Once upon a time, a blonde-haired wanderer heard of a magical place called Tomorrowland, in the faraway land of Boom, Belgium. She listened to dreamy tales and watched, transfixed, a beautiful thing called The Aftermovie, and she knew that someday, somehow, she too would join the sweaty, flag-swathed masses for her own Tomorrowland experience. Though many…

I had this sudden realization this week that I have more time in Koh Tao behind me than ahead of me — at least for this trip — and it had me feeling all kinds of sentimental about this little rock in the Gulf of Thailand. While I had a long list of deadlines and a…

With Tomorrowland fast approaching and my days in Belgium numbered, I was itching to see more of the country outside the capital of Brussels. I’d heard rave reviews for the medieval Flanders towns of Ghent and Bruges, and while in the perfect world I would have spent a few days exploring each, I had just twenty-four…

Lately, I helped my good friends Amy and Jordan plan their honeymoon to Southeast Asia as my wedding gift to them. It was such an incredibly rewarding process, from our initial Skype call brainstorming session to watching with excitement as the trip rolled out on Instagram. Yet some of the in-between bits reminded me how clunky…

Brussels and I got off to a rough start. But I can never hold grudges for long — especially against a country as delicious as this one. Ask any traveler with a Belgian stamp in their passport about their experience and it’s likely they’ll get a hazy look in their eye as they dreamily recall waffles…

It has been an emotional week on Koh Tao. At one point, my dad reminded me of a wise quote from a community recovering from tragedy decades ago. “We will laugh again, but we will never be young again.” This island is dusting itself off from a great blow. For me, the solution to working my…