AFTER BURMA TRAVIS AND I TOOK A SHORT BREAK in Bangkok and then flew to Kathmandu, Nepal. I liked Nepal right away. One of the first things I noticed was that everyone greets you by saying “namaste” and folding their hands together in a prayer-like gesture. The first time I ever heard the word "namaste" was in a travel memoir I read several years ago. The author translated the meaning as, “the seed of the divine in me recognizes the seed of the divine in you.”I fell in love with it immediately – what an amazing way to greet someone! I am thrilled that I get to use it now as part of everyday conversation. We spent our first few days in the extremely hectic and chaotic backpacker district of Thamel and then embarked on an ... read more

THE LONG RIDE TO INLE was about as uncomfortable as it gets. Having booked tickets only the night before our seats were way in the back of the bus and they did not recline, which meant that the guy’s head from the seat in front of me may as well have been laying in my lap. Like really, I could have brushed my fingers through his hair and sang him a lullaby. The road was so bumpy that anytime you tried to lay your head against the window it was abruptly thrown in the opposite direction and then back towards the window with amazing force. The heat was stifling. Sleeping was impossible. Around 1am we stopped at a brightly lit rest stop (think Christmas lights and fake palm trees) for what we thought was a routine ... read more

GOODBYE SMILING FACES, orange stone carvings, puja (Hindu offerings), and infinite palm trees; hello shopping malls, food courts, tall modern buildings, clean toilets, and things that light up in the night. By the time we got to Singapore both Travis and I were kind of sick of planning. This made us kind of terrible tourists. Instead of picking out famous sites to visit we just kind of wandered through the streets bleary eyed not really knowing where we were going or what we were looking at. That being said, this blog is probably not a great representation of what a trip to Singapore could be. Regardless, we spent three nights there and definitely got a good taste of what this city-state is all about. We were surprised to learn that the official language in Singapore is ... read more

After crashing in the small backpacker town of Padangbai for one night we made our way to Ubud, the cultural heart of Bali. People absolutely rave about Ubud, and with good reason. It is very well located – within close reach of most of Bali’s big tourist attractions - rice terraces, temples, volcanoes and other holy sites. It is also safe, clean, and comfortable and offers a lot of creature comforts – restaurants serving Western fare and tropical resort style cottages for $15-$30 a night. It is an easy place to stay for awhile. The only problem is that it is completely and totally filled with tourists.They are not the annoying kind like in Kuta – they are families and couples on holiday from all around the world – but still, they are tourists just the ... read more

For years now I have been dreaming about Bali. Literally dreaming. Ive had several dreams where I was in Bali and it was time to go home but I didn’t want to leave and I would wake up feeling really sad. Now, I'm here for real and like in my dreams, I don’t want to leave. Bali is a million things rolled into one – stunning beaches, traditional villages, pot holed streets, stone carvings, terraced fields, raging night clubs, stray dogs, Hindu temples, and smiling people. It smells of the sea, incense, and occasionally – sewage. It is both traditional and modern. Both peaceful and frenetic. I love it. Getting into Bali was an adventure in and of itself. From Tokyo we flew to Hong Kong for a one night layover. We had absolutely no idea ... read more