin for a long time instead of a day. I guess traveling bonds people. Then we got lost again (I MUST INVEST IN A GOOD GPS!!!!) As I was starring at the map and walking through a plaza when I noticed a crowd of about 200 people gathering on the streps and all around the city plaza staring at the center square. As I am sure Kim and Kelly would find of no surprise my blond self kept walking through the empty center of the Piazza with Caitlin. As I was turning the map either which way to figure out where I was this guy dressed as a clown grabbed my shoulder and tapped very hard on my map with his finger. I SCREAMED!!! Actually as Caitlin would agree it was more of a peircing blood curdling scream and i freaked out. I always freak out with people sneaking up behind me but this was worse because i was really not paying attention and thrown off guard. So i tripped and fell flatt on my butt! I am not sure who was more scared me or the italian man dressed as a clown who tried to pick me up, which of course at that point no one could touch me because i was still freaked out so I instead of accepting his help I started fighting him off....Caitlin was laughing of course. Then I in my stunned scared self looked up and realized we had walked right through the center of the clows show. People were laughing and video taping all around us and based on my extreme reaction probably thought I was part of the show. Lovely! and soooo embarrasing!!! So we quickly detoured out of the piazza to go see Michaelangelo...Now I can hear Kim and kelly now...."only you sam..only you!!"Laughing and my heart still beating fast and my wrist hurting from falling we went atop the city at the piazza michaelangelo to take a break of quiet solotude and see the city. it was beautiful and amazing and I loved it!After we went to the hostal and got online for a bit and met some other people who we ended up going to dinner with from the hostal. My disapointment was that my 6 person room was all men/boys who were rowdy and loud from Canada. They were fun and we went to dinner but it is always an experiance when sharring a room with boys you do not know. too bad the room Caitlin was staying in of all girls was full. It was at the Hostal that we met Lordese from Texas. The three of us walked to the Duomo and took in the interesting culture of the piazza. Finally around 2am I retired in for the night only to get up at 7am for a full day of touring and wine tasting. However I was very tired because I had said before I had the loudest group of boys sharing my room who all snored. OH WELL!MONDAYAfter Caitlin and I located our bus we took off for Siena. It was beautiful and so much fun. The city was a perfect cute town in Tuscany with an amazing duomo that included statues scultped by Michaelangelo in his earlier years. The town itself reminded me of a movie set with its old world appeal. Absolutely beautiful! I fell in love with Italy all over again!I am very glad I am talented in linguistics because this language can be hard to grasp. However, I have picked it up relatively quickly and think i may take a class in Italian when I get home. I plan to live in italy at some point in my life even if it is only for 6 months.Once we left Siena we went to an Italian Winery way out in the countryside. WOW!!! I have always wanted to visit a vineyard and do a wine tasting. Lindsay has told me several time to come to California and we ould go but I had never found the time. Now aftter this I will have to find the time because I love it! It is beautiful! We toured the vineyard, I got kissed by a cow and then we ate homemade pasta and breads and biscotti while drinking their delicious wines. I have never been a fan of Red wines since i get a headache when i drink them but i still drank some of them and focused on the whites. I drank ALOT of white wine, ok maybe a little tooooo much wine. but it was a lot of fun and very yummy!The italian countryside is so beautiful and nothing like I have ever seen. My pictures can not even begin to capture the beauty but I think someday when I have a man to travel with I will come back to countryside and enjoy a week at a bed and breakfast or something that is relaxing rather than my usual busy adventurefield vacations. Or maybe i will convince the girls that this is the ideal vacation we need to take together. After we left the vineyards it started to thunderstrom but instead of letting the rain stip us we went to a medieval manhattan type of village in the country.The village is known for being rated with the worlds best gelato so in the pouring and freezing rain and still stuffed from our lunch, Caitlin and I climbed the slippery slope to the top of the village to see for ourselves if this rumor about the best Gelato was true....survey says.....YES it was!The exciting thig though was not the gelato but a simple small moment on that trip. In the rain caitlin and I found a small archway in the village sqaure and stood against the wall in the 4 inch place to stay dry. It was that moement that meant the most. It was at that moement that I paused thinking how lucky I was to have this experiance. To see these sights to travel outside of my bubble of naperville and get a taste of reality. I am not just reading a book or watching a movie but putting my hand on the smooth marble of the leaning tower of pisa. I am not drinking italian chainti in a restaurant in chicago but in the actual winary in chainti. I am gaining experiances that no one can take away from me.So we got drenched and then dried off for the hour and a half bus ride to Pisa. Fantastic!!! Amazing!! it was at this poit that I would leave the tour and not go back to florence. I said goodbye to Caitlin which was sad but told her to come visit me soon in Chicago and call me once we both get back in the states in about a month to share the rest of our adventure stories, her throughout Europe me in Egypt. Of course at this point I strapped my pack on my back, slung my daybag over my shoulder and started the 2 mile hike up to my hostal which as soon as I started on the path it started to pour...of course it did lol! the skys just opened and it was raining so hard i could not see in front of my face! The scary things was when i looked behind me in the alley i was walking I noticed 4 african american men following me. Now I do not scare easily (unless a clown sneaks up on me) but I can honestly say I was scared. So instead of seeking shelter I kept up a small jog in the rain and tried to navigate my way through the streets with no map because I tested the theory of them following me by turning down side streets and indeed they were so i had no time to really stop. After 40 minutes with no map I finally took enough turns in a sprint to loose them and then found my hostal...of course only me lol....I stayed at the pisa tower hostal which was nice. This time I was staying in an all girls dorm room! Exhausted I checked in and ate dinner at 9:30 and then crashed in bed at 11. I slept till 10 which is not normal for me and decided to stay in Pisa instead of going to Chinqenterra because a day of rest in a small village sounded amazing. when I woke up fully rested i met a girl named Sophia from Sweden. We went to a cafe for crossaints and cappacino and then took a walk to sit and rest in the botanical garden. What a change of pace! it is great here. i love the garden. There is a relaxing and peaceful feeling in the garden. I realized that I have actually never been to the botanical gardens in Chicago. I need to go this summer when I get home because I love gardens and do not know why I have never been. I guess I thought i always needed someone to go with but I can go alone..duh i travel the world alone why not do that??? of course maybe i can get some friends to go with me!!! Or go to the arboretum which is one of my favorite places in lisle. So that is where I find myself now...transfixed in this garden in Pisa, Italy writting in my journal.Peaceful, bella as the italian boys will say, charming! I love it, I think a peice of my heart will be left here in Italy. I think I will return someday as i said before i love it. Sitting in the garden reflecting on my life and my journey I realized something...I am fully content, I have no regrets. I can honestly say i am happy and love who I am. i am secure with me and that is the best feeling in the world. This year has been crazy with security and then watching a man tear down who I was...but not more loss of my esteem or my security of who I am...I am a beautiful young strong woman who can travel the world on her own...why because God is with me no matter where i go and I always have friends who love me back home and a family who cares so much for me. Yes truly i am blessed. samantha jo
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammyjo199/2/1245767930/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammyjo199/2/1245767930/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammyjo199/2/1245767930/tpod.html Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:40:55 -0400 Summer 2009

