Love Of Travel....Must Be In The Blood.

My niece, Christina, is currently studying abroad. This is not Christina's first experience with travel. She, in fact, is quite the world traveler. Although my nephew, (Christina's brother) Andy, is also quite an explorer (CLICK HERE for Andy's grand bike tour to Newfoundland), Christina's travel preferences are more my style. (Andy's travel style includes exercise......ugh!)

Although I would love to share here all of Christina's excursions, there are already too many for me to keep track of. Instead I will use the words of my brother, Marty, to introduce his daughter's (my niece's) travel journal. Christina's writing style is awesome and her adventures are enjoyable (as well as educational) to follow. Below is the excerpt from my brothers' blog which introduce Christina's own blog, "Je ne get it pas". I will include a link to my niece's blog to the side of my own blog too so that if you are in the mood to travel Europe you can simply click over to see what Christina is up to. Thanks, Christina for allowing us to live vicariously through you.

Christina, since she was very young, had her sights set across the seas. In the summer between 8th and 9th grade, she took a ten day field trip to France. She spent her high school years and her college career so far studying languages, French, Spanish, and Italian. But she always seemed a little more tentative about embarking alone. Just a couple of years ago, I thought she wouldn't go anywhere unless it was with someone she knew. No more. In just the last year, she has taken trips to Honduras, Spain and Italy, with side trips to Portugal, and Morocco. And now she's in France, with plans to take side trips to Switzerland (she's there now), England, Germany, and who knows where else.

Last summer, when she was in Spain and Italy, there was drama, there were meltdowns, all due to inexperience and the crazy curve balls traveling life throws at you. She had a great time, but the "learning experiences" were sometimes stressful. Now, no matter what the road throws at her, everything is "totally fine" That's Christina's own phrase for for her attitude when things don't go as planned.

Christina has started keeping an online journal (I think she still chokes on the very idea of a blog). It's called "Je Ne Get It Pas". And it's some really good stuff! She's written about her homestay, the town she's living in (Montpellier, on the Mediterranean), French food, the crazy driving, and about just getting along in a place where you don't always know what is going on. Mom and Dad have really enjoyed the long, entertaining posts she writes. Now it's Mazurland's turn to catch up on Christina's travels. Stop by and drop her a comment. Even when things are "totally fine", it's good to get a message from home.