Traveling — stepping outside your own culture and comfort zone — tends to come with a side dish of ethical and moral decision-making. Maybe you’re concerned about the environmental impact of a Caribbean cruise, or you’re fretting over what to wear in a conservative country like Egypt. Maybe you’re wondering how to help poverty-striken children in…

I did almost no research ahead of time for my trip to Laos. So imagine my delight when I learned that there was an attraction so new that it had yet to hit the guidebooks: hot air ballooning over Vang Vieng. Is there a more romantic way to explore a place than by floating thousands of…

Once upon a time, visitors came to Vang Vieng to explore the beauty and the peaceful setting of rural Laos through a variety of adventure activities. And while it is still possible to kayak, mountain bike, rock climb, and more; those pursuits have been overshadowed by the all-day river raves happening on the Nam Song. I…

Warning: The following post contains photos of people half-naked and showing questionable judgement. The easily offended or biologically related to me should not proceed. I’ve slept in a room in Malaysia that made me question whether or not the movie Hostel was in fact fiction. I’ve been on a cruise ship in Greece where I had…

For those of you that may be new around here, Photo of the Week is a project I adopted to try to improve my photography skills and document my year in a fun way. The idea was I would simply pick and post my best photograph taken in throughout the week. Easy, right? Well, not when…