Hi. I’m Michelle and you’ve found me.
Welcome to my little space on the inter-webs; nice to meet you– I’m so glad you are here. I’ve been dabbling in writing on the internet since 2005 [yes, that long!]. Thank you so much for stopping by–I hope you’ll stick around and keep reading!
Blog Beginnings
I like to call this version of my blog, Sunday Morning, my blog 2.0. The first one focused on my 2010 career break and my 2018-2019 experiences as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I started it way back in 2005 as an outlet and stress reliever for my first ‘adult’ [and serious] job. At some point in 2010, I experienced a quarter-life crisis, took a leaved of absence to explored an entire continent. In 2015, I graduated from nursing school, changed careers, and celebrated by visiting some of the lesser known places in Europe.
So why did I start blogging in the first place?
This blog is a story…my story… and I hope to tell it well. My very first blog post contained a hate filled diatribe about an ex-boyfriend who was not an ex at the time that I caught dating another woman. On my birthday, no less. Yes, I’m still bitter. No, that post is not anywhere on this blog. Then I did disaster relief during Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi, and oh boy, was that a steep learning curve with medical and social triage. It was physically & mentally draining. I needed a place to get those feeling out and the blog was it. Over the next few years, I traveled a lot, changed careers, bought a house, rekindled my love for hiking, took up fencing and boxing, and went back to university as an adult.
The blog has been my one constant for my adult life.
Why Sunday Morning?
Let’s be honest. As a person who has a day job in healthcare, most of my Sunday mornings are spent working. But there was a time–Peace Corps time– when I lived for Sunday mornings. On those Sunday mornings, I’d wake up late, scramble some eggs for breaking, wash dishes and wash clothes. Then hang them out to dry. Around 11AM or so, I’d begin the 5k walk walk up and over a few of Rwanda’s 1000 hills to Huye. At the junction of the paved and dirt roads, I knew I was over halfway to the city. Sometimes I stopped in the bar and had an ice cold Fanta Citron; others times I mentally prepared myself for the giant hill that leads in/out of Huye. But once there, I’d meet other PCVs for lunch, go market shopping, hang out at the pool, the possibilities were endless. Then, I’d visit another PCV and we would cook some other worldly delicious meal and end the evening watching downloaded movies. It was always what I imagined Sunday mornings should be–farmers’ markets, lunch with friends, cooking… Because on Sundays (mornings and afternoons), I was free. Free from PCV responsibilities free from village-life.
So is Sunday Morning a travel blog?
Not exclusively. Traveling is one of my favorite activities, but I’m not exactly in the most ideal position to write a blog that focuses on traveling the world. I work have a career in a decidedly not travel related field. I haven’t even been to Africa, yet. (Peace Corps changed that). I have yet to go to South East Asia, or Central Asia or any parts of Asia, really. I haven’t made it to Australia. Or New Zealand. Or the Middle East.
But I want to–one day–and my bucket list gets longer every day. So, obviously, I can’t really give any profound travel advice about going to places I’ve never been.
I always hurt myself without even doing anything adventurous and I always forget something crucial. Like my passport. It’s no secret that I honestly don’t have a clue when it comes to round the world planning, or packing, or malaria prevention. I actually got malaria while taking said pills. And didn’t when I eschewed prophylaxis.
Is it a personal blog?
Well, not exactly. I mean it’s personal to me, but certainly not a daily log of my life.
I am passionate about travel, hiking, exploring, grass roots health care, education and conservation, reading, and creating the perfect combination of soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. I’m a recovering wine fiend, vodka-lover, whiskey drinker, and tequila connoisseur. I think wineries are spectacularly awesome, breweries are uber cool, and distilleries are ummmm, interesting. On the blog you’ll find a collection of travel stories [and misadventures], and kitchen experiments [more misadventures] I find interesting.
I have studied monkeys and tagged turtles in the wild, fell in love with lemurs, chased cats all over the world. I’ve rescued sea turtles on the coast, taught health classes in Spanish [and Kinyarwandan and Kiswahili!], and built proper stoves ventilation in the Andes mountains. I’ve brought babies into the world and seen them out. Toxicology and wilderness medicine fascinate me.
I am cynical but optimistic, tough but kind, honest, sarcastic, introverted, yet assertive. Working in health care has given me an appreciation of dark humor. Political correctness does not live here. Myers-Briggs calls me a INFP. It means for the life of me I cannot make concrete plans; it also means that I am an introvert, intuitive, and that I am sensitive (whatever). And if enneagram is more your style, I’m 4 or a 9 depending on the version I take.
Life is not meant to be rush through– hurried, anxious and rushed. We’ve been told many times before that this is not a dress rehearsal, but know all too well that this is also not a play. This is life and the only one we’ve been bestowed with – let us occasionally remind ourselves of that. My life has never followed a linear grid and I’m constantly taking what most people consider ‘a chance.’
So it’s not a travel blog or a personal blog, or a cooking (HA-HA), or fashion (OMG, I’m dying) blog?
No, it is not. I write about all of those, except fashion (I essentially wear pajamas or wilderness clothes all the time). My bucket list gets longer every day. Since joining the medical profession, I’ve contracted malaria, the flu, and a touch of the plague. I broke more than a few bones, required stitches, and fell down so many times it’s even not funny anymore.
Slow down. Breathe. Live
Stick around. I promise… you’ll want to see what I do.