The seven-hour bus ride through the sticky night to a city called San Gil, Colombia, made the Matterhorn at Disneyland seem like training wheels: roller-coaster-like turns followed by potholes in the road the size of …
September 17, 2010
Backpacking adventures
Serenity (at Last) in San Gil, Colombia
Doing Europe: Prague, Czech Republic
In the summer of 2000, I packed up my trusty backpack and guitar and bought a one-way ticket to Europe with my travel buddy, Jesse. We spent our first leg of our European tour in …
June 22, 2010
Chiang Mai: Northern Thailand
It’s been a whirlwind of emotions coming back to Chiang Mai. I can't believe I lived here for so long and made this place my home only 3 years ago. We immediately rented a motorbike …
June 3, 2010
Doing Europe: Amsterdam
I hear or read a lot of stories of people who “did Italy in two weeks” or “saw France in a week.” I understand Americans just can't get up and live in another country, and …
May 27, 2010
Groovy Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is probably the grooviest city in the Northwest, if, for no other reason, because of the Ken Kesey statue on town square. The Chief was dead when the statue was cast, a security guard …
April 22, 2010
Avenue of the Giants, California
The bus spit me out in the small lumber town of Rio Dell. It was nearly 3 p.m., but the weather was fair and my demeanor expansive. I called my mom and ate a few …
April 7, 2010
Santa Teresa, Costa Rica
I rolled into Santa Teresa early in the afternoon. The sun beamed down its scathing agenda, burning my tender gringo flesh. Cars and motorbikes threw a lingering cloud of dust from the bumpy dirt road …
Heaven on Earth: Gimmelwald, Switzerland
After traveling around Europe for three months, the one place I keep telling myself I need to return to is Gimmelwald, Switzerland. Located high in the Swiss Alps, this town of approximately 130 residents is …
March 17, 2010
Pura Vida in Palmar Norte, Costa Rica
I found a cheap room in Palmar Norte and shambled into a soda (cheap Costa Rican eatery) across the street. I had just bicycled about forty miles and could have salted three pounds of pork …
Bangkok, Thailand: The Land of Smiles
I moved to Thailand straight after college graduation with my philosopher boyfriend and our $100,000 degrees to do something different. We knew nothing about the country except what our Lonely Planet guidebooks told us on …
September 29, 2009
La Ciudad Perdida, Santa Marta, Colombia
So you’ve tasted the magic of Machu Picchu. Now you look for another adventure — and you hear those fateful words, “La Ciudad Perdida” (The Lost City). Hidden (literally) in the crevices of northern Colombia’s …
August 22, 2009