And so it is that I prep once again to leave the United States. My bags are slumped beside me, a crisply new book (Gun, Germs, and Steel) in my backpack waiting for my endless airport layovers and my anal-retentively neat morning checklist ready to see me on my way with all my power cords, bags, books, toothbrush and water bottles in tow.
Can I just say, I’m seriously psyched.
It’s hard to describe how right this feels. You’d think that leaving is old-hat now, I’ve done my fair-share of goodbyes over …

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, …

The ice cream began to drip down the side of my hand as I made my way to the small Fort Augustus bus stop with another long and drawn out travel day lying before me. Both my packs were strapped on and with 20 more minutes to kill before the bus arrived I made my way over the area where Spud the Piper was piping away to the tourists.
He spotted me immediately, finished out the tune and then came over to chat. Since it was instantly obvious that I …

I have just six more days left before this trip around the world is all over. It’s hard to believe that 11 months have flown by so quickly…and yet at the same time, it really does feel like a whole lot has happened. All of the backpackers I meet ask me how it feels to be ending this trip.
I feel conflicted. I really cannot wait to see my family, my niece and nephews and all of my friends. But I have a very clear lifestyle and method of travel and …

Ok guys, I am sitting here in my hostel in Czech Republic in one of the most beautiful little towns of the trip, Cesky Krumlov, and my heart is kind of clutching and, well…I’m getting a bit teary and nostalgic. Here I am taking a bit of relaxing time to finish reading my book by the pretty river that winds through the town (still reading Lolita) and all of a sudden it hits me that whole regions of this trip around the world are over.
Several other RTW travel blogs that …

I don’t want to be too overly dramatic here, but I feel as if this trip has firmly closed a chapter of my life for good.  I started the trip as a quarter-life crises of sorts as well as because of a general yearning to see the world and break out of the borders of the United States.  A lot of friends and family have sent emails and made comments about how lucky I am to have a year of vacationing.  Let me clear something up just …

I have to say, now that I am on the other side of the Vipassana Meditation course I can only wonder just what prompted me to so strongly insist that I take this ten-day spiritual boot-camp of sorts.  I just don’t know why – I’ve never really previously meditated and have to admit that I wasn’t entirely prepared for what I was getting myself into.
Some of the rules and restrictions of all Vipassana courses:  you sign a contract stating you will stay for the whole course; noble silence means …

Holi, Festival of Colors and Jaipur’s Elephant Festival
India’s Festival of Colors, was tops at my list of travel experiences when I planned my RTW trip back in 2008. The rainbow of colors streaking radiantly happy faces during Holi just stuck a cord and a little research showed that Jaipur hosts the annual Jaipur Elephant Festival the day before Holi!

Rajasthan acts as the epicenter of the most intense Holi action although the Festival of Colors is celebrated throughout India and even Nepal.  The Holi celebrations actually fully …