Traveller Spotlight- Michelle!

Spotted taking a break in the TV room, was Michelle, a darling UK native who is on an exciting journey across the U.S.

Michelle started her adventure in Virginia, from which she has been to New York, Washington D.C, and Pittsburgh, among other places. Chicago is her sixth stop in the U.S, but it is so far Michelle's favorite. "I didn't expect to see so much culture and arts," she said. What would Michelle recommend for a first time Chicago visitor? Checking out the free entertainment that Chicago offers. "Find the free stuff. There is so much of it, I spent almost nothing on entertainment here so far."

Michelle's experience in Chicago and in the U.S so far has been great. She describes Chicago as an intriguing place with many unique subcultures that are very different from one another. San Francisco, California is another place that has made a big impression on her. American landscapes in general are fascinating to Michelle. "It's an amazing place to vacation, the culture is very busy though, not a place I would love to live in." In Michelle's experience, the Middle East or Australia are among the top places she could see herself settling down in. "It's easy to have a social life in the Middle East or Australia," she laughs.

Back 'home', Michelle has a job that she describes as being like a college student, but getting paid. She is a travelling international teacher. "I grew up living in and then teaching in a middle class area with middle class students, every day was more or less the same. Then one day I thought, there's got to be something more." So, she got out the daily paper, found a teaching job in Malaysia, and hasn't looked back. Since then she's been to Malaysia, Kenya, Saudi Arabia; other parts of Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australia; and many other places she couldn't even list. "If I went through every letter of the alphabet I could probably tell you a place or country I've been to," she said. Her travelling is so extensive that it primarily only excludes the North and South poles, and South America.

Michelle is going to be spending around 11 weeks total travelling through the U.S, staying at hostels, of course. She has had a great experience so far with hostelling international, and she is planning on staying at the San Diego hostel when she finds herself there next week.

Safe travels Michelle!