You’ve been in Southeast Asia too long when… Chang starts to taste good. And Singha tastes even better. You no longer flinch when you jump into an ice-cold shower. You consider $2 to be an outrageous price to pay for a beer. You haven’t had a massage in two weeks and that feels like a … Read more
Hi! Welcome to My Local Eats, a guest post series in which foodies from around the globe share their favorite local places to eat and drink. Today’s guest post comes from Rachel, a masseuse and travel blogger who blogs at Hippie in Heels. Rachel is a fellow Midwesterner as well as one of my favorite new bloggers so … Read more
During my four-month trip to Asia, I worked remotely as a freelance writer and blogger, earning the bulk of my income from freelance writing. While I worked several freelance writing jobs, my main gig was as a Category Expert for Answers.com. Commissioned to write between 10 and 20 articles each month, I hustled hard to … Read more
After my three-week yoga retreat in land-locked Ubud, I was craving ocean air. So I booked a ferry ticket to Gili Trawangan, a tiny, teardrop-shaped island off the coast of Lombok. Though Gili Trawangan (or as it is locally known, Gili T) is geographically close to Bali, culturally it’s worlds away: most of the islanders are … Read more
When the same company that owns the Grand Mirage asked me if I would also like to review the Samabe, their brand-new luxury suites and villas, a Bali all inclusive, I couldn’t believe my luck. My parents are fans of luxury hotels and as a kid I stayed at hotels like the Ritz-Carlton, The Peninsula … Read more
On my last week in Bali, I decided I needed to break up my serene yoga and coconut water routine with something a bit more… adventurous. So I signed myself up for an early morning trek to Mount Batur, Bali’s most active volcano. When my alarm jolted me awake at 2 a.m. (the earliest alarm I’ve … Read more
This post was inspired by Adventurous Kate’s posts The Things I Did RIGHT in Southeast Asia and The Things I Did WRONG in Southeast Asia. I loved her posts and couldn’t resist reflecting on my Southeast Asia travels in a similar vein! Ever since I returned from Asia, I’ve been reflecting a lot on my four-month … Read more
When I was 16, back in 2007, I read Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert’s New York Times bestseller. And then I read it again. And again. Needless to say, Eat, Pray, Love firmly put Bali on my map of dream destinations. And seven years later, I finally ventured to the island I had read so much about.* And … Read more
So as you guys may have seen on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) I’m going to INDIA! I’ll be heading there with my friend McCall for six weeks of yoga teacher training and trekking in the Himalayas. And of course, the Taj Majal. But first I will spend six weeks in Europe (I leave tomorrow, … Read more
One of my goals at 23 was to get in the best shape of my life, and where better to do so than beautiful Bali? But as a budget-conscious backpacker I knew I couldn’t afford a $1,500+ packaged yoga retreat- so I devised a plan to do a yoga retreat on a budget. More specifically, I … Read more