Sweden Trip for School

Hello Readers,

In 2019 when I was finishing up my schooling in Finland, I had the opportunity to go on a class trip to Piteå, Sweden. This was a school trip as we were tasked with a group project to design Tourism Services for the City. We went around for 2 days learning about the City and what they have to offer visitors as well as attended a presentation at the Town Square by Tourism Piteå. 

At top the Light House overlooking the Bay.
Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

Piteå is located in the Northern Province of Sweden on the shore of the Bay of Bothnia. It is home to many islands and inlets which would make it a great destination in both winter and summer, however there tends to be more visitors in the summer months.  

We travelled by Bus and were able to stay one night in the hotel. I have included a video that one of my classmates created when the trip was over. This video really showcases the adventure and fun the group had on the trip during our many excursions and learning sessions. Video Credit: Thao Nguyen

The project was a lot of fun and as a group of 5 we created a product that Piteå could offer to tourists coming in winter. Our group was very close and got along very well, as you can see in the video, us having a lot of fun exploring with our teacher Teija. The final design project was presented over Zoom to the City as well as the presentations were sent to them so that they could potentially use the design in the future.

Going to school abroad lead to a lot of experiences for me. It allowed me to visit many countries and the opportunities the school gave us when it came to working with companies in the field was a great asset to our learning.

Thanks for reading... until next time. 

North Carolina, One Tree Hill

Standing at the State Sign
Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

Hey, I know it has been a long time since I have posted, but with Quarantining and staying at home I needed an outlet to share experiences as well as look back on what vacations used to look like - I will be posting a few vacations that I have experienced in my life.

This post is about a past trip to Wilmington, North Carolina. I went in May of 2014 with my family. We drove their in, at the time, my brand new Dodge Journey (Two days). Our family is not new to Longer road trips. We prefer to drive as it is cheaper then flying and you have the freedom to use your car to travel around without needing to taxi, Uber or rent a car. It was to date the last trip we have made as a family of 4 (my parents, my sister and myself). When you live at the border of the United States it is very easy to go on road trips for a few weeks with all of your belongings in the car, and being able to stop at grocery stores to pick up some necessities. This was the first family trip where I got to plan it all myself.

I planned our rental house in Wilmington, and I planned out what we would do there as far as sightseeing. We like to leave the food to what we are feeling that day as well as what locals would suggest to us. I chose Wilmington because it is the home to my favourite television show ONE TREE HILL as well as Dawson's Creek. It is also the area where my favourite author Nicholas Sparks uses as the setting for a lot of his novels. As well, it was a location which none of us had traveled to. Before, the vacation began I spent weeks researching filming locations so that I could attend as many as possible. I got to get to all the major ones that I wanted, and created a scrapbook when I got home that included me at the location with a screenshot from the film or tv show at the same location. 

Wilmington is a very interesting city. It is called the HOLLYWOOD of the East, as they have major motion pictures as well as television shows being filmed throughout the city. It also is a very historic city and a lot of the houses are older homes that have southern historic charm. Wilmington is located on the Cape Fear river, and it is minutes away from the Atlantic Ocean - through Wrightsville Beach.

We had our car, which made travelling around a lot easier. We went and spent a morning at Wrightsville Beach and then decided in the afternoon to go to North Mrytle Beach, South Carolina in the afternoon, it was about an hour drive but we were in another state in no time. Maximizing your time and seeing everything you can is necessary in most trips and vacations.  

Standing at the WALL - Pink Floyd
Photo Credit: Danielle Gadsby

On the way home, we took some detours through West Virginia, to Wheeling and went to a Glass Blowing museum, as well as stopped in Cleveland, Ohio for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The glass museum was very interesting as well - there were demonstrations as well as being able to purchase some glass blown right from there. Wheeling is a quaint little city nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, and has the Ohio River flowing through. There were some awesome views and it would be nice to go back and explore it some more. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is very interactive and interesting, the exhibits have it all, sight, sound, touch - you really get to experience and read about the Rock Legends that have been inducted. My favourite thing to see was all of the costumes and outfits the artists wore. It also shows you that many of them are not as tall as you would think in real life. 

This trip was the trip of a lifetime for us, we still talk about it to this day, if you get the chance to check out the east coast of the USA it is a major recommendation.

See you again Soon....