Whether you’re two weeks or two days away, if you’re like me, you’ve got your plane ticket in one hand, your passport in the other, and two empty suitcases in front of you with no idea what to pack.  Or maybe you’re actually good at packing for a semester/ year in another country and just need a few pointers.  Either way, I’ve put together a basic list of necessary things to pack, along with a few extras just in case you have extra room in those front pouches to squeeze a little more in. (I’ve tried to adapt it for both guys and girls)

Clothing: Read the rest of this entry

Tesco, your friendly neighborhood grocery

I’ve been absent from the blogosphere for about a good 3 weeks now. I know, it seems like since I’ve been back this is a common occurrence. Rest assured, having now fully adjusted to life back here and my less than demanding job, I will be posting on a much more frequent and consistent basis. That being said, here we go.

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So I’ve been back from Dublin (and Scotland for that matter) for a while now, and it’s about time for another one of my

The Kinlay House Dublin

expert hostel reviews. I stayed in The Kinlay House Dublin, and while it’s not up to the level of Wombat’s (the standard by which I will forever judge every other hostel), it was definitely up there.

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There are a million low cost carriers out there; Flybe, Wizz Air, Aer Lingus, and Jet2 just to name a few. But the most popular by far are EasyJet and Ryanair, and this post, while not extremely informational, is meant to help you decide between the two.

First and foremost, don’t worry, they’re not as bad as everyone makes them seem. I remember when I first went abroad, everyone talked about the planes like they were three days from the junk yard, but they’re actually legit planes with a full steward staff and everything. They’re also actually two of the biggest airlines in Europe. So don’t worry, you won’t die. The only real negative is that they fly into airports that are usually a half hour to an hour outside of the city, so you’ll have to take a bus or train ride to get to the city center. Even with that extra cost, they’re still cheaper than normal airlines. (Getting to and from the airports will be a different post so stay tuned.)

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I meant to write this post before I left St. Andrews, but due to golf, saying goodbyes, and packing, it unfortunately didn’t happen. I’m not sure why it took an entire week of being back in the States to prod me to get this done; could’ve been the unpacking and adjusting to life back here, or it could’ve been the fact that I had made my peace with leaving and I wanted to keep it that way. But either way, I figure it’s about time to write my closing post about my year abroad. Warning: this is yet again another long post, and this one is laced with multiple corny stories.

On Thursday, I played my last round of golf in St. Andrews on the Eden Course with Tony, the starter that me and the guys had become close with. We did a little match play and he beat me by 3 holes, but it had to have been one of the best rounds I’ve ever played on the Links. It actually poured from about the 7th hole to the 16th, but since it was my last round we didn’t really have any intention of going in.

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