-
Snapshot Sunday: A Cambodian Farewell
Cambodia. I’ve been here almost a month and as my time here comes to a close I’m looking back on what a fulfilling experience it has been. I’ve volunteered, biked, beached, interviewed, photographed, marveled and most importantly I’ve learned A LOT. One of my experiences here that will be a forever memory was spending another week with the elephants again this year. There was a smaller group and a newer project making it that much more fun and rewarding to observe & interact with some of my favorite animals!
-
Snapshot Sunday: Angkor Wat
Cambodia’s most popular tourist destination, the UNESCO site of Angkor Wat. The iconic view and visiting her surrounding temples will have you up with the sun, then out in the heat of the day, temple hopping to marvel at ancient ruins and explore what lurks behind each corner. Sure, you’ll probably be the sweatiest you’ve ever been, but it’s worth it to experience one of the largest religious structures in the world.
-
'Abbie the Explorer' Ballooning in Bagan
“I’ve been on the internet and I’m not going back.” It’s a phrase I’ve used jokingly to describe my dad’s opinion on technology on more than one occasion. He prefers his favorite CD’s to an Ipod and he rarely has his cell phone on. Some days I envy his philosophy and how disconnected he could actually be. As a result of this “anti-tech” lifestyle, I was never really sure how supportive or understanding he was of my online work. “You know, Indonesia has poisonous snakes in the water?”, and “Why do you want to go there?” or “That place is dangerous.” Always worrying about his forever baby girl, these are…
-
Snapshot Sunday: Cambodian Hide-n-Seek
I spent the last week volunteering at Cambodia Wildlife Sanctuary, 25,000 acres of protected land where we had the chance to farm, play with elephants and take care of other tasks to facilitate the project. It was a fabulous opportunity to give back in helping to preserve a piece of disappearing wilderness and while there we had the chance to attend a local village temple ceremony. We brought a donation for the temple and everyone was excited to invite us to participate in the events for the evening. It was so rewarding to see an impoverished village come together as a community with such joy and happiness. All the children…
-
Snapshot Sunday: My Myanmar
Wow. Words are hard to express what an inspiring, magical time I’ve had in Myanmar. The people are genuine, the scenery breathtaking and the history compelling. I saw the country on all forms of transport, witnessed more sunrises and sunsets than any other visit and marveled at life here. It is safe to say this isn’t the last Myanmar has seen of me.
-
Burmese Monks and The Silver Snow Express
So I bought a shadow puppet. The first week into my trip I purchased a fragile, Balinese shadow puppet that now had to be lovingly wrapped in bubble tape and hung from a small brown bag tied to the top of my backpack, swinging to and fro and lightly hitting the bottom of my chignon as I walked. The problem with obtaining such a uniquely shaped and potentially breakable souvenir the first few weeks into a six month trip is that I now have the responsibility of said shadow puppet for the rest of the journey and this silly souvenir almost cost me thousands of dollars. “Are you alright?” The…
-
Snapshot Sunday: Bewitching Bagan
What an incredibly special and beautiful city, Bagan. The week I had here was truly amazing with sunrises and sunsets over thousands of ancient temples, exploring the history, meeting some wonderful locals, a hot air balloon ride adventure and if that wasn’t exciting enough, my taxi driver and I stumbled across a farmer and his wife along with their cow delivering it’s calf on the side of a small quiet dirt road. It has been nothing short of magical here in Myanmar, many stories to come!
-
The Challenges and Triumphs of Traveling Solo
My eyes squinted, adjusting to the sunlight as I wearily stepped through the sliding airport doors, pulling my luggage and making my way towards the taxi stand. I was surprised to see a woman emerge from the drivers seat, a light pink scarf adorned her head. I rubbed my eyes to make sure I had seen correctly. Not many women cabbies in general (only 2% of the world’s taxi drivers are women) and certainly even less in a predominantly Islamic country so it’s fair to guess she is a minority in the Malaysian transportation service arena. Bleary-eyed from my early flight I opened the door and slid across to the…
-
Snapshot Sunday: "Happy World", a Yangon Sunrise
I quietly climbed out of bed, changed out of my pajamas and shuffled out of the room in the darkness. Misty, the sky lightened as I walked down Wisara Road, the street that just yesterday was teeming with traffic, at daybreak was desolate. As I headed into town the sun rose over a park with a gilded pagoda in the background and at that moment, it felt like truly a happy world.
-
Walk a mile in my shoes: Hiking in Kythira
It’s no secret that Kythira is one of my favorite islands in Greece, I was spoiled by the delicious food and slow paced lifestyle but most of all the gorgeous scenery. Legend goes that Aphrodite was born here and so it’s only natural that the landscape would be matched by her striking beauty. Bipedal is best on this island, it’s as if it was made for a long walk. The size is small compared to the larger, more touristy islands and it’s terrain is far from a boring, narrow dirt path making for a true adventure each time you step outside your door. I had arrived in November, all of…