Behind the scenes here at In Search Of, we've been toiling away with the really difficult decision of choosing to stay in Lithuania for another year, or moving elsewhere. Since about October, J and I have been going back and forth about where we most want to live and what our personal and professional goals are for the upcoming years. We've been trying (and failing) to make future plans, decide whether to stay expats or re-pat, all while attempting to consider what's best for Baby ISO and for our parents. And let me tell you, with that many factors in play, it has been a very stressful several months.

Our big decision was made in November/December when J chose not to re-sign his contract to stay in Vilnius. Really, saying it like that sounds like I had no vote in the matter, but it was a unanimous decision. Though we love living in Vilnius, there are some things that we need right now that it doesn't readily offer. I'm rather torn about leaving because I do love it here and have made such wonderful friends, but it is time; I don't want to overstay.

So that means we are moving at the end of the school year! For months after choosing to leave our expat home in Vilnius, we both have been filling out job applications like mad people and worrying that neither of us will get a job and we'll have to move back in with our parents (with a kid and a cat at the age of ~30). Talk about stress and worry. Talk about a lot of late nights and working weekends. That limbo period is really not a fun time.

But about a month ago, we got good news. J was offered a fabulous job in a location where I'll be able to pursue ample freelance opportunities. But I'm totally going to be that blogger and share the good news with you next time (please don't hate me!).

In the meantime, do you have any guesses where we are moving to? Are we staying abroad or moving back to the US? I'd love to know what you think.

Recent Travel

This month was not so much a travel month, but more of a planning and travel booking month. I've got a few exciting trips on the horizon, so stay tuned to read more.

In Vilnius, the weather has been a bit dreary, so I've been inside a lot, save for a few visits to favorite cafes. However, the sun graced us for the Vilnius Gastro 2017, which was a wonderfully tasty event. I also enjoyed my favorite yearly festival -- Kaziukas and purchased a couple of cool handmade items for the home.

This has been one seriously busy week, but at least there is coffee ☕️

A post shared by Elizabeth (@insearchofs) on Mar 16, 2017 at 5:02am PDT

 

Coming Next Month

 

For April break, we've got a road trip planned to Riga, Latvia and Parnu, Estonia. I'm really excited to revisit Riga to sightsee, check out some churches, visit the castle, and try out J's favorite brewery. In Parnu, I've found some great restaurants to try and I'm looking into spa treatments! On the blog, I have articles planned about pop-up shops, counter culture, and other odd places to see.

Working on a post about the amazing food in Bari, Italy. Yum! . . . . . #myatlasaddict #insearchof #travelgram #lovetheworld #roamtheworld #bbctravel #wanderlust #travelgram #tlpicks #neverstopexploring #familytravel #havebabywilltravel #toddlertravel #talesfromthewild #roamtheplanet #trip101com #foodporn #sweets #bari #italy #apulia #apulianfood

A post shared by Elizabeth (@insearchofs) on Mar 11, 2017 at 2:49am PST

 

This Time Last Year

 

I've been blogging for somewhere around five years, so my archives are pretty extensive. Each month, I'm going to share a couple of my favorite posts from previous years.

In March 2016, I shared some posts about Madrid, one of my favorite cities I've visited, and the year before, I wrote about the magical Tallinn, Estonia.

Street sign controversy in Vilnius. Read all about it on In Search Of.http://www.insearchofs.com/2017/02/multicultural-signs-in-vilnius-lt.html?m=1 . . . . . #myatlasaddict #insearchof #travelgram #lovetheworld #roamtheworld #bbctravel #wanderlust #travelgram #tlpicks #neverstopexploring #familytravel #havebabywilltravel #toddlertravel #talesfromthewild #roamtheplanet #trip101com #vilnius

A post shared by Elizabeth (@insearchofs) on Mar 6, 2017 at 6:04am PST

What did you get up to this month? What are your plans for next month?

Recent Travel

Wow, it has been several months since I've written a monthly catch-up post and I'm looking forward to chatting! So, hello! February has been a good month to us here in Vilnius. Things have been steadily busy with freelancing work and we went on a lovely, relaxing trip to Bari, Italy (more about that soon).

The weather in Vilnius tends to be on the dreary side in February, so it was wonderful to get out and have some sun, warmth, and incredible street food. We traveled to Bari with some friends and had a great time exploring, sharing cooking duties, and wandered the beautiful old town. Though I tend to be hesitant traveling in groups, this was a perfect trip, and it was great to have extra people to play with our very active Baby ISO. If you are looking for a trip, you should really consider Bari!

Beautiful Bari

Coming Next Month

This month I'm excited to be chatting all things Bari. I'm also looking forward to my favorite Vilnius festival--Kaziukas--which takes place next weekend! I'm thinking loads of Lithuanian street food, great handicrafts, and singing and dancing.

This Time Last Year

Can you believe that there are almost 500 articles live on In Search Of? Because my archives are so extensive, I'm sharing my favorite posts from each February over the last few years.

