travel Archives - Page 2 of 4

Europe Highlights: Three Countries in Ten Days

September 27, 2015 rubymary Comments 20 comments

So I traveled to three European countries in ten days.

And I highly recommend you don’t do it.

I’m a firm believer in traveling slow and enjoying the sights, but since I’m American and I only get a whopping 12 days of paid holiday per year, I had my limitations–so I made do.

My plan was to head to Paris (for a bachelorette party), then Berlin (to see my good German friend) and, finally, Brussels for the wedding.

I only scratched the surface of each city/country, but here are the highlights: read more

5 Ways Travel Has Changed My Personality

July 8, 2015 rubymary Comments 17 comments

Changin' through Travel — Changin’ through Travel

I know. I disappeared for a month.

I wish I could say that I did something cool, like randomly bought a one way ticket to Iceland and partied in Reykjavik for 30 days straight–but alas, my life is not that exciting. The last month was mostly sucked up by a web design class that taught me little, but did force me to build a website (I actually constructed a website for the boyfriend that should be up soon). I also spruced up The Ruby Ronin a bit in hopes that it will inspire and motivate me to write on a regular basis. read more

Working as a Doctor in India

April 20, 2015 rubymary Comments 9 comments

My second featured guest for the bi-weekly MyAsia Monday post is none other than my boyfriend, Richard. After laboring through four long years of med school, he’s currently a resident doctor at a local hospital. While he may be a doctor in title, he is actually a traveler at heart. During his last year of med school, he volunteered to work in India and Thailand on an exchange program with his school for his first foray into the land of Asia.

I always write about the far east (and sometimes southeast) Asia. For a change, however, I would like to write about a country in Asia that hardly gets any light on this blog: India. My boyfriend is absolutely in love with India, and his visit there only deepened the connection. I asked Richard if he could share his experiences in India as a doctor on the blog, and ~~he jumped at the chance to post on here~~ gratefully accepted 😉 read more

Learning Kung Fu in China: The Real Story

April 6, 2015 rubymary Comments 12 comments

With a few years of tai-chi practice and teaching under his belt, my good friend Cory was convinced that the final step to mastery would be training on Mt. Wudang in China—the birthplace of Tai-Chi itself.

With absolutely no knowledge of the Chinese language and a passion to train in the art of tai-chi in the homeland, Cory traveled to rural China and braved the unknown: Mt. Wudang in Hubei province. Here is his story:

How Did You Originally Get Interested in Tai-Chi and Kungfu? Can you give a very brief history on Tai-chi? read more

The Cherry Blossoms of Japan’s Snow Country, Niigata

March 23, 2015 rubymary Comments 24 comments

The harsh, cruel winter had come to a calm end. The roaring winds from the sea of Japan quieted to a whisper, and the walls of snow melted down into the nearby Shinano River, flowing along the rice fields and out into the open sea. The locals opened their windows to welcome in the fresh air of a spring long awaited, the sun a welcome sight from the months of grey skies and winter storms. In yukiguni—or snow country, as Niigata prefecture is famously known thanks to the Nobel prize winning book of the same name—winters can bring up to seven feet of snow fall. read more

Life in Los Angeles is Killing Me

February 17, 2015 rubymary Comments 29 comments

My alarm buzzed at 6:00AM, waking me out of my deep slumber. I fumbled in the darkness of the early morning to shut the alarm off and begin yet another 12+ hour day of work and commuting.

Originally, I didn’t want a car. I wanted to just get by with a bike, a ride form my boyfriend every now and then, and the trains—yet it was impossible. The distance from my boyfriend’s house to the train station was 20 minutes away by car, which is almost 90 minutes away by bike. Thus I was forced to lease a car, which costs me a ridiculous amount of money every month. An asset I honestly don’t want, but is impossible to live without in the United States. read more

The Best Place to Visit in America

February 9, 2015 rubymary Comments 14 comments

My favorite vacation in America is a place I have been trying to escape from my entire life, yet found a whole new appreciation for upon my return back to the United States.

It’s a state with not one, but five national parks. It hosted the winter Olympics and is known to have “the best snow on Earth.” It’s home to what some would call an over-zealous and somewhat strange religion.

Yes, my favorite U.S. vacation so far is not San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, or even Boston: read more

Why I Travel

January 19, 2015 rubymary Comments 10 comments

There’s a scene in the movie Wild that stuck with me.

