Learning to Fly

JackiHiggins

Learning to Fly

I'm a student studying Strategic (Corporate) Communications and International Studies. I am studying and interning in the United Kingdom for Spring 2011 and will be traveling throughout Europe for those 4 months. I enjoy people watching and studying other cultures. It's interesting to walk around and observe different cultures, different people, different ways of life. There are so many interesting things about the world, and the only way you will discover them is to be open and unafraid.

A traveler without observation is a bird without wings.– Moslih Eddin Saadi






South America » Peru » Ica » Huacachina January 22nd 2012

Huacachina is a very small village (you can't really call it a town) about five minutes outside of Ica, south of Peru along the coastline. We took a 12 hour nightbus from Arequipa to Ica. If you are going on a long, overnight trip through Peru, I recommend Cruz del Sur. However, bring a pair of noise cancelling headphones if you want to sleep fairly early on the bus because they will have a movie and/or music blasting for a good two to three hours. It was very annoying. But, we made it to Ica in good time. The bus wasn't overly uncomfortable, though being tall worked against me. It was difficult to find the comfortable position, but I think I did get a few hours of sleep. From Ica, we took a taxi to Huacachina ... read more
Bananas Hostel
Sand Dunes
Friend Frustration

South America » Peru » Arequipa » Arequipa January 21st 2012

We have probably spent close to a week in Arequipa, with a short three day jaunt into Colca Canyon, one of the deepest canyons in the world. It has been an extremely interesting time in Arequipa. It took us about 7 hours on a bus to get from Puno to Arequipa. Warning, though the front of the second floor of the bus is awesome when it comes to views, it is burning hot with the sun. However, we arrived easily enough to Wild Rovers, the hostel chain that we stayed at in Cusco and now in Arequipa, though the taxi ride from the bus station to the hostel was terrifying. Signs, speed limits and lines on the road are just guidelines. The atmosphere here is always a great one! With a pool, bar, Irish themed restaurant ... read more
Mount Misti
Colca Canyon
Village in the canyon

South America » Peru » Puno » Puno January 13th 2012

After a ten-ish hour bus ride, we finally made it to Puño. For some reason, buses do not like Becca and I. Let me explain, our bus was supposed to leave from the main bus station in Cusco at 8 a.m. We were going on San Luis, which according to Lonely Planet, is a fairly good bus company. Well, we got to the station at 7:30ish, and went to wait for the bus to arrive. As it got closer to 8, we walked up and down looking for our bus. Though I liked Cusco, I was a little anxious to get onto the next part of our journey. However, the Peruvian way is, and I mean no offense, but usually a little behind schedule. Eight came and went...and no bus. We finally went and found the ... read more
Yavari Ship
Chullpas
Llama Island

South America » Peru » Cusco » Cusco January 10th 2012

We have spent about 4 total days exploring Cusco, the ancient capitol of the Inca Empire. Cusco was the direct center of the empire, and therefore the world. It is about 3,400 m or 11,200 ft above sea level. Altitude sickness can be a big problem here, but luckily neither Becca nor I have had a problem! We got to Cusco on January 5th, left for Machu Picchu the next day, and have been back in Cusco since the night of the 7th. We explored churches, museums, random alleyways and possibly everything in between. I will admit, after spending so much on Machu Picchu, the idea of spending money right now is not that appealing to me! So we are mostly sticking with the free stuff, which is still pretty cool and means we wonder around ... read more
Plaza de Armas
Viva el Peru
Qoricancha

South America » Peru » Cusco » Machu Picchu January 7th 2012

At least a full day is need to truly experience Machu Picchu. As one of those places that people talk about with such awe in their voices, it can be hard to really believe them. There are only a few places in the world that could possibly inspire such awe by so many different people. Machu Picchu is easily one of them. I whole-heartedly believe it. After spending the morning of the sixth walking around Cusco (which will be another blog post about what we did and saw in Cusco), our taxi to where we were going to get our combi (ie bus) to Ollantaytambo arrived. It took us about two hours to get to Ollantaytambo, driving through the Andes mountains. It was breathtaking, but also heart-wrenching as you look at the towns and homes you ... read more
clouds
Adventurers!
Face of Machu Picchu

South America » Peru » Lima » Lima » Miraflores January 5th 2012

We (Becca Berube) and I arrived into Lima, Peru around midnight on the 3rd. We got lucky and were able to catch the two flights that we needed from RDU to MIA and MIA to Lima. Going standby was a great success, especially since we got first class on the flight to Lima, though the plane was delayed by an hour and a half. I was worried that they would cancel the flight and everyone would move to the next flights, making us have to spend the night in Miami, but luckily that wasn't the case. Once we knew we would have a seat on the flight, Becca used her gmail account to call some hostels in Lima to put in a reservation for the night and to see if they knew an estimate for the ... read more
Nativity
The fountain park
Arcs of water

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Greater London » Wembley April 5th 2011

It's that time of the week. I am, once again, sitting in Starbucks writing my weekly blog post for you lovely people! So, this week was kind of rough. After spending the week before traveling all over Europe, it was difficult to make myself 'settle down.' Though I will admit that it was very nice and refreshing to be 'home.' Though spring break was amazing, it feels good to have a routine again and have a fixed plan for mostly every day. My internship was fine this past week. I'm having more people come to me with stuff to do, so I appreciate that, but I still haven't figured out my 'project' that I am going to do. Our internship coordinator suggested we try to find something that we can improve in the company to make ... read more
Dougie Poytner
Tom Fletcher
Transylvania

Europe » France » Paris March 27th 2011

Here are some of the pictures that I took at the different places throughout spring break! A short recap: Thessaloniki, Greece; Athens, Greece; Milan, Italy (but no pictures); Geneva, Switzerland; Lyon, France; Paris, France ... read more
White Tower
Ancient City Wall
View of Athens

Europe » France » Rhône-Alpes » Lyon March 26th 2011

Bonjour! I have just spent the last 2-ish days in Lyon, France visiting some great friends and am currently in Paris! Emilie and Laura were exchange students at Elon last spring (2010). We lived together for the semester, and I like to think, became really good friends! I jumped at the chance to be able to meet up with them in their school/home in Lyon, France. So, to start telling of my French adventure. I had planned to arrive in Lyon by 11:30/12:00, but like all good French trains, they decided to work on the lines from Geneva to Lyon, so there were no trains that morning. Fred and I had rushed to the station to try to catch the 9:30 train, but we were told that there was not one. Instead, I got on an ... read more

Europe » Switzerland » South-West » Geneva March 23rd 2011

I'm finally in Geneva! I can't believe that spring break 2011 is halfway done. I had no problem getting to the train and on my train this morning. It helped that I did a dry run to the station last night and already had my ticket. I had planned to leave the hostel at 7:30, but ended up leaving at 7:00. Mainly, one of the girls that I was rooming with snores like a lumberjack and at 6am I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. The joys of time differences...even if it's just an hour. The train ride (8:28-12:18) up to Geneva was beautiful! It didn't even click that I was going through the Alps until I was looking at one of the snow capped mountains. I was just chillin' on a train, riding ... read more




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