On October 12th, 2016, I got onto a plane in Minneapolis and moved to England. It was the culmination of a dream I’ve had for what seems like forever, and it was the chance to finally get to live legally in the same country as the person I love. EDIT: This is now one of… Read More 15 Harsh Truths About Living In England
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” -Mark Twain Last year, I booked a short 3-day trip to New… Read More New York City: My Trip Of Dreams
It’s been nearly a year since I moved to England. What a year it’s been! But those who know me will know that I’ve already lived in England before, for a year during my study abroad in Nottingham. Somehow, I happened to pick two cities that couldn’t be more different if they tried. So in… Read More A Tale of Two Cities: Nottingham vs. York
This month has definitely been a weird one. For the most part, I’ve been in York. Hanging out, working, job hunting, you name it. To be totally honest, I haven’t had much extra cash to justify many trips anywhere. And as much as I promote budget travel here on the blog, the reality is that… Read More September 2017 Recap
Wow! August was a crazy month. I spent the first third of it on the last leg of my trip—Romania and Bulgaria. The rest of the month was spent in England, looking for jobs and exploring. Coming home from a big trip meant so many errands, job hunting, and a big snap back to reality.… Read More August 2017 Recap
I can barely believe that it’s that time already… but today I’ve been blogging for 18 months! A whole year and a half since I started Away With Maja and invited you all to follow along with my adventures around the world. I can barely remember what my life was like before blogging. I can… Read More 18 Months Of Blogging!
July has been one of my busiest travel months almost since starting the blog! This month has flown by and, as this post is going live, I can’t believe that I have a little over a week left of this trip. It has been an absolute whirlwind and an adventure I’ll never forget! Where I… Read More July 2017 Recap
June has been a crazy busy month. As this post is going live, I’m in Russia! And it’s late. Oops. I always try to publish recaps on the first of the month, but this time it just didn’t happen. I didn’t leave the UK for nearly all of June, barely left Yorkshire, and spent most… Read More June 2017 Recap
Personal post time. Three years ago, I visited Russia for the first time. It was the trip of dreams: two weeks solo in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Russia was my greatest dream. I’ve loved Russian history since I was a kid (thanks in part to the animated Anastasia movie), and as I’ve grown up I’ve… Read More On Returning To Russia
May has been a nice mixture of both busy and relaxing. I’ve been in England the whole month, but was able to do two great daytrips from York, and a long weekend away to Northwest England. Here’s what I got up to in May! Where I Went York, Beverley, Ripon, Liverpool, Ness (the Wirral), Chester… Read More May 2017 Recap
Well, it’s déjà vu all over again. Last week I gave my notice at work. I’m officially leaving my job to travel. Again. I’m excited, scared, nervous, ecstatic, and everything in-between! Last year, I left both my jobs (quitting one and taking a leave of absence from the other) to travel for three whole months.… Read More Why I’m Leaving My Job to Travel (Again)
Having spent large chunks of time living and traveling in Europe over the last few years, I’ve learned a whole lot of lessons. The US is so different from Europe, and there’s lots of basic information Americans should know before traveling to make their experience less stressful. Some of these may be natural for Europeans,… Read More 12 Things Every American NEEDS to Know About Europe
April was a really busy month. A Yorkshire daytrip, a long weekend trip to Bulgaria, and a weekend away in England. All of that and the fact that I work full-time—wow. It was a very busy month! Here’s what I got up to in April. Where I Went York, Scarborough, Windermere, Coniston, Ambleside, Bowness-on-Windermere (United… Read More April 2017 Recap
York is one of the most popular places to visit in England (outside of London, of course). The city’s history goes back millennia: Romans, Vikings, medieval times—you can see remnants of them all! York is also a beautiful city, and one that I’m lucky enough to call home. I haven’t written much on the blog… Read More 15 Photos to Convince You to Visit York in Spring
It’s about that time again! I can’t believe how fast time is going now that it’s spring. I still feel like I just moved to England, like I just went on my big Christmas trip, and like my trip to Lithuania was yesterday. March has been a really busy month, both with work and travel… Read More March 2017 Recap
Welcome back to another monthly recap! February was a fairly busy month, with lots of fun adventures, but also with lots of work (as always). Here’s what I got up to last month! Where I Went York, Malham, Skipton (United Kingdom) Vilnius, Grutas, Siauliai (Lithuania) Best Moments Lithuania! This was my first trip to Lithuania… Read More February 2017 Recap
Today is a big day: one year ago today, I bought my website domain name and hosting, and Away With Maja was created! My one-year “blog-a-versary” has crept up much faster than I thought it would, and I still can’t believe how far I’ve come on this journey. I have learned so much since I… Read More My One-Year Blog-A-Versary!
Welcome to my first monthly recap! After writing weekly recap posts right after my move to the UK, I realized two things: I really enjoy recap posts, and they will start getting very boring if I continue writing them every week. So instead, I decided to switch to monthly recaps and get the best of… Read More January 2017 Recap
Another annual round-up post! I recently wrote a post about my top experiences of 2016. To contrast with that post, I wanted to write about the best places that I visited in 2016—not the coolest experiences, but the places that I went and loved, and recommend visiting to others. I have seen some incredible places… Read More The Best Places I Visited In 2016
2016 has been a huge year for me. Looking back on it, I think 2016 is always going to be the year that I prioritized travel, got married, and moved to England. Big life events! It was monumental and huge in the scheme of my life for so many reasons. Looking back on the year,… Read More My Top 20 Experiences Of 2016