Everyone has those signature dishes they’ve tried in a new country – whether it’s a local delicacy or just bizarre street eat. But what about those fun snacks and new flavors on old favorites?
Delicious Snacks and Treats from Around the World
Some of these are sweets, some salty. But all are portable and can make a great treat on a long bus ride…interestingly, most of my favorites from my travels are centered in Asia!
NEPAL: Lapsi

Topping the list is this sweet jellied candy. I don’t even like chewy candies but this …

Travel Memories: Cambodian Child Dancers Training

Chatting with the children at the orphanage I volunteered at last year in Cambodian my eyes popped open and I stuttered into a shocked silence as they casually stretched their fingers backwards – their fingers dipping so far back over the top of their hands with pressure that the tips could actually touch their arms.
Just as I used to practice my Irish dance steps under the chairs during lectures in class, these kids took any opportunity to stretch their fingers and further the process that …

The oldest girl in the group of children, she couldn’t have been more than 13, leveled a sly look my way before stating:
“Lady, you buy our bracelets or who knows what will happen to your bicycles…”
At that point, I think my jaw dropped.
The Backstory
Laura and I rented bikes for a day of exploring the Angkor temples closet to Siem Reap – and after a pretty harried bike ride down a dusty and trafficky road we were grateful to chain up our bikes to a nearby tree with some …

Let’s take a flashback today to the Cambodia stop on my RTW trip…exactly this time last year; I was traveling with a friend through SEA.

I’m not sure what it is about music, but it just bridges gaps. Perhaps it’s the nature of music – inclusive; everyone who can hear it feels a part of the experience.
Laura’s green guitar and with a hand-embroidered Laotian pink strap was like a magnet for all of the children hawking bracelets and guidebooks near the temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. As soon …

Having Jenn join us for this leg of the trip has really given me a bit of perspective about the months spent traveling in developing world. For me, after five months of backpacking I really lost track of the delineation between my developing world experiences and life back home in the states.
Jenn though had no such confusion when she arrived with shiny-clean clothes and a backpack that smelled distinctly better than mine (what is that funk!?!). Jenn knew two things about herself when deciding to join a leg …

I have come to a pretty clear conclusion from my four months of travel in Asia -the name Shannon is not common, normal, or in some cases, even comprehensible. It’s completely normal in the United States…and Ireland for that matter!…but Asia is a whole other story. I dare-say that the theme for my journey over the past seven months could be summarized as “The Changing Names of Shannon” or, perhaps even more appropriate:  “The Complete Bastardization of my Name.”
Where did this start you may ask? Well, in Australia actually. …

I don’t want to be too overly dramatic here, but I feel as if this trip has firmly closed a chapter of my life for good.  I started the trip as a quarter-life crises of sorts as well as because of a general yearning to see the world and break out of the borders of the United States.  A lot of friends and family have sent emails and made comments about how lucky I am to have a year of vacationing.  Let me clear something up …

After the Gibbon Experience I really didn’t have a lot of time left in Southeast Asia before I was due to meet cousin Helen in India.  With that in mind I hopped on a quick puddle-jumper flight out of Luang Prabang and landed in Siem Reap, Cambodia just an hour later.  I decided to take out Vietnam from my itinerary – it was just too much to do in just six weeks and now that I’ve been on the road for a while I’ve really been able to …