It has been a while since I posted anything on this blog. Although, I never consistently posted in the first place. The original intention of this blog was intended to be a learning space. I needed to build a wordpress site to practice wordpress. I needed a reason to create designs to practice designs in Illustrator and Photoshop. When I first built the site, I anticipated it to be updates about projects I was currently working on. I had no intention of leaving 12 ...
Wait, what?! You moved where?
Today marks the two weeks since I moved to Kuala Lumpur! When I started telling people that is where I would be going next, the typical response was, "Wait, what?? You are moving there?" And yes, I have moved here! I have a year long lease for an apartment near the city center with new roommates I found on Facebook. I knew one person before moving here. The days leading up to the move, I was more stressed and nervous than before any other big ...
Flying around the world for $1000
The last time I visited Europe I paid $1,800 for a roundtrip flight from Atlanta to Milan. This trip, I flew from A New York to Oslo to Bangkok to Kiev to Miami for only $1000, less than one round-trip ticket to Italy. While I was traveling, multiple people asked me if I bought one of the "Around the World Plane tickets" or how I afforded all these trans-continental flights. The answer: Fly with flexible dates and flexible destinations. And, I fly Norwegian Air whenever possible. These methods ...
HelpX Experience: Volunteering in Cambodia
I have been asked multiple times now how I afford long-term travel. There are plenty of blog posts out there to tell you how to travel on $20 a day, and it certainly is possible. I have done it. If you stick to one city for an extended period of time, it becomes even more affordable. Over the past couple of months, I have found my new favorite way to travel on a budget: helpX. HelpX is a help exchange for ...
A Photo Tour of Myanmar
Three Books Every Backpacker Should Read
Three Books Every Backpacker Should Read The title is a lie. Really, these are the three books that every backpacker interested in mindfulness should read. For me, traveling has been the perfect opportunity to focus on mindfulness and meditation. What other time in your life to you have enough time to sit in silence for 10 days?? What is Mindfulness? Mindfulness is the art of being present. Mindfulness is a state of active, open attention on the present . In July, I attended my first ...
Climbing the 47 Floors of Bangkok’s Ghost Tower
Climbing the 47 Floors of Bangkok’s Ghost Tower A few months ago I wrote about my 3 sweaty, bad days in Bangkok. I didn’t intend to return to Bangkok for any reason other than a cheap flight, but I went back for three more days in August, and the experience was unbelievably better than my first time in Bangkok. The better experience was partially knowing Asia better after traveling in the region, and how not to fall victim to scams. However, ...
My 10 Day Vipassana Meditation Experience
While traveling in Southeast Asia, I knew I wanted to do some kind of meditation or yoga retreat, but I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do yet. In Koh Tao, I met another solo-traveller who had just completed a 10-day Vipassana meditation retreat in Yangon, Myanmar. Her experience fascinated me. I couldn't believe she went 10 days without speaking. I wondered, could I do that? To remain silent for 10 days sounded impossible! And during a Vipassana retreat I would also fast ...
Renting Motorbikes in Thailand
The Motorbike Guide to Thailand Motorbikes may be the best (and cheapest) way to get around the cities in Thailand for a tourist, but a lot of backpackers are nervous about renting a scooter. I loved my motorbike experiences in Thailand, but I spoke to a lot of other travelers before renting my first scooter to make sure I did it right as there were plenty of stories of being scammed or falling. When I first arrived in Bangkok, I saw ...
3 Days in Bangkok
The first city of our trip in Thailand was Bangkok. I have only a few pictures worth posting because I honestly we didn’t see much that I wanted to capture. I was in Bangkok for a total of 3 days, and I can easily sum up those three days in 3 words. Sweaty, Smelly, and Lost. This was my first lesson in rather or not one should plan their trip. We didn’t have any plans for travel in Bangkok. while ...