• Looking for something interesting to do in the winter in Vilnius, try a coffee tasting at Crooked Nose and Coffee Stories.
• Anyone else loving off season travel? Check out Rome in January.
• Vilnius Gastro Walk 2016 --> I'm looking forward to the 2017 walk coming in March!

Trulli

How has your month been? What do you have coming next month?

One of my favorite small businesses - a cafe where East meets West -- in Dali, Yunnan, China

Last week my Bloglovin' feed featured a blog post that moaned over how pointless and frivolous travel blogs feel with a world full of bad around them. Rather than offering their readers a way to take action (like this awesome post from Amanda or this post from Cassie -- there were many others, too!) or even simply providing an escape for readers (like these guys) feeling down about what's on the news, they just moaned. And you know what, that pisses me off!

I don't think travel blogs are frivolous at all; in fact, I think travel blogs have the possibility to contribute to making the world a better place.

1. Travel bloggers act as ambassadors for their country, providing clear information about their nation and break down stereotypes. 
2. Travel bloggers can share cultures with the world, acting to diminish fear and misunderstanding.
3. Travel bloggers can promote conservation through showing habitat destruction, companies that treat animals poorly, or share lifestyle tips for slow travel.
4. Travel bloggers can boost the local economy by shopping local and supporting local artisans. The travel industry ultimately provides millions of jobs to people around the world. 
5. Travel bloggers provide an escape from daily lives for readers.

Even though these actions may seem insubstantial, if we as travels can guide even one person to beat a misconception; to understand the world; to accept other cultures and religions, we've done our job. And if that person can pay it forward, then imagine just how many people our actions can affect.

So here I am, a frivolous travel blogger doing something to leave the world a more positive place.

Laisve means freedom in Lithuanian --> Perhaps the US should reconsider this word as well

 

Checking in

 

Hello! This was meant to be my January 2017 catch-up post, but "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more." I had a more positive note previously written here but honestly, I'm incredibly disgusted by the news coming out of the US at the moment, so I deleted what I wrote. I'd like to note that while I vote, I really don't like to talk about politics (even writing this post makes me sweaty), but I do not tolerate disrespect and racism. I'd like to take a moment to direct you to my new About Page and mission to encourage everyone to seek understanding and respect of ALL cultures, religions, and beliefs.

On In Search Of, I will increase the number of cultural posts that I write because I want to highlight that differences are what provides color and wonder to the world. Hopefully, whether you are currently at home or traveling, you too will look deeper into the cultures around you and find it in your heart to show them all respect.

A few cultural posts you can find on In Search Of

If you'd like to read something a bit culture-y right now, feel free to check out one of my culture focused posts. These are the sorts of posts you'll be seeing on In Search Of more often. If there is anything specific you feel curious about, please feel free to share in the comments.

A Brief Look At Samogita

Plant and Lithuanian Names

Visiting Rumsiskes

Polish Donut Guide

Shrove Tuesday

A Look into Cultural Tourism 

Happy 2017! I hope that you had a wonderful New Year celebration with all of your loved ones and that you are starting to feel recovered. We've actually just returned to Vilnius and hopefully are recovering from jet lag. Looking ahead to this new year, I'd like to chat about upcoming travel wishes.

While pregnant I traveled slowly and lazily. With a newborn, it was all about simple city trips taken at a slow pace. With a toddler, it has been a combination of where we want to see and what fits with his schedule. But this year, I'm ready for something different. I'm dying to eat spicy food that melts my face off, see colorful lanterns in markets, and go snorkeling. So for me, 2017 is the year of adventure. And I'm excited about it. I have a feeling that this year is going to bring quite a bit of change and something different, so watch this space!

My top picks for 2017 travel are:

1) Hike the Camino de Santiago in Spain: I only recently learned about the Camino de Santiago (or the St. James' Way in English) while editing for Trip101. The Camino de Santiago is a pilgrimage trail that goes across northern Spain and into Portugal. I'm thinking that the trail along the coast through Bilbao would be awesome. Anyone have recommendations for a sturdy hiking backpack for carrying a two year old?

2) Go snorkeling: I realize that this is a vague travel plan, but I LOVE snorkeling and haven't been for several years now. Baby ISO and I are absolute beach bums, so I'd love to go on a lazy beach trip and spend half my time in the water. Do you have a suggestion for an awesome beach vacation that is affordable?

3) Go camping with the wild horses in Chincoteague, VA: I guess I'd settle for going camping anywhere -- well, maybe not my parents' backyard -- but ideally, I'd love to go camping in Chincoteague. My parents took my sister and I camping there a few times when we were very young and I'd love to go back. Lounging on the beach, seeing wild horses, and hiking would certainly be highlights.

4) Taking a cooking class: J and I took a cooking class on our trip to Beijing, and it was one of the highlights of our trip. In 2017, I'd like to take a cooking class to learn to make something new. I'm thinking something spicy and Asian. Perhaps Thai food or Vietnamese? Any suggestions for great cooking classes I should look up?

