Hiking is a great outdoor adventure – you can explore nature to your heart’s content, travel to new places, and challenge your body and mind. But it isn’t easy – you need to be prepared in a variety of ways, as well as be aware of your environment at all times. There can be too many accidents.

We've all been there - embarrassed by crazy tourists (or feeling out of place ourselves). One of the most respectful things you can do when you travel is to try to blend in and act culturally appropriate.

Music is a fine companion for good times and hard times. Friends are good and necessary companions for these sorts of times, too.

Listen as musicians explore varied aspects of friendship through tough times and happy moments and through lasting years.

Thanks for checking out the next blog in my series on traveling outside of London during your time abroad! If you didn’t get a chance to start at the beginning, make sure you read my first post here.

Half the joy of vacation is who you spend it with. Nothing makes a vacation more enjoyable than spending it with people you love (besides having copious amounts of money to spend). 

How do you feel when you hear the word camp? Does your heart jump with excitement to whip out that already packed box that sits at the ready in the garage? Do you happily revisit the superb learning experience that went along with your summer camp experience? Are you happy to go, but would rather head to those permanent sites where you can cook up your own meal on a clean barbecue and lay your head in a pre-prepared cabin? Or is the idea of camping not at all your thing?

The peaceful Central American town of Antigua, Guatemala, sits beneath dormant volcanoes that overlook quaint cobblestone streets, historical Colonial churches, and brightly decorated shops. Leafy Parque Central, abundant with manicured trees and the ever present Spanish fountain, occupies the very heart of the city. With its tranquil and calming ambience, it is the ideal hamlet for Guatemalans and tourists to sit and enjoy the highlights of Antigua. 

Do you know the right way to eat chocolate?
 
Real chocolate, not the overly waxy variety that’s common in grocery store aisles and tends to have a saccharine aftertaste.
 
I didn’t.
 
Despite years of thinking of myself as a chocolate connoisseur and doing my best to have a daily serving (or two!) of chocolate, I’d never gone to a chocolate tasting, where the intricacies of the flavor and the importance of the purity of the beans were explained in detail.
 

Firstly, here is a haiku about packing:

No no no no no
No no no no no no no
No no no no no

This haiku conveniently translates into French by replacing every "no" with "non"

Every time I remember my time abroad in Chile, I find that I am discovering new things that I learned from my time abroad. Without further ado, here are my hard-earned facts about packing:

Studying abroad in London was a life-changing experience, but it also gave me the opportunity to see more than just London. It is really easy to take a day trip or weekend trip out of the city. Luckily, my program provider, Academic Programs International, included several weekend and day trips. There are still manyplaces I wished I would have had time to check out, but it was a great experience!