The dilapidated bus that was to be our next means of transportation was my next “welcome to India moment” – the bus had been around far longer than I have even been alive and the last paint job was probably administered around the time I was weaning from the bottle.  It was quite a piece of work let me tell you.  There was no reason to desire tinted windows on the bus because they were so dirty and cloudy that light could only seep through them anyway.
There are no …

Udaipur was a really relaxing stop for me and I’m glad that I took the whole week to relax in the town and get used to the peculiarities of India.  I spent my days in Udaipur getting some work done, taking it slow on the sightseeing, and drinking some chai…actually not some chai, a lot of chai.
Indians drink a milked, sugared, spiced chai at least three times a day and most likely many, many more times than that.  Shop owners are quick to offer up a cup of steaming-hot, …

If all of the cities in Laos are thought of as siblings, then Luang Prabang is that beautiful older sister that is the apple her parents’ eye and can do no wrong.  Vang Vieng was the rebellious and party-tastic younger brother; this city, instead, is really old and full of beautiful Wats (temples).  The city is actually so culturally rich that in 1995 it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site -

the whole city!  That means that even in another decade, you wont see multi-story concrete buildings marring theviews, …

I leave in the morning – bright and altogether too early for my personal taste – on a flight bound for Bangkok.  Naturally I’m really excited about this next step on the trip… I most definitely am.  But at the same time it’s  I feel like traveling solo in Southeast Asia is a bit of a different beast to tackle than traveling solo in Australia.
A lot of the travelers I have met here in Oz have raved about SEA and many have just come from the region – so that …

If all of Australia’s major cities could be considered siblings, arriving in Melbourne is like meeting the red-headed step child of the family.  The town is unapologetically alternative; and while Sydney relies on beauty and cleanliness to stay a favorite, Melbourne is an “anything-goes” city.  I arrived in Melbourne with Pauline and Linda and the three of us were immediately struck by all of the Asians, hipsters, punks, and businessmen all commingling on the streets of the city.
The CBD (Central Business District) is naturally full of shops on …

Just wanted to give everyone a quick update – I am currently in the very center of Australia, the Red Center, as they call it and will embark in just a few short hours on a three day camping/hiking adventure in the Australian outback – that means I wont be posting.  Had to let everyone know just in case Nikita and Lisandra are serious about their threats to call the embassy!
Also, I have a stats page now up on the nav-bar…you can stalk me just a bit from here…find out …