Vinaka vaka levu means thank you very much in Fijian. We arrived in Hawaii on Saturday evening after eight days on the island of Denarau in Fiji. They call Denarau an island but it is basically part of Viti Levu, which is the biggest of the Fijian islands. Getting to Fiji from New Zealand was […]
Author: alison
Aotearoa is the Māori name for New Zealand. It means the land of the long white cloud. I am definitely leaving part of my heart in New Zealand, especially the South Island. We have been in Christchurch for a little over two weeks and we leave for Fiji on Friday. Our time here has gone […]
Subtitle: Reconciling gratitude and guilt, and the decision to not move home for at least three more years, and maybe not even then. It is a tricky juxtaposition to have an incredible amount of gratitude for the life we are fortunate enough to live, while simultaneously feeling guilty about not being physically home, in Minnesota, […]
I know that it has only been a week since my last blog post and the time we spent in Tasmania (Tassie) needs its own little shoutout! My only wish is that we had more time. Tasmania was the perfect way to cap off our eight incredible weeks in Australia. I am SO glad we […]
It has been a busy couple weeks since we arrived in Melbourne and a lot has happened in the world. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the atrocities that are currently happening in Minnesota as they hit very close to home. The acts of violence that are being committed against the people living […]
I thought it would be good to begin my first post of the new year with some intention setting. My heart’s intention is to continue courageously in the direction of my dreams! I feel like the following three images help to sum up those intentions. The rest of our time in Sydney was a glorious […]
Before we arrived in Sydney on the 13th our Air BnB host kept on mentioning how much he hoped we enjoyed “Oz” in his messages. I had to do a little research because I hadn’t ever heard that reference before. I initially asked if Sydney was called Oz because that is where we were going, […]
It has been a little over a week since we have been in Brisbane and it is absolutely lovely. Our last week before we left Seoul when I was chatting with friends and family we were making lots of jokes about how I was going to be when I could finally communicate with the locals […]
The reason for the title of this chapter “Seoul, my soul” is that it is the tagline for the city of Seoul. “It signifies a city centered on its citizens, where their collective emotions and experiences create a better, more vibrant Seoul. The slogan also cleverly uses the similar pronunciation of “Seoul” and “soul” to […]
Ever since we’ve been in Japan I keep thinking of the line from the play Rent that goes, “today for you, tomorrow for me.” I’ve gotten a little better with the time change and it still takes some brain power to calculate. When I’m making plans to chat with someone in the States I’m always […]