• How to Be Creative

    I have not chosen a particularly auspicious place to work here in the library. I could have joined the studious masses in the main table area, surrounded by the novels of the greats, hearing the soft conversation of the patrons and the librarian discussing books just finished and books about to be embarked on. Instead, I found a corner desk with no natural light and a chipped formica top, facing a shelf of English language learning books. As if my uninspired career has come to taunt me, showing me the only way forward through a comfortable life is through the…

  • How to Be an American

    I’ve been back in the US for eight months. You’d think that’d be enough time to re-acclimate. And, in many ways, I have. I no longer reach out to take money with two hands, Cambodian style. I…

  • The Best Things To Do in Winter in Ukraine

    Dark, freezing, dismal — these might be the words some people associate with Eastern European winter, and on one hand they’re not wrong. It can be all those things. But it can also be breath-taking(ly beautiful), exciting,…

  • 27 Lessons from a 5 Year Expat

    Five years an expat! A milestone, perhaps. The sapphire anniversary. A longer commitment than any job, city, or relationship has ever gotten out of me. And yet it feels…. Normal. Perhaps that’s what I should have expected,…

  • One of the top things to do in Ukraine is visit the Tunnel of Love. This leafy railroad track is not easy to get to, but it's a fun little mini adventure!

    Things to Do in Western Ukraine

    For a country that’s about the same size as Texas, Ukraine is constantly surprising me with the depth of adventure it offers. In over two years of living here, my ‘to do’ list has grown, not shrunk,…

  • Please, DON’T Teach English to Travel

    US and British citizens, this is mostly for you. I know that you’re bored at home, you’re looking for adventure, and you’re trying to figure out how to use the skills you already have to ditch your…

  • Kyiv Expat Life: April 2020 Round Up

    Canceled plans. That was the theme of April in Kyiv. No more IATEFL Ukraine, where I was going to get listed on the same program as Scott Thornbury. Goodbye to that long-awaited visit to Minsk. So much…

  • Moving Back to Kyiv. Again.

    I know they say be careful what you wish for, but it wasn’t like I wished to be back here. I just made a joke, that’s all.  It wasn’t even a particularly good one. About a year…