The beach town of Kuta in Bali is absolutely crazy. It has been deemed by other travel bloggers as “the worst place in Bali” and “one of the most infamous beaches in Southeast Asia.” And, in many ways, it is. It’s akin to the spring break mecca of Cancun, Mexico, the boozy streets of New…
When I tell people I live in Indonesia, they picture me living in a cute beachside bungalow in Bali, spending my carefree days working on my tan and sipping fruity cocktails. Guys, I hate to break it to you, but that’s most definitely not my life. Jakarta is a gray, sprawling, traffic-snarled metropolis. And though a…
When I say I’m obsessed with all things travel, I mean it. I’m the type of person who will watch any movie or any TV show as long as it has something to do with travel. A bad horror movie that’s set in Colombia? Count me in. Andrew Zimmern is eating something bizarre in Peru? Hell…
Now that I’m back in Southeast Asia it’s becoming increasingly clear to me why I just can’t stay away from this part of the world. I spent a large chunk of the past year backpacking around the region. I visited six amazing countries and relished my time in each and every one of them. Now that I’ve…
My recent move to Jakarta, Indonesia, was a sudden one. I literally had three weeks’ notice to move across the world. My few weeks back home in California were spent shopping for hard-to-find items, freaking out about what to pack and cramming in visits with family and friends. Time flew by and I barely had…
I’ve now been on the road for exactly one year. It’s crazy that so much time has passed so quickly. And it’s incredible that a year’s worth of travel has now evolved into another year abroad. The past year has been a whirlwind – to say the least. It’s very easily been one of the best years…
I remember the exact moment I booked a ticket to Colombia. After traveling through Southeast Asia for seven months – traversing the region from Laos to Indonesia – my boyfriend and I felt like we’d reached the end of the line. Aaron and I were sitting in our bungalow on the tiny island of Gili…
In 2007, my boyfriend and I were scheming about where to go for a 6-week trip. I desperately wanted to go to South America, but Aaron relentlessly argued that we should head to Southeast Asia instead – specifically Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Let’s just say I was skeptical, to say the least. I knew nothing about…
Last August my boyfriend and I made the decision to travel the world, indefinitely. This decision was not made hastily – we planned, we saved, and we sacrificed to make this happen. Timing was everything. We were both at points in our lives where it seemed ideal to finally venture on the long-term journey we’d always dreamed…
By the time we arrived on Nusa Lembongan my boyfriend, Aaron, and I had traveled through Southeast Asia for exactly 203 days. For nearly seven months we’d lived out of backpacks, cohabitated in tiny (and often grimy) hotel rooms, and spent virtually 24 hours a day together. We’d proved that we rock not only as…