This week, I am bringing attention to the recent underwater volcanic eruption off the coast of Tonga. On January 14, the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano erupted suddenly and loudly, causing a tsunami that impacted Tonga—and coastlines around the world.
Why am I discussing this? Back in 2015, I visited nearby island country, Niue, while on a year-long working holiday visa in New Zealand. In Niue, I met the Tongia family who are originally from Tonga. They gave me one of my most cherished memories from my long-term trip around the world.
In this post, I reflect on my time with the Tongia family and how easy it is for us to forget how connected we all are on this fragile rock we call Earth.
If there is one thing that is equally beautiful and annoying during this pandemic it is gratitude. When bad shit happens, we’re often told to think about what we are grateful for. The last 2 years have been truly utter shit for everyone. Ok, maybe not Jeff Bezos, but for the average person things have sucked big time.
When we sugar coat things with what we are grateful for, I think it takes away from our need to actually feel the feelings we have. Ignoring your feelings or the feelings of others is not healthy—it’s toxic.
That’s why the name of this year’s new year’s reflection is Gratitude and Shit. Because while a lot of good things happened this year, there’s still a lot of shitty shit. Both can be true. And I believe it’s better we be real about it than not.
Two weekends ago, I took a trip out to the Colorado Rocky Mountains. While out there, I couldn’t help but reflect on the time I spent in the Otago Region of New Zealand. The area is most famous for its mountain ranges such as the Southern Alps and the Remarkables.
I’ve decided to share some scenic memories of my time there before I get into sharing my latest spontaneous trip out in Colorado. Specifically, I am sharing some photos I never posted here from the gorgeous Queenstown area—the central destination for tourists visiting New Zealand’s South island.
This is a memory post. A nostalgia post. A comparison post for what’s to come in my reflections on Rocky Mountain State Park. Perhaps this post is also anticipatory of a time when I can travel internationally to see mountains again!
Nobody saw a pandemic in 2020 coming. Okay except maybe scientists, Barack Obama, and Bill Gates.
But us regular folks, us travelers, us bloggers—we were not ready. None of us were ready. And it seems we’re still not doing a very good job of adapting and defeating this virus.
While my travel plans shifted this year, so did my approach to this blog. I went from writing about long-distance international and domestic adventures to writing about walks to my local park.
That is what deviating is all about, though. We deviate, we adapt, we evolve beyond the current norm. Although we all found ourselves in a “new normal” this year, we still had to find ways to make it through responsibly and with our sanity in check!
With no real travel experiences possible on the horizon, I’ve had a lot of time to sit in the moment and reflect. This COVID-19 quarantine life gave me a few core reflections on travel, life, and human existence.
They are thoughts I’ve had before as a world traveler. But now I see these reflections are truer than ever and a part of a sort of global, social awakening. I offer a few of these thoughts in the hope that some of it may resonate with you, too.
From recognizing my own privileges to recommitting myself to living each day in the present, perhaps you’ve been having the same thoughts!
There is so much to see and do, mostly for free or low cost, in any big European city. London is no different.
I spent about 4 weekends exploring London during my visit to England in 2012. On those visits, I wandered the streets of London and found incredible history, architecture, art, shopping, food, parks, and more.
I share in this post all of the highlights from my mostly self-guided experience around London.
Years ago, I wrote about my experience couchsurfing all over the world. I never talked about how exactly I got into couchsurfing. The story dates back to 2012 when I spent a summer doing research in England.
I took the train into London on the weekends. On my first weekend there, I met a friendly local who decided to take me in on the weekends. In addition to showing me around all over London, he gave me a place to stay with his roommates so I didn't have to travel back and forth.
I did not expect to learn about couchsurfing and become a huge advocate within the couchsurfing community!
We’re going to the archives this week! Back in 2012, I traveled to London to conduct research as part of my social psychology PhD. I had a split life between being an academic all week studying at the University of Surrey and then taking the train to explore on weekends in London.
I initially stayed with one of my friends from California who showed me around some fun nightlife spots in London. But I also explored quite a bit on my own.
One of the first places I went was to watch the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. Little did I know, it was a very special day to see this daily ritual event. This day happened to be the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee!
I can’t believe it! My blog has been going for 5 years now! The date came and went a couple of weeks ago, but I still wanted to take a moment to mark this occasion.
I am proud of the fact that I have kept this blog completely ad-free and non-monetized. I earn nothing for the content I post. And after 5 years of consistently posting at least every other week, there’s a lot of content.
