I'm Going to Europe!

My best friend Chandler and I were sitting around one day talking about how cool it would be to go to Europe together someday.

About a week later, we were in front of my laptop booking round-trip flights to Paris. Yeah. What.

We're going to Europe for two weeks in May, right after finals week.  We're flying into Paris and staying for four nights, then flying to Rome for three, taking a train to Venice for three, and finally flying to Geneva for the last three nights.
Now, we've booked every flight, train, and hotel for the two weeks, and I could not be more excited that this is a reality now. 

My hands are itching to take photos already, and I can't wait to come back and share everything I capture. I might also be blogging about some pre-trip things, like packing tips, organizing an itinerary, etc.

This is my first time traveling out of the country by myself, so I'm a little nervous but also so freakin stoked.

If you've been to any of these places, let me know your favorite spots/advice!

Wooooo.

Breaking in the Springs

Over Spring Break, I went on a little road trip up to Eureka Springs with my family. (Get it breaking in the springs haha get it) (*boos ensue from back of the room*)
This is a long time family favorite vacation spot that we've gone to since I was about three or four. If you've never been, Eureka Springs is in Arkansas in the Ozark Mountains, and is a nice, naturesque getaway with a great downtown area with lots of cool little shops and cafes.

On the way, we stopped in Fayetteville to hit up Dickson Street Book Shop. (Which may have actually been my favorite stop on the whole trip.) 

This is another family favorite we have frequented over the years, particularly my dad (pictured below). The place is just PACKED full of used and discontinued books. Every nook and cranny of the building is filled with books, which is a book-lover like me's dream. I stumbled on Annie Leibovitz's photojournal Pilgrimage (score) and a set of old prints from the mid-1900's, including an old photo of Cary Grant from '32, and my favorite, an old shot of Ansel Adams from the '50s. I think collectively we left with three huge paper bags from here,

 After leaving Fayetteville and grabbing some concretes from Shakes (double score), we were back on the road to Eureka. Since we got there on a Sunday, much of the downtown area was closed down by the time we got there, but we managed to find a small Mexican restaurant open for dinner.

The next day we started exploring the town more. We started at Onyx Cave, which is a cool little cave a little ways outside of town that has guided tours. Ignore the crappy flash photos, it was really dark down there. As one would expect from a cave. I picked up a cool little amethyst wind chime while I was here.

After the cave we went to Promised Land zoo, which is a cool little petting/drive-thru zoo a couple miles outside of town. We discovered this last spring break, and it was so fun we couldn't miss it again. I think I had more fun than all of the children there combined. I mean, look at this freakin alpaca.

                                                                         IT'S FACE.

We spent the next couple of days perusing main street, exploring it's many local shops, and eating ungodly amounts of sushi. Like, three meals in two days ungodly. 
It was nice to have a little break from everything and just have a week to relax, take photos for myself, and read.

A couple more because the sky was SO BLUE. Okay bye.

Wanderlust

The last few months I've had a terrible case of wanderlust.  I spent most summers growing up travelling to different European countries (and 48 states) with my family, so travelling is a pretty huge part of my life.



Cue terrible quality photo by 13-year old me.

I haven't been able to travel as often since I started college, which makes me insanely sad. I know every one my age says this, but I really want to spend my life travelling.  I feel everyday like I was born in the wrong state, country, continent, etc. Don't get me wrong, Oklahoma is a beautiful state and it's a great place to grow up as a kid, but I definitely want more.  The goal is to never permanently live in OK again once I leave.

My bucket list travel spots right now are Greece, Australia, and Central/South America. I've been lucky enough to see a lot of Europe, but I'm seriously lacking in my southern and eastern borders.
Unfortunately and obviously, travel is expensive, and my minimum wage job and photography projects don't include the budget for a continental jump right now.  So in the mean time I'll leave you with some photos from my most recent trip from last summer.

Paris is one of my all-time favorites I keep going back to. I live for boulangeries. LIVE.

The view from the London Eye is phenomenal (and terrifying if you're scared of heights like me), but I don't think anything will top the feeling of walking across Abbey Road and taking a cliché tourist/Beatles fan picture.

This was my first time in Madrid, and I am obsessed.  The bright buildings and streets lend themselves to some awesome color photos, while the sangria lends itself to an awesome drunk me.

Brussels was the final stop on this trip, and while we didn't see much of the city itself, we did visit a super cool zoo that recreated the cultural environments of each animal, creating a miniature world with different countries represented in different areas.  (Also, aww red panda).