After living in Scotland, I thought I had any slang of the English language down pat. In fact, when I returned to the States, I rather pissed my mom off by answering her requests with phrases like “I can’t be arsed” (meaning, frankly I’m just too lazy), which let me tell you did not go [...]
Taking the Plunge in the Great Barrier Reef
January 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment
With all this talk of licking ant butts, cicadas with urinary tract disorders, giant man-eating lizards (perhaps I exaggerate a tad bit), it would only be fitting that I tell you about my underwater follies, no? You see, my mere days in the Great Barrier Reef coincided with a time of year I hate more [...]
Now I See Why They Call it That
January 24, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I guess I missed out on the whole spiel about Lizard Island—one of the most remote spots in the Great Barrier Reef—and its origins (that or I was too ADD to pay attention), because I was hurrying to breakfast our first morning on the isle and JUMPED OUT OF MY SKIN when this slithered across [...]
Welcome!
January 23, 2009 By 7 Comments
If you’ve made your way here via the Bloggies site and scrolled down a bit, you may be all, “um, this girl doesn’t look like a travel blogger!” considering the last few posts are a bit non-travel-related. Wellll, I’m trying to get all my ducks in a row (and sleep recovered) after last week’s whirlwind [...]
My San Francisco Treat
January 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment
My life is one constant game of catch-up. Think about how on your annual vacation it takes twice as long to catch up on things—work, laundry, e-mails, an every-growing DVR queue—than it does actually going on the trip. Then imagine doing that every other week or so. That’s my life in a nutshell. It’s exhausting. [...]
That Time I Licked an Ant’s Butt**
January 18, 2009 By 21 Comments
Sadly, this post is exactly what it seems, not a mere figure of speech (what would “licking an ant’s butt” mean figuratively anyway, you think?). While on Fitzroy Island in Australia last week, our intrepid outdoor guide Jeff helped us brave the wilds of the Aussie rainforest (or rather the 10-minute trek to Nudey Beach). [...]
I Come from a Land Down Under
January 14, 2009 By 42 Comments
Greetings from the future (unless you happen to be in Australia, as well, in which case greetings from the present!). Ironically enough, I just finished The Time Traveler’s Wife this afternoon and know better than to reveal events that have yet to unfold to the rest of you, so all I’ll say is that the [...]
Anatomy of a Frequent Flier
January 9, 2009 By Leave a Comment
People assume because of the high volume of flights I take, I must be one Hell of a packer. This isn’t necessarily true, especially because many of my trips are in combination with others and it’s downright impossible to pack light (e.g. in 2007, over a three-week period, I left NYC and flew to Iceland [...]
Shameless Wednesday Confession: On Fire
January 7, 2009 By Leave a Comment
It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, hasn’t it?, and after Kerri Anne’s recent duel with the pilot light, I thought it only appropriate to tell you guys that, sharks and talking on the phone aside, my next biggest fear in life is…FIRE. That’s right, I’m a certified, Grade-A pyrophobic. So it [...]
Why Do Internet Scammers Always Hail From Nigeria?
January 4, 2009 By Leave a Comment
In the six months before I left New York, I had to fill the two other bedrooms in my apartment, which meant two long, tedious Craigslist searches for roommates. Each time, I received no fewer than 100 applicants, though 10 percent of them always looked something like this (copied verbatim): Hello Rommie!! How are u [...]
