TravelStream™ news feed for member stephiesteph on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/stephiesteph en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:14:42 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/6/1258729977/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/6/1258729977/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/6/1258729977/tpod.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:14:42 -0500 Road Trip Nation

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Arequipa, Peru

Been in Peru for 3 weeks. Went to Colca Canyon, 3 day trek. Went Inca Jungle 4 day trek to Michu Pichu.Home in 4 days for Turkey and giving Thanks!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/6/1224642120/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/6/1224642120/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/6/1224642120/tpod.html Tue, 21 Oct 2008 22:40:27 -0400 Road Trip Nation

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Geneseo, New York, United States

I met Road Trip Nation yesterday at SUNY Geneseo's campus. I found out about the company just 2 days prior. It was love at first sight. I am instinctively and entirely taken with this idea. While I've had 2 papers and a midterm to be working on.. it's all I can think about. Where I want to go. Who I want to interview. I just can not wait to start. I'm ready to get back on the open road. I'm ready to ask my questions. I started doing this when I was 15. On the LIRR, I asked the people around me what their advice was for a soon to be high school graduate. One said work hard and play later, one said play hard and work later. I think they were both flattered to be asked. I think it was good advice on both accounts. My housemate Casey's boyfriend has a second interview with Apple. We're figuring out our lives! Its exciting. =)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/5/1211314800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/5/1211314800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/5/1211314800/tpod.html Tue, 20 May 2008 16:38:22 -0400 Montpellier Spring 2008

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Montpellier, France

So its my last night in Montpellier. After all the craziness of the past 48 hours (flight cancelations, train strikes announced, hotels booked and new tickets purchased or changed... ) its all "ca va" , its all okay. I leave Montpellier tomorrow for Charles DeGualle and I'll spend the night at an airport hotel and leave the next morning .. to catch my 2:30 flight! I'll arrive in Newark at 4:30, and hopefully be back in my warm comfy bed by 6PM NY time, which will feel like midnight my time. Now that I've got HOW I'm getting home all sorted out, I can finally stop and think about how I FEEL about it. Its still not really real to me. It hasnt sunk in. I've been away for 251 days and nights. Its been 8 and a half months. I'm just.. mixed. My host dad says its "toujours comme ca." Its always like that. Still, I feel like I should be swayed - should be feeling something. I've just been concentrating on what needs to get done. I didnt really say big goodbyes to anyone. Nothing is making it feel concrete. I'm nervous about how I'll feel being home -- when will it sink in that this year is over? I'm ready to go home though. Ready for the comfort of the familar. But what if the familiar isnt familiar anymore? Has it changed? I've changed. I'm sure it will be both familiar and different. And, as it should be. I think I will be both familiar and different. I hope so. I feel sort of sleep deprived and blabbering. I'm anxious about just GETTING there. We had a gorgeous last dinner with my host family. And of course, I will tell you about the food. I think my favorite was the salad - lettuce, ham (jardons), AND boursin cheese!  We had salmon, potatoes and tomatoes, which were all covered in spices and herbs and exploding with flavor. Then we had an almond-honey tart cake, with the worlds most incredible strawberries on the side for dessert. I wish I could insert a scratch and sniff here for our kitchen. Or send this food to you. And, of course, we had bagettte and cheese. Mmm. Besides packing and figuring out how I'm getting home - I've been doing some around town things and finishing up school here. And the loveley Casey Rampe is visiting. She Mary and I went to the beach the other day and I thought I'd share those photos with you.Hope all is well wherever you are tonight. I cant wait to see you all - SO SOON!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/5/1211182080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/5/1211182080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/5/1211182080/tpod.html Mon, 19 May 2008 03:29:21 -0400 Montpellier Spring 2008

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Montpellier, France

je vien d'apprendre que jeudi, le jour de mon depart, le jour J - il est un grève prevue de SNCF (le train). c'est pas posssibleeeeee.j'ai deja trop d'en penser. mes valises (et leur poids.. ) , mes examens, mes amis qui partiront.. aie.il faut qu'il aie un train. n'est pas? ailleurs, comment allais-je jusque l'aeroport CDG?mon final examen final sera fini a 11h45. apres, je vais aller au gare pour demander qu'est ce que je ferrais.que sera, sera.tout sera bon..
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/5/1210795440/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/5/1210795440/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/5/1210795440/tpod.html Wed, 14 May 2008 16:53:50 -0400 Montpellier Spring 2008

