Today I got to live out one of my childhood dreams: going behind the scenes at a zoo. Technically Phnom Tamao isn’t a zoo, but a wildlife rescue center and sanctuary which is even better. You’ll find mixed reviews on Trip Advisor, because if you’re expecting a zoo you’ll be disappointed. But everyone who joins …
Whether you’re going away for one week or one year, smart packing will make your life easier while you’re on the go. Here are some simple suggestions to help you pack like a pro! Fold clothes normally, and then roll them up to save space. Put socks inside of shoes before you pack the …
If you’ve been browsing this website you may be starting wonder, “how can anyone afford to visit all of these wonderful places”, or thinking I must be rich. Well, I’m not rich. Working as a public school teacher in Los Angeles most certainly does not make one rich. I’ve just made travel a priority in …
I have officially stayed up way too late redesigning this website to make it easier for you, my lovely readers, to navigate. When people who know me see what time this posts, they’re going to ask what I was doing up at 1:30 in the morning (and probably point out a bunch of typos). Well ta-da! You’re …
I’m generally a very independent traveler, which I probably picked up from years of independent travel with my family. But I have done a few tours and found that there is a time and place for organized tours, and there’s also some people for whom touring is the better way to go. Our 2014 Round …
This is a quick summary of the most important aspects of banking while traveling and I must give credit where credit is due. A lot of this I already knew, and some of these banks/cards I already used, but Nomadic Matt’s book How to Travel the World on $50 a Day goes into more depth …
As someone who has been road tripping to National Parks around the country since before I can remember, I’m always a little surprised when someone tells me that they’ve never been east (or west) of the Mississippi River. If you’re an American reading this right now, you should know that you live in one …
YOU are an attraction I think that one of the aspects of travel that surprised me the most (and I want to inform other future travelers about) is that in foreign countries YOU are an attraction! The farther you get from common tourist locations and the more different you look from the locals, the …
I apologize for my absence from the blog world, but holidays with the family and some other very essential post-travel tasks have been occupying my time. By essential post-travel tasks I mean things like writing TripAdvisor reviews and sorting photos, not unpacking or doing laundry because those two things certainly haven’t happened yet! Why do … Continue reading
How many people do you know who’ve recommended visiting Lisbon? I’m betting you can count the number on one hand, or maybe even no hands. My parents visited Portugal a couple of years ago and suggested we check it out at the tail end of our trip. What really clinched it though was frequent flier … Continue reading
I am by no means actually bilingual. I studied Spanish in high school, and learned a fair bit from my Chilean mother growing up, but could never really have a conversation. We frequently traveled to Chile, as well as a few other Latin American countries where I would have the chance to practice the basics. … Continue reading
I had been to Venice once before, in the traditional city-a-day American style of European touring. Being in an ungrateful, bitchy teenager phase at the time, most of its splendor was lost on me. But not this time around. This time I did Venice right – slowly, savoring every delicious moment. I was worried when … Continue reading
It’s a bit of a splurge for two homeless, unemployed, American backpackers to take a week long cruise of the Maldives, but it was my dream destination just as Japan was my husband’s. In fact our entire route around the world was planned around stopping in the Maldives and Japan, then spending the time in … Continue reading
It is with great sadness that I report that the worst food and in-flight entertainment award for my trip goes to Alitalia, the Italian airline. After a week of exceptional food in Venice I was ready for one last taste of Italy on my way out, not the case. This is one of the first … Continue reading
My weeklong cruise of the Maldives came to a rather abrupt, and loud, halt this morning at 7:30am when we ran aground on a coral reef. Despite transferring water to different tanks, dumping extra water, dropping our secondary anchor, unloading all passengers, using the dive boat as a tug boat, waiting for high tide, and … Continue reading
The majority of my current Round the World journey focuses on places I haven’t been to before. But there was one location that my husband and I loved so much when we first visited over five and a half years ago, that we wanted to return – Siem Reap, Cambodia. Something about Siem Reap, that … Continue reading
It finally happened. I finally gave in to the ever present touts and vendors and then came to realize my mistake. We were sitting at a beach front reggae bar on Otres beach in Sihanoukville, Cambodia watching the waves and sun. I was a couple of pineapple daiquiris into the afternoon. Along came the bazillionth … Continue reading
I’m sitting on a bus to Battambang, but unlike my post from the Philippines I will not actually be posting this from the bus. I will consider myself lucky if I survive the voyage to get this post online at all. Seconds after I wrote that sentence, our bus went from nearly careening off the … Continue reading
destinationdenise 