I love big cities: Bangkok, Berlin, Tokyo, my adopted hometown of New York. The energy and anonymity swallow me up and I go willingly. But I also love tiny towns. Some of my favorite travel experiences have been in places like Kratie, a sleepy river town in eastern Cambodia; Banyuwangi, which overlooks Bali but is …
My partner T is a university professor and spends a good chunk of his summers presenting research at conferences. Lucky for him, these conferences are often in enviable places. Lucky for me, in 2018 our schedules finally aligned so I could join him—in Sicily! I hadn’t been to Italy since my study abroad days in …
I have always been fascinated by Norway and I am a little embarrassed to admit that it probably started at Disney World. Norway was my favorite pavilion at Epcot: I loved the scary Maelstrom ride that raced away from a troll and flung you over a waterfall and I much preferred smoked salmon sandwiches to …
When I told my friends, family, and coworkers about my decision to leave my job and travel for four months on my own, I got a wide range of reactions, but one of the most common was: how will you stay safe? I am relatively new to solo travel, having undertaken just three international solo …
My short time in Bangkok was fortuitously planned over a weekend, so I was able to check out the Chatuchak market, the largest market in Thailand and one of the largest in the world. As I left my hostel, Bua called after me cheerily: ”Don’t buy too much!” I smiled. This was not my first …
There were many reasons behind my decision to leave my job and New York. A long held dream of long term travel; a quest for self; the overwhelming feeling that the time was now. Among these reasons was an increasing dissatisfaction with America. It was summer, and the Democratic party was licking its wounds after …
I had trouble figuring out how much time to allot for Bangkok. Hitting Thailand’s capital just before leaving Asia was unusual; most travelers end up there closer to the beginning of their trips, since it is such a major hub for flights. And indeed, I had passed through a couple of times on connecting flights …
I loved Time for Lime so much, it was hard to leave. But I decided to spend my last two nights on the other side of Koh Lanta, in Old Town. The east side of the island is pretty undeveloped because the beaches aren’t really swimmable there, and it sounded like an interesting place to explore …
Koh Lanta was a good place to slip into laziness. With two weeks on the island, I had no agenda, and quickly fell into a pattern of long beach walks, cat cuddles, reading in my hammock, and yoga at Oasis Yoga. I frequented the local market and was charmed by small interactions, like when I …
My flight home to New York was out of Bangkok, so where better to spend my last few weeks in Asia than in the Thai islands? There are tons, and although many travelers understandably hop around them to experience as many as possible, I wasn’t interested in doing that. At the tail end of my …