I love Boracay. Ever since my first visit to the Philippines’ most popular beach in November 2013, I’ve dreamed about frolicking in its turquoise waters on oh so many occasions. I mean, look at it. It’s no wonder White Beach is my second favorite beach in Southeast Asia. It’s perfect! Or is it? For those who…
Living abroad is bound to change you. It has definitely changed me. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not going to say that living in Jakarta has completely transformed everything about me, but it has impacted my life in some pretty incredible ways. If you’ve been following along on this whole journey with me you’ll know that living…
There is a big difference between living in and traveling in Jakarta. When I travel to a new city I aim to get to know it as intimately as possible. I check out the tourist attractions, I eat the street food and I wander around aimlessly to see what I can find. But I haven’t…
Bali might be a small island but every time I visit I’m wowed by the fact that there are so many beautiful and vastly different places to visit in Bali. And the best part is that every one of them is completely different. From rice terraces to tiny islands to turquoise beaches, Bali really does…
(UPDATE: As of May 2019, tourism is booming on Nusa Penida. I just want all of you travelers out there to know that the off-the-beaten-path destination described here has changed a lot since my visit. That being said, I still love Nusa Penida and definitely recommend visiting. Happy travels!) I’ve said this before but I’m…
I can’t say that Bali is my favorite destination in the world, but it’s slowly growing on me. I’ve been lucky enough to visit the island five times over the past 18 months and during each trip I have managed to find a new facet of Bali that makes me love this little tropical island more and more….
Renting a scooter in Southeast Asia is never something I thought I would do. In fact, I never thought I would ever muster the courage to ride a scooter. The thought of it freaked me out. I’m not sure if I was more nervous about crashing and burning or making a fool out of myself…
I’ve been traveling the world on and off for 10 years, but before I moved to Jakarta I’d never actually lived outside of California before. Clearly living abroad is way different than traveling. Having the chance to live in Jakarta has enabled me to fully immerse myself in the culture and get up close and personal with…
UPDATE (May 7, 2017): I’ve been hearing from some readers that Pasar Santa has all but shut down. Because I no longer live in Jakarta, I’m not exactly sure what the status of Pasar Santa’s businesses is. It looks like some are still open, but it sounds like a lot of them have been forced to…
Before I moved to Jakarta, I was really worried that being a vegetarian in Indonesia was going to be really frustrating. I had already spent two months traveling the length of Java and Bali, subsisting on a steady diet of nasi goreng (Indonesian fried rice), which got really old, really fast. Back then it appeared that the concept…