Gone to Sperryville, VA, Population: 342
Farm-fresh produce stands, artisans, wineries, taverns and hidden-gem natural wonders are along every mile of the route as you drive out of the city and towards the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Thrift Store Chronicles: NYC, Vintage Clothing, and Ray Charles
Thrift-shopping is not just about “popping tags” as Macklemore might have led you to believe in his 2012 hit single “Thrift Shop.” Instead, this activity allows the buyer to treasure hunt instead of merely consume. With no end-goal in mind, individuals are free to roam and peruse shelves of clutter which may themselves be glimpses…
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15 First Dates with Europe plus a tiny bit of North Africa
Showing up in a new city is like showing up to a date. Some are blind dates, some are dates with people you’ve spent some time previously getting to know, and sometimes, you don’t even know it’s a date. My name is Ayo and I love metaphors. At the time of writing this, I was…
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Notes from the Road: San Blas, Panama
Panama has almost 4 million residents, and more than a third of them live in Panama City, Colón, and David, the country’s three largest cities. The remaining population is concentrated mostly in small towns and villages in central Panama and the Azuero Peeninsula. Officially, roughly 70% of the population is mesitzo, or a mix of Amerindians and…
Notes from the Road: Dili, Timor-Leste
At the start of my 14-week venture abroad, I received some critical advice from a globetrotting Confidant, “Find the small things that you like and focus on them. Trying to take the whole experience on at once can be overwhelming.” Though I’ve been told this many times, even during moments of daily life in the…
Notes From the Road: Amman, Jordan
As my fourth day in Amman, Jordan unwinded I felt a strong desire to reflect upon my time thus far in this dynamic country. Though a self-proclaimed “Global Citizen” my experience with international travel is quite limited. I was born in Kinshasa, Congo and my family moved to Dallas, Texas at age six, but I have yet to travel outside the continental…
Capturing the Essence of Ireland
“In seeing the essence of the country, I more clearly saw the essence of myself.” This was the last thing I wrote in my notes on the bus ride from the AVIS car rental to the airport on the last day of traveling through Ireland. It’s not exactly what I would have expected my final…
2014 In Review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for AAOP’s blog. Here’s an excerpt: A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 4,100 times in 2014. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 3 trips to carry that many people. Attractions in 2014…
48 hours in Paris, France
I stopped in Paris, France for a few days on my way back to the states from Italy. I absolutely love Paris! The beauty and atmosphere of the city is unmatchable. I spent my first full day exploring and window shopping. It is more expensive than Italy, and on a student budget, I could not…
Summer Abroad: Rome, Italy
I had the amazing opportunity to intern in Rome, Italy this summer with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). As a graduate student in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University, I was able to apply to the Agriculture and Natural Resource Policy Internship Program (ANRP) and…
