There's No Place Like Oz

Finding an apartment for me and the HTB: Charlottesville vs London

When Gavin and I began talking about marriage, we found ourselves planning the first few years together in the USA from the start. I had recently returned to the US from living in Australia for a year and wanted to be home for a while. Gavin had thought about living overseas before and welcomed an […]

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Busy summer in London: The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics

This summer is going to be a particularly busy one in London! In addition to the typical tourist crowd during the summer holidays, the city just celebrated the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and soon thousands of people will fill the city streets for the summer Olympics. While it’s an exciting summer in London, I wonder how […]

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Saving for travel while planning a wedding

Today my “Aussie dad” sent me a Twitter direct message saying, “Happy Anniversary! 2 years ago today?” For a brief moment I was puzzled, and then I realized it has been exactly two years to the day since my plane touched down in Australia after a 24 hour flight + layover from home. How did […]

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Giving Thanks on Travel Days

Last week, just before Thanksgiving, I shared some of the reasons I am thankful for 2011 — it’s been a wonderful, challenging, life-changing year. Over the holiday, a friend from London crossed the pond for a visit, and my family introduced Shel to her first Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and American football and basketball games. As […]

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Giving Thanks for 2011

One year ago I was celebrating my sixth month in Australia and everything I was thankful for during my time in Oz. With Thanksgiving only a few days away, I wanted to write about the things I am grateful for in 2011. I kicked off 2011 by welcoming the new year in Sydney at Harbour […]

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Making a list, checking it twice

Recently I packed more for a 1-week trip to London and for 1 week at the beach than I did to start my year-long adventure in Australia. How is this possible?! 1) On shorter trips, I tend to pack more “just in case” items and articles of clothing. Perhaps on longer trips I know I […]

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No Umbrella at the Footy!

My dad raised me to love sports. As soon as I could hold a plastic bat in my hand, he was pitching a plastic ball to me. When he thought I was old enough to appreciate going to a game, I went to my first college basketball and football games. I love watching sports (on […]

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