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 …
Category: Asia
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 …
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 …
LIFE IN MILES 