5) Visit a new city: Okay, okay, I know that for the past few years I've been constantly visiting new cities, but just because this is the year of adventure and something different doesn't mean that I'll stop taking city breaks. So, in 2017, I want to visit a city I've never been to before and become immersed in the culture. I'm not sure where I'll visit yet, but you can keep up-to-date with my travel plans on my About Me page.


What are your travel plans for 2017? I'm looking forward to seeing what your travel dreams are for this year, so if you have written posts about it, feel free to share in the comments below :)

Some people really hate making resolutions each year, but I really enjoy being mindful about setting goals for the year to come. I love turning back to my old posts about travel goals for the New Year and reflecting on where I've visited and what my hopes were for the year.

This year with a baby/toddler in tow, I was able to travel to 10 places (two I visited twice!). My travel highlights of the year had to be the BookaLokal experience in Madrid, our trip to The Netherlands, spending time with my family in Cape May, the amazing food in Warsaw, spending Mommy + son time in Luxembourg, and of course, our multifamily road trip that we took with friends who came to visit us.

So, let's take a look at my goals for 2017 and revisit my goals from past years to see if I've stayed on track.

Travel Goals for 2017

 

1) Keep traveling! Is it cheating to have the same goal as last year? Traveling with a toddler throws completely different challenges at you than traveling with a baby, so I want to continue to make it a priority that we keep traveling. If you have a child, can I encourage you to also take a trip with them? If you haven't traveled with your child yet and have some reservations, feel free to share in the comments or via email and I'll try to address them (and encourage you) in future posts.

2) Go with the flow. I really like to plan ahead. Like way ahead. But, right now we are going through some changes and planning some new things, so I need to relax a bit and learn to go with the flow. This is really going to be a big one for me :o

3) Blog twice per week and make connections. I've been blogging here on In Search Of for going on 5 years now. I love sharing my travels and photos, but most of all, I love connecting with fellow travelers, expats, and bloggers. I'm hoping to do this more in the New Year by planning and scheduling my posts ahead of time, blogging twice per week, and joining link-ups and Twitter chats regularly.

Travel Goals for 2016

 

Let's see if I accomplished my goals from last year...

1) Keep traveling with a baby! While it wasn't always easy, J and I continued to travel with Baby ISO and perhaps we managed to travel even more than we had in the past.

2) Minimize our stuff. This was a bit of a challenge because growing babies need a surprising amount of stuff, but I did manage to start selling and donating things that we don't need anymore. I think we still have a long way to go before we pack up our lives and move, so let's say that this is an on-going process!

3) Grow my editing services. This year, I launched a new website for STEM academic editing and have been really enjoying taking on my own clients. Completely unrelated to editing; however, is that I've also started freelance travel writing. This wasn't one of my goals, nor was it something I really thought about, but the rush of seeing my name in a byline has been incredible and has pushed me to pitch to several other online publications. This was completely unexpected and really awesome.

Travel Goals from 2015

Now, let's take a look at the goals I set for myself back in late 2014.

1) Visit Greece. Check! J and I visited Greece in April 2015 and absolutely loved it. Now we need to see more of the country!

2) Get organized. I did a pretty reasonable job of staying organized this year, minus my terribly messy computer desktop. 

3) Get more people involved with #creativelocales and #creativelithuania. Though I don't post #creativelocale posts all that often any more, I do hope to find cool events to share now and again, especially when we are on the move.

  4 of my most popular posts from 2016

 

10 Fun & Cheap Things to do in Luxembourg City: Luxembourg is a notoriously expensive city, but there are several free and cheap options, so you can enjoy a budget trip!

Travel Guide to Druskininkai, LT: A Popular Resort Town: We took a weekend getaway with several of J's colleagues to Druskininkai, which is in southern Lithuania. I really enjoyed the tiny town, tasty restaurants and cafes, and beautiful parks!

100 Things To Do In Lithuania: I wrote this post for myself, because I needed some local travel inspiration. If you have an extended trip in Lithuania, you can find some great tips for where to visit in this post.

Creative Locale: 2016 Gastro Walk: The Gastro Walk is a cool event that takes place periodically in Vilnius, Kaunas, and Klaipeda. It is hosted by Sustainable Vilnius and they get a ton of awesome restaurants to serve special dishes for one night only. I share the events in my newsletter, so if you are looking to participate, sign up and you'll get a monthly email with events and travel tips.

 

Next week I'll be back with some posts about planning a great trip to the Baltics as well as sharing a family In Search Of in Connecticut. What are your travel resolutions for 2017? What are you looking forward to this year?

Travel

 

November has been quite a busy month, so much so that I didn't really take out my camera! This month was mostly spent hunkered down inside cafes, the library, or at my desk at home, so I didn't get out to enjoy Vilnius all that much.

As a little escape from Vilnius, I took a few day getaway to Tallinn, Estonia to enjoy the Christmas market, which I'll be writing about soon. Tallinn is such a cute city, so it is nice to be so nearby to be able to take a three day trip. In December, I'll write more about Tallinn and its Christmas festivities.