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Florence, Tuscany, Italy

i realize i am a few days behind on my journaling but i write in my journal and then type it here. so today i went on a wine tour of tuscany which was amazing. i will journal more on that later. but i will start with sundayIt has been a crazy morning. i set my alarm to get up at 7 but it didnt go off. instead caitlin came in at 8 and woke me up. I jumped out of bed realizing I had 30 minutes to catch the train. luckily I had mostly packed my pack so I threw everything else in my pillow case and put on a sundress and we took off downstairs, only to find it in a torential downpour. Of course the best place to be in the pouring rain is a train so we ran the 6 blockes to the train stations with our heavy backpacks and us dripping wet. It reminded me of doing the 50 yard dash in jr. high only for 6 blockes instead of 50 yards and this time in the blinding rain. Im a runner but not usually with a heavy backpack on so it waqs interesting but a good laugh. After we boarded the train and were off to Florence.Last night Caitlin and I met a girl named Paulina from mexico but who is livin in lonon. We went to see Treveon fountain again since they had not seen it and then had a beautiful little dinner at a peaceful cafe. We talked about our travels, our las, our dreas all over saett carbonara and white wine. Of course the wine went straight to my head and any since of direction I once had was lost. So I with the map lead us three girls on a many mile goose chase to piazza ouova. finally we found it, sat and ate gelato laughed at our inabilit to eat the seet rea faster than it was melting and started our walk home. Once again after walkeing a few miles YES i said MILES. we ran into the river which was opposite of where we were supposed to be going. so we found the metro and went back to our hostal. I think i need a gps world system and will find one for my next travel.Of course at about 10.30 i was out like a light only to be woken up by the banging on my door for my failed alarm.What is in store for florence.....seeing the piazzas, eating gelato, a wine tour of tuscany....more to come about florence soon...i do miss everyone at home but it is wonderful here, love you allsamantha jo
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammyjo199/2/1245600458/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammyjo199/2/1245600458/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammyjo199/2/1245600458/tpod.html Sun, 21 Jun 2009 12:08:29 -0400 Summer 2009

