It was New Year’s Day, and the party in Chintsa, on South Africa’s Eastern Cape, had been long and wild. The hangover was severe, and the need to leave immediate. You see, included on the …
November 7, 2016
Travel Misadventures
Travel Misadventures
Chaos, cops and captivity on the Eastern Cape
The real Chiang Rai
After easing through Phuket and bustling through Bangkok, the Northern mountainous jungle villages of Chiang Rai left the friendly smiles of the big cities behind. My first impression of Chiang Rai? Holy crap! Never before …
May 4, 2015
Ağva's "Club Bar"
My friend Saba and I decided to take a trip outside of Istanbul to Ağva, a vacation village in the mountains, by the Black Sea. Saba is a native Turk, but she majored in American …
March 31, 2015
From cactus to clouds in SoCal
“You in town?” Little did I know my text would lead to hiking 22 miles within the next 24 hours. Seriously. A marathon minus four miles – but with 10,500 feet of climbing, hurting, bonding, …
December 16, 2013
Playa El Espino, El Salvador
Call me a spoiled Southern Californian, but until I visited Playa El Espino I had never been forced to walk through a herd of milling cattle (left) to get to the ocean. This small fishing …
December 14, 2013
Cuc Phuong, Vietnam: a typhoon experience
It was October 27th, 2012, and the sun was shining down on North Vietnam. My friends and I had planned a motorbike trip to the national park of Cuc Phuong, some 120 kilometers south. Due …
November 17, 2013
Afton Canyon: Grand Canyon of the Mojave
Often called the Grand Canyon of The Mojave, Afton Canyon is a little-known gem along the road to Vegas, excellent for a pit stop or a quiet camping trip (never mind the trains; they're part …
November 4, 2013
Apocalypse Now, Tico-style
“Never get out of the boat. Unless you were going all the way. Kurtz got off the boat.” ~ Captain Benjamin L. Willard, Apocalypse Now So there we were staring at the glossy brochure deciding …
October 26, 2013
A nature lover in Langkawi
Close your eyes. Now imagine a long stretch of dazzling white sand and the sun setting over the Andaman Sea. That's where I'm writing from. It's an island called Langkawi in northwest Malaysia. Currently flying …
September 24, 2013
Why Big Bear?
I've got a few days off and not a lot of cash... what can I do? I know – I'll go to Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains. I've taken my family there …
June 30, 2013
Surviving the Swarm in Anza-Borrego
As a young woman on a budget, I've found many ways to travel on the cheap, and one of my favorite destinations is Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in east county San Diego. It's close, it's …
February 28, 2013