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Montpellier, France

So I woke up this morning and thought --- in one week, I'll be leaving. 24 hours from now, I'll be on a train to a flight to home. Turns out, I was almost right. A few minutes later I got the email that my flight had been cancelled, and I could take a flight the next day. So I'll be staying another 24 hours. After 9 months.. another day wont hurt. Especially when I've got to pack all this up. And my friend Casey is coming (she gets here tomorrow!) to visit me and Mary, so now I'll have another day with those two before we all split up for summer. (And it wont be long before we're moving in together at Geneseo!) I had an oral test on Tuesday, and I have my "Culture et Patromoine" final tomorrow. Then I've got a big day of testing (6 hours!) Saturday, and a little test Monday and .. c'est fini. And I leave Thursday. A week from tomorrow. (Assuming nothing else changes of course.) Today we had a goodbye get together with the group from IML. It was nice to have all the SUNY kids together again. We haven't all been at IML together since probably the very first few days.. so it was nice to get back to the same place and reflect on whats happened between then and now. I read a quote awhile back that I wish I could find again. Something to the effect --&nbsp; you have to go back to someplace you used to be, in order to measure how you've changed. Well that will&nbsp; really be true in about a week. Back to where I used to be, to see how I've changed. To see what's changed. The house got new phones. What else will be different? Stores closed or opened, buildings built.. friends and family all a year older and perhaps wiser. What will they see that has changed in me? We've all got another year behind us now.. a years worth of expirences to catch up on. I'm looking forward to it. The more places I go, the more people I meet. I never sit still for long. My friends are scattered across the globe now. Four years ago, my whole life was, more or less, on Long Island. Facebook tells me I have 890 friends.&nbsp; That sounds a little crazy. I cant imagine I actually keep in touch with 890 people. But those are people, I - at some point knew. It makes you wonder. ------"We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love.&nbsp; It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person."&nbsp; -W. Somerset MaughamHuman beings are the only creatures on earth that allow their children to come back home. - Bill Cosby<i>
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/5/1210021560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/5/1210021560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/5/1210021560/tpod.html Sun, 11 May 2008 14:59:42 -0400 Montpellier Spring 2008

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Montpellier, Languedoc-Roussillon, France

torture. i just wrote out a really long semi-poetic entry. and then went to delete a typo, hit backspace, and lost it all. i'll try again. but the rain is slowing now. and i'm not sure i'll capture it quite the same. shoot.it was raining. its pitter pattering now. big juicy fat drops of summer rain. the drenching kind. i've always loved the rain - did you know? i was reminded of an essay that mightve been part of my high school english regents, or at least it was one of our practice essays. it was&nbsp; called "excavating rachael's room" by Robert James Walker. Its about cleaning out his daughter's room after she's moved out. you can find it online in the archives. ( look for june 2004. session 2. test. )I'll include some of the last two paragraphs, and try to explain why i was reminded of it. "And I know I'll sit on the porch as autum comes this year and other years, in some old sweater and some old dreams, and wonder where she goes and how she goes. I hope she goes where there's laughter and romance, and walks the streets of Bombay and leans out of Paris windows to touch the falling January snow and swims in the seas off Bora Bora and makes love in Bangkok in the Montien Hotel... " it moved me then and it still really moves me now. back then, i wanted to be that. wondering the streets of bombay.. leaning out paris windows.. I havent been to Bombay yet, but i went to Morocco (and a few other places). And it wasnt paris but it was France, and it certainly wasnt snow - but montpelliean rain is exactly the way I wanted it.&nbsp; I've just leaned out of french windows to catch the falling rain. I'm realizing what I wanted then, and where I am now. I dont know where i'll be in a year or two years, what i'm doing or going to do with my french major. I do&nbsp; have a (backup) plan,but i'm still waiting for life to hit me with a better idea. For tonight i have morocan sand on my shoes, spanish maps in my closet, and french rain still drying in my hair. And for tonight, thats enough. It got me thinking about my room in oyster bay and my life there, back then. As i move farther and farther away from that.. i've called alot of places home now. geneseo, swansea, france. and a few places inbetween.Even when i go back this summer, my life there isnt the same. i'm not the same. i'm changed. i've changed. its not a bad thing, its been mostly a concious thing. a slow process of piecing together the me-i-mean-to-be. And who knows when or if it will be the last time I live there. My life is changing. "Always behave like a duck. Calm and collected on the surface, but paddle like the devil underneath." I heard this somewhere and I think this is the way I've mostly been. this isnt really how i wrote it the first time. i'd be lying if i said i wasnt really disapointed i'd lost it. when i wrote it there were rain drops still on my hands, on the keyboard, on my hair and shirt. the thunder was powerful and reminding me how strong nature can be, and how important it is to be humble. it sounds phony coming out now.. i'm not sure i can write quite the same way when i'm not in the heat of it all. i'm trying to recall now - not capture. and i think the best writing is captured, not recalled.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/5/1210527000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/5/1210527000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/5/1210527000/tpod.html Sun, 11 May 2008 14:45:59 -0400 Montpellier Spring 2008