 

Personal

 

Lately, I've been very into podcasts. I find them great to listen to while I'm playing with my son and they help me to stimulate my brain, which I find one of the biggest challenges being a stay at home mom and freelancer. I'm currently loving the Glamour Magazine podcast, the AMNH podcast, and the Problogger podcast. Are there any podcasts that you recommend?

I'm also stuck in a major cooking rut, which at the moment is making me want to eat out all the time. While that isn't feasible, there are several new (to me) restaurant in Vilnius that I hope to eat at over the winter. I'm also looking forward to being in Connecticut next month and hope to try out a restaurant or two while I'm back. If you have any suggestions, let me know in the comments :)

Work

 

From now until Chinese New Year is always a busy time for me with freelance editing. I love that I can expect this uptick in work in the winter.

In addition to editing, I've sought out several freelance travel writing opportunities to make a few extra dollars. It has been really fun reading different sources about travel writing and perusing articles in so many different styles. I've found that the Writer's Market book (I have the 2015 edition) has unexpectedly good information about writing pitches and possible places to submit work. If you freelance write, what other sources do you suggest?

This month, I've had my travel writing published on a Inside Himalayas and Trip101:

8 Tibetan Foods You Must Try
Fenix Food Factory: A Unique Taste of Rotterdam
A Cool Hotel In A Great Location: Wellton Centrum, Riga
An Artistic Tour of Amsterdam with BonAppetour
Your Guide to Biking the Xi'an City Wall 
Day Trip from Vilnius: Rumsiskes, the Open Air Museum of Lithuania

 

Thanks, J for the great photo!

 

Coming Next Month

 

Coming on In Search Of, I have a couple of big articles planned. First up will be a big article about Amsterdam. I'm also planning on writing about the Christmas market in Tallinn, so stay tuned for those. If there is anything you want to read about in specific, do let me know!

Regarding travel next month, we are headed back to Connecticut for two weeks of family time. I'm really looking forward to hanging out with family, eating delicious food, and taking some time to rest. I'm also really looking forward to pie -- got that, mom? ;)

Recent Posts

 

My favorite post from this month has to be the interview I did with Yan about his street art project #1guerilla. It was really kind of him to share his photos, writing, and time! I'm also really pleased with how this giant post about Rotterdam turned out. I'm hoping that all of the tips and information will be helpful if you go to Rotterdam either as a family, couple,  or solo.

This Time Last Year

 

Can you believe that I've published almost 500 articles on In Search Of? That seems like a huge amount of articles to me! Because my archives are extensive, I decided to start sharing my favorite posts from this time last year.

In November 2016, I wrote a cultural post about experiencing All Saint's Day in Lithuania, a creative post about Little Free Libraries, and a travel post about Klaipeda, Lithuania. Feel free to check my sidebar and have a rummage around in my archives to find what you are looking for :)

What are your plans for December? Are you getting excited for the holidays? Where are you spending Christmas?

First off, Happy Halloween! We are celebrating with a flight home from Amsterdam, but hopefully we'll be at least enjoying a bit of Dutch candy! Will you celebrate at all? Does your home or expat home celebrate Halloween? Lithuania really doesn't, but Halloween isn't my favorite holiday, so I guess I don't mind at all (I do like the candy though).

Travel

 

I spent the majority of this month glued to my computer during childcare hours and playing in the park with Baby ISO the rest of the time. The busy month of work was in anticipation to our big trip to The Netherlands, which we should be on the way home from now (I'm writing this in advance). All month I was very excited for our trip, and I can't wait to share photos and articles about our trip soon!

Personal

 

As the months go by and it gets closer and closer to the new year, J and I are assessing our options for living abroad vs. back in the US. Who knows, we may have an exciting announcement to share in a few month's time.

Because it got pretty cold in October, I've been all about snuggling up in with a good book after Baby ISO has gone to sleep for the night. I blew through a few Agatha Christie novels that I borrowed from the library. Now I'm reading a mystery by P. D. James. I've never read her work before, but I'm enjoying this book (The Lighthouse*).

Work

 

This month was kept busy with editing for my own academic services as well as with Trip101 travel articles. Additionally, I had the opportunity to write a few articles (and have another in the pipeline) for the trekking website Inside Himalayas. The articles I've written have focused on plants and Tibetans, and they really make me miss my time spent in China.

You can find the articles that I wrote this month at the links below:


Trek Among Blooming Rhododendrons in Nepal, Tibet, and Bhutan for Inside Himalayas
Enjoying Christmas In Vilnius, LT for Trip101
The Origin Of The Decorated Christmas Tree: Riga, Latvia for Trip101
Five Fun Things To Do In Riga, Latvia for Trip101
Destination Profile: The Curonian Spit, Lithuania for Trip101
Day Trip From Riga: Jurmala, Latvia   for Trip101

Coming Next Month

 

 In November, we'll mostly stick around Vilnius and hopefully get to enjoy a few tasty meals out at favorite restaurants as well as enjoy the lit candles of All Saints Day. We are also contemplating a quick visit to Tallinn, Estonia to marvel at their Christmas Market.

