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 …
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 …
