Tomorrow marks the anniversary of when a Vietnamese army toppled the Khmer Rouge regime from Phnom Penh—a topic I will write about in greater depth next week—so I thought it fitting that today’s Photo Friday come from the Cambodian capital (again). This oft-overlooked Southeast Asian hub is extremely rich in both culture and history. SVV [...]
Packing for Semester at Sea: Four Months On the Ocean
January 4, 2012 By 56 Comments
If you recall, I sort of struck out when packing for our six-week road trip last summer. Since space was at a premium on the M/V Explorer, I put a little more time and effort into what went in my two suitcases for our four-month circumnavigation this fall. (I still had plenty of misses.) With [...]
Tailor Made in Saigon
January 2, 2012 By 36 Comments
Some of the most fun SVV and I had during our Semester at Sea voyage was getting wardrobes custom-made in Vietnam. That should come as no surprise, as I sort of love clothes, not to mention worked in retail in college and at a fashion magazine later in life, but up until two years ago, [...]
Photo Friday: Kyoto, Japan
December 30, 2011 By 37 Comments
The last stop on the Asian leg of our Semester at Sea voyage was in Japan. We docked in Kobe, but SVV and I immediately hopped a train from there to Kyoto for the night (about $10 each and a 45-minute ride). News flash: Japan is expensive, y’all. While a few of our ship friends [...]
In 2011…
December 28, 2011 By 68 Comments
2011 was meant to be “the year I stayed home.” After going round the world and back a handful of times in 2009 and 2010, I was ready for a break. And then…things happened—purely awesome, life-altering things—and I found myself visiting 21 states and 13 countries and moving 2,300 miles and then going around the [...]
You Don’t Know Jack
December 26, 2011 By 24 Comments
There are two things for which the area I’m from in Tennessee is universally known: Jack Daniel’s and Bonnaroo. However, just five miles down the road from my actual home is the man more revered in my house than Jack himself: George Dickel. And up until last week, I had never stepped foot on the [...]
Photo Friday: Shanghai, China
December 23, 2011 By 30 Comments
The whole four days we were in Shanghai, a curtain of cold and gloom hung heavy over the city in an ominous sort of manner. But at night, it was a different story. This fog only served to enhance the skyline lit up along the Bund and over the water in Pudong. We snuck up [...]
Photo Friday: Playa Esterillos, Costa Rica
December 16, 2011 By 26 Comments
Jumping ahead in time a bit to the near end of our Semester at Sea voyage, we docked in Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica for a very brief 36 hours. SVV and I headed straight for Alma del Pacifico, down along Playa Esterillos near Manuel Antonio National Park for a very quiet night away from the [...]
