How did this budget backpacker end up living like a queen for her final weekend in Bangkok? It involves some hastily won frequent flyer miles, a luxury hotel, and a night of The Hangover Part II-style antics. Way back in March I attended The New York Times Travel Show and squeezed into a seminar by The…

Since I left home last June on my Great Escape, I’ve been doing monthly roundups of my adventures. As this blog is not just a resource for other travelers but also my own personal travel diary, I like to take some time to reflect on not just what I did, but how I felt. I also…

While we laid low most of the time we were in Chiang Mai, (tiger wrangling being a notable exception) Wim, Dave and I did wake up early one morning to take part in an activity that combines two of my top interests: seeing the jungle and not hiking. I am often startled to find that I…

Last month I introduced Travel Porn, a new feature in which I review books from my beloved travel literature genre. There’s nothing like Paul Theroux’s The Great Railway Bazaar to make you want transport yourself to a hot sweaty train in Southeast Asia or J. Maarten Troost’s The Sex Lives of Cannibals to make you want…

When my trip to Tiger Kingdom in Chiang Mai was previewed during a Photo of the Week, commenters had many insightful questions, mostly along the lines of this: What exactly is it that you are doing in a cage with a vicious wild animal that could rip your left lung out with the swipe of a…

Pssst! I did in interview last week over at Inside the Travel Lab about what it’s like to work as an underwater videographer. Check it out! I was very lucky that my solo travels throughout Thailand and Laos were actually not completely solo — my time alone was punctuated by much-welcomed meet ups with different groups…