Travel Themes & Life Lessons – Mastering the Mastermind

Producing Words Produces Healing

I’ve heard it said that time heals all wounds. I never felt the need to question this widely circulated saying until I had to confront a recent hurt. Yes, after time, it’s become less painful and less likely to be the first realization to crash into my mind when I wake up in the morning;ContinueContinue reading “Producing Words Produces Healing”

Living Thanks

It’s the tried and true tradition of the somewhat stable American family; on the fourth Thursday of November, we gather around the table and take turns sharing what we are thankful for. “Family.” “Faith.” “Food.” (This one from the sibling who thinks he’s funny.) This Thanksgiving reminded me of many Thanksgiving Days before it, butContinueContinue reading “Living Thanks”

In Memory of Normandy

I recently rediscovered my email updates from my teaching job in France: four updates, written in letter form, that I shared with my loved ones over the course of the school year in Normandy. It’s been three years since I lived in France during an intense season for the country that affected even the small,ContinueContinue reading “In Memory of Normandy”

The Good in Goodbyes

I found my seat on the bus back to Cairo and started to cry. Our short-term team had spent the week working with an organization in Egypt, and we had just said heartfelt goodbyes to the local team as we prepared to travel back to the States. I was a little confused at my immediate,ContinueContinue reading “The Good in Goodbyes”

The Language of Reality

I didn’t know that was the last time I would pour a latte, at least in that shop with its peeling walls and aesthetic stairway – a place so pretty from the other side of the bar. I didn’t know that when I signed that contract, I was signing away a passion that was newlyContinueContinue reading “The Language of Reality”

Writer’s Block

I lived out one of my dearest dreams when I moved to France for the school year, an experience I will forever cherish. But I also lived in a constant state of anxiety, health issues, and intense loneliness. Every morning when I woke up alone in my cold apartment, my muscles would tighten and myContinueContinue reading “Writer’s Block”