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March 15, 2014 by Meghan Johnson

I’m home in New Jersey, folks.  I left Georgia last week.  I haven’t write anything for ages because every time I sat down and typed something out, it looked like it was dribbled by a six-year-old. I started writing this post many times, in many different ways, and disliked them all.  Or, they just puttered out mid-paragraph and refused to grow any more.  So this time, I decided just to throw the facts down without any primping. The simplest way […]

Categories: 2014, Eurasia, Feminism, Georgia, Tbilisi, Touchy Feelies, Travel

And the winner is…

April 10, 2013 by Meghan Johnson

I’m so happy to say that Rosie of barefootbliss is the winner of the celebratory book giveaway!  Please pay a visit to her blog and send her lots of love. As promised, my top commenters will also receive a gift.  They can choose their favorite from among the books above.  I also happen to be a huge fan of their writings, photographs, and personalities.  Send them some love too! Nicole of Thirdeyemom Ceri of Not in the Pink Alison of Despatches From Timbuktu Su […]

Categories: 2013, Books, Friendship, Giveaway, Touchy Feelies

Gratitude and Giveaways

April 1, 2013 by Meghan Johnson

I greeted last spring in Austin, Texas with someone I loved very much.  That trip feels like a memory of a past life, given how much has changed since then.  From Switzerland to Israel, Russia to Colombia, and finally landing in Georgia.  Euphoria to heartbreak to disorientation to fulfillment, and just about everything in between. Along the way, there’s been at least one constant in my life, and that has been Soulshine Traveler.  Writing here has cushioned the falls and […]

Categories: 2013, Colombia, Eurasia, Europe, Friendship, Giveaway, Touchy Feelies, Travel • Tags: Austin, Colombia, Geneva, Gift, Giveaway, Gratitude, Israel, Love, Russia, Spring, Thanks

2012 in Books

December 31, 2012 by Meghan Johnson

“We need to make books cool again. If you go home with somebody and they don’t have books, don’t fuck them.” – John Waters A few days ago, my dear friend Roxanne posted her favorite books of 2012 on Stories of Conflict and Love.  Admittedly, Roxanne reads better books than I do, but I bake more cookies than she does, so I think we come out even.  I loved her idea of wrapping up the year by revisiting the words and ideas […]

Categories: 2012, Books, Colombia, History, Microfinance, Russia, Touchy Feelies, Travel, Twins

Chasing the Wind

December 11, 2012 by Meghan Johnson

If the wind had a melody, I imagine it would sound something like this. This song that sounds like the wind is from the soundtrack to Monsoon Wedding, which my mother gave me before I left home in 2003.  I was sixteen and spending the summer in Albuquerque, New Mexico for a research internship with NASA.  It was the first time I spent a significant stretch away from home, and like most first-time experiences in our teen years, it felt […]

Categories: Americana, Europe, Ireland, Touchy Feelies, Travel

“And you are from Aleppo”

October 9, 2012 by Meghan Johnson

“Problems that arise with adjusting to a different culture have frequently been referred to as ‘culture shock.’  This phenomenon is usually precipitated by the anxiety which results from the sudden loss of familiar surroundings.  One experiences frustration and irritation as one constantly finds one’s ‘natural’ way of behaving to be in conflict with that of the host country.” – Excerpt from my “Volunteer Abroad Program Handbook” from Cross Cultural Solutions I spent this past weekend in Boston with people I […]

Categories: Americana, Boston, Friendship, Touchy Feelies, Travel

A Series of (un)Remarkable Events

September 10, 2012 by Meghan Johnson

I’ve spent over four months of 2012 in Colombia.  126 days so far, to be exact.  If I had to guess, I’d say that equates to about 35 papayas, fifteen or twenty trips to the beach, and a few dozen (hundred?) Aguila cervezas. Settling in here has been easy, like falling backward into a plush bed and sinking down into the pillows… and then pulling a salamander or two out from under your butt.  And swatting away a couple mosquitoes. […]

Categories: Cartagena, Children, Colombia, Friendship, Playtime, Running, Touchy Feelies, Travel

Things I’ve learned by volunteering

August 13, 2012 by Meghan Johnson

This week marks my one-year anniversary of leaving the corporate world.  Since then, I’ve traveled a lot, learned a new language, and spent a good deal of time volunteering.  Here are a few of the things I’ve learned as a volunteer. 1.  What’s easy for you may be difficult or impossible for others.  And vice versa.  One of my placements in Yaroslavl, Russia was at a school for mentally disabled children.  Some of them could not complete the craft projects […]

Categories: Actuar Por Bolivar, Children, Colombia, Community Development, Cross Cultural Solutions, Peru, Russia, Touchy Feelies, Volunteerism, Yaroslavl

Back on the map

July 21, 2012 by Meghan Johnson

But where exactly? A few months ago during a conversation about ambition and happiness, a friend mentioned that she feared “falling off the map.”  In other words, she feared disappearing off into some corner of the world and becoming irrelevant, however quietly happy that little corner might be.  It’s the “if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it…” conundrum for the internet age. In the past few weeks, I have most definitely been […]

Categories: Colombia, Touchy Feelies, Travel