Hey guys!
It’s me again with yet another blog post—I’ve had two very exciting weeks since I last updated you all, and though I’d love to get into them in depth I fear I won’t be able to in so few words. I’ll be recapping as much as I can for you now! I spent the weekend before last weekend in New York City for Pride, going to the parade and hanging out with some of my closest friends. My twin sister (shoutout Kiana!!) goes to Barnard College, so I’m far too familiar with the four hour bus ride to New York from Boston that I’ve taken countless times over the last two years (pro tip: try to sleep during the entire route. It makes the ride painless). It was such a beautiful weekend spent reuniting with a million of my friends from both Wellesley and Barnard, meeting a million new friends, and exploring New York in the summertime!! I went to Thai Market (my favorite Thai restaurant that rivals only Wellesley’s very own Laughing Monk Cafe), hung around Washington Square Park for some relief from the heat at the fountain after the Pride parade, and wandered around the West Village. I was only there for two short days but my friends and I made sure to make the most of it.
Washington Square Park after the Pride parade!
My friends in the fountain at Washington Square Park!
Me and my friends at Pride!
Then, just a few days after getting back to campus, I packed my bags again to take the exact trip back to New York for the following weekend, this time to celebrate my friend’s 21st birthday. I spent time in Central Park, ate really good Korean food, had hot dogs and watched the fireworks from the water for the 4th of July, went to karaoke, ate a lot of lamb, bread, and cheese at my friend’s very beautiful birthday party, and went to Din Tai Fung for the first time (a restaurant I’ve always wanted to go to that happened to be a 10 minute walk from my friend’s apartment).
Celebrating Idana’s birthday!
Watching the fireworks with my Wellesley friends in NYC
Picnicking in Central Park on the 4th of July
I probably won’t be returning to New York for a while—at least not until my twin goes back to the city after the summer. When you live in Boston (or just outside of it), traveling is incredibly simple. I realize most of my blog post content has been about my travels off campus and in new states, and I promise I do spend time in Wellesley too! But one of the things I’ve come to appreciate about living at Wellesley is how easy it is to explore. Boston and the rest of the world are all just a commuter rail train ride away, which makes weekend adventures feel really accessible—even if you’re juggling a full-time internship like I am.
My friends at the bus stop on our way back to Boston from New York (I’m very used to this commute now)
I’m definitely pretty exhausted with all the travel I’ve been doing (with buses and trains in and out of Boston at extremely cheap prices, it’s hard not to go), but I still have one trip left before I retire completely to spending the rest of summer just at Wellesley. Next week I’m traveling to Hawai’i, catching a flight from Boston to O’ahu at 8 am… My entire family is there—though I live in Virginia now, my family is from Hawai’i originally, with my great grandparents having immigrated from the Philippines to the islands in the 1940s! I consider Hawai’i my home (despite my complicated upbringing all over the world), and we return every summer to stay with my extended family. This week is my grandma’s 80th birthday, and she’s hosting a party that I’d dare not miss—so of course, I’ll be taking an 11 hour flight to celebrate with her and see my family after almost two months apart! It’s the last trip I’ll be taking this summer, and I’m beyond excited.
Thank you for reading about all my travels this summer! Until next time 🙂
Bri❤️