Categories
Travel Gear

The 32 Liter Packing Challenge!

Packing is like Zen to me. It’s an activity that brings me great calm, as I work to perfect what I would consider to be an art form. But this time was different. This was the time I truly put my new “ultralight backpacking” mentality to test! You see, in December I drastically downsized from a […]

Categories
Travel Gear Travel Tips

The Secret to Ultralight Backpacking

How do you define ultralight backpacking? Sure it’s minimalist packing, but everyone seems to have their own definition of this idea. After all, on my 2010 Asian Adventure I thought I was packing light… I had enough sets of fresh clothes for 5 days and enough shirts for a week! Here’s the thing… I didn’t know […]

Categories
Travel Gear Travel Tips

My New Backpack is 1/3 the Size of My Old One. Am I Crazy??

Traveling light is a mantra to live by. While I always heard this statement, I never quite took it to heart. That is, until I had to hike up a mountain with my full, 45 pound (20.4 kilogram) pack on just to find some accommodation for the night! But here’s the thing. Before I set off […]

Categories
CouchSurfing USA Utah

Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City is a rather unlikely tourist destination. Aside from being the capital of the U.S. state of Utah, its claims to fame are being the host of the 2002 Winter Olympics and its role as the seat of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more commonly known as the Mormon Church. […]

Categories
Photos Say What??

Say What?? Travel Photo: Title

Bangkok is a city of many food courts. But it’s not quite the type of food court you like to think of. You see, the Thai version of a food court involves booths that only make one or two unique items. Often times, these will have a central cashier somewhere. That’s not to say that […]

Categories
Travel Tips

Why I Don’t Like Visiting Cities

When I told people I was going to China for 2 months, their faces lit up as they gushed about all those places they had always dreamed about seeing: Beijing, The Great Wall, and Xian’s Army of Terracotta Warriors. So imagine the looks on their faces when I told them that my travels did not […]

Categories
Crazy Road Trips Laos Travel Stories

The Day the Lao Bridge Collapsed (VIDEO)

Peak travel periods tend to be based around weather. People head to Southeast Asia in the fall and winter because it’s the dry season. Chances are you’ll have better vistas and sunnier weather, but have to deal with hefty crowds. Traveling during the off-season (in the case of Southeast Asia, the monsoon season) can be […]

Categories
USA Washington DC

Weekend in DC

Imagine, if you will, a city filled with gleaming white, regal-looking buildings. A gleaming capital city…the palatial crown of this democracy. That is, of course, if you don’t turn your head a little to the left! Washington DC is a city of contrasts. On one hand, it’s a picture perfect city that looks exactly like […]