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Rome, Lazio, Italy

The past few days have been extremely chaotic and busy. Exhausting does not even begin to describe me right now, and yet i find myself once again on the go. The first day i arrived in Spain my flight was over 2 hours delayed. Customs/immigrations was a very long line so after hours of delays and wating in line sto be approved to enter Spain, I stepped out of the airport almost 24 hours after I boarded my first plane. I had 4 hours to explore and get my barrino since iàll be back for 4 more days later in my trip. I walked the plaza and had my 1st real palle (trying to immagine octopus palle as my dad used to tell me about all the time from his "at sea" stories when I was little.  After I headed back to the airport, OH JOY! My flight to Rome was…you guessed it…DELAYED!!! 2 hours!!! Finally after 1am I landed in Rome. I hadenàt slept in 48 hours or rather 72 if you counted my lack of sleep the night bifore due to dancing and packing. So I literally checked into my hostal, trying really hard not to wake up the other 5 people sleeping in my room and literally crashed. 1st thoughts…. My room was a sauna and I brought PJ pants instead of shorts..however since iàm sharing bunks with males I figured sleeping in my underware wouldnt be ethical. So I sweated through is only to wake up and find the men only in their underware!! HELLO ROME!!! Hello ITALY!!! LOL My 1st day in Rome was eventful…but then again starting my day like that who would have guessed it to be anything but eventful! My hostal had a wonderful tour of the Colloseum, forum, and palatine hill leaving at 2pm. So after buying my metro passes and gettino my directionally challenger self directional I met up with a group to see rome. Chris the tour guide is a 30 year old college grade from Idaho or somewhere like that…Just goes to show what a good old fascion degree can get you…LOL The tour lastex 4 and a half hours and coverei about 10 miles. However it did NOT go inside the sights, we just walked all over Rome and got a detailed history lesson, which I thought was awesome being a history buff and all. The best part of the tour was I made friends with 2 girls from canada who were my age, Brittany and Tamara. After our tour ended at 6:30 we decided to grin and bare our aching feet and walk several more miled to explore the rest of the city. We walked the Spainsh steps, ate pizza and drank wine in a cute little cafe ate gelato, went shopping at the street markets, saw some awesome fountains and piazzas and pretty much crawled our way back to the Hostal. Since we did not see the collosuem that day and they had to leave for the airport at 10am we decided to meet at 7:30 in the cafe for breakfast and head over there. So at 10:30pm I crashed once again only to be wide awake at 5:30am (stupid jetlag). Finally I got up showered and went downtstairs to check my mail for the first time since i left the states. While I waited for the slow computer to load I starter to talking to another crazy girl who was also up at 6am on the computer. Thats when i met Catilin from California. I starter talk to her and turned out we both wanted to see the vatican and were both heading to Florence that following day. So we grabbed breakfast and I met up with tamara and brittany to explore the colloseum and so I could see them off since they were heading back to Canada later that day. The colloseum is amazing. Maybe its just me being a history buff but I think it ranks up there on placet to go see bifore you die. This is deffinitally on my list of placet to take my kids when God blesses me with them. It is awesome to think how much history is associated with this place! After being awestruck at the Colloseum and the Roman forum where I got to walk the same stones Julias Ceasar took, I headed back to the Hostal to meet Caitlin to go to the Vatican. We hopped on the metro and went to the vatican. After getting lost and waiting in the wrong long line we sawthe Basilica where mass was taking place. BEAUTIFUL!!! Then we went on to the Sistine chapel. Once again wow! So amazing. I love art and have studied art but nothing compare sto this. The imagination the design, the execution of the design. WOW God Michaelangelo! However note to oneself it does take a loop of about an hour to walk through the musuem not even looking at things but just to get to the chapel.  After walking from 7:30-3:30pm I was exhausted and my feet were so swollen so I came back to the Hostal to figure out trains for tomorrow and journal.  So my thoughts: life is what you make it and beauty comes in all forms but experiencing beauty in the package of 1,000s of years can leave one speechless. Life is a journey, you can choose to die in a clean neat package old in age or you can take risks, live as though it was your last day and experiance all life ha sto offer. I would say take the risk odds are you will be fine and still dye of old age but if you dont its worth the risk. Get out and see the world do not wait fori t to come to you. Dont hide behind the ticket fence, your desk from the job you hate, just get out there and see what life is really about. I am in Rome, WOW!! I was standing outside the colloseum in silente with a few drops of rain landing on my hair and though i am in Rome, I am ctually living the dream and I am the luckiest girl alive. I have got everything I could ever want and I am blesses all because of God, I owe it all to Him alone. Now off to see more Rome and tomorrow Florence.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammyjo199/2/1244606400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammyjo199/2/1244606400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammyjo199/2/1244606400/tpod.html Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:52:12 -0400 Summer 2009

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Chicago, Illinois, United States

