Travel Blog

I traveled to England to participate in an international artist residency in the countryside of Oxfordshire.  Before I traveled to England, I spent 3 weeks traveling around Spain.  Most of my travels have been throughout Latin America and East Africa, so as I was going to England i decided to make the most of my time in Europe by visiting another European country.

I've traveled to East Africa twice.  My first trip was in 2005 to Tanzania.  I went to Tanzania to do social organizing and community based work for Black August.  I enjoyed my time in Tanzania so much that I decided to return in 2007.  During the 2007 trip, I also visited Kenya and Uganda.

While in England, I visited Cambridgeshire, Oxford, Reading, Braziers Park, London, Wallingford, and Derbyshire. The best part of my time in England was spent in the countryside of Derbyshire walking through fields and moors and picking berries.  One of the downsides of traveling around England is that everything is so bloody expensive.

While in Spain, I visited Barcelona, Tarragona, Girona, L'Escala, Figueres, Cadaques, Bilbao, and San Sabastien.  The best part of my time spent in Spain was in Cadaques, Girona, and L'Escala.  The downside to travel throughout Spain is that there exists an immense sense of regionalism in certain parts of the country.  At times, it felt like I was in a very fragmented country.

During my 2005 trip to Tanzania, I spent time in a small village in the foothills of Mt. Meeru close to Arusha, Arusha, Ngorongoro Crater, Dar es Salaam and the surrounding areas, and Zanzibar.  In 2007, I spent time in Nairobi, the coast of Kenya, Zanzibar, and Jinja, Uganda.  The beauty of the land and the friendliness of the people were the highlights of my trip.  The only place that really made me cringe was Nairobi.

Sometimes there is no one right answer to a question.  Other times, there may be a right answer but there exists more than one way of arriving at that answer.  Traveling helps me as teacher of students with disabilities (special education) to remain flexible and opened to the learning needs and styles of my students.  I try to embrace different ways of seeing the same thing in my teaching style and I try to encourage my students to respect other perspectives and to attempt to see outside and beyond themselves.

Must see places in England: the countryside in the northern part of the country.

Must see places in Spain: Cadaques and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao

Must see places in Kenya: the coast

Must see places in Uganda: Jinja and the source of the Nile River (I strongly recommend going whitewater rafting on the Nile.  It was an absolutely amazing experience!)

Must see places in Tanzania: Ngorongoro Crater, Mt. Kilimanjaro, Arusha, and Zanzibar Islands

To all of you luxe travelers, sorry I have no recommendations for you.  I am a New York City public school teacher, so everything I do is budget.  As far as my tips for budget travelers, all I can say is this: I always lose a few pounds when I travel.  Meals are often sacrificed or seriously reduced at the expense of a roof over my head and adventure.  It's all about balance and priorities for me.  I always know that my take-out menus and my favorite restaurants await me upon my return to NYC.  Spain and Zanzibar may be the two places where I would suggest not skipping out on the food though.