On the blog, expect to a couple of posts about our trip to The Netherlands. I also think things will get a bit Christmasy around here, so stay tuned for that :)

Recent Posts

 

My favorite post that I wrote this month was about Lithuanian names and how they relate to plants. It was a really fun article to write -- I hope you liked it as well! I also shared some trip planning resources for The Netherlands and a video of Vilnius.


How was your month? What are your plans for November?

If you can believe it, I am on year four of living in Lithuania. Who knows where the next years will take me, so in order to take advantage of living in Eastern Europe, I've decided to make a list of remaining things I'd like to do and see. J did the same, and here I've combined our lists. I thought I'd share this because Vilnius is a great starting point for travel in the Baltics, and you may want to do your own extensive trip in the region.

Realistically, I know we won't be able to do everything on our combined list, so I've split the list into what we'll hopefully do and what we probably won't have the time (or money) to do.

Realistic

• Tallinn Christmas markets and festivities 
• See one or several of the forts near Kaunas (the 9th Fort is particularly interesting looking)
• Visit the Vilnius University Botanical Garden during rhododendron flowering season
• Learn to make gyrabai and kibinai (and buy the pan to make gyrabai)
• Take a day or weekend trip to somewhere new in Lithuania
• Visit the Bee-keeping Museum
• Enjoy a long weekend in Riga

Unlikely, but Possible

• Wander Parnu, Estonia
• Take a Jewish tour
• Visit Saaremaa Island, Estonia (we were meant to visit over the summer, but poor Baby ISO got very ill)
• Go swimming in the Baltic Sea
• Take a hot air balloon ride over Vilnius

-----> Click here to read my Lithuanian Bucket List <-----

Do you have a bucket list for where you live? Is it always growing like mine is?

I wanted to write a quick shout-out to bloggers and blog-readers with a thank you! I initially started blogging as a way to remember my trips and share photos with my family while I was working in Yunnan, China. When I moved to Vilnius and became more active with blogging, I found a whole awesome community of bloggers, both professional and hobby, and blog readers who I've been able to connect with. Over the years, I've followed numerous blogs and connected with countless bloggers via email and over social media and this connection is one of the main reasons why I loving blogging so much. I've also connected with numerous blog-readers and now, some of these connections made through the blog are my closest friends. So I just wanted to give a shout-out to other bloggers and blog-readers who I've connected with over the years and who I may connect with someday.

With this in mind, I've decided to only post one article per week (instead of two), because my time is limited and I want to spend more time connecting, which is something I've really been neglecting. So, expect to see new posts from me every Monday, which should give me ample time to link up with City Tripping and Wanderful Wednesdays. If you have suggestions for other awesome travel linkups, Twitter Chats, or blogs you think I should check out, feel free to link them below!

Travel

Because September is the start of a new school year and is generally a busy time for academic editing, we spent a lot of time in Vilnius this month. I enjoyed seeing the understated pieces of art from this year's Street Art Festival and relaxing in the city.

Personal

September is my birthday month! This year, we tried a new restaurant, went to a friend's birthday party, and enjoyed a day trip to the Lithuanian Open Air Museum.

Freelancing

On September 1, I launched an academic editing service and have been fortunately busy with it ever since. Although I've been editing for several companies for some time now, I've just started taking on my own clients. It feels awesome to work directly with clients to help improve their writing, rather than just edit it for them.

I also published some articles on Trip101 this month:

Comfortable And Convenient: Courtyard Stafford Quantico By Marriott
Pierogi Heaven At Zapiecek In Warsaw, Poland
An Inexpensive And Traditional Meal: Bar Prasowy, Warsaw, Poland  
 

Coming next month

We've got a bunch of travel planned for October, so I'm excited to see where those travels take my writing. We are traveling somewhere in Lithuania for a weekend with our neighbors (destination TBD). Additionally, we will spend 6 days in Rotterdam and 5 days in Amsterdam. This will be our first time in The Netherlands, and both J and I are incredibly excited. If you have any tips I'd love to hear them!

Recent posts

Recently on In Search Of, I wrote a massive post about Cape May, New Jersey -- I love the photos in this post. I've also written about things to do in Connecticut with kids, 100 things to do in Lithuania, a restaurant guide to RVA, and much more.


How was your month? What are your plans for October?

Travel

 

This was a very quiet month on the travel front. We spent August settling back into our Lithuanian life, spent time with friends, and enjoyed just being. Sprinkled amidst the unusually chilly and rainy August weather, we've had a few nice days, which we spent checking out new cafes and restaurants (I really need to do a post soon!), visiting Vingis Park, and cooking with friends.

We took a wonderfully fun day-trip out of Vilnius to visit our friends' sodyba, or country cottage. On a very sunny Saturday morning, we drove the hour and a half northeast to the lakes district (Utena) and spent the day barbecuing, picking apples, shooting a bow and arrow, watching the kids play, and lounging in the grass. It was absolutely perfect.

