First Post

Hi everyone! I've made this blog to keep friends/family updated on my year-long adventure and to keep the mass emails to a minimum. I'll finally be embarking on the first leg of my trip next week, so I thought I'd use this post to answer some questions and lay out what plans I have for myself so far. So here are the 3 questions I get asked most frequently:

1. Why a gap year? No homework! Kidding...kind of. I realized this is one of the only years in my life where I could take off and travel the world without strings attached. If there was an opportunity to do what I had been dreaming of all winter while typing away at my extended essay, what reason did I have to not to? 

2. What are you going to do all year? Planning a whole year is a daunting task and the huge amount of resources online didn't make narrowing down my choices any easier. But, I have 4 exciting months planned so far. As of Tuesday I will be working in the kitchen at Kalani Oceanside Retreat in Hawaii on a volunteer-basis. Here's how the system works: I volunteer roughly 30 hours a week in the kitchen in exchange for meals and access to all the classes offered at the retreat (mostly yoga, meditation and to my excitement - aerial dancing!). Feel free to check out more details at kalani.com. I'll return December 8th and spend some holiday time at home. But not for long because I'll be heading off to Tel Aviv, Israel in late December for the Gaga Intensive Winter Course (details here). I plan to tag on a couple extra days to take singular Gaga classes and take more time to wander around Tel Aviv. I'll be back January 10th and keep on dancing starting the 16th with the David Dorfman Winter Intensive in NYC (details here). After that I'd really like to participate in more workshops as well as do a couple WWOOFing trips (working on organic farms in return for room and board) in the US and/or in Europe. 

3. What've you been doing so far? So far I've been working, taking dance classes in the city, and waiting to turn 18. Seriously - the volunteer program at Kalani requires volunteers be 18 years old, so in the meantime I've been doing workshops at Peridance, classes at DNA, meeting up with friends in the city, visiting friends outside the city, babysitting a lot, and took a relaxing week to visit my aunt in Hingham (thanks Dunie!). Staying in New York and living at home was not what first came to mind when I imagined my gap year but time has moved surprisingly fast and I've actually grown to enjoy my routine here- although yoga in Hawaii isn't a bad change of pace. 

I'll be posting fairly frequently and also update my location so you can see where I am at the given time. That's it for now, I hope you check back and continure to watch the gap! :)