Diving into southern English life for a weekend is like being tossed from white water into a lagoon. Unhurried locals stroll down mossy lanes, gliding through an all-consuming marine layer with relaxed expressions and friendly eyes. Smiles, chimneys, cobblestones and roads embrace their…
I flicked myself again on the neck, just under the chin. Thumb and forefinger, like I’d seen the locals do daily — still unsure of what it meant. An attempt to scratch an itch, signal profanities or mimic a…
“Here’s where they train the stupid police,” our taxi driver informed us in angry, broken English. It was 3am and still dark. We were tired but curiosity and good manners won out over sleep. Arriving in the middle of…
Stretching between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains are in a blurry category of their own, with complex ties to Europe, Asia and the Middle East, but fully reflecting none of the above. Driven by the heat, we first headed…
When choosing between a vacation in August and no vacation at all, the latter can sometimes feel like the lesser of two evils. It’s monsoon season in India and Southeast Asia, the (accessible) Middle East and North Africa are debilitatingly…
A breeze even for the solo backpacker, Laos should be Southeast Asia’s welcoming station. While it lacks the highs of the greater region — Thailand’s cuisine, Cambodia’s temples, Vietnam’s coast and Myanmar’s authenticity — Laos has its own understated, accessible beauty and culture. Explore by…
Croatia: home of lazy, fish-fed cats, orange roofs and game-of-thrones-worthy coastlines. All of which we experienced on a mid-June boat trip from Split to Dubrovnik.…
I stared up at the ceiling as the howling laughter intensified around me — demonic cackles, warm chuckles and everything in between. Should I run? This was nuts. The girl next to me shook uncontrollably and tears rolled down her…
Journey to a place where music is a daily given, where sheep strike a pose and where green rules. Guinness flows like water, and conversation does too. Here, books are older than time, surpassed only by overgrown, forgotten roads.…
In Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, 45-minutes from the Kazakh border, lies a compound run by a Japanese family whose gates only open to those at a crossroads. Travelers who find themselves within its walls are not swinging by for a night…
At the age of 12, my best friend and I had a serious conversation on the school playground that led to a decision: we would go on a trip, someplace far away. So we started saving, quarters and pennies…
The sound of waves breaking, children chatting in Gaelic and our ferry motoring away faded out quickly under the thick layer of mist tasked with keeping the island hidden from outsiders. We, and a handful of other visitors, had arrived nonetheless. A windy, thirty-minute…
A cafe with a resident cat is simply better than a cafe without one – a fact one learns in Amsterdam. Some questions are impossible to answer, like what is your favorite band or favorite food. Favorite city should be one…
As the cliffs grew closer, we saw the outline of large, lithe creatures scurrying beneath the overhanging rock, their skin shiny and firm. I gasped as one fell, caught just feet above the sand by an attached rope, a…
Think morning motorcycle rides and seafood on the beach. Though often overlooked, aside from the famed Angkor temples, Cambodia’s slow tempo, open spaces, solid infrastructure and friendliness, will win you over. Island hopping, ruin wandering and river floating are all on the itinerary,…