Personal

 

It feels really nice to be back in Vilnius and to be starting a new routine for the coming school year. Now that Baby ISO is finally sleeping through the night (most of the time), I'm able to stay up a bit late to read. It is absolutely wonderful, and I've finally caught up with my GoodReads reading goal (I'm on track). If you have any book recommendations, share them below!

Freelancing

 

 I've been working secretly (until recently) and quietly on launching my own academic editing and guidance service. The website is launching on September 1! I'll add a link here when it is up and I'd really appreciate it if you share with your friends! I'm really excited to have a separate webpage to offer services and to be able to find and build a relationship with my own clients. I'm also happily continuing working with the several editing/travel businesses that I'm currently working for. 

Hopefully I'll find a nice rhythm this fall of writing/editing/travel/family time. If you have any tips about balancing working while traveling, I'd love to hear them.

This month I've also had three articles published on Trip101. It is such fun writing for them and I always really like the way the article comes out. Please feel free to check out the links below:

Papiroen: A Street Food Mecca In Copenhagen, Denmark

Eat Delicious Food At Torvehallerne In Copenhagen, Denmark 

Somods Bolcher -- Royal Candy Store In Copenhagen, Denmark 

Coming Next Month

 

I'm excited for the content coming on In Search Of in September. I've got a guide to Cape May (hopefully with a video!) and a post about Lithuanian botanical culture in the works. Stay tuned :)

How was your month? What are you looking forward to in September? Do you work when you travel?

Travel

 

This summer has been flying by! July was packed with beach days and summer explorations. Because we've been traveling so much, I'm behind on destinations posts, but expect to see more about our Baltic road trip, Connecticut adventures, and more about our trips to Richmond, VA, Cape May, NJ, and Plymouth, MA.

 Just briefly, Richmond was a very cool city with incredible food. Shout out to Katrina from Thrifty Gypsy Travels for all of her great insight on the city and elsewhere we might like in the area. Easily my favorite part of Richmond was the Waterfront district. It was just so green from the parks and vibrant from the awesome street art.

Our week in Cape May with my parents was incredibly relaxing and full of beach days, reading, and dolphin spotting. It was incredibly rejuvenating to take a week off blogging and social media, and do minimal freelancing work. I'm happy to be back though!

We fly back to Vilnius in two days and I'm looking forward to spending the long summer days exploring the city and settling back into our apartment.

 Personal

 

 My Olympus, which I has been using for blog photos and filming for the past few years, finally died on me, so I had to make an emergency Amazon purchase. After some persuading from J, I settled on the Nikon D3300, which I love so far. I'm not sure if you'll notice a difference in photo quality on the blog, but is exciting to have a new piece of equipment to play with. 

As I mentioned in last month's recap post, I wanted to take advantage of childcare offered by my family to have a productive summer. I am pretty happy with what I've been able to accomplish so far, but still have more planned for In Search Of, writing, and editing. Hopefully, you'll be seeing more updates around here soon!

 

Freelancing

 

Summers tend to be quiet in regards to editing, but that has given me a chance to write several articles for Trip101 and plan the next few months of blog posts. Below are the five articles I wrote for Trip101 this month:

Top Things To Do In New London, Connecticut 
5 Things To Do In Niantic, CT
5 Things To Do In Historic Mystic, Connecticut
Hilton Helsinki Airport: Hotel Review
Tallink Express Hotel: Hotel Review

Coming Next Month

 

  

I'm really excited about what the next several months will bring. It is almost the start of a new academic year, which for me, always signifies a new start. On In Search Of, I'll be sharing about our recent travels and hopefully will also be sharing a video from Cape May.

How was your July? What are you looking forward to for August?

A lot of full-time travelers, expats, and digital nomads tout selling everything and quitting their jobs to travel the world. J and I did nothing of the sort and in many cases, I don't think it is necessary to do so (unless you really want to, then go for it). In fact, moving abroad has probably only acted to increase our "adulting." Though we don't have an apartment or own property in the States, we do own a car, pay taxes/insurance/bills, and receive mail. It also happens that all of these tedious adult tasks happen to fall over the summer while we are back State-side. In between frolicking at the beach, visiting family and friends, freelance work, and the general mayhem that comes with summer (is that only us?), we've got months of mail to sort and emissions tests.

Unfortunately, we don't escape these things -- especially the spam mail we receive -- but I've actually learned not to mind it. Well, that is unless I need to go to the DMV... What do you think?

What form of adulting remains for you when you visit home? If you've managed to avoid all of these tasks, how did you do it?

Travel

 

The beach in Jurmala, Latvia was stunning!

We took a week-long road trip through the Baltics with stops in Latvia, Estonia, and Finland. This was an awesome road trip with friends who came to visit us, although we had to make an emergency change in plans due to a sick Baby ISO. Over the summer, I'll be posting a lot more about this trip (in case you'd like to go on a similar friend road trip) and sharing several photo diaries.

The family and I just returned to Connecticut to spend a month and a half enjoying time with our families. We'll be doing numerous local adventures around New England and will also be relaxing at the beach -- I can't wait to take Baby ISO swimming!

