1. #FromWhereIStand

This is the perfect selfie for people who aren't too photogenic, but do wear great kicks and stand in cool places. These pictures are also a reminder for all of us travelers as to where our feet have taken us. Why not take a picture like this in every country/city/continent and start your own collection!

2. #JustBackFrom

If they're better than cheap magnets and plastic keychains, share your souvenir collection after returning home from a great trip. Condé Naste Traveler's account @CNTraveler features the best of these photos.

3. #WeEatWorld

This hashtag stems from @GirlEatWorld a.k.a. Melissa, a Singapore-based photographer whose collection of "hold up food in front of interesting scenery" pictures went viral. Her main mission is to stuff her face around the world. Melissa tags her own pics with #GirlEatWorld and encourages others to tag similar posts with the #WeEatWorld hashtag. WARNING: Do not scroll through this feed if hungry or dieting.

(Clockwise from top left: 1. @girleatworld ;  2. @KelseyOhleger - Route Words ; 3. @theromanfoodie - The Roman Foodie ;  4. @girleatworld)

In 2011, Russian photographer Murad Osmann's girlfriend got annoyed of his contact picture taking and started dragging him through the streets of Barcelona. But this didn't stop Murad and actually inspired him even more. Since then, Osmann has posted a collection of these photos taken around the world onto his popular Instagram account and the images have gone viral. Many others have also been inspired by the pose and now the #FollowMeTo feed is filled with similar photos.

A short walk from Plaza Mayor, there is a small, elbow-shaped street conveniently named Elbow Street (Calle Codo). There's no unusual draw to this street. You won't find many people walking down it, especially not tourists, unless they know about the nuns. Yes, nuns. And these nuns can bake.

El Convento de Corpus Christi is a convent of cloistered nuns on Elbow Street Calle Codo in Madrid. The Hieronimus nuns have no contact with the outside world and make their money by selling traditional Spanish sweets. The variety of cookies are sold by using a wooden turntable where you choose your box and replace it with the money owed.

Take a look at the video to better understand this unique experience..

Last April, I received an email in my inbox with "encuentro gastronómico" written in the subject line. A gastronomic encounter? A foodie adventure? I'm in.

Top Chef España was beginning their competition and needed American taste testers for the second episode of the Spanish TV series. I still have no idea why I was contacted or how they found my email, but I'd like to think that blogging has some perks... like television fame.

With friends Jessica of Curiosity Travels and Amy of Restless Fork Blog. Photo Courtesy of Jessica.

Again with Jessica and Amy. Photo courtesy of Jessica.

"I'm going to Africa for the weekend."

Leading up to my trip to Morocco, I couldn't stop saying this phrase. AFRICA for the WEEKEND? It sounded crazy and I loved it.

Living in Madrid with its large airport makes it easy to fly cheaply across Europe, but I had forgotten that Spain is also just one tiny Strait of Gibraltar away from Africa.

So one Friday afternoon with a cheap RyanAir ticket, I flew down to Morocco's capital city for a surf weekend with a few friends.

None of us researched much before the trip, but a friend recommended a hostel with a free breakfast and reasonable priced surf rentals and lessons - that's all we needed!

The hostel was located in the old part of the city, known as the medina. When you enter the neighborhood's clay walls, it is a maze of narrow, winding walkways with no windows or streets signs. We would have never found the hostel if one of the guys hadn't picked us up at the airport and guided us through the labyrinth.


When we eventually arrived at Medina Surfing Association, we were greeted by the owner and surf instructor Abdel El Harim. Abdel is Morocco's most famous professional surfer with repeated success in the World Qualifying Series.

Abdel gave us a quick tour of the hostel transformed from a riad: a traditional Moroccan house with an open-air courtyard in the middle. Each room faces the center and has no exterior windows. This old design helps residents cope with the Moroccan heat as the rooms stay dark and cold and the heat rises out of top of the structure.


We spent the day exploring the city, trying to navigate our way around the medina and then enjoyed tajines at Dar Naji to fuel up for the following day of surfing. And with no alcohol available in traditionally Muslim Rabat, our sobremesa wine was replaced with many, many cups of peppermint tea.


The next morning we began our day with a rooftop breakfast (and of course more tea) before squeezing into some wetsuits and hitting the beach.


Unfortunately, the pictures stop here. We could only bring ourselves, the boards and a pair of flip flops to the beach to be left underneath the cart of a street vendor.

Abdel helped us warm up and explained some basic tactics before ditching us to catch his own waves. This was a little disappointing, but I guess a pro-surfer has his own priorities. We hit the water with another instructor that only knew one English word: "UP" - very practical when the most difficult part of learning to surf is actually standing up.

Now this was not my first time surfing, but the sport has never been something I've really wanted to tackle. I had my first lesson in Australia in 2009 and then picked up a board every once in a while while living a year on the beach in Ecuador. I've always preferred to jump in on a game of sand soccer instead of getting beaten up by the waves.

But as the only one within my group of friends who had surfed before, I felt a tiny bit of pressure to do well. So we paddled out together and the instructor was to help each of us individually catch our first wave. I went first. We saw the wave coming, he gave me a little nudge and I paddled as hard as I could. Then a strong French accent yell "UP" and I thought about yoga class: engaging the core and floating from plank pose gracefully into forward fold. Lo and behold, I was up! First try, phew!
By the end of the lesson, all five of us were catching waves - with a lot of face plants, wipeouts and water up the nose in between. Overall, we had a great time and were discussing our next surf weekend before we even returned to the hostel.

It was quick trip to Africa - only Friday to Sunday, but I highly recommend a surf weekend in Rabat as a short getaway from Madrid.

Check out Medina Surf Association's blog and Facebook page for more info.

I was in month number five at the farm, feeling a little beaten up by the struggles of South America, and she was refreshing. We swapped stories from Sweden and New Zealand, bonded over essential oils and played cards after dinner and into the nighttime.

About a month later, Mathilde left. She was just at the beginning of a six-month trip through South America. I later found a little note and an almost full bottle of citronella oil on my bed - for the mosquitos. Nos vemos, she wrote, we will see each other, maybe in Sweden.

Last weekend, as I stepped off the train, Mathilde was there to greet me. This time with a long, fishtail braid over her shoulder - proof of the two and half years since we'd last seen each other.

We weren't in Sweden as planned, but instead in Lyon, France where she is three weeks and one long thesis shy of receiving her second masters.

She welcomed me into her quaint loft above a tiny theater in the Croix-Rousse neighborhood. This artsy area is above the busy city center of Lyon. Most tourists don't make it up the hill to explore the colorful shops, unique cafes and various parks with overlooking views of the city.



We picnicked in the park at sunset and caught up over local beers at Dikkenek Cafe. Coming from Madrid where you order a beer by size, not type, this extensive menu was a treat. It offers international beers, but also many bières brewed in Lyon.


The next morning, we visited the diverse outdoor food market that Croix-Rousse hosts every morning Tuesday through Sunday. We picked up brunch supplies, including these colorful treats from Dorodi Pastry and of course the traditional French baguette, for another picnic under the warm spring sun to fuel up for a day of exploring.





We stopped at Terre Adélice in the city center for an ice cream break. This place is special. It has around 100 different ice cream and sorbet flavors with about 50 organic options. I tried the organic lavender, organic white peach, and organic rhubarb. Délicieux.