IUMy23 - Maya Northen

I am the owner and president of Chimera Travel in Collingswood, NJ. I started my business two years ago and I absolutely love it! As my travel business develops, I would love to start doing some travel writing as well and figured a blog was a good place to start. I began traveling abroad at the age of 16 and have since visited 5 continents (with plans to visit Africa next year, making it 6). I also lived/studied in Australia for 6 months in college, a fantastic experience that further developed my love of exploring and learning about different cultures and destinations. In addition to travel, I enjoy anything active or adventurous, exploring new places, discovering new restaurants, reading, writing, yoga and spending time with my friends and family.

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Joined on: March 24th 2008
Last Login: December 15th 2008

Blog Entries: 13
Photos: 21
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Blogs & Travel Journals

by IUMy23, order by Date newest first.

By IUMy23
December 14th 2008

Operation Working Vacation - San Francisco

North America » United States » California » San Francisco

Union Square Christmas Tree
The Christmas Tree in Union Square!

I am currently in San Francisco on a “working vacation” with my boyfriend. I have heard so much about this city, and yet much to my chagrin had never set foot anywhere near it until yesterday at around 11:20 AM. (My parents might beg to differ on this as I may have been here when I was under a year old, but if so I do not remember it and therefore do not count the visit). We are here until mid-day Wednesday, but as my boyfriend has something work-related most of the day Tuesday and the weather is supposed to be [View Full Entry]

By IUMy23
May 30th 2008

Touring Seattle's Neighborhoods

North America » United States » Washington » Seattle

Seattle Skyline
View from our cruise in the harbor

I started this blog sitting in Seatac Airport and am now finishing at home, so it's a bit delayed but my thoughts none the less. As I mentioned in my last post, I wanted to get a different view of Seattle this time around, just for perspective's sake, and I think I have accomplished my goal. Since Liz and I both love the water, we decided to do the Argosy Cruise of the Locks which included the harbor, a view of the various neighborhoods from the water and passing through the locks, which move the boat from the salt water of [View Full Entry]

By IUMy23
May 27th 2008

Seattle Revisited

North America » United States » Washington » Seattle

Fremont Waterfront

Welcome to Seattle! I chose the title for this entry because I have been to Seattle before, but this time I get to look at it with a whole new set of eyes. When I visited five years ago, it was a family vacation and we stayed with my sister in West Seattle, which is a more suburban section of Seattle. This time I am on a "girls getaway" with my cousin Liz and we are staying at the Westin which is right downtown, a mile or less from basically all of the major sites. This time I am also looking [View Full Entry]

By IUMy23
May 25th 2008

Chicago and the Burbs

North America » United States » Illinois » Chicago

This time my travels take me a little closer to home for the wedding of a college friend. I have been to Chicago 4 or 5 times (in fact this is my 3rd time within the last 12 months) but this time I am traveling solo and am actually staying in Itasca, a suburb Northest of the city. At first, I was a bit skeptical about staying so far outisde of the city and of course, I would love to be downtown but I must say the hotel is wonderful - more on this in a minute - and for $5 [View Full Entry]

By IUMy23
May 6th 2008

Most Famous Cities

North America

So I am not traveling, but I found a post on the travel forum here that I thought was interesting so I thought I'd post it out as a blog and see what you guys think. The post was, and I am paraphrasing, "what do you think the most famous cities worldwide are?" I thought this was an interesting question, especially since cities that are very famous to people in one area of the world might not be as famous for people in other areas of the world (e.g. several people who I believe are from Europe listed Berlin and Moscow, [View Full Entry]

By IUMy23
April 20th 2008

Back in the USA

Europe » France » Île-de-France » Paris

Me being Parisian
Me at the gardens in front of the Louvre

Ok so I actually am home now but my internet wasn’t working the last few days in Paris so I have a valid reason for not posting  So I wrote this in a word document a few days ago from Paris and now am posting it online since I have internet. My final conclusion is that Paris is an amazing city and I could absolutely live there! Here are my thoughts from when I wrote last from Paris. Enjoy! I look forward to catching up with everyone soon! Once again I have been slacking a bit on my blog updates [View Full Entry]

By IUMy23
April 13th 2008

Pleasantly surprised by Lyon

Europe » France » Rhône-Alpes » Lyon

Park in Lyon
The park around the corner from our hotel

Like Geneva, I had no idea what to expect of Lyon and had heard everything from "you'll love it" to "it's just an industrial city". After close to two full days here, I have to agree with those who said I'd love it. Those who know me best know I'm a city girl at heart and one of my favorite things to do, at home or when traveling, is to explore a new city on foot, finding all the interesting side streets, unique restaurants, boutique shops, observing the people and experiencing the energy of city life. While I do have a [View Full Entry]

By IUMy23
April 11th 2008

Tulips, Wacky Weather and the Alps...

Europe » Switzerland

Montreux
Me in Montreux, Switzerland

When I came to Geneva I had no idea what to expect - we mainly planned it as a stop over between Brussels and my conference in Lyon. I had heard mixed reviews of this business center of Switzerland, though I like to look at each destination with fresh eyes and try not to let others' thoughts influence me one way or the other. After spending approximately 48 hours here, I have come to this conclusion: Geneva itself is basically a business and shopping city. It does have a waterfront that you can stroll along and a mountain backdrop which increase [View Full Entry]

By IUMy23
April 9th 2008

Off to Switzerland...

Europe

Leuven
Leuven

In my haste to catch up on my blogging, I realized I’ve forgotten an entire day of my trip - my first full day! Graeme read about a university town named Leuven in their Brussels book (rented from the library, I might add, a great idea!) and we decided to check it out. It’s tough to describe it in a blog because it won’t do it justice, but I will try briefly as I think it’s certainly a good partial day trip from Brussels, especially since it’s only approximately 30 minutes by train. Leuven is really just a charming town with [View Full Entry]

By IUMy23
April 8th 2008

Loving Belgium!

Europe » Belgium

I am soon on my way to my last dinner in Belgium but I wanted to blog so as not to get too far behind and also to keep everyone posted on my experiences because I absolutely love Belgium and am excited to tell you all why! Yesterday we took a day trip to Bruges which was wonderful. People often compare Bruges and Brussels and I'm not really sure that you can (or perhaps you can, but I have trouble) because they are so different in a variety of ways. Bruges has much more of a small town feel, with it's [View Full Entry]

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