Elizabeth Steinert
Something More
Elizabeth Steinert
I just finished my PhD in Immunology at the University of Minnesota. During the past 5 years I didn't travel as I had in the previous years. I was on a different explorative journey, at the lab bench. It was a tough and absolutely formative experience, which made it very difficult to leave when all was said and done. We are in transition, having just moved from our home and friends to a new city/state. Before we start the next phase of our careers my husband and I have decided to take a nice long walk and clear our heads and reset. After reading, writing, experimenting, presenting, packing, moving etc. etc. we're ready to let go of our endless To-Do lists of adulting responsibilities and spend some time outside, with each other, and with ourselves turning our thoughts both inward and outward to reflect on the whirlwind of the last 5 years as the dust settles, before we start going again. What better place to take a nice long walk than the Camino de Santiago de Compostela? We'll be walking about 280miles of the Northern Route. I'm not exactly sure yet "Why we are walking a pilgrimage," but I think that is a question best answered by the pilgrimage itself.
Previous Trips:
I started traveling in 2005 when I studied in Guatemala while living with an AMAZING family.
I returned the following year, 2006, to visit the family and travel through Guatemala with a friend, all the while posting my experiences.
In the summer of 2007 started in China where I met my same friend with whom I traveled previously. In the winter of 2008 I actually went with my family and best friend from grade-school Jordan and took the time to visit Egypt as well.
The following winter (2009) I traveled Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
My longest trip was the summer of 2010 when I left Chicago for Dublin with my best friend from grade-school. From there we went to London, then Spain. From Spain we parted ways and I flew to Peru where I met another friend from college. She and I will traveled South America, rejuvenating and testing my Spanish all the way, until we headed out of Argentina to our respective U.S home states. The plan itself was a bit much....part of it was fast paced and planned.. the second half was the complete opposite! All was exciting and blogged here. Turns out I connected with my now husband on the Argentina/Chile leg of that trip!