Not all who wander are lost...

On Europe: One of the things that just kills me is traveling internationally when you live in Europe. I'm an American, studying in the Netherlands and I have 1 passport stamp. 1. I’ve been to 8 countries in Europe and not one of them stamped my passport. That's just depressing. I grew up seeing luggage stickers and passport books full of colorful stamps from exotic destinations. Instead, I’ve got a utilitarian black stamp that says the date and Rekyavic, Iceland. Not exactly what I pictured for my European travels. I didn't even get one from the Netherlands and I lived there for a year! I thought it would be neat to showcase my residence card, but they make you give it back when you leave. Heck, even the DMV will punch a hole in your driver's license if you want to keep it. It's a sad point that while we still have borders and immigration yet we have removed the iconic stamps that show those crossings in a document we can keep, look back on, and help us t...

In 2004, I was able to participate in the Allendale (S.C.) Archaeological Dig . We learned flint knapping along with digging new pits and cleaning archaeological finds. My husband accompanied me on the week long dig which we ended with a weekend in Savannah, Georgia. Allendale, itself, doesn't have anything to do. We went out one night for dinner and got lost on the South Carolina/Georgia border. We drove through these huge trees on a one-lane road with no lights. At one point my husband put the x-files theme song on repeat and I about kicked him out of the car because it was so creepy in the dark with the fog creeping through the trees. We passed a general store/post station that had rocking chairs out front and a 3-legged dog that chased us down the street. Convinced we were irretrievably lost I turned around in a gated drive only to have a military guard yell at me to keep moving. Apparently we had crossed into an Army training zone. Oops. Signs might have helped with ...

After my day trip to Lille, France, I turned right around and went on a 4 day trip to Norway and Sweden. Short but sweet since I had classes starting up the following Tuesday. I left Amsterdam on a Thursday afternoon and arrived into Oslo Gardermoen (Airport) around 6pm due to delays at the airport. Inside the airport terminal after you leave baggage claim, turn right, that's the location for the trains. I took Flytoget for a ticket cost of 190 NOK and got into Central Station 20 minutes later and it let me transfer to the local bus for free. Anker Apartments is on the 30 bus line, 5 stops from central, so it was easy once I realized the bus was outside the central doors and not where all the signs pointing to the bus station lead. Those are only for specific buses like Flixbus. I stayed in an 8-bed dorm room at the Anker Apartments (1000 NOK for the 4 nights + 70 NOK for linens). Some good and bad...room was huge, included kitchen and bathroom and there is a Jo...