I was sitting on my balcony this afternoon enjoying the peaceful quiet of the day, feeling a cool breeze almost float gracefully across my face as I reclined in a chair curled up with a good book. The smell of ginger chicken lingered in the air from my grill that was still cooling down from my feast for one I had made. And as I sat reading and heard a child cry out in the distance with a full belly laugh my mind transformed me to a similar scene from another time and place.            My mind skipped to that of sitting in a similar chair, curled up with a good book, feeling a cool breeze against my body as I read in peaceful quiet. This time though was on the balcony of a guesthouse in Luang Prabang Laos. After spending 20 days amidst complete chaos in Vietnam where the noise is so loud no matter where you go your ears will continually ring from the decimal volume I headed to Laos. Laos was stumbled on by accident as my visa was expired and I had to leave the country quickly in Vietnam, the only place I could go in that amount of time was with a 5 day visa in Laos. So I boarded the 12th flight in 5 weeks and headed to Laos. While only hours away and sharing the same border the differences are so striking an entire book could not cover them completely. Laos is peaceful while Vietnam is chaotic. Laos is relaxing while Vietnam is stressful. So for 4 days I walked around a quaint little town with not much to see in way of tourism but so much to learn in way of culture. I took a cooking class on Laotian cuisine, I spent a day walking along the river, a morning riding an elephant through the dense jungles and each night I would sit alone on my balcony at a nice little guesthouse and read a book from the book trade that I picked up while traveling. Peaceful….that was what peace represented to me. Pure quietness as the military police set their curfew and so after a certain time no one and I mean no one was around. So I would read and day dream about where to head to next or what to do the next day.             As I was sitting on my balcony a world away back in the States today I realized how lucky I am and how blessed I am. I have an amazing family and friends who love me more than words can say. I have a great job that I never once have regretted getting up for in the morning. I have hobbies that inspire me to grow more each day. I have kids that I coach that bring a smile to my face no matter how bad my day was before I got to the field. And I've seen the world.             The book I was reading was about a girl who traveled and her experiences of torture in communist china back in the 80’s. The graphic details would orient most to not only put down the book but to vomit from the brutality of inhumanness. But as I was reading I kept thinking about my own experiences which thankfully have been no where near the graphic horror of this book, but my own experiences that have opened my eyes to the reality of people and cultures. I can’t say I have any regrets in my life. I’ve made choices that have turned out poorly and I’ve made choices that have been huge successes. Where I thought I would be, rounding out my 26th year is not where I am, but at the same time, where I actually am I would not trade for the world. Or rather I would not give up the world. So while I thought I’d have my 2.5 kids, the picket fence and the large lab laying by my feet I have so much more than that and so much more time to achieve those goals. But for now I’m traveling the world, I’m experiencing life first hand. Not through the pages of a novel or on the big screen at a theater. I’m climbing mountains…I’m floating down the Nile….I’m eating Tapas in a Spanish café. As I was packing up my classroom I took down the large sign that covers my entire wall over my bullet board and directly under my clock. I think it sums up my philosophy in life and my reasoning behind each and every adventure I take, so here I am world…what do you have for me to see…for me to feel….for me to discover…"Because, Life is Bigger than the World You Live In!”  
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammyjo199/2/1240005180/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammyjo199/2/1240005180/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sammyjo199/2/1240005180/tpod.html Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:57:48 -0400 Summer 2009

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Chicago, Illinois, United States

sooooo....2 months from today.... June 17th 2009 I will be on a plan for Spain!!!YAY! I'm really excited to fulfill a lifelong dream of mine to travel to Spain and eat Tapas on a roadside Cafe, to visit the Colosseum's in Rome and eat Gelato from a street vender. And then of course to visit the Pyramids and trace the steps of Moses across the Red Sea and climb Mt. Sinai. WOW how exciting. So now the planning is underway and I'll update as soon as I have more details.As for Now I fly out in the afternoon of June 17th (Wednesday) so after a night of dancing that Tuesday I'll be headed to Europe and then the MiddleEast/Africa. YAY!I'll be in Spain/Italy till June 28th when I'll fly to Cairo and spend 15 days in Egypt before heading back to Spain spending one more day there and then coming home to Chicago on a Monday just in time for Tuesday dancing again.....I'm going to miss dancing but I guess I'll have to practice my salsa and tango for Spain!!!More details to follow!!!
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Chicago, Illinois, United States

Today I have finally decided to sit down and make some decisions about where to spend the summer. As much as I loved packing my bags and leaving for 9 weeks last summer it was an exhausting experience and I have decided to travel for only 23 days/3 weeks this summer. I will be spending time in Spain, Italy and Egypt. I am very excited for this trip. More information to come as I plan out the details. If you have any suggestions or comments let me know!
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