Hey everyone!

Thanks for checking out my new site. Those of you that know me personally are surely very proud of me for FINALLY setting up a blog! I have been talking about this for about three years, or even longer. Sometimes it just takes me a little while to get the ball rolling, hah!

What helped me get motivated right now was that I’ve spent the past few months blogging for Finnair as one of their eight Quality Hunters. So I figured if I wanted to set up that blog, it was now or never! Otherwise I’ll soon get out of the habit of blogging again, and then it’ll be another three years until I finally get to it.

So let me tell you a little bit about myself: My name is Mirva Lempiainen, and I’m a freelance journalist focusing mostly on travel writing, though I do occasionally dabble into more serious international reporting and have written a fair number of cultural reports as well, including articles about fashion, theater, arts and design.

I’m originally from Finland but have lived most of the last decade in the US, New York City being home home base whenever I’m not out traveling the world. I have a master’s degree in journalism from the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism.

On this blog you’ll find tales from my travels (as of right now I’ve been to 52 countries), articles I’ve written, and stories behind those articles. So welcome aboard!

And since today is Finland’s 94th Independende Day, I’ll have to say to all the Finns out there: Hyvää itsenäisyyspäivää!