Lena's Traveler's Talk

Who am I? I am almost 40 years old, married to George, mother to Niko and Leo, live in Chicago and work in Executive Recruiting. I first got bit by the travel bug in the fall of 2003, when I went to study abroad in Madrid, Spain with DePaul University. After begging my parents to let me adventure out on my own to a foreign country, I was lucky enough to have an experience of a lifetime. I lived with a host mom and two roommates and got the pleasure of traveling all over Western Europe on the weekends. In 3 months, I had crossed Portugal, France, Italy and many parts of Spain off my list. SUCCESS! So then I returned back to Chicago, to my everyday life and often wondered, “when and where can I go next?”.

Fast forward 20 years and I have the following countries on my list: Canada, Mexico, Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Belgium, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Israel, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Japan. I am extremely lucky to be able to travel and to have amazing traveling companions. I am a better person after each trip and I am grateful for the education each trip provides. I should also mention that I was born in Belarus, so the whole “foreign” thing is in my blood:)

Why do I love travel? Primarily its to see a new place, meet people that look and think in a different way, or the same, try local cuisine, see the beauty that nature has to offer, ride a more efficient train system than I am used to (sorry Chicago!), and the list goes on.

Why did I start this blog? Well, its simple. I am passionate about traveling and connecting people on the topic of travel. I started a club in Chicago, Traveler’s Talk aimed at connecting people based on a country. A small group of people that have been to and want to go to a specific country, grab dinner at that ethnicity’s restaurant and just share stories. The reality is that people that have traveled, LOVE talking about their experiences and those that want to go somewhere LOVE getting recs from others. So to me, this seem like a natural fit. I should clarify that the apostrophe in Traveler’s Talk isn’t a mistake. I may be foreign, but I know my grammar! The idea is that the individual Traveler, likes to share, so hence it’s the talk of that travel, so its possessive. Ok, glad we cleared that up!

What are my goals with this blog? I want to inspire others to travel, I want to share my tips and experiences to enhance your trips and I want to encourage others to post their thoughts on specific places. I am doing this for the simple joy that I get from all things that relate to travel. Enjoy!