"A Little Nonsense Now and Then is Relished by the Wisest Men" -Willy Wonka

I am currently enjoying summer vacation before my final semester of college and it's a summer full of adventures and maybe a little nonsense, so I thought I'd try out writing a new blog.

I have been back in the United States for six months now, after completing my Semester at Sea trip around the world! For four months last fall I traveled to the Bahamas, Brazil, Namibia, South Africa, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, China, Japan, Hawaii, and Costa Rica. See my other blog for my travel stories! Now I'm back in Boulder, Colorado finishing up a bachelor's degree in Sociology at the University of Colorado.

I have one semester left before I graduate and I have not decided what to do after graduation. Semester at Sea imposed the travel bug upon me so I have considered many options which would allow me to travel. Maybe grad school in another country, maybe a road trip around the United States for a few months, maybe moving to another country and finding a job, hopefully doing something to help people and promote peace and equality.

This summer is full of adventures. I spent last week at Sonlight Camp, where I have invested many summer memories since age 9. I worked as a volunteer counselor for 7th and 8th graders. The group of 14 girls in my cabin which I shared with one other counselor were an incredible bunch who taught me as much, or probably more, than I taught them! I was humbled by the depth and maturity of the kids, but also by their ability to relish in some nonsense, as Willy Wonka would say. Camp is the perfect place to leave troubles from home behind and be as goofy and honest as you want and I will always have a place for Sonlight in my heart for helping shape me into who I am. There were many new faces on staff this summer, who I had a great time getting to know, and I loved seeing old friends too. I will be going back to Sonlight in July for three weeks.

The drive home involved a detour to Colorado Springs with my car loaded to the max. There was three of us in the car and not an inch of room to move, haha! I had two bikes on the back of the car and tons of stuff inside but luckily my car is a beast and we made it up Wolf Creek Pass and got to Colorado Springs in about 4 hours and then another two or so hours to Boulder.

The next few days are busy with unpacking from camp and packing for Maine. I leave for Maine on Friday morning for Jess and Ben's wedding and I can't wait! I'm also taking a short trip to Boston to visit some Semester at Sea friends! It's going to be a great week. Then I come back to Boulder for a few days and then head to camp again for 3 weeks. I'm also hoping to make a trip out to Albuquerque to visit friends toward the end of the summer. I'm just hoping my money holds out for the summer! I'm only working occasionally so I don't have a steady stream of money coming in at the moment but I'm still staying at my mom's house for another month and a half. In the beginning of August Katie and I will move into our super cute new apartment!! Yay!

Well this is the start of my new blog. Hopefully my life will be interesting enough to write about. I'm hoping to keep it up for the next year at least as I transition from college student to some kind of adult... basically we'll just see where life takes me and hopefully it will take me to interesting places!!

*peace and love*