Marissa joins us to talk about her post-college solo trip around the world to Iceland, Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Nepal, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam
- Captivated by Rwanda
- First time in Africa
- Had a stereotypic idea of what it’d be like
- Rwanda is the Switzerland of Africa
- Has an interesting and important past
- Iceland
- Traveled with a friend from college
- They lost her bag at the very beginning of the trip!
- Laugavegur trail (4 day backpacking trip)
- Reykjavik’s favorite food is the hot dog
- Croatia
- Went to islands, saw ruins, great food
- Was in Dubrovnik during the height of Game of Thrones...quite touristy
- In Zagreb - the museum of broken relationships
- Bosnia - Herzegovina
- Got to hear stories from people who were there when Sarajevo was under siege
- Mostar - beautiful bridge & old buildings
- Some east meets west architecture
- Austrian-esk & Turkish influence
- When visiting someone, they will always offer you coffee, but they only want you to stay if they offer you food
- Slovenia
- An amazing tiny country that has the best of the countries around it
- Julian Alps
- Coast (similar to Croatia)
- Food from Italy
- Caves
- Many people were happy to have tourists there
- Many Slovenian cities have their own cakes
- Got to stay on a friend of a friend’s sheep farm
- Rwanda
- Borders lake Kivu (on one side) that has CO2 building up in the bottom of the lake and could kill life if there’s an earthquake
- Tanzania
- Went on a safari in Serengeti National Park
- You seem to step out of the culture in these experiences because the locals often can’t afford to stay in places like that
- Stayed near Kilimanjaro
- Sitting in the back of a bus with chickens and a goat
- Kenya
- Maybe don’t stay in River Road in Nairobi
- Easier to navigate because more people spoke English
- Went to Mombasa on the coast
- Lots of Muslim heritage
- Can get chai on the beach
- Took a train called the “Lunatic Express”
- Long train ride, about 24 hours
- Like a high speed safari with sleeper cars
- Nepal
- Kathmandu
- Trekked the Annapurna Circuit: 12 - 14 days
- Got chased by a cow, hid up a tree
- The emotional side of the solo travel:
- It was really hard to say goodbye to people over and over again
- When you’re traveling alone for that long, you do want to meet people and make new friends
- You can take breaks and take care of yourself while traveling
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