I'm a constant traveler and occasional marathoner who (among other things) loves solving puzzles, the Container Store, Istanbul, Thai sunsets, cheap beer, expensive cocktails, 80's music, packing cubes, speaking Italian, and eating Mexican food. This is my Life in Miles.
Author: XOAO
Waking Up In Bali, Part One
I never realized how loud frogs could be. The first night I slept in Penestanan — a small village near Ubud, Bali where there are no roads, no cars, no street lights — I thought war had broken out. An …
Running for the Kids & Other Personal Anecdotes on Exercise
I was a chubby kid. I loved to eat. I didn’t like to exercise or play sports. I watched soap operas. I got migraines. Before I was a teenager I started wearing plus sizes. Sometimes my mother would suggest I …
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Call Me Duchess: Tracing My Roots in Medieval Italy
It’s hard to know exactly where my della Torre family line begins. Many accounts say it was with Charlemagne — and our crest indicates this “fact” with its prominent fleur-de-lis — but almost every person with European heritage can claim as much. What …
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Peace in Langshi Village
After a four-hour flight from Beijing, I am met at the Guilin airport by an older woman holding a bag of clementines. We will ride together for the next two hours along deserted mini malls and through rolling mountains, eventually …
Off the Beaten Path: Exploring Angkor Wat on Two Wheels
November 2016. For all the weight of Phnom Penh, Siem Reap is light. The heavy layer of dust in the air doesn’t matter; I’m finding it easier to breathe here… the streets are wider and the touch of the city …
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China to Texas: The Tiger Who Brought Me Home
My granddaddy — a tall, imposing, fifth-generation Texan — used to boast to me with a wide grin and his best twang: “Nita, I’ll tell you a secret…” He’d lean in as if other people might be listening… “You’re my …
Life in Shanghai, Or How I Confused Lennon and Lenin
December 2016, Shanghai. I’ve just left Phnom Penh and the emotional roller coaster of Cambodia. I also just decided to leave Remote Year, so I feel simultaneously anxious and relieved. There’s no time to stop and think about all of …
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Stirring Emotions in Cambodia: A Daughter’s Story
I was raised by a revolutionary. I actually hesitate to the use the word "raised." My dad did more of the raising, as did my grandparents and my aunts — I took a village. But the influence my mother, The …
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A Day with the Gentlest of Giants
It’s like being in a storybook, spending a day with elephants — meandering through a forest with them, feeding them, playing in the mud, bathing in a stream all together to wash off said mud… They are sweet, curious, and always hungry. They are …
Why I’ll Return to Koh Pha Ngan
Karen Blixen said, ”I know the cure for everything: salt water... in one form or another. Sweat, tears, or the salt sea.” This evaluation pretty much sums up Koh Pha Ngan for me. I was incredibly stressed there for a …
Escape to Chiang Mai!
By the end of our month in Koh Pha Ngan, I am tired of living with bugs, drops of blood on my duvet, and Remote Year drama. We only have about a week left before we go to Phnom Penh, …
Hips and Dips in Koh Pha Ngan
I have had more hummus in the last week than I’ve had in the last year. And I am in Thailand. Don’t get me wrong, I love hummus. If I were stranded on a deserted island, and all I had …
The Extraordinary Flavors of Kuala Lumpur
While Kuala Lumpur has some gorgeous architecture — like the stunning and imposing Petronas Towers — it is not a particularly beautiful city. It feels like so many places where the approach to urban planning is... mysterious. The streets literally …
Gone Nomad: My Inevitable Life of Excess Baggage
Starting from a very early age, I was always traveling, and very often I was flying off on my own. Between two parents, one in NYC and one in Austin: I was the Unaccompanied Minor. I feel like you don’t …
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Saturdays with Pasquale
I first went to Da Fortunato when I was in college. My dad’s best friend had recommended this Roman restaurant right up the via from the Pantheon, and it always stayed in my heart. When I moved to Italy twenty years (!!) …
Riding the Waves in North Africa
Growing up in New York City, I never really learned how to swim. Maybe I shouldn't blame the City. Other kids learned... it just somehow skipped me. And I skipped it. As a result (and as an adult), I had …
Tales of an Unlikely Marathoner
Before 2015, I completed three full and three half marathons. That's pretty good for someone who doesn't particularly enjoy running. I mean, I kind of hate it while it's happening. But I love the discipline of it, and afterwards, I …
LIFE IN MILES 