In honor of the movie Eat Pray Love coming out in theaters, I’ve decided to post one of my favorite images from when I was in Bali. This image was taken from Ubud, which was where the author Elizabeth Gilbert lived in the book. These type of dancers perform traditional Balinese dancing, which you’ll see videos of in a future blog post!

If there was ever a time I felt like I was going to die, it was definitely when I took a van from Krabi, Thailand to Penang, Malaysia. I know I said I thought I was going to die in the past, but this time I’m serious. It was so bad I actually wanted to fly a plane, and if you know me, you’d know I’m deathly afraid of flying. Once in Penang, I stayed at the best guesthouse you’d ever come across. It’s called Old Penang Guesthouse and they provide all patrons air-conditioned rooms, free breakfast, free wifi, hot water, toilet paper, clean sheets, lockers, and towels! All this cost me a measly $5USD/night! (Tourist Tip: when traveling to other guesthouses, bring your own roll of toilet paper. Don’t assume you’ll be provided one.) Reception also acted as a tour desk and offered [...]

I love that I continue to get emails from students. I <3 them! “Hi, my teacher - Long time no see. How are you? I really miss you and our class. What do you do now? Continue your work as a teacher? Hope to see you in recent day.” Sincerely, Campbell “Dear my teacher, How are you these days? I miss you very much. Now, I am in vacation in my hometown. On August 9th, I begins new semester. How about your job? Let me know that you are fine. I hope to hear from you soon.” Best wishes, Sunlight.  

I never thought I would be the type of person to travel alone; it sounded scary to not only be traveling alone, but to be a woman traveling alone! However, after putting my fear aside and actually going about doing it, I believe traveling solo is definitely worth doing at least once in one’s lifetime. Here’s are two lists outlining the advantages and disadvantages of traveling solo, all of which I have experienced.

This might be a strange blog post, but I want to share images of the clouds I came to see while in Malaysia. They were always so big and fluffy looking (that’s what she said?). Call me crazy, but aren’t these amazing?

Railey is a popular destination for rock climbers of all levels to test their skills. They also have a fantastic beach and the island as a whole has a very laid-back atmosphere. Definitely one of my favorite spots in the world.

Another destination out of Krabi is Railey beach. I was originally going to Railey for the rock climbing, which it’s popularly known for because of the different size limestone mountains, but decided to just take the slow boat over for the beach. Overall, the island is absolutely stunning, relaxing, and great for couples and families. It would be ok for solo travelers, although I didn’t really see any besides myself. (Travelers Tip: the best time to go to Railey is May. It’s slow season which makes everything almost half off!) Here are some of my favorite photos from that day:

After four days in Bangkok, it was time to head south to Krabi and continue my solo adventure. As expected, the driver was reckless and fast, just like every other driver I’ve encountered on my trip. Luckily it wasn’t my time and I managed to live another day. I’m glad I survived because Krabi was pretty amazing.

For the last six months, I traveled throughout Southeast Asia and lived in Vietnam. In six minutes, you’ll get to see how my life as an ex-pat was and hopefully feel inspired to do something similar. Everything from my students to new friends, to learning about a new culture and trying new food, Vietnam has had an impact on my life and I’m happy to finally share it with you. Enjoy!

I’ve been back in New York for a few weeks now and have been taking advantage of being ‘funemployed’ until I land the next big gig. It’s been about two years since I’ve been to Coney Island and I wanted to go someplace that reminded me of home. I was surprised to see that Cyclone Rollercoaster is still in service since it looks like it will jump the tracks any day now. The last time I was on it I thought I was going to die. Here are some photos from that day: