Posts in Travel
Do As I Say, Not As I Do: 5 Tips for Traveling Abroad
Do As I Say, Not As I Do: 5 Tips for Traveling Abroad

As a person with admittedly limited wisdom, I was initially shocked and delighted at the idea of my words being featured on any type of public medium. After all, I’m only 22 and survived a day and a half of Girl Scout camp, rendering me totally unwise. How many people, disregarding relatives and my therapist, could possibly care about my tales of adventure and woe? 

With that being said, That First Year has been my first experience with blog writing and after each completed post I continue asking myself if I’m saying anything that actually matters. Although my life got reasonably more exciting once I decided to spend the year before graduate school traveling, I didn’t know if it was fodder for blogging gold. While that gold part is debatable, I realized I have a lot to say. Not just about “figuring it all out,” but about some pretty big advice. Namely: what to do (or not do) when you decide to travel. From five months abroad, let me spell out my greatest learning lessons along the way. Traveling has been wildly fun and a little glamorous in the times when I haven’t been dining at a South American KFC, but if anything, my experiences are a constant serving of humble pie.    

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TravelKelsey WorshamFeatured, Archive 16Comment
A Winter Without Spring Break
A Winter Without Spring Break

The saddest I’ve felt since graduating is realizing I have no more set spring break. No more specifically set aside time to rush home from that last, ever-so-eternal-seeming class before freedom. No more frantic packing and driving all night to Florida and watching the sun come up over the Atlantic. If I wanted a spring break now, I would have to make it for myself, and that thought was daunting. How am I supposed to get through a spring breakless winter? Summer is too far off, too unreachable, so in the meantime, I’ve tried to do a few small things on my days off from work to beat back that winter idleness.

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Life, Travel, HealthAnna SpleanFeaturedComment
Just Trust It
Just Trust It

Coming home from a foreign country is a weird thing, man. You’re picked up by an airplane some 6,000 miles away, and by the time you wake up from a Nyquil coma everyone speaks your language and you can once again get a pumpkin spice latte off the Starbucks menu. Walking through customs at the Miami airport was akin to peeing in swimming pools as a child – comfortable, warm, a feeling of joy quite literally spreading around me. There were Christmas carols playing and decorated trees spotting the lobby, and hearing the words to “God Bless America” played over the loud speakers moved me to tears.

Home is a beautiful thing.

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Dreams, Travel, Life, RelationshipsKelsey WorshamFeaturedComment
Bloom Where You Are Planted
Bloom Where You Are Planted

While there were bumps in the road (like having the flu on day 2 or traveling 12 hours from Sheffield to Edinburgh and ending up on a bus because all northbound trains were canceled due to flooding) we really did have a great time and saw some breathtaking “once in a lifetime” sights.  

But this trip had a different taste. I’ve traveled before and never felt like I was far away from home. I’ve always wanted to keep exploring, keep traveling and just keep moving. The flight home is usually a sad one. Once I step on that plane it usually means back to reality and a routine. 

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Travel, Life, DreamsJuliette KibodeauxFeaturedComment
One Year Later: A Reflection
One Year Later: A Reflection

It’s been a year since That First Year was launched. 365 days. And in those 365 days, more than 30 people (33, to be exact!) have contributed 131 posts to this li’l blog; more than 30 people have willingly put figurative pen to figurative paper to write about just how messy and confusing, yet oh-so-beautiful that first year after college can be. We’ve had posts covering the gamut of topics: from life to love to friends to travel to dreams to some of our favorite things.

“These posts are getting too relatable now.”

Someone said this about a post recently and I wanted to give ‘em a big ‘ole hug through the computer because that’s exactly what I was hoping this blog would be: a place where people can relate to the stories this community has shared. 

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Travel, Style, Money, Life, Health, Graduation, Dreams, Career, RelationshipsAlly WillisFeaturedComment
On Homesickness and Other Matters of the Heart
On Homesickness and Other Matters of the Heart

Thanksgiving is so damn American. We annually celebrate our declaration of American-hood (Because what else says America!!! other than the Plymouth Plantation settlers saying, "Here we are, y’all.  Let’s eat some meat and pray"?) with one huge, gluttonous expression of thankfulness. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love America and I love this great American holiday. In years past I’ve often rolled my eyes at my parents shepherding my sister and me around the country to various relatives’ homes. Thanksgiving can mean forced conversation with distant aunts that ask what happened to your seventh grade boyfriend.  

However, being some 5,000 miles away from home can turn the thought of tryptophan comas on La-Z-Boy recliners into something much more idyllic.

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Travel, Life, RelationshipsKelsey WorshamFeaturedComment
Long Distance Lives: How to Maintain Relationships When You're Not with the People You Love
Long Distance Lives: How to Maintain Relationships When You're Not with the People You Love

I already moved five times this year and have lived in three different countries. Every time, you start from zero; you meet new people and try to make friends. I have to admit, I feel at home pretty fast. This time it took me a day (thanks to my amazing hosts). However, while building new friendships, you also have to take care of your loved ones at home. That is the hard part.

So here is what I do to maintain relationships with my friends and family back home.

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Travel, Life, RelationshipsViviane SchmidtComment
How to Travel on a Post-Grad Budget, Part 1
How to Travel on a Post-Grad Budget, Part 1

It is 180,000% possible to travel on a post-grad budget, and I will defend this statement in a manner that is borderline aggressive.

The world wasn’t meant to be admired from a stock desktop wallpaper; it was meant to be experienced. This is another statement that I will defend in a manner that is borderline aggressive.

But traveling isn’t always easy on entry-level wages. Here’s how to see the world without breaking the bank.

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TravelAlly WillisFeatured, ArchiveComment
Peace, Perfect Peace
Peace, Perfect Peace

"Peace is always beautiful."