This means my posts have naturally been picked up by search engines and are still offering people some of the best tips on travel hacking and travel in the countries I’ve visited. Although modest in comparison to other travel blog giants, I am proud to share for the first time some of the analytics that represent my totally organic readership!
Happy New Year!
This year was amazing for travel—I fulfilled childhood dreams and pushed myself out of my comfort zone. It was a wonderful year for travel opportunities all around!
2018 was also a year that presented some challenges for me personally.
This blog is often a place for deep, personal reflection. I do it in most of my blog posts, but also intentionally through random life updates. I did this on a monthly basis during my extended trip 4 years ago (4 years ago, whaaat?!). Now, I only post updates about once a year around the new year. I love making the celebration of the new year into a time to look back and look ahead in a more intentional way. It's good for the heart, mind, and soul!
For this post, I look back on my travels this year, including my top 5 favorite travel experiences! I also share my reflections on life and personal growth behind all the travels. I do this mostly for me. But I know readers also appreciate the honesty and clarity about what's going on with me!
So here we go! This was 2018.
This week, I am taking a short break from writing about my own travels to give tribute to my Grand-Aunt Wally. Wally died last week at 98 years old. She was my travel inspiration. And so I was moved to write this post in memory of her.
The photos in this post come predominantly from my visit to Germany in 2014. There I met her half brother, Ludwig, who showed me these photos during my stay with cousins in Rohr.
In this post, I write a little bit about what Wally meant to me. I describe some of the adventures she took part in and I discuss some of the words of wisdom she gave me about life and travel. I hope that her words and her life will inspire you as she inspired me.
In my last post about things to do in New York City, I focused mostly on what to see as first-timers to NYC. I featured mainly the places and activities I chose to show my then-boyfriend from New Zealand.
In this post, I cover different things to do in the Big Apple. You could say these suggestions are suited for second-timers! But really, you can pick and choose from this list or the last list and be totally fulfilled during your visit!
Included are activities I've experienced on my own and with others. As a former resident and frequent commuter to the city, I've included all kinds of recommendations from my New York adventures.
llo 2018! Has a whole year gone by already?
There is rarely a day that goes by that I'm not thinking about travel. I'm either reflecting on the travels I've done in the past or planning for new adventures in the future. This post is where I share those musings.
This year was rough for a lot of Americans, politically speaking. I also found it to be oddly inspiring. Who knew a president so vile could bring together so many like-minded folks both stateside and abroad? Protesting during my travels is inevitably a part of my favorite moments from 2017.
As for 2018—who knows what's next, really! Travel seems to pop up spontaneously for me these days. But there is one big trip I am planning for. And I'm about to spill the beans!
This week marks 3 years since I started this blog. This is also my 200th post on the blog.
In commemoration of this occasion, I have decided to get completely real with you all. Before this point, there were parts of my story I did not fully reveal publicly. But now it's time I share a huge part of why travel and why this blog was so important for me.
For 2 years before I graduated with my doctorate and departed for world travel, I was cyber stalked and threatened to the point of paranoid terror. The creation of this blog was my big re-emergence. It was as much a part of putting myself back out into the world (through travel) as it was about being public online again.
I am finally ready to open up about this period of my life.
I find myself thinking about what it will be like traveling internationally during the next 4 years under the Trump administration.
Our elected leaders matter when we travel.
The influence of the American government on the rest of the world's view of America and its citizens was omnipresent during my international travels while Obama was president just as it was when I traveled abroad during the Bush administration. These international travel experiences inevitably inform my outlook on the future. And they inform my steadfast position to keep traveling and spreading the values that I feel best represent me and my country.
In February of 2014, I visited Maui for my best friend Erin's wedding. Three years later, I am currently traveling around Oahu! I am super excited to have the opportunity to explore another Hawaiian Island this week.
So, in anticipation of sharing my Oahu adventures on the blog, I wanted to take a look back at the experience I had in Maui. I was maid of honor at the time, so I was mostly busy helping out with the wedding. But, in between wedding plans, I had the opportunity to see a lot of the island. I drove the road to Hana, swam in a waterfall, drove up a volcano, hiked a bamboo forest, explored caves, went whale watching, attended a Hawaiian luau, and lots more.
It was during a time before I had my nicer camera, but I still took tons of photos with my Windows Phone and received some great shots from the friends I was with. Regardless, this photo-centric post will show you what Maui is like and the types of activities that can be enjoyed on a Hawaiian vacation.
