This photo makes me smile inside at the memory of the pray flags you find strung all over Nepal. From the lowest hilltops surrounding the Kathmandu Valley to the highest peaks in the Himalayas, and every important Buddhist site in between, prayer flags stretch diagonally toward the sky.

I love prayer flags. I love the aesthetics of them –the way the primary colors set off against the blue sky.

Travel Memories:
A Glasses Switcharoo Over Chai in Nepal

Legs crossed and boiling hot chai in hand, I sat on the floor in the back of Sunil’s shop swapping stories and chatter. Sunil’s shop was popular, and not just with the backpacker crowd haunting the cramped streets of Thamel, Kathmandu, his friends regularly popped into the shop.
And as is the case with any good chai time, hilarity ensues with a cup of chai in hand. See, chai time is one of those rituals you just don’t mess with in India and Nepal; …

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 …

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:
Peaceful Days During Vipassana Meditation

Begnas Lake outside of Pokhara, Nepal will forever in my memory be associated with my 10 Day Vipassana meditation class. This peaceful lake was my one source of company over the 10 days of complete silence and I stared at this lake for a full 9 days as the moody and shifty weather passed over the reflective surface of the lake – the clouds only occasionally allowing light to peak through- before I discovered that the Himalayan mountains are directly behind this cloud cover.
I …

Quite a few friends and blog readers have asked for a follow up post about the ten day Vipassana Meditation course that I took in Nepal…the journal chronicling my ten day Vipassana course was very raw and there was no room for reflection at the time…
Vipassana Meditation in Nepal
I dubbed my time in Vipassana meditation as my “ten day stint in solitary confinement”- it’s how it felt at the time, and, in jest, I do still think of this intense mediation course as one of my wackier decisions. But now, …

Just wanted to give a quick update on what’s going on with me. First off, I have a guest post this week at ThePlanetD on Dave and Deb’s weekly Giving Back  to the community series. I have so many fond memories of the boys at the Manjurshri Di-Chen monastery in Nepal (here’s some of that story if you haven’t read it yet). Volunteering was an incredible experience so I am honored to have the opportunity to share some of the story and my thoughts on giving back to local communities …

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 …