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Montpellier, France

So there are 10 days left until I partir for the US. My thoughts are mixed in mots Anglais et Francais. Seulement les gens qui peuvent comprende le deux peuvent me comprendre maintenant. J'ai vu le film "L'Augberge Espagnole" encore. J'aime bien ce film. "Tout à commencer là, quand mon avion a décollé. Non, non, oh la la,c'est pas une histoire d'avion qui décolle, c'est pas une histoire dedécollage, comment dire... Après tout si, c'est un histoire dedécollage. Tout a commencé là..."Un histoire de decollage. Oui. --So what I've been doing these last few days. Enjoying the sunshine. Being amazed at the strength of the sun here, and how dark my skin has gotten so quickly. Going for walks with my host family. Visiting the beach. Sortiring un peu. Hanging out with Mary. Picnicing in vineyards. Taking photos. Making brunch. Its best to just show you. Voila les photos. =)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/5/1209390720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/5/1209390720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/5/1209390720/tpod.html Thu, 01 May 2008 14:21:41 -0400 Montpellier Spring 2008

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Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom

When I left Swansea, I told my friends who were staying for the year, and my friends who live there -I'd be back to visit. I wasnt sure how much time I'd spend there, but when it came to spring break, I needed a little rest from the french language and a place to go that was familiar to me. It was nice seeing the old familiar faces, playing with the frisbee team as they prepared for a big match against Cardiff, good to brush up on my British vocbulary and nice to meet the new americans living there now too. I was there for a week, and the last 3 days Mary Linda and Dana came out after being in London so I could show them around the place.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/5/1209392940/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/5/1209392940/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/5/1209392940/tpod.html Mon, 28 Apr 2008 10:36:25 -0400 Montpellier Spring 2008

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Cork, County Cork, Ireland

We arrived in Cork on Thursday, wiped after a day of travel. Sat down to a nice meal and went back to the hostel to crash. Friday we went to kiss the Blarney stone at Blarney castel and came back to cook dinner at the hostel. We met up briefly with Dana's friend in Cork that night and then early the next morning Dana left for London and Mary, Linda and I hopped on a bus to Dublin. We had a few hours there and then went to the airport. We spent the night at the airport to be up for check in at 4AM. Flew home the next day to Carcassone and caught a train to Montpellier. I got back around 2PM yesterday. I loved Ireland's scenery. I fell in love with it stepping off the plane from London, and continued to do so as we drove to Blarney and Cork. It's so green and big and rolling and.. completely uncapturable shooting from a bus window. I got a nice picture of a cow though. I want to go back to Ireland someday, to the countryside more so than Dublin. Cork was a nice size. I didnt really have enough time to give Dublin a chance, so I should probably visit it again if I was there.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/5/1207907580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/5/1207907580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/stephiesteph/5/1207907580/tpod.html Mon, 28 Apr 2008 06:05:52 -0400 Montpellier Spring 2008

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Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Amsterdam was the perfect start to our trip. We had 5 days, so enough time to see everything we'd wanted to - with room for naps. Linda and I stayed with Rapheal who we found on couch surfers. It was a great expirence and I'll probably do it again (couch surfing.) So we stayed for free and had a local as a host. Our first night he cooked for us too. The 2nd night, we cooked for him. (I'm realizing these days how hard it is to make a traditional American meal for people here.. there's a reason its traditional I think.. you cant find the ingredients here. And esp not on a tight budget.) We saw the Van Gogh muesuem and I visited the Anne Frank house. One night we took a quick stroll through the red light district the city is known for. I hear changes will be coming to Amsterdam soon, many coffeeshops and "windows" (?) of the red light district are being closed as stricter laws begin in&nbsp; June. We took a free walking tour, and I liked something our tour guide said. A few decades ago, when most of the world was cracking down hard on the newly popular recreational marjuna use, Holland realized a whole lot of people expiremented with it - but then dropped it on their own accord later. And it seems to me -- whats the point of putting a whole lot of people in jail.. if they were just going to grow out of it on their own in a few years anyways? So marijuna in Amsterdam is still illegal, but its decriminalized. Basically, you're not supposed to do it, but you cant get arrested for it. But this might be changing in the near future. Another thing I liked about Amsterdam was the chance to cook for myself again. Me and Linda made eggs and cheese and ham every morning, PB&amp;J sandwiches while we walked around, and usually grabbed something small at night. ( I did finally crack and eat at McDonalds in Europe though -- it was a 35 cent ice cream cone, I just couldnt pass up. )Okay, so next I went to Swansea and Ireland.
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