Now that Ana and I are firmly back from our six months in Southeast Asia, I feel compelled to reflect back on some of the technicalities of traveling. There will be more stories, but some aspects preparing for our trip were far more stressful for me than needed…and once on the road a bit more disturbing. You see, in the weeks leading up to the big trip with my niece Ana, I was a nervous ball of energy rocketing around St. Petersburg. Ana had never left the country before, so I orchestrated …

The boyish voice of a Myanmar rapper crooned out of the car radio as the car jumped and jangled down the road. The taxi’s control panel for the radio flashed a psychedelic, rhythmic pattern of colors on the ring around the dial, the flashing lights alternated in rapid fire as I wondered if the near constant bumps and thumps were potholes on the road, or rather the base pumping out of the speakers near my head.
I glanced over at my young taxi driver, watched as his thumbs tapped the steering …

Returning to Laos was an education on how tourism can affect a country; the difference a mere three years has made in Laos at times seemed inconsequential—unpaved roads were still riddled with jolting, bone-shaking potholes, and a slow and syllabic “sabaidee” hello generously rang into the warm afternoon air  from sweetly grinning locals standing in their shop doorways. Then, the same as now, the (often excited) ring of falang, or rather westerner, dipped and flowed into conversation as I walked through the small towns with my niece, Ana.
So much my …

Who can really know what a year will bring? If you had told me last year at this time, as I was packing my bags back in 2011 to move to Chiang Mai the first time around, that I would start 2012 with an 11-year-old in tow and once again in this same city, I would have raised an eyebrow at the very least, and most likely let out an unladylike guffaw. I just didn’t see it happening in my fit of random pre-travel euphoria a year ago.
Last January, I …

Hats off to the traveling parents out there, the homeschooling, road-schooling, traveling adults with children in tow because man, it’s harder than I first imagined. My niece and I are a month into our trip and the pace of life has changed significantly for both of us. As a serial solo traveler, this past month plus was so much harder than syncing travel rhythms with another adult; instead I plan and plot out our days around school-time, downtime, fun-time, educational time…
So many “times” to figure out each day!
Our first month …

The adventure officially began today–although Ana and I landed in Asia yesterday, we slept for hours on end to combat the jetlag and the 35+ hours of plane rides, layovers, questionably tasty airplane food, and well, more layovers. Her jaw was permanently stuck in the open position once we left the airport in Chiang Mai, Thailand and our fairly large taxi SUV threaded through the humming traffic like a tiny sharp needle making quick work of a sewing project–in short, in zipped through the lanes like a go-cart even though …

The pulse of pedestrian and motorbike traffic hummed behind us on the busy streets of Bangkok, Thailand, splitting and reconverging on the other side of our trio, as we negotiated the terms for Laura’s highly coveted shiny green guitar.

“Okay, maybe you’ll take 800 baht and a really fun monkey mask?” my friend Laura replied to the Thai street vendor, with a hint of fun and laughter glinting in her eyes.

The chuckling vendor looked at me and our faces were twin mirrors of amused confusion.

For those who have followed my story and my journey over the past nearly three years, a new chapter is starting! In October, my niece Ana and I will leave for Asia for six months of travel and homeschooling from the road.

This is a pretty big change for both of us and this plan has been cooking behind the scenes for a few months now. The short of the situation is this: my brother (her father) and I discussed (at great lengths) the pros and cons of her traveling right now, with me. And the pros won out. In fact, they overwhelming won out.