Author Archives: The Shwits

Shane + Whitney = The Shwits. Cheesy? Yes. Is our cat ashamed of us? Probably. We're an American couple that has lived abroad for 9+ years. The Shwits is our diary of expat life, travel, and occasionally science. Enjoy!

Fécamp & Étretat, France

“I dunno – cliffs and sh*t?” My response when our friend, Michelle, asked what we were going to see on our road-trip through France. It’s been a long and boring summer – well, for me at least. Hence why the blog was dead as a doorknob until Shane came back from Corsica. In all honestyContinue reading “Fécamp & Étretat, France”

Corsica, France

“Are you going to blog about your trip?” “You never blog anymore.” “You’ve been home a month and a half!” “The blog is dead. It needs your contribution on account of I have nothing.” ….maybe I should write a blog post about my trip to Corsica? I spent the entire month of June on anContinue reading “Corsica, France”

London, England with the London Pass

I’m just going to come right out and say it. I love London. So when we were discussing where to go with the family after Shane’s Ph.D. defense, I jumped at the opportunity to go back. The direct flight from Groningen settled it and off we went for 5 days in London! As I mentionedContinue reading “London, England with the London Pass”

5 Reasons to Love Groningen, the Netherlands

I can’t quite believe what I’m writing, but this weekend marks our 5th Dutch-iversary! The whole reason we sold all our stuff, packed up the cat, and moved across an ocean was for Shane to start a Ph.D. program at Rijksuniverseteit Groningen (aka: the University of Groningen). I’m beyond thrilled / proud / insert otherContinue reading “5 Reasons to Love Groningen, the Netherlands”

Snowboarding: Jasna, Slovakia

I’m going to tell you a story about our wintersport holiday! …wintersport holiday. Can you tell we live in Holland? Since we’ve just come back from our month long adventure in Cambodia and Vietnam, we really only had two goals: snowboard & snowboard cheaply. Turns out, Eastern Europe has plenty of good snowboarding if you’reContinue reading “Snowboarding: Jasna, Slovakia”

Reflections on Cambodia & Vietnam

I think it’s time to put a final wrap on our time in Southeast Asia, and what better way to do that than with a ‘reflections’ post! It’s been 4 months since we hopped a plane from Amsterdam to Phnom Penh, Cambodia (someone needs to step up their blogging speed…) which brings me to myContinue reading “Reflections on Cambodia & Vietnam”

Video: Southeast Asia 2018/19 – Part 3

After waaaay too long, the final video of our Southeast Asia trip is complete! Since the first two videos were published some time ago, it might be worth while to check those out first. See them here: Part 1 & Part 2. Personally, I think they flow quite well and really compliment the posts WhitneyContinue reading “Video: Southeast Asia 2018/19 – Part 3”