Hi everyone! Thanks for checking out my new blog!  My name is Molly Rooney and I am a 26 year old basic betch living in Chicago and if there is one thing I am passionate about in this world, it is TRAVEL.

Ever since I was a kid, I always wanted to go, go, go. So, once I was old enough and able to do so, that’s all I did.  I went on my first big trip by myself when I was 14 years old to Australia!  Okay, well not totallllly by myself—I was 14 for cryin’ out loud!  I did go without any family or friends though.  I went with a People to People group, which immersed us in the Australian culture.  We went for 3 weeks and checked out all different areas of the country, from Sydney to Melbourne to Cairns to Indigenous Farm areas.  We stayed in hotels in the cities, host families in the country side, snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef, played didgeridoos with indigenous people, played with Kangaroos, and ate 1 million Tim Tams (aka the best cookies and they sell them in the States now FYI). To this day, it was still one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced!  I remember coming home to my parents and telling them once I turned 18, I was 100% moving to Australia and there was nothing that could change my mind.  Little did I know, in the next 10 years, I would return from trips of nearly 30 countries and countless different cities, saying the exact same thing. Yet, only 1 other country and 3 cities have convinced me to move.

I was born and raised in the great state of New Hampshire, where I met some of the best people I know to this day.  My mom says I stereotype when I say I like people from New England better than Florida (no offense Florida people because I have some reallllly amazing friends from Florida too—love you, mean it) but I don’t think I have ever met a person from New England that I don’t absolutely LOVE!  Now, maybe that’s because I have a real weird attraction to a good Boston accent. I just think any word or sentence said in a Boston accent is downright hysterical– which is why if you’ve ever talked to me for more than 30 minutes in real life, there’s a good chance you’ve heard my impersonations.

Anyway, the onlyyyy thing I never liked about New England is the GD winter.  I HATEEEEE cold weather (why do I live in Chicago now? No one knows.) Luckily for me, my mother is the only person on the planet that hates cold weather more than I do, so she would take us on vacation to good ol’ Orlando, FL as often as she could. Which is probably why the second I was old enough to decide where I wanted to live/go to college, I picked a super tiny school right outside of Orlando, FL—Rollins College.

Rollins College is also frequently called “Rollins College Country Club” because it is legitimately nicer than most resorts I’ve ever been to.  Rollins is known for it’s beautiful campus, parties, pretty girls, and douchey guys (again, no offense Rollins Guys, a lot of you rule.  Love you, mean it, too).  Another thing it’s known for that it doesn’t get enough recognition for is its international diversity—more than 60% of the students do some sort of Study Abroad.  I was lucky to do 2 study abroad programs with them.  One for winter break in London and another Fall Semester Sophomore Year in Sevilla, Spain!  My 4 months in Spain is where I reallllllly caught the travel bug! It’s so easy once you’re in Europe to travel, so we would travel practically every weekend.  We went to London, Paris, Dublin, Morrocco, Madrid, and Lagos, Portugal twice.   I studied in Sevilla with my best friend in the world and met a group of 12 the best people/biggest boozebags that I still call some of my best friends to this day.  Safe to say we had the time of our lives that semester… more stories to come from that in the future.  In the meantime, here’s some pictures of me and my best friend when we tossed around the idea of creating a “Thing 1 and Thing 2 around the world blog.” Lolz.

 

Since graduating, I’ve continued to travel, meet new people and create more memories than I ever thought I’d have at 26 years old.  My goal with my blog is to document my travels to share with other people and also have something to look back on when I’m old and grey and laugh about all the dumb/amazing things I did when I was young.  I try to visit my favorite cities at least a couple times a year or abroad cities at least every other year.  Some of my favorite US cities are Boston, Chicago, Nashville, Charleston, Savannah, New Orleans, Winter Park, Ogunquit, San Diego and New York. Some of my favorite European cities that I try to visit at least every couple years are London, Munich, Sevilla, and Prague (mainly because my BFF lives there, but it is a bomb-ass city too).  These cities are cities I’ve been to multiple times and have local friends that live there, so I always get a good local experience while visiting. So, if you’re interested in going to any of these cities, but don’t know what to do while you’re there, I’m sure this blog will be of help to you! This year I’ll also be traveling to Barcelona and many other US cities and will document as much as I can!  I hope you enjoy my blog and that it inspires you to travel to new places, meet new people, and build memories that will last forever!  Happy traveling! CHEERS!