The protagonist is on the road. She’s exhausted. She has only taken the first few footsteps into her journey, but already she feels the weight of the road. Can I do this? Is this what I’m supposed to be doing? Have I gone crazy?

And then she stoops down, pulls some sagebrush from the road, rubs it in her fingers, closes her eyes and deeply inhales the scent.

The scent of the Earth. The scent of the journey. The scent of the world itself. read more

How I Learned to Speak Mandarin in 6 Months

January 12, 2015 rubymary Comments 44 comments

This isn’t a post about how great I am at languages. I’m not like some jerk on the internet claiming to achieve fluency in three months.

This is a post about the blood, sweat and tears I spent to learn Chinese.

I never thought I would learn how to speak Chinese: The tones, the characters, and the proverbs were frustrating. The task of learning Mandarin was daunting and overwhelming–and honestly, there were many moments I thought I was just not meant to learn this language.

Yet somehow, I did it. I learned Chinese in less than a year. read more

Resolutions for 2015 and my Favorite Posts of 2014

January 2, 2015 rubymary Comments 6 comments

Before I delve into 2015, let’s look back at the resolutions I kept (and dropped) in 2014:

Learn French.
Take a class in web design and economics.
~~Find an amazing job in the USA~~ (although it’s not very amazing)
~~Keep up the habit of going to the gym 3 times a week, aim to run for an hour nonstop (can do 30 mins now, up the score!)~~
Take the GRE.
~~Grow out my hair. It looks good short I must admit, but I do miss having my long black locks.~~
Continue to write, and publish an article!
~~Volunteer! Find an organization in Shanghai or the USA, sign up, and go help others!~~ (volunteered on Thanksgiving and have joined a volunteer Meetup group in my neighborhood).
Practice J-E interpreting 3 times a week, C-E once a week
~~Learn how to properly, and effectively, invest money~~ (I purchased my first stocks this year)
~~Travel somewhere new (have plans of Thailand in March, so this one’s definitely going to happen!)~~ (Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore–you were amazing!)

Alright, Time for 2015 Resolutions:

Lose 20 pounds–and more importantly, lead a healthier life. I know. It’s a typical resolution, but this year it means even more. I gained a lot of weight since moving back to the United States. I want to blame the unhealthy food, the portion sizes and the lack of physical activity (I used to walk everywhere in Shanghai–now, I drive). But still, I can’t just blame America. I already downloaded MyFitnessPal and I have a plan set in motion. If this doesn’t work, I’ll join weight watchers. Either way, I need to take control of my weight, my health, and my life.
Learn Italian and Sign up for an Italian Class. I tried to learn French and my god, it just didn’t stick. Since most of my friends are Italian, I’ll take this as a divine sign from heaven and just learn what I love: Italian.
Learn Advanced CSS, HTML, and Javascript; as well as Photoshop, Illustrator and In-Design. I love drawing, coloring, and creating. I have always loved web design and I want to teach myself more so I can make creativity my source of income instead of just a hobby.
Publish an Article (or ten). While I did continue to write (as this blog so clearly showcases), I have yet to publish my work. I want 2015 to be that year.
Update this Blog Once a Week and Really Commit to The Ruby Ronin. I love this blog. It’s my baby. I love the people I meet through this blog, and I love writing. I didn’t start to really invest time in this thing until 2014, and I want to go even further in 2015. I know life gets in the way and sometimes I only update once a month–but that’s just ridiculous. I need to show this blog, and my readers, that I’m serious about this thing.
Become an Irish Citizen. I know, random. I’ll write a post about how to apply for Irish Citizenship later, but for the time being, I just want to make this happen in 2015.
Pay Off My Student Loans. After almost ten years of paying my stupid loans, this year will finally be the year where I write my final paycheck to the Federal Government.
Visit at Least One National Park. Here’s lookin at you, Yosemite.
Run a 5k. While this isn’t #1 priority, I’d really like to make it happen!

Realizations from 2014 to Push me Forward in 2015

I didn't just leave friends in Shanghai--I left a family. — I didn’t just leave friends in Shanghai–I left a family.

I will forever remember 2014 as the year of great change. I moved back to the United States from my wonderful life in Shanghai and experienced some of the worst reverse culture shock to ever grace an American. It was truly a painful and difficult experience. Even a year later, I cannot say with confidence that I have fully adjusted. read more

The Ruby Ronin

Connecting China, Japan, and the World

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