We headed to India with only one solid plan: to see the Taj Mahal. India is a vast and incredible place that we could probably spend months exploring, but the real focus of this trip was Nepal and as such, concrete plans for India fell by the wayside. Either by way of providence or disaster (depending on if you're a glass half full or half empty kind of person), we ended up not being able to get to our hotel in Delhi and so at one o'clock in the morning ended up embarking on a three day tour of the "golden triangle" with a personal driver.
Read moreThinking of Visiting Papua New Guinea? Read This First.
Papua New Guinea - commonly known as PNG - is a large island off the coast of Australia that I had both the privilege and misfortune of living on for three years. I say privilege because it was an extremely beautiful and fascinating place, but also misfortune because of the violence of the culture and high crime rates. PNG is regarded as one of the least explored places in the world, with over 800 languages and head hunting and cannibilism that persisted into the 70's (and though now illegal still occurs intermittently even today). So how in the world did I end up there?
Read moreCalmest Shopping in Delhi?
I've shopped in a lot of places but India has to take the cake for overall craziness. I was stoked to head to the markets when we got to India. I'd been dreaming of lavish textiles, jewelry, and knick knacks for the house long before the trip started. Sadly, after my first foray into the markets in Jaipur, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to bring myself to go back to the markets again. I'm used to being hassled to come into shops and bargaining for things without fixed items. But being grabbed by the arm and pulled into stores was new to me, as was being followed around the market by a swarm of venders who didn't stop peddling their items to you no matter how many times you stated you weren't interested.
Read moreTen Reasons to Travel More
Everyone should travel more. Easy to say but not always convincing, because let's face it - there are also lots of reasons why people decide not to travel. Money, kids, risk of getting sick in a foreign country and so forth. However, there are numerous benefits to travel that are difficult to gain anywhere else and make it extremely worth it. Here are my top ten.
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