Lost in Wanderlust

And then suddenly I was on my last inter European flight of the summer..where did the time go?! At the beginning of the summer I had TEN RyanAir flights lined up and somehow I was already on my last one. It was bittersweet..I felt happy sad and excited all at the same time. I was happy and grateful for the amazing summer and all the wonderful people I met along the way. I was sad that my trip was over but excited that in just a few days I was going to be back home for the first time in over 5 months. I allowed all of these emotions to wash over me and just took in the beautiful moment.  When we landed in Stockholm we asked at information for the best way to get to our hostel and found out that we were still a two hour bus ride away 😒 Luckily at this point in our trip, as long as there was a comfortable temperature to travel in, we were pretty go with the flow. I enjoyed the beautiful sunset out the bus window as we made our way to the city center. As soon as we arrived we ...

After my week in Athens volunteering, I headed to Chalkida for some much needed down time. This is the beach town where Jen had been living for the past two weeks.  After spending a few relaxing days by the beach we headed off to the airport to give Sofia another try 😆We only had about 30 hours to see the city and we were determined to make the most of it! On our ride from the airport, our taxi driver insisted on us getting out and taking our picture with the famous cathedral. 😅 We got to our hostel and they were SO welcoming, kind, and helpful. The girl at the front desk sat down with us and went over the map explaining the major sights and the best places to eat..guess she knows the way to our hearts 😍 We spent the first day just walking around, taking in the sights and checking out the local food scene. We were so happy to be back, and that it was so nice and cool compared to Greece! That night we did a free pub crawl with the hostel which was fun and the next...

When Jen and I planned our trip for this summer our main focus was volunteering with the Refugees in Greece. We wanted to travel a little before and after but this summer we wanted to do something different and give back. Unfortunately, since I was unable to get to the police station for a background check they could not offer me a position at the camp. I was definitely disappointed at first but I figured I could check out some islands or something while Jen did her thing. Now looking back I realize that fate had a grander plan. When I got to Athens (after sleeping on the bench like a homeless person for a couple of hours) I headed to my hotel. After what I had just been through, I decided I deserved to treat myself and booked a few days in a four star hotel. I spent the next few days relaxing, doing nothing but swimming on the rooftop terrace and living the life of luxury 😎 That lasted all of a few days because I am broke and had to get back to the hostel life but it was exactly w...

The thing about travel is; it is NOT always easy. Looking at my instagram account of course it looks like all rainbows and butterflies but in reality getting from one place to another can be hell sometimes. Like a train that actually feels like an inferno because there is no AC and you really don't know if you will survive to your destination. Let me back up a bit..So Jen and I loved Budapest so much that we decided to cut out Serbia, continue on to Sofia then fly off to Greece for our work with the refugees. Seemed like a great plan, had a blabla car to Sofia all set and everything..but then our Blabla car cancelled on us 😐So we were left scrambling, trying to figure out how the heck we were going to get to Sofia in time for our flight to Greece in a couple of days. We had heard that the public transport in Serbia was really unreliable (it's Eastern Europe after all) so we decided let's blabla car to Belgrade (the place we originally cut out of our plans) We'll get t...

After an amazing long weekend in Krakow it was time for me to take the long bus ride down to Budapest. Eight hours later they dropped us in a giant parking lot, no information center or anything..ummmm cool. I headed for the metro signs and by the grace of God found a worker who spoke English. He explained the two metros and the bus I would have to take before I finally got to my hostel..AKA another hour with my backpack in 90 degree heat. 😨 I managed the metro bit ..or so I thought, until some man approached me yelling at me in Hungarian. I just smiled and said "sorry I don't speak Hungarian" and continued walking. He stepped in front of me showed me his badge and pointed to my coworker. Through broken English he asked for my ticket then proceeded to tell me since I hadn't validated my ticket I would be receiving a fine of 60 Euro (which I never payed and am probably wanted in Budapest for) but ANYWAYS when I got to the hostel and reunited with Jen all troubles wer...

