On October 12th, 2016, I got onto a plane in Minneapolis and moved to England. It was the culmination of a dream I’ve had for what seems like forever, and it was the chance to finally get to live legally in the same country as the person I love. EDIT: This is now one of… Read More 15 Harsh Truths About Living In England
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” -Mark Twain Last year, I booked a short 3-day trip to New… Read More New York City: My Trip Of Dreams
It’s been nearly a year since I moved to England. What a year it’s been! But those who know me will know that I’ve already lived in England before, for a year during my study abroad in Nottingham. Somehow, I happened to pick two cities that couldn’t be more different if they tried. So in… Read More A Tale of Two Cities: Nottingham vs. York
This month has definitely been a weird one. For the most part, I’ve been in York. Hanging out, working, job hunting, you name it. To be totally honest, I haven’t had much extra cash to justify many trips anywhere. And as much as I promote budget travel here on the blog, the reality is that… Read More September 2017 Recap
I can barely believe that it’s that time already… but today I’ve been blogging for 18 months! A whole year and a half since I started Away With Maja and invited you all to follow along with my adventures around the world. I can barely remember what my life was like before blogging. I can… Read More 18 Months Of Blogging!
July has been one of my busiest travel months almost since starting the blog! This month has flown by and, as this post is going live, I can’t believe that I have a little over a week left of this trip. It has been an absolute whirlwind and an adventure I’ll never forget! Where I… Read More July 2017 Recap
Personal post time. Three years ago, I visited Russia for the first time. It was the trip of dreams: two weeks solo in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Russia was my greatest dream. I’ve loved Russian history since I was a kid (thanks in part to the animated Anastasia movie), and as I’ve grown up I’ve… Read More On Returning To Russia
Well, it’s déjà vu all over again. Last week I gave my notice at work. I’m officially leaving my job to travel. Again. I’m excited, scared, nervous, ecstatic, and everything in-between! Last year, I left both my jobs (quitting one and taking a leave of absence from the other) to travel for three whole months.… Read More Why I’m Leaving My Job to Travel (Again)
Today is a big day: one year ago today, I bought my website domain name and hosting, and Away With Maja was created! My one-year “blog-a-versary” has crept up much faster than I thought it would, and I still can’t believe how far I’ve come on this journey. I have learned so much since I… Read More My One-Year Blog-A-Versary!
Another annual round-up post! I recently wrote a post about my top experiences of 2016. To contrast with that post, I wanted to write about the best places that I visited in 2016—not the coolest experiences, but the places that I went and loved, and recommend visiting to others. I have seen some incredible places… Read More The Best Places I Visited In 2016
2016 has been a huge year for me. Looking back on it, I think 2016 is always going to be the year that I prioritized travel, got married, and moved to England. Big life events! It was monumental and huge in the scheme of my life for so many reasons. Looking back on the year,… Read More My Top 20 Experiences Of 2016
I’ve spent the last 10 weeks starting a life in another country. It hasn’t always been easy, but the last two and a half months have been amazing a million ways over. This week has been really busy, finishing up work for the holidays and preparing for my first big trip in months! This is… Read More Living In England: Week 10
Happy Friday! This week has flown by, with a busy weekend and busy days at work. All of York seems to be gearing up for the holidays, and I’ve been finishing off plans and making new plans for after Christmas. Here’s what I’ve gotten up to this week! PAYDAY What is the British pound equivalent… Read More Living In England: Week 9
Yesterday I passed the 8-week mark: I’ve officially been living in England for two months! Sometimes I still can’t believe that this is my life now, and that I’m finally living here. I’m still making the adjustment to a full-time job and settling into routines. This is what I’ve been up to this week! I… Read More Living In England: Week 8
Has it really been 7 weeks?! I feel like I moved to England literally yesterday, time has been going so fast. And I know that time will absolutely fly between now and when I leave for my Christmas trip. Here’s what I’ve been thinking about this week! My life actually feels real here Between last… Read More Living In England: Week 7
As an American living abroad in England, there are lots of things here that are different for me: tea, a monarchy, warm beer, not refrigerating eggs, all stores closing early on Sundays, saying “cheers” to everything as a catch-all phrase, consistent and steady rain. But this week I experienced one of the most unknown, unrecognizable,… Read More An American’s Experience With Nationalized Healthcare
This week more than any others, I feel like things are finally getting organized, and I’m actually settling in to life here in England. It’s been a fairly busy past few days, so here’s what I’ve been up to this week! Last weekend in the Peak District was amazing In case you don’t follow along… Read More Living In England: Week 6
Welcome back to the weekly series! This has been a pretty quiet week travel-wise, but I’ve finally gotten around to publishing lots of blog posts that have been on the back burner for a while. And I stepped up my job hunting, so to be honest a whole lot of this week has been spent… Read More Living In England: Week 5
What a week this has been. I feel like I’m living in an entire different world from last week’s post. I’m emotionally exhausted from the horrible past few days, but I want to keep this weekly series going so here we go. This is what I’ve been up to and what I’ve been thinking over… Read More Living In England: Week 4
Another Friday, another weekly update on life across the pond! This week has been fairly quiet (at least travel wise), as I’m still settling in. Here’s what I’ve been up to this week: Still waiting for a bank account… I almost can’t even talk about this anymore, the process has been so frustrating. But it… Read More Living In England: Week 3