• About
  • Solo Travel
    • Cool Zürich
    • Cheap Zürich
    • My Boston
      • 24 Hours in Boston
      • 10 Signs You’re Back in Massachusetts
      • 7 Things New Englanders Love to Hate
    • Running Amok in Bali
    • How Not To Plan a Trip to Bali
    • Fuerteventura
    • Copenhagen
    • Berlin
    • Activities
    • Reykjavík
    • Icelandic Sweaters
    • What to Pack For Iceland
    • Krakow
    • London
    • Colmar
    • Budapest
    • Lisbon
    • Prague
  • Writing Samples
  • Life Abroad
  • Scotland
  • My Expat Story
  • Blog

Alyssa O Writes

Browse the Tag

friends

Life Abroad Tips, mindfulness, The Expat Files
/
July 6, 2016

Go Love Some More: A Tale of Expat Friendship

How expats handle it when their friends move away.

Read More
9 Comments
Share
Life Abroad Tips, mindfulness, The Expat Files
/
March 31, 2016

Quiet Riot: When Your Existential Crisis Moves Abroad With You

How to deal with a personal crisis or anxiety while living abroad.

Read More
83 Comments
Share
European City Breaks, Travel
/
March 21, 2016

The Best Winter Activities in Iceland

Why go to Iceland in the wintertime? The top 5 activities in Iceland. Best most fun things to see and do in Iceland in the winter, including glacier hiking, snorkeling, ice caving hot springs and more.

Read More
7 Comments
Share
Life Abroad Tips, mindfulness, The Expat Files
/
January 17, 2016

When Lonely Is Beautiful: The Case For Solitude

How to make the most of being alone and enjoy solitude mindfully.

Read More
20 Comments
Share
Travel
/
December 26, 2015

The Independent Expat’s Guide to Hosting Guests From Home

Ideas for hosting guests in a foreign country when you are an expat.

Read More
2 Comments
Share
The Expat Files
/
December 8, 2015

Confessions of an Expat

How expats really feel about living abroad.

Read More
1 Comment
Share
Life Abroad Tips, The Expat Files
/
March 1, 2015

How To Make Friends and Feel Settled in a New Country…

Best ways for expats to make new friends abroad.

Read More
9 Comments
Share

  • Meet me by the pool, darling... ⛱️ Another cool thing about Jupiter Artland? You can actually book a paddling session in 'Gateway' by Joanna Vasconcelos. Yes, that's right, for £10 you can have 30 minutes of splashing around plus some time in the geodesic dome of a changing hut. It's too bad I didn't bring my bikini and flip flops, but this just gives me another excuse to go back. Jupiter Artland is one of my fav day trips from Edinburgh so far, and honestly, it's one of the weirdest places I've been in Scotland. How do I top this one? ° ° ° #Edinburghdaytrip #Edinburghscotland #explorescotland #artgalleries #contemporaryart #visitscotland #poolparty #travelblogger #travelwriter #travelphotography #scotlandphotographer #experiencescotland #weirdexperiences #swimming #scottishmuseums #scottishart #scottishtravel
  • When I found out I qualify for Italian citizenship I was shocked! 🇮🇹 I grew up thinking my wicked Italian American family was exaggerating about how freaking Italian we are... but nope! It turns out Italy has one of the most generous citizenship by decent policies in Europe. You don't need speak the language or  have parents or grandparents who were born there to qualify. All you need to do to get started is find out if you can prove an unbroken line between you and a direct Italian ancestor born after the unification of Italy in 1861. I began my Italian citizenship journey this year and I'm excited to begin sharing more of my path with you. So class, is this something you're interested in learning more about? ° ° ° #expatlife #lifeabroad #italianamerican #wickedboston #bostonitalian #italianimmigrants #americansinitaly #expatsinitaly #italiancitizenship #italiancitozenshipbydescent #ladolcevida
  • Another year to set boundaries and push my own, to take risks, explore and make mistakes, find dead ends and winding trails I never knew existed, to feel tiny beneath a big starry sky, to throw myself into the unknown, to splash around in the Forth, to listen to music that's so beautiful it hurts, to write and rewrite and write some more, to feel confused and useless and utterly at a loss as to how to get from A to B, to laugh until I'm sore, to explore abandoned Islands, to book launches and new babies and cast tarot cards and cleanse and banish and sprinkle dried herbs and hear my grandmother's chuckle in the corners of a kitchen in a country she's never been to, to remember that London is the center of the universe no I hate London no I love London no, to sit in a theater and feel vivid feelings in the dark with strangers to give up and start over and manifest and cry and feel my heart torn in two every time I get on a plane, to know its still the right thing even when its hard and scary, to dance with my eyes closed on a beach, on a sprung floor, in a softly glowing room with strangers, another year older and wiser and weirder, another year, another year, Another ° ° ° #womanabroad #lifeinscotland #lifeabroad #expatlife #aging #birthdays #writersofinstagram #writelife #deardiary
  • Has dating in another country changed you? It changed me! Now I feel so much more comfortable being clear about what I want. At first I was taken aback at how blunt Swiss people are (compared to Americans). But then it set me free! When I went back into the dating pool in the US and UK, I was disappointed at how everyone seems to dance around what they want in an effort to be polite. Why not just say what you need? Everyone wins and I get to order truffle fries! Are people more direct or more indirect where you are currently dating and does that work for you? ° ° ° #datingabroad #expatdating #americanabroad #expatlife #cultureshock #lifeabroad #americanabroad #culturaldifferences #lifeintheuk #lifeinswitzerland #expathumor
  • Crawling into the weekend like... 'Firmament' is a giant outdoor sculpture created by thousands of steel rods. You can check it out at Jupiter Artland, an absolutely massive sculpture park, about 30 min outside of Edinburgh. I love visiting art galleries when I travel, and I've been to so many amazing and truly unusual ones. Jupiter Artland is probably the largest outdoor art park I've ever been to, though. At over 100 acres, it's truly massive. Do you love to check out outdoor art parks and other unusual types of museums when you travel? What are some of your favorite unconventional arts spaces? ° ° ° #artpark #artgallery #artinstallation #scottishart #sculpturepark #scottishmuseums #edinburghdaytrip #edinburgharts
  • How would you handle this one? One of the things I love most about Scotland is how everyone looks after each other here. That means little things like checking up on your neighbors, lending a hand and yes, buying rounds when you go out! Buying rounds is a nice way to make sure everyone feels included, but I an never quite sure how to handle it when I have no intention of keeping up with the group on a night out. What's going out culture like where you live? Is it different from where you grew up? ° ° ° #expatfriendship #expatlife #expatproblens #expathumor #lifeabroad #Americanabroad #cultureshock #lifeinscotland #lifeintheuk #pubculture #drinkingculture

  • Home
  • About

Copyright 2023 Alyssa Osiecki/ Alyssa O Writes Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts, images and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Alyssa O/ Alyssa O Writes with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All photography is mine unless otherwise stated. Site Powered by Pix & Hue.

 

Loading Comments...