It's been 1 years and 6 months. A beautiful period of stories and growth, love and good things. Ah, what a time. During our last episode, I hinted at taking a longer break, so I could take some much deserved rest and give more attention to other loves of mine, like my blog (www.storiesfromaround.com) and my French classes. So the time has come for me to do just that. I'm taking a break from podcasting for a while, but this is not goodbye...I'll be back before you can say the word 'Maryaaaannn'.

It's been such an honor to have you as may audience thus far. You've been the greatest.

Thank you, and so much love.

Maryann x SFA.

And we're baaack. Well, Urmi is back, and remember the great conversation we had on episode 1 of season 2? Today we're having a continuation of that. I read her book 'Discovering Your Identity- A Rebirth From Interracial Struggle' and I loved it. So we discuss this, travel and other cool things.

So go ahead, give it a listen...and thank you for being here:)

I'm publishing this one hours late because I've spent the whole day trying to find a fitting title. Whoever said podcasting was hard...forgot to mention that finding titles for your episodes was harder. But alas...at exactly 7:24pm on a nice rainy Wednesday evening...while tossing in bed after trying to find answers for my French assignment...I found a topic!

Well...I'm still not sure if it's the right fit...but it'll do. It has to...unless some other topic comes to me while I'm making dinner.

Anyyyway...I've been learning French for the past one year and whenever I get the chance to complain about it...I do. Because I love complaining about it...and also because it makes me both happy and grumpy...sometimes angry. And on today's episode, I let you in on how that happy, grumpy, angry journey has been...one year later! I'm still complaining....but at least I do it in a bit of French nowadays!

So enjoy listening. And if you're learning a new language just so you can live in that country of your dreams or just so you can talk to your partner or just for yourself...for that street cred...then I wish you nothing but fun and the best of adventures with it!

Love, Maryann Kariuki,

SFA.

I had my first ever backpacking trip 2 weeks ago. And I have a few things to say about it. First of all...it changed who I am as a person and I felt so light in the streets, walking and strutting like I had no care in the world! You should try it out. And if you're an avid back packer...what are your best backpacking tips?

I thought I loved the architecture in Paris, until I saw the Duomo in Milan. Paris, don't get me wrong, I'm still very much in love with you it's just that right now, there's a bit of competition having been in Milan.

It was grand, it was flamboyant and extremely beautiful and full of life. Of course now you know what this episode is about...me raving about Milan and all the things I loved about it!

And if you've ever been to Milan, hey, I wanna here what you thought about it:)

Hvala...is how you say thank you in Croatian. Learn it, you'll need it some day when you visit or you've already used it if you've been there. I said thank you so many ties to people in the streets and in shops and in restaurants and in bars when I was there because the people were so kind!

And this week's episode is an appreciation of all the beauty that was the small city of Zagreb, and all its people and great food:)

Picture this: Adulting is kicking my behind, but I'm trying not to let it. Cheap flights season is upon us and Ryanair is becoming my first love, very very fast. I'm planning my first short trip this year, and everything's looking up!

Bless my soul, really.

On this episode, I catch you up on all I've been about the past 2 weeks, and where I'm going to on my first short trip this year! Consider it a rant with a happy ending:)

Love, Maryann x SFA.

Our Gutsy Person for this month is Mary Ann HallWell on Bridgerton, and Jessie Baek in real life! This has got to be one of the most favourite conversations I've had on the podcast. Jessie and I were introduced by a mutual friend of ours because she thought we had quite similar personalities. So we became friends on Instagram and have been sending each other memes and reels faithfully for the past few years. I love her life and how she carries it. So a few months ago, I sent her a DM asking if she'd grace me with her presence on the podcast and she said yes! So we had our first video chat not so long ago, and our conversation was so rich and so full, so we just picked a date to record the following weekend. We talked about acting, living abroad and other cool stuff:)

My life is a little more brilliant, having had and documented this episode with her.

And my only hope is that you enjoy it as much as I did:)

Dining out alone is quite a bold move if you ask me...an act of confidence in one's ability to handle stares and crowds. So I sat at one restaurant, and ordered a meal as I wrote an article about what I really thought about solo dining. I even went ahead and added a few tips...a guide of sorts. That article is now published on www.storiesfromaround.com. Try it out, give it a read and if you're more of a listener than a reader, then fear not, I came on here and read it out loud and that made me quite happy. So I hope you enjoy the dramatization of it on this episode.

Much, much love

SFA.

Last weekend, my friend Grace and I hang out and we had such a beautiful conversation. We always do. We had an interview session where for the very first time, I, the host, was on the other side of the floor...as the guest and I quite enjoyed it. Turns out I really love talking about myself. I should do this more often. Haha. We talked about what being gutsy means to me, things I've done in life that have led to where I'm at right now and how hanging out with myself is one of my favourite things to do. Have a listen, and let me know what you think:)

I'm currently reading a book called The Book Of Mistaikes (Yes, written like that) by Gyles Brandreth which is a little hilarious because today is all about human errors...my human errors that have led to funny events in my travel life. From running away from a dog in Greece to getting chased by the bus guys in Hungary. Ever done something and immediately after thought... 'nope, I shouldn't have done that'. Well, my life is filled with such moments. All so eventful, and funny now...they weren't funny then. Welcome, to some of them.

One of my favorite things to do every beginning of the year is make a travel wish list then check what countries I went to at the end of the year. Sometimes I go to the countries I've listed, sometimes I go to others I didn't even plan on visiting. So on this episode I let you in on my list for this year and bonus point...I asked my cool people on Instagram what's on their travel wish list for this year and the answers were quite cool! I hope we all get to visit the places we say we wanna go to!

Enjoy listening:) I enjoyed recording!