Two weeks ago I was playing around on Facebook as a way to procrastinate the real work I should have been doing when a chat window popped up – from a sweet young woman I met at the orphanage in Cambodia where I volunteered more than a year and a half ago.
Many of the older girls at the orphanage asked for my email and Facebook details at the time and we have very sporadically kept in touch, talking every month or so, mostly just quick hellos and messages from them …

Travel Memories:
A Puppet and a Green Guitar
My friend Laura is perhaps the most randomly happy person I know – she spotted this puppet at the night market in Luang Prabang, Laos and simply had to buy it. At that time I couldn’t imagine how she would use it enough to justify carrying but she insisted so I bought a stuffed monkey to play alongside the puppet. We carried that puppet alongside the green guitar nearly everywhere we went in Southeast Asia and although the kids often didn’t have a clue …

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 one …

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 takes …

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 pretty …

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 as …

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 of …

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. Shannon …