Are you tired of hearing about New Zealand yet? No? Good, because I still have a couple death-defying stunts to relay much to tell. During my brief stint there, I had this handy little media pass in my possession that entitled me to discounts at a lot of the outdoors outfitters, as well as hotels, [...]
If You Told Me to Jump Off a Bridge, I Wouldn’t Think Twice
April 26, 2009 By 39 Comments
If you’ve been following my adventures for awhile, you’re probably not at all surprised that the first thing on my list of things to do in New Zealand was bungy. I’ve gone skydiving in the Pyrenees, dropped 100 feet into a black hole in Waitomo, dove with sharks (multiple times), thought I was going to [...]
Photo Friday: Utrecht, Netherlands
April 24, 2009 By 22 Comments
In 2005, I left New York to move to Utrecht, Netherlands. I went with just a suitcase, pack, laptop and my best friend Megan. It was there that I met SVV on my second day. This was our neighborhood: Megan and I lived in the attic of a 72-year-old Surinamese bitch’s palatial pad, though she [...]
A Lesson on Being Punctual
April 22, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I am perpetually late. I hate this about myself, I really do; it’s not an admirable trait to have. Living in the ‘burbs doesn’t help matters either; I never know how much time to allot to reach the city—last night, for example, it took 23 minutes to reach the Haight; this afternoon, an hour and [...]
On Guidebook Writing & Being "Pistol-Whipped" in Venezuela
April 19, 2009 By 21 Comments
You probably heard all the buzz about Thomas Kohnstamm’s book Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? a year ago when it first debuted. Even if you don’t follow the travel world too closely, the story was all over mainstream media once a few major outlets like CNN and the NY Times quoted Thomas out of [...]
Photo Friday: Fruits of the South Pacific
April 17, 2009 By 21 Comments
I was baffled by how many different types of fruit grow in the Cook Islands, and shockingly, that does not include oranges as we came to find, and bananas grow upside down. Who knew? But everywhere we looked, there was fruit—quite literally—falling from the trees. A couple times, we were almost taken out entirely by [...]
Will She Stay or Will She Go
April 15, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I was surprised and, quite frankly, humbled by how many of you seemed genuinely concerned that my little sis, Kari, would make the biggest mistake of her life in turning down the opportunity to go on Semester at Sea. What I didn’t realize is that prior to posting my stance on the issue, she had [...]
You Say Rappel, I Say Abseil*
April 13, 2009 By 20 Comments
Alternately titled: Glowworms! That right there is my boy Matt observing glowworm mucus. Speaking of, I would travel all the way to another hemisphere just to meet another San Franciscan. Ironically enough, he was the only American I met on my travels (and a humble yet high-falutin’ anesthesiologist at that), and we’re practically neighbors. But [...]
Photo Friday: The Sahara Desert, Morocco
April 9, 2009 By 27 Comments
Three-and-a-half years ago, my friend Megan and I took the liberty of jetting off on a very extended break from our rigorous (HA) classes in Utrecht, Netherlands to go to…Morocco! After more than a week in Marrakesh and Essaouira, we booked ourselves on a four-day tour to the Sahara. I cannot imagine anywhere more majestic. [...]
Underwater Rarotonga
April 8, 2009 By 23 Comments
It’s no secret: In my under two years of diving, I’ve become a dive snob. The kind who totally turns up her nose at the mere mention of snorkeling. Why would I want to see a postcard of a place when I can actually go there? That’s the analogy I abide by anyway. When our [...]