Personal

 

I was a bit torn leaving Vilnius before travels and our long trip home. Several of our close friends are moving on to new expat homes or returning back to the US. I also felt rushed and sad about missing a summer with friends who are staying in Vilnius. It is really difficult to have your people spread out all over the world -- I keep telling myself that at least I have people that I can visit in so many different countries.

Summer in Connecticut will be awesome though. I'm already loving spending my time at the beach and having some actual summer weather after our frigid and rainy Baltic trip. It is also wonderful that Baby ISO will get to experience so many new things with his extended family and nearby friends!

Freelancing

 

After a crazy last week in Vilnius (loads of prep before travel) and a whirlwind trip through the Baltics, I'm finally catching up on work, blogging, and emails. Summer always feels like it should be a time for relaxation -- I write this as I look out of my window to the beach -- but this summer, I've set myself some steep goals for things I'd like to accomplish. Have you set goals for yourself over the summer, or are you trying to relax?

Here are a few articles that I've written outside of In Search Of:
Two-Day Itinerary for Dali, Yunnan Province, China
5 Fun & Enchanting Things to do in Tallinn, Estonia
Trakai, Lithuania: A Perfect Day Trip from Vilnius

 

Coming next month 

 

Traveling with two babies and 4 adults requires A LOT of stuff

 

•  Travel posts about Latvia, Estonia, and Helsinki
• Connecticut travel guides
• Relaxing in Connecticut
• Road trip to RVA
• Vacation on the New Jersey shoreline
• Lots of family/friend time and good food

How was your June? What are your plans for July? Do you have any fun summer trips planned?

This week we are off on a Baltic road trip with some friends visiting from the US. Our journey starts in Vilnius and we'll stop in Latvia, a few places in Estonia, and end in Helsinki.

Before leaving for a trip, I really like to spend a couple of hours pouring over websites, guidebooks, and blog posts. By writing these trip planning posts I get to do just that, and I like sharing the resources in case you are also planning a trip to the same destination.

Read to the bottom of the post to learn more about a giveaway I'm hosting in collaboration with GPSMyCity.

Resources for Helsinki

I'm looking forward to visiting cafes with an eye for design and filtered coffee. I really love this guide from Spurge as they've even provided tips for the best coffee to order from each cafe. Hopefully we'll be able to visit at least one of these cafes.

Since we will be traveling with two kids and the weather should be nice, we are also going to be spending a lot of time playing outdoors. Borders of Adventure highlights the amount of natural spaces that we'll be able to visit in Helsinki. I can't wait!

Another great resource for outdoors adventures in Helsinki is Hiking in Finland. They have a comprehensive post about who to contact for different outdoor adventures.

As usual, we'll have to check out this awesome food market -- Old Market Hall. Thanks JM for this tip!

Resources for Tallinn

We only have a short stop over in Tallinn, so if we manage to do/see anything, I'm hoping it involves some delicious food.

After my last trip to Tallinn, and my inability to find Telliskivi Creative City, that is the top of my visiting list.

Tallinn also has some great restaurants, so if we have enough time, I'm hoping to visit Sfaar for some great food.

Resources for Jurmala

Most of our time in Jurmala is just going to be spent relaxing and enjoying nature, but I think we'll have to take an excursion into town to check out the beachfront boardwalk. This post from Heather at Ferreting Out The Fun provides some great information.

Giveaway with GPSMyCity

Now onto the giveaway! I recently started collaborating with the folks over at GPSMyCity to make some of my longer posts into walking maps for travelers. The people that I've been working with at GPSMyCity have been truly awesome and offered to sponsor a giveaway of their app for one city for my readers (for iOS or Android devices). 

To be entered into this contest, please leave a comment sharing the city in which you'd like to use their app (you can find a list of the cities here). I will randomly select 3 winners from the comments and you'll be able to choose the city. This giveaway will close on June 24 and I will notify winners via email. If you are a lucky winner, please be sure to respond within 48 hours so that I can promptly get a promo code for you.

I'm currently traveling, but will be back in front of my computer to answer questions and comments on June 24. I love reading and responding to comments/emails and will respond as soon as I can. If you have an urgent question or inquiry regarding editing, please email me at luyoutravel@gmail.com.

Do you have any tips for Helsinki, Tallinn, or Jurmala?

I'm slowly finishing up the last few books that I've been gifted or bought myself before my self-imposed book buying ban. I'm now taking full advantage of libraries with English books and while I'm in the US over the summer, I'm going to borrow some of my sister's or mom's books. I'm also really looking forward to reading the last two books in the Golden Compass series, which have been waiting for me in Connecticut.

I'm currently running a reader survey to improve the content on In Search Of --> Please click here to take my reader survey. I'd really appreciate it!

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith: Gruesome but great - another chilling Cormoran Strike novel. That ending, though! I needed one more chapter, although I'm sure another great novel will be coming out soon. My rating: 5/5

9 Women by Frances M. Thompson: Overall, a great collection of stories and I really like the author's note at the end. I think it provides a better understanding of each individual story and the collection as a whole. The characters in the stories, as well as the stories themselves were often very relatable, especially if you've loved and lost, or recently had a child. 