How do I begin? This is probably the most disturbing blog entry I will ever have to write, but I think it is so important to share my experience because I truly feel that this is something EVERYONE should experience in their life. Due to high tourist season, I decided to book a guided tour to Auschwitz figuring that would be the easiest option. A van picked us up and on the two hour ride we watched a video to give us some background information. In the video we learned that our 3 hour visit to the concentration camp would be far longer than many prisoners visits. This alone just broke my heart but I knew this day was going to be hard so I just tried to absorb everything. The truth is there is nothing that can prepare you for walking up to a place where millions of people were senselessly slaughtered. As we did the tour a deep sadness consumed me and I was moved to tears several times. We saw rooms full of human hair, shoes, and other items left behind. We saw suffocation chamber...

When I planned my trip for this summer I realized that there was a week between Kiera leaving me and Jen coming to meet me. I played a little thing called flight roulette..plugged the dates I needed into my favorite website (skyscanner)and picked the cheapest option for a country I had yet to visit. My result: Warsaw, Poland! My excitement quickly escalated when I realized that via train it was quite feasible to also check off Krakow and do a day trip to Auschwitz. Without any further hesitation I bought my flight and started making all the arrangements. With only about 24 solid hours in Warsaw I decided my best bet was to do a free walking tour (one of the best things about major cities in Europe!) Our tour guide took us around all the major sights and although it is a capital city it was walkable within two hours. Not quite as warm here as it was in Greece but amazing none the less! One of the things that struck me most on my tour was the remainder of the ghetto wall pointe...

So, ever since we saw Sisterhood of the Travelling pants 2, Kiera and I have been dying to go to Santorini Greece. Since Kiera was coming to Europe anyways, we decided to extend our vacation and head over to Greece..after all this is her last summer as a single lady😏! The cheapest option was to fly to Athens first so we even got to do a little bit of cultural stuff before relaxing on the beach for a week. We got to our hostel (side note; super proud of my sister for her first hostel experience!) and were starving, so we asked the front desk for a recommendation. They sent us to the most FABULOUS restaurant where we got Greek Salad, Mousaka, Tzaziki, pita bread and Greek wine..all for 10 Euro. I think it was then and there that I fell in love with the country of Greece.😍  After eating ourselves to the brim, we walked around the city to explore a bit. Despite Kiera stopping to feed every stray cat she saw, we eventually made it back to the hostel in time for happy hour. We sat...

So after many weeks of anticipation I FINALLY met up with my mom and sister in our homeland, Ireland! These two beauties met me in Galway City and after solo traveling for the longest, it was great to be reunited with familiar faces! We spent a couple of days exploring Galway city..walking the quaint streets, eating fresh seafood and drinking Guiness. Mom had rented a car and from there we set out on an EPIC two week roadtrip of the motherland.  Our first stop was the Cliffs of Moher, a natural wonder of the world. These stunning cliffs are located along the coast in County Clare and it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in all of Ireland. Although it was swarming with people, it was 100% worth the visit! There were signs posted everywhere about the dangers of climbing over the fence, but let's be honest; the O'Connor sisters don't really like to listen to the rules. (We had to get a stranger to take this pic because Maura would have had a he...

It wasn't easy to leave Brussels after such an incredible few days that's for sure. I was exhausted after all the nights out and slept the entire flight and only woke up just as we were landing. I looked out the window and it took my breath away.. I was so excited to be back in the motherland! I took the bus from Dublin up to Belfast because I have never been to Northern Ireland before. The first day at breakfast I met an American girl who told me she was going to the Giant's Causeway that morning. I shamelessly invited myself (I swear it's totally normal when you're travelling) and we headed off on the most amazing day trip. NOT a fan of heights but it seemed like a good day to face my fears ;) Plus the views on the other side were TOTALLY worth it  Giant's Causeway..this place is unreal! So as you can see the spur of the moment day trip did NOT disappoint. Later in the evening we headed over to Fibber McGee's to watch some tradi...