Booking a trip to Paris is exciting but a bit overwhelming, isn’t it? As the most visited city in the world, Paris is overflowing with things to do, monuments to see, and foods to eat… and they all seem important. You could spend a lifetime here and still not experience everything, so believe me when I tell you that I understand how overwhelming it can be making your Paris itinerary. That’s why I’ve put together my very long-over-due-comprehensive list of things you should do in Paris. I will include the things you should definitely do, things you should do if […]
What It’s Like Being An Au Pair in Paris
Hello hello! 🤗 Many girls have reached out to me asking about the au pair experience, and most of them have the same questions: “How do you live on the small wage? Do you have time to travel? What are the hard parts no one talks about? Do you think I should do it?” I love answering these questions, especially if it means I can help someone understand the au pair experience better and encourage them to do something that will change their lives forever. Since I get so many of these messages I thought it would be helpful to […]
Non-Cliché Foods You Must Eat In Paris
The number one question I get asked by people visiting Paris is also the question I used to have the hardest time answering: Can you recommend some great restaurants? This question always stumped me, in part because I haven’t even made a dent in the vast restaurant culture of Paris, but also because I am not what anyone would consider a “foodie.” I’m more like a “it tastes good and it’s here -ie.” Between living on the tight budget of an au pair and being admittedly very easily impressed by everything I eat in France (because let’s be real, the food […]
Since Moving to France as an Au Pair I have…
Had to sweet talk my way out of paying a €50 fine for putting my feet on the seat while on the train, due to Paris’s strict transport rules. Tasted over 15 different types of cheese, my favorite being comté. And grown accustom to eating cheese after a meal, never before. Eaten rabbit, duck, and fowl. And once learned halfway through a meal that the beef I was eating was actually horse meat! Had to vehemently insist on speaking French on dates, to the dismay of several men who were hoping I’d be their English tutor. Tasted the best dessert I […]
How to Become an Au Pair In Paris Part 2: Getting Your Visa
Hello again and welcome to the second installment of How to Become an Au Pair in Paris! In case you missed it, you can find Part 1 here. In Part 2 we will cover the visa application process. PLEASE NOTE: You must have a valid passport in order to apply for a visa. If you don’t already have one you should do this immediately as it can take several weeks to arrive and will delay the au pair process indefinitely. Before we get started, the biggest piece of advice I can give you is to create a bookmark folder on Google […]
How to Make Flying Suck Less
I love traveling. Venturing to a new part of the world, getting lost in a different culture, being able to explore places foreign to me? Heck yes. But the actual traveling part of travel can be brutal. As someone who flies a lot (and someone who researches even more) I have come up with my own ritual that makes flying significantly more enjoyable. Here are my fail-proof steps to make flying suck less. Read more: How to Travel When You’re Poor Only travel with a carry-on As long as your trip is under 6-7 days, you can almost always get away with […]
My First Time at Disney World
People always find it surprising that I’ve never been on a family vacation. We didn’t grow up very well-off financially and that meant I missed out on a lot of things that are just a given for most children, like going out to eat at restaurants occasionally or having cable TV. It’s something I try not to dwell on and is just a part of what makes me me! But when I got to college I realized there’s something else I missed out on: Everyone in the world has been to Disney at least once. This solidified my belief that going to […]
How to Travel When You’re Poor
“How do you afford to travel so much?” Boy do I get asked this a lot! The answer is simple: you can afford anything if you decide you want to. Even if you’re super duper poor. Really, really! Poor is basically my natural state so I’ve become somewhat of an expert at traveling while broke. In the last year and a half I’ve gone on 9 trips and visited 5 countries, all without breaking the bank. Read on to learn how you can travel on a tight budget. You have more money than you think …you just spend it on […]
Amsterdam in 3 Days
What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done? I never know how to answer that because although I like to think of myself as a pretty spontaneous soul, nothing I’ve done stands out as being overly crazy. But if I had to pick something, my craziest thing would involve Amsterdam. And not in the way I bet you think. 😉 Travel Roulette Once I was bit by the travel bug I kinda couldn’t stop booking trips. Especially last-minute cheap trips, those were my favorite. One day at work last September I was having one of those really bad day where everything […]
Visiting Colorful San Juan, Puerto Rico
Before I took this trip, I knew nothing about San Juan other than that it’s the capital of Puerto Rico and that means warm weather. I was perusing flights on Jet Blue one day, something I do often, when I saw a flight from Boston to San Juan for a little over $200 round trip. Rule of thumb: if you find a flight to another country for under $500 round trip and you are even mildly interested in the destination, BOOK THAT FLIGHT! Don’t even think about it. This is a unicorn flight and you need to book it. It’s a message […]