As with any book of short stories, I certainly had my favorites among these nine stories. 'The Pink Flowers,' a story of a woman's recently loss of her husband was, in many ways, both a beautiful love story and a story about grieving. I loved learning about what the husband left behind for her and his forethought to prepare little surprises. The story also had a happy ending (sort of)! 'Tell Me A Story' was another favorite from the collection, this time with a sad ending. I enjoyed hearing about the couple reminisce on both happy and sad memories, and the banter back and forth made them seem like a much younger couple. Another highlight for me was 'Leaving Rotterdam.' This story acted like a teaser for me and I want more! I'd love to read what made Lodewijk and his family have to flea Rotterdam, and I'd like to know what happens when (if?) they finally reach New York. When I first read 'Locked Up Lovers', I liked the story, but since moving on from it, I've been thinking about it constantly. I wonder about what happens to the main characters in the end, and am curious if what I think happened in the end actually happened.

This collection of nine stories has relatable characters and situations (many of them at least), and is an enjoyable, quick read. I'd highly suggest it. As with Thompson's other work, there are always little (or big) surprises in the stories, which make them a pleasure to read. I also find that many of the characters stay with you long after you've read the story. My rating 5/5.

Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht: An excellent cultural and folkloric story of a war torn country. This story also focuses heavily on death, un-death, and life. A very enjoyable read that I find hard to describe. My rating: 5/5.

The Peculiar by Stefan Bachman: Meh. I appreciated that the main characters in this novel were underdogs, but other than that I was underwhelmed. I especially wasn't a fan of the ending, but I guess this must be a series, so the author had to create an opening somehow. My rating: 2/5.

Miss Perigrine's School for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs: Despite the creepy cover and slightly scary beginning, this young adult novel turned out to be a wonderfully enjoyable fantasy. I'm looking forward to reading the second and third books in this series. I also just saw a preview of the first book coming out as a movie. Eva Green is playing one of the main characters in the movie and she is perfect for the part! My rating: 4/5.

I'm currently reading The Bad Mother's Handbook by Kate Long.


What are you currently reading? What should I look for at the library?

Personal + Travel

This month was pretty quiet regarding travel, but I didn't mind as it gave me a chance to get ahead on work and enjoy the great weather in Vilnius. In Vilnius, we enjoyed the reopening of Open Kitchen and eating out at a few new restaurants. I also spent a fair bit of time at several parks and playgrounds now that Baby ISO is mobile.

My mother-in-law also visited for two weeks, which was another chance for me to get ahead on some work and blogging things. It was great to have her help!

More from Warsaw, Poland as I continue working on blog posts.

A photo posted by Elizabeth (@insearchofs) on May 23, 2016 at 11:45am PDT

Blog + Freelance

This month I've put up my first reader survey. Please click here to take my reader survey to help guide my future content. I'd really appreciate it and owe you a coffee if we are ever in the same city at the same time!

On the blog, I've shared a few posts about Luxembourg, which is a great city for a weekend break and several tasty meals, a packing guide, and a massive guide to Druskininkai, Lithuania.

As far as freelancing goes, I've started a new video program with TopEdit, where I teach about writing and publishing scientific articles. I'm not entirely comfortable on camera, but hopefully I'll improve over time. Freelancing has been a bit slow for science editing, but botanists are usually in the field at this time so this dip in work is normal for me. Regarding travel editing, I've just edited more than 500 articles for Trip101 and published 10 articles on Trip101 as well. I'm looking forward to many, many more!

Another photo from my spa trip to Druskininkai, Lithuania. A highlight was walking around this huge park in downtown Druskininkai. For a guide to Druskininkai, visit www.insearchofs.com.

A photo posted by Elizabeth (@insearchofs) on May 17, 2016 at 12:06pm PDT

Looking Forward To

In June, J's friend from college, his wife, and their 1 year old are coming for a visit. Together, we'll take a road trip from Vilnius to Tallinn and then a ferry to Helsinki. It should be a great trip and I'm looking forward to sharing all about it later in the summer. If you have any recommendations for Helsinki I'd love to hear them!

Later in June, we'll be heading back to the US for a month-long trip. I'm really looking forward to seeing family and friends, spending some time at the beach, and trying out a few new restaurants. Summer break really snuck up on me this year!

On In Search Of, I've just written about 10 cheap things to do in #Luxembourg City. One of the things I suggest is to check out this gorgeous stained glass in a church from 987! Read more at www.insearchofs.com/2016/5/10-cheap-things-to-do-in-luxembourg.html

A photo posted by Elizabeth (@insearchofs) on May 6, 2016 at 9:19pm PDT

Links

Here you'll find a few links of my writing elsewhere on the web ...

Family Travel Interview with Learning Escapes: Family Travel Interview

Trip101: Top 5 Summer Outdoor Activities In Vilnius, Lithuania

How was your month? What are you looking forward to in June?