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. Then, a decade later, it …
When you travel the world, you discover all kinds of new things: new dishes, new festivals, new cultures, new friends. The list is endless—it’s a parade of new things. Include sweet treats! Sure, over the years I’ve found my favorite signature dishes that I will forever love thanks to sampling them in a new country—some …
One day I sat chatting with the children at the orphanage I volunteered at last year in Cambodia and I stuttered into a shocked silence as they casually stretched their fingers backwards—their fingers dipping so far back over the top of their hands with pressure that the tips could actually touch their arms. I had been at …
The oldest girl in the group of children, she couldn’t have been more than 13, leveled a sly look my way before stating: “Lady, you buy our bracelets or who knows what will happen to your bicycles…” At that point, I think my jaw dropped. The Backstory Laura and I rented bikes for a day …
I landed in Italy after six months of traveling in developing countries, and it was a shock to the senses in some regards. I remember having culture shock when I landed in Bangkok all those months ago. I didn’t expect the reverse culture shock of landing back in the Western world. Having my bestie Jenn …
Traveling Southeast Asia was an incredible whirlwind. Seven weeks seemed like enough to make the backpacker loop through Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia, but that isn’t even remotely the case. On my round the world trip, I thankfully adjusted my itinerary and saved Vietnam for another trip, which gave me more time in Laos and …
There’s a sense of poetic chaos to the roads of Southeast Asia. At first glance, there seems to be no rhyme or reason. Cars whizz past, motorbikes weave and pedestrians walk with a nonchalant indifference. This frenetic pace to the traffic baffled me in my first days in Southeast Asia. The streets of Bangkok are …
As much as I loved Luang Prabang (and that’s lots and lots), it was time to head onward and explore other areas of Laos. We knew that we needed to be at the Thai border in a couple weeks so that we could do the Gibbon Experience in the Bokeo Nature Reserve. But between then …