My lack of culinary skills mentioned last week mean that the daily lunch I serve to Ana is, well, simple. Today we snacked on basic sandwiches and veggies while discussing the list of tasks at hand before we leave for Thailand. As I vocally dream of the curries and delicious Thai flavors I’ve missed these past few months, it’s actually sinking in for her that in just three short weeks, instead of lunch at our kitchen table, she will sit down to a plate of white rice and flavorful veggies …

I’m not exactly sure why I was so woefully under-prepared for my seemingly easy visa run to Malaysia last week, but let’s chalk it up to sheer laziness and a touch of travel arrogance.
Thailand gives visitors from the United States (among other nationalities) an easy 30 days on-arrival visa if you enter the country by air. Coming into Thailand, that was simple enough. And rather than apply for a Thai visa from the US, I figured I’d just do a visa run in Southeast Asia once I was settled into …

This is one of those ever-present questions for new travelers – do you bring a laptop on your round the world trip?
And you may be wondering if you should start your own travel blog? If you opt for full-scale travel blog then it’s a no-brainer, you need a laptop with you.
And if you’ve already decided yes and want some fantastic resources for developing the blog, check out our travel blog building resources.
But if your somewhere in between – consider the pros and cons. It can be incredibly liberating to free …

So, you’re heading out on your round the world trip and you want to document all of your travels. The big question crops up, should you start a travel blog to record stories and photos?
If you’ve already decided yes and want some fantastic resources for developing the blog, check out Develop Your RTW Travel Blog.
I field this question an awful lot and it’s hard to answer, mostly because blogging from the road is not all roses, cake, and flowers. It takes a lot of work to keep any site going …

I was thoroughly exhausted from nearly 40 transit hours (Kathmandu to Delhi – 22 hours in Dehli – Dehli to Helsinki and then onward to Milan) when I landed in Milan, then Helen and I bused our way to the Central Train Station to then turn around hoofed it the 15 minute walk to our hostel rendezvous meet-point with Jenn. Jenn arrived earlier in the day and spent her hours wandering through the parks and panting her way up the windy staircase to the top of Milano’s beautiful Duomo. …

The site-seeing around the Kathmandu Valley was really enjoyable and gave Helen and myself a jump-start of sorts into the Nepali Buddhist culture into which we were immersing ourselves. After several days touring around Kathmandu and our crash-course in Nepali language we were ready to head to our volunteer placement in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal.
At this point it behooves me to just note right of the bat that our volunteer company really let us down from this point onward and I absolutely would not recommend VSSN.
*************************************** Particularly disconcerting are …

Sorry for some of the long delays between postings recently – I was actually paying my dues and hugging a toilet for long eight days.
You know, I knew it was inevitable that I would get sick at some point…when you’re in Asia it’s not a matter of “if” but “when.” So, perhaps I can try to think of myself as lucky that it happened so early into my four months in Asia…yes…I am trying really hard to feel lucky right now!
Anyhow, just wanted to update you all.  It was one …

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I arrived in LA yesterday, this is my last stop in the US and a last hoo-rah with friends before I solo traveling it around Australia in just a few short days. I am here until Tuesday putting together the last of what I’ll need.
There are several REI’s (my favorite outdoor store) so I saved up some items to get while I …