I have that hanging on the wall in my bedroom, the quote from Walt Whitman printed across baked clay, a piece of art I found at a market my sophomore year during a somewhat rough period in my college career.

Peace has always been something I've craved but never quite known what exactly it was or how to find it, as though it's some mysterious ancient treasure that only a select few manage to unearth.

And I - the one with an anxious mind and penchant for meticulously thought-out life plans - clearly was not one of those select few.

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Life, TravelAlly WillisFeatured, ArchiveComment
50 First Dates
50 First Dates

At the risk of sounding like a bad Cosmo article, have you ever imagined residing in an exotic locale, lounging in a hammock while a tanned and buff Fabio (or Fabiana, whatever floats your boat) fans you with palm leaves? 

Blame it on growing up with such classics as The Lizzie McGuire Movie, but I presumed that if I ever lived abroad my romantic encounters would closely follow the previously mentioned fantasy.  Upon planning my year in Argentina (when I was not milling through government documents or googling “Why do you people not flush toilet paper in Buenos Aires?”) I was quick to jump to images of Fabio.  Absolutely none of this makes sense considering I am deeply shy and renowned for my lack of flirting prowess.  Just one glance from a suitor and I will break out in an itchy red rash.  I spent a greater part of my junior year wearing turtlenecks and scarves because I frequently saw the boy I liked on campus. 

However, this was before I moved to South America.  For those of you who have not traveled this far south of the equator, let me tell you one thing – prepare yourselves.  The men of Argentina (while I hate to generalize, this has been my experience so far) make Italians look shy.  They will pursue you, they will want to wine and dine you, and it will be bizarre though occasionally wonderful.  I’ve found that the strange experiences can be justified simply for that random, golden “perfect” date.  Here are some tips I’ve garnered from three months of rom com-worthy experiences, meeting less-than Fabio’s in the search for my true Fabio.

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Travel, Life, RelationshipsKelsey WorshamFeaturedComment
9-to-5ing
9-to-5ing

About a month ago, I got a job offer (miracle in itself that anyone would even consider me for any position…). And I reacted the way I normally would: I ran away.

Actually, the trip I was going on had already been long planned out, and it just so happened to fall on that very same weekend. Since my favorite activity is ignoring all responsibility, it couldn’t have been a more perfect time to go. I won’t get into how obsessed I am with traveling considering I feel like I do this in every post/somehow find a way to bring it up to total strangers I meet in the grocery store, but there is a certain clarity I find that I never knew how to find here, the way I toss and turn all night at home but sleep straight until morning when I’m anywhere else. To me, wanting to see and do so much and knowing there are boundaries to that is heartbreak. Maybe the biggest heartbreak I’ve ever known.

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Career, Dreams, Life, TravelAlyssa VottoFeatured, ArchiveComment
Travel Takeaways: 7 Things I Learned from My Backpacking Adventure
Travel Takeaways: 7 Things I Learned from My Backpacking Adventure

Are you considering venturing across the pond via plane, ship or self-made raft anytime soon? Have you scoured the Internet for advice, but found yourself drowning in a sea of “not all who wander are lost” BS? Do I sound worldly and knowledgeable yet? If you answered yes, no, or hell no to at least every single one of these questions, then keep on reading!

My goal here is to offer a realistic, yet fully exhilarating, reflection on the post-grad backpacking experience. Before we get started, I would like to emphasize that I am speaking from the viewpoint of someone who has traveled around the UK and Western Europe. This is not intended to be globally generalized advice. If you are looking to backpack in other corners of the world, take what I’m saying with a grain of salt because it may not be applicable. I am merely speaking on experiences individual to Lane Sasser.

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TravelLane SasserFeatured, ArchiveComment
I Think I'll Go to Boston
I Think I'll Go to Boston

"Why are you going to Boston?” asked the middle-aged couple sitting on the plane next to me, their Massachusetts accents heavy and bright smiles welcoming.

“Oh, no reason, really!” I answered.

One Direction. I had bought a $300 plane ticket to Boston to see One Direction.

Spending hundreds of dollars to see four British boys/angels may not have been the most financially-conscious decision, but these periodic weekend runaways are my attempts to put distance between myself and the maddening life questions that come along with young adulthood. Because as I wrote in a previous post, I’ve been having a bit of a tiff with my current life’s circumstances. I’ve been bitter against Nashville for reasons unfair to lay against such a fair and lovely city as this one. So I keep running away.

But I come back. I have no choice but to come back. I have responsibilities in Nashville, obligations that keep me tethered to her Tennessee moors. The anchor is heavy and it’s sunk deep in these city limits. For now, I must stay.

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Travel, LifeAlly WillisFeaturedComment
Go Someplace You've Never Been: 4 Ways to Take a Break
Go Someplace You've Never Been: 4 Ways to Take a Break

No matter how much you love your job, internship or grad school sometimes you just need a break right? Put simply, humans are not meant to work every single day of their lives, following the same routine and seeing the same sights without experiencing some adverse mental and physical side effects… i.e. Stress, anxiety, binge eating, increased alcohol consumption, insomnia, high blood pressure (all of these things sound awful and terrify the closeted hypochondriac inside of me). Granted I’m not a doctor nor have I taken a science class since senior year of high school but WebMD is such a handy tool for self-diagnosing. How can we combat this burnout from happening to ourselves?

Nerd fact: Burnout is an actual psychological stress syndrome that occurs as a response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors on the job that according to Gabrielle Karol is way too common in women under-30.

While vacations are wonderful, sometimes they aren’t always realistic to all of our dismay. However, we all owe it to ourselves to take a break and get away.

Here are some of the ways we can fulfill the Dalai Lama’s advice.

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Travel, Life, CareerAlyssa RichardsonComment