Located 45 minutes north of San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge is a place where you can find trees older than the USA itself. It’s called Muir Woods and it happens to be the home of thousands of ancient Red Wood trees. Not only is Muir Woods a national park, it is also a […]
Arriving in Hue, Central Vietnam, I can immediately see the difference from the north. It’s calmer, more relaxed, the people are friendlier and the streets cleaner. Hue is a huge city with a lot of history, specifically regarding the Vietnam War. I am a little wary on how they would receive Americans, as one should […]
Book early—reserve a room in advance to reap benefits like peace of mind, plenty of selection and discounts that are only available if you book ahead. For example, the oceanfront Courtyard by Marriott in Carolina Beach is currently offering 20% off when you book a weekend stay 14 or more days in advance. Stay standard, but be prepared to […]
Metro Rush Hour The Dublin metro is a speedy and reliably way to zip around the city. Locally called the “Luas,” this light-rail tram can take you from the pedestrian friendly city center, past the medieval mummies of St. Michan’s Church at Four Courts stop, and all the way to the Guinness Storehouse at James’s […]
A bell tolls from a nearby temple, welcoming the rising sun as it seeps through the valleys, illuminating one pagoda at a time. Dawn marks the hours of alms for the novices that inhabit the hundreds of monasteries and nunneries of Sagaing, the holy center of Myanmar. I watched through the bamboo thatches of my […]
A country in the midst of a political transition and geographically placed along the Himalayas, sharing borders with India and Bangladesh and linking a “Golden Triangle” with Thailand and Laos, Burma, now Myanmar, is a fascinating country with the friendliest people in Asia. Yangon I stay near the Sule Paya, a golden pagoda set in […]
“Now, we go to the supermarket”, says Abdullah, with a smile. We know the smile is ironic and that we are not about to walk into a Safeway. My son Rohan, our Malaysian friend Fazila, and I have hired Abdullah to guide us through the labyrinthine streets of Medina El Bali, the ancient quarter in […]
During my freshman year of college, I spent Spring Break in Utila, Honduras. Utila is one of the Bay Islands located in the Caribbean. It is so small that there is no real airport on the island. Instead, I flew to the nearby island of Roatan. Before I left, an overeager escalator chomped at the airport through […]
Karwa Chauth is a one-day festival celebrated by Hindu women in northern and western India. The day is especially auspicious for married women, who mark the event by fasting from sunrise to moonrise in order to pray for the well-being, prosperity and longevity of their husbands. There are many stories in epic tales such as […]
Isn’t it amazing how travel can change your perspective? This probably applies no matter where you go. Yet, I think observing the daily routines of people in another country brings unique perspective. Having a cultural benchmark can focus your thinking on what’s important in life.
Over the last several years, food trucks have come on full force in major cities across the country. Food trucks in Atlanta have everything from Bubble tea, Soul food, Indian wraps and everything in between.
My daughter Dawn and I knew Cuba would play with our expectations as soon as we landed. The female personnel at the Havana airport were dressed in conventional style uniforms but where their skirt hems ended they had on fishnet or other patterned stockings.
If by some chance, you find yourself in Holland amidst the endless stream of bicyclists, multi-ethnic food, canals, and cobblestones, I hope you venture outside of Amsterdam to see what else there is to offer. With a landmass of 41,543 square kilometers and an insanely efficient public transportation system, Holland is easy to move around […]
Chef Nicholas Walker of Cobb Galleria Centre invited me to celebrate Spring with him in his kitchen. He presented a multiple-course lunch that depicted a transition of winter into spring using. Some dishes leaned towards the coziness of winter, other towards a gentle lightness of spring.
Several years ago, I made the decision like many others, to leave my well guided path of working my way up the ranks in a stable career, to venture off on a new journey traveling around the world and looking for alternative possibilities for earning my way in life. I had no solid idea of […]
I discovered this concept of “volunteering holiday” quite by accident. My former flatmate had booked one a couple of years before, and I had signed up for the newsletter fully intending to go someday.
For years I had the desire to travel abroad and volunteer, but it wasn’t until 2010 I took the leap and finally did it. I chose to volunteer through a non-profit organization called Cross-Cultural Solutions (CCS), and I chose Morocco as my first volunteer country.
On June 24th, I will begin a 6 day climb to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa. The purpose of my climb is to raise money for the O’Brien School for the Maasai, and a women’s group that operates out of a room in the school. The O’Brien School for the Maasai is […]
Kids grow up quick in Nepal. They have to support their parents, raise younger siblings, and help out in the fields before and after school. When in school there’s often a lack of teachers and many of the children sit in the class unsupervised. Poverty and hardship breed creativity and resourcefulness, whether it’s a kite made […]
Continued from part 1… We start our second day crossing the Dudh Kosi (Milk River) on a steel suspension bridge about 50 metres (165ft) above the river – it’s a thrilling feeling with mountains on each side and the roaring river below. As we cross, the wind pushes us to one side and you feel […]
