"It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end." ~ Ernest Hemingway There are millions of reasons to travel but I find one of the most cliché reasons to be the best: to learn more about YOU. This article may sound cheesy in an “Eat Pray Love” sort of way, but this is my honest advice looking back on my time abroad. You will spend the rest of your life reflecting ...

If you're a student in Florence, you've probably realized by now that 1) dryers are a sublime luxury Americans take for granted and 2) laundromats are confusing and expensive. In my case, I can't have the oven on at the same time the washing machine is running; the fuse box blows. Florence has been warm enough to dry clothes in a fashionable time, no pun intended, albeit the crunchy towel, sandpaper side ef ...

You know Italian or you're learning, but you probably have yet to master, what I call, the funny stuff: the vulgar and offensive phrases you only learn from the locals. You don't want to necessarily use them, unless it's to make your Italian friends/enemies laugh, as coming from a foreigner's mouth they're more hilarious than offensive. But, if you will be spending time in Italy, you should at least know wh ...