What makes you fall in love with a city? With a house? With a neighborhood? What’s the difference - key differences - between simply living somewhere and actually feeling like you belong there? I’ve moved A LOT in my life. Multiple cities/states and many, many apartments... so maybe that’s why my sense of ‘home’ is a rather elusive thing. Chicagco does actually feel very much like home to me: the vibe of the people is great, I love the lake, there’s always something to do, th

I have been in a massive debate for months because of COVID-19 about whether or not I should take my trip out to the west coast to see my family for my momma’s 60th birthday. My Europe trip has been canceled, I didn’t go on my NOLA trip, and traveling in general is highly discouraged right now... But this trip was a big deal: a surprise the family had been planning since last fall. So. I went. Maybe I shouldn’t have, but I did. I wore my mask and gloves, and flew Delta (which

So I feel like many of you are aware that I’ve been planning a big Europe trip for the end of the year. That I’ve been working toward emotional and mental health. And that I’ve been very focused on being the best version of myself that I can possibly be. All with the point of accepting my life, living as fully as I can, loving myself, and feeling at peace — truly whole — within my existence. Not an easy thing at all. Well, not at all unlike many of you... my life has been tur

I recently came to the difficult realization that my Europe trip will mostly likely not be happening this year, due to COVID-19. This, for me, is heart breaking. However, a part of me feels really shallow (and border-line ridiculous) that I have spent so much time crying over my change in plans. I am not sick. No one I know has died from the virus. I am doing ok financially. I am loved and not alone through all this. And my trip is not cancelled, it is simply postponed. My so

In classic Ruby fashion, I gave myself terrible anxiety upon starting my research on traveling Europe. I've traveled a lot before... Within the US and Caribbean, sometimes alone and sometimes with a friend. I'm quite comfortable with getting on a plane and going somewhere new. But I've never "gone over seas". So, naturally, I'm a little bit intimidated. To kick start my planning and ease my nervousness I started seeking out info/photos of the most beautiful places in Europ

I bought a plane ticket Monday night around 9pm, for a flight the next morning at 10am. It was an impulse buy that I do not regret in the slightest. I went to Boston. I booked an Airbnb while at the airport. And I googled the must-visit sights of Boston while waiting for the plane to take off. In general, I am not that bold, not that impulsive, and certainly not outgoing/confident enough to chat with fellow flyers, bus riders, and bar-goers. But going to Boston 'blind' forc

My bag got searched by security. No, no, nothing bad. It got flagged as suspicious because of the enormous bag of peanut m&m's inside. Apparently that quantity of hard candy and legume looks bizarre through an X-ray machine (also, as learned on a previous trip, a wheel of semi-hard cheese with a rind looks like explosives... anyway, I digress). I travel a lot. I’m used to the hustle of airports. And I have been stopped by security more than a few times, though never because