Crowded in Kyoto: A First-Hand Account of Overtourism in Japan Back in fall of 2023, I finally had the opportunity to fulfill one of my oldest and most sought-after dreams: visiting Japan. Being a consummate wanderlust-er since I was a kid, setting foot on The Land of the...
Anxious Abroad: Dealing with My Travel Fears During My First International Trip This is the second of a two part series. If you haven't yet, please read part one: Fighting Through the Phases of Fear I Felt Before My First International Trip I’m sitting on our Singapore Airlines flight...
Anxious Abroad: The Phases of Fear I Had to Overcome Before My First International Trip I come home after work one day, sitting in my dimly lit room, the sunset peering over the edges of the blinds, and I give Dan a call. He answers, happy to hear from me but confused by the sudden attempt to get...
What to Eat in Tokyo if You Want a Break from Japanese Food Let me preface this by saying that I am a huge fan of Japanese food. Number one, die-hard, sushi-loving, fish-eating, mocha-noshing fan. I find the food in Japan incredibly diverse, interesting, and...
Why I Want to Take My Kids Out of School to Travel…and How to Do That The Christmas I was 17, my sisters and I unwrapped tiny airplanes and plane tickets. Our parents surprised us with a trip to London that spring! My excitement quickly waned however, when I began telling my...
Are All Indians Independent? My Perspective on India’s 73rd Independence Day On every August 15th, Indians across the globe take to the streets in celebration of their hard-fought freedom. Homes are adorned in tri-colored flags and flowers, colorful parades march down the streets, and...
I Went on an All-Inclusive Vacation, and Now I Plan to Go Every Year for the Rest of My Life! After all of the chaos of wedding planning, I couldn’t bear to plan one more thing. So, my husband Kevin and I pooled our limited resources and booked an all-inclusive trip to the Bahamas for our honeymoon....
Tigers, Tuk Tuks & Cassava Fries: My Day in the Life as an Indonesian English Teacher How it Began Our feet dragging, Mike, Dan and I walk ourselves up to the front desk and ring the bell. We look unkempt -- dirty, smoky & stinking of sulfur -- tired and ready to collapse onto a bed....
The Wonder of Seeing the World Cup in Person Imagine being in the stands, as the team that you have been following your whole life is about to play one of its most important games in soccer history. It’s not just any game. It’s the last group-stage...
The Importance of Traveling in Your 30s: Why Your Wanderlust Shouldn’t End at 29 “American, eh?” The desk clerk said after I’d handed her my passport to check-in. The small town hotel in the Scottish Highlands wasn’t particularly extravagant. It was a modest, two-story affair with...
Why World Travel Fosters Empathy I spent the first eight years of my life in Tokyo, Japan. Every day, my sisters and I rode the train almost an hour each way to our American school. There are a thousand tiny memories of those rides - but...
What a Spa Vacation Did for My Mind There’s a lot of talk about what a spa vacation can do for your body. A vampire facial will make your skin glow. A seaweed body wrap sloughs off toxins and zaps cellulite. And a hot stone massage will make...
Are You Brave Enough to Add This Festival in Mongolia to Your Bucket List? Traveling to the remote country of Mongolia is no easy feat. While most adventure seekers trek through the rugged Tavan Bogd mountains of the west or venture onboard the Trans-Mongolian railroad, cultural...