I am back! I put the blog aside for a bit there because I was back home, which is not to say I wasn't having adventures, but just that it's been more about internal journeys than external ones. For those of you who are close to me, you know that the past year has brought tremendous changes to my life. And for those who may not know me that well, I can tell you that 2013 has not been the easiest year of my life. Yet I embraced every challenge, overcame each obstacle, tackled the emotions, and walked away from the uncontrollable. The result of this has been a personal transformation- in the way I view myself and the world around me. In the words of Avicii, "all this time I was finding myself, and I ... read more

I can't believe another 3 weeks have gone by and how much has changed in that time. I must admit I'm getting weary with my travels- I have reached and surpassed my comfort limit. In good news, I continue to push this boundary, and it gets longer each time. However, I don't think I wanted it to get any longer than this. Do not fear friends and family, I have a feeling my trips back home will be quite frequent in the next few years as people get married and have kids, etc. But you won't catch me making a permanent move stateside anytime soon...sorry. Anyway, traveler's updates: *Important note* I need to make a revision to a statement in my previous blog. In the sentence "I found love in an unexpected place", the word should ... read more

Ok, maybe not as early as I promised, but still better than last time. So last I wrote, I was leaving France for an adventure in Italy. And what an adventure it has been! Let me rewind and start from the beginning, about a month ago now.... I met a crazy French guy named Hervé, who agreed to join me on my journey down to Rome. To save money, we opted to hitchhike our way there. So starting from Lyon, we accepted a series of 5 rides, varying from a newly-wed couple with a baby on the way to a Rock-loving couple who listened to Alice Cooper and Gun 'N' Roses the whole time. Our final destination (of the day) was Milan, the fashion capital of the world. While the streets are lined with designer stores, ... read more

My 40th blog entry from my 14th country! My month in Nepal is reaching an end and this is the first chance I've had to write a proper blog. I have managed to cram quite a lot into such a short period of time, though not as much as I wanted to (sorry guys, no Everest pics). Coming from Phuket, Kathmandu was a culture shock. Yes, even after living in a third world country, there are still places in the world that can surprise me. I will get to that, but I think I should begin with what was my favorite experience here, and an impressive accomplishment in general: my Annapurna Base Camp trek. Nepal is a trekkers' heaven, with dozens of routes to pick from, and 8 of the world's top 10 tallest mountains to ... read more

Happy New Year- again! In the past four months I have celebrated New Year's according to the Gregorian, aka Western, calendar- January 1, 2013; Lunar, aka Chinese, calendar- February 10, 2013 (or the year 4711); and the Buddhist, aka Thai, calendar- April 13, 2013 (or the year 2556). April is the hottest month of the year in Thailand, so the new year is appropriately celebrated with nation-wide water fights. Anything can be used as a weapon: hoses, balloons, squirt guns, watering cans, and, in some regions, elephants. If it can spray water, its fair game . My day consisted of 12 hours of mayhem, starting from my front door, where the neighborhood kids were tossing buckets of water on any passerby. And motorbikes are fair game, hence, I did not drive anywhere. I managed to make ... read more