Hike to a Shipman Beach – Big Island hidden treasure

Shipman Beach, also known as Hā'ena Beach, is only about a 30 minute drive from Hilo. It’s one of the only white sand beaches on this side of the island. I was excited to learn that I didn’t need to make an hour and a half long trip to Kona side to find that type …

South Point, Hawaii – an adventure around the Big Island

This was a somewhat crudely drawn sketch I put into my journal to document the path of that summer day. Looking over the cliff of South Point, the sunlight always sparkles in an unforgettable way. In the heat of summer afternoons on the edge of the world for miles to come, light is transformed into …

Summer is the beginning

The years, for me, do not begin in January. They start over in the summer. In the heat; when things are reborn and new and living again. Summer is when we make our plans and take our trips. It is the blissful few months of watermelon rinds in the yard and the shimmer of sunscreen …

What to do in Oslo, Norway

I never imagined myself wandering the streets of Oslo, Norway, but it ended up being the place where I spent the longest amount of time during my travels over the summer. Initially, I was going to meet my friend Lisa there, but the timing of our arrivals was off by a single day (which is …

Freiburg for 24 hours

The train arrived at 17:47. Only a few hours earlier, I had decided to leave Switzerland and hop on a train to Germany, even though I had a flight out of Zurich the next night. My heart beat heavy stepping onto the train station platform in Freiburg, searching for a flash of golden hair. For …

Annecy is a fairytale

I arrived in Annecy, France on a sunny Friday morning in late July. The views from the train windows on the way there– speeding by turquoise colored lakes and open fields swaying with golden grass– had already left me in awe, but arriving in this town itself made me fall in love. During my time …