By day two of my volunteering stint at Help Refugees, I got into a good rhythm. I woke up at 8:00 AM every morning, had a healthy breakfast at the hotel, then took the bus to the warehouse. My Observations of the Calais Jungle Calais Diaries: Day 1 at the Help Refugees Warehouse Lost in … Read more
On my first day at the Help Refugees warehouse, I heard a great deal of chatter about Jungle Books. “Are you going to Jungle Books later?” practically every person I spoke to asked. Jungle Books served several noteworthy functions in the Calais Jungle. They operated a school for adults, where English and French were taught; an elementary … Read more
Calais is a small town in Northern France that lies along the English Channel, an hour from London via Eurostar. The town houses the Calais Jungle refugee camp, home to over 9,000 refugees mostly from Afghanistan, Sudan, Syria, and Eritrea. Only a handful of organizations have been at the forefront of providing housing and aid to over 9,000 refugees. … Read more
Back in July, I spent a week volunteering with UK-based organization Help Refugees in Calais, France. Help Refugees has a large warehouse in Calais, where they sort and distribute food, clothing, and shelter for 9,000+ refugees. The refugees use the Calais Jungle camp as a stopover on their way to the UK. Many of them are fleeing … Read more
I recently came across a HARO inquiry from a dubiously named publication focused on air travel. It was from a blogger writing about “the struggles of air travel for female travelers” and read as follows: Looking for stories about the struggles of air travel for female travelers (not feeling clean or fresh, not looking your best, … Read more
About a month ago, I booked a spontaneous trip to volunteer with two organizations helping refugees in Greece and France. The route outlined in the title is the same one thousands of refugees take every year to a safer place. I’m lucky, like every American passport holder: I got to travel this exact route safely, comfortably, … Read more
Sorry, no big-budget giveaways here. But you can take a virtual vacation with me as I head off to Asia this week! This is a family trip I’ve been planning for a while. I probably won’t ever book a trip seven months in advance again because the anticipation has been sheer torture. We’re just a few days … Read more
After a whirlwind three days of meeting uncles and cousins for the first time, we ventured outside of the Rouse Hill suburb and to Darling Harbour for the Christmas Eve fireworks show. There are several fireworks displays in the city, but this one is more family friendly. You would think people would be at home … Read more
From career changes to travel, 2013 has been good to me. The points and miles game made it possible for me to not only travel to great places and make wonderful memories, but it landed me a great new job and the flexibility to travel more. I hope it has been an equally fantastic year … Read more
Update: According to Elan Gale, this whole thing was a hoax. All weekend long this story has been popping up on my Facebook and Twitter feeds, with people commenting how “hilarious” the story is. I have a healthy sense of humor, but I beg to differ. Some woman named Diane was throwing a tantrum over her … Read more