I used to think that the Maldives were as expensively inaccessible as they were undeniably beautiful. In my mind, it was reserved for a honeymoon: something that made this marriage-skeptical commitment-phobe itch to think of. After becoming a travel blogger, my eyes were opened to the expansive world of budget travel in the Maldives: local…
Spectacular beaches, world-class massages, mesmerizing landscapes, outrageously delicious food… Bali is absolutely stunning. I’m writing this from a beautiful villa in Canggu, feeling safe as can be. But because of the rumblings of an angsty volcano, the tourism-driven island economy is suffering. People working in hospitality are losing their jobs left and right, and businesses…
I was sitting in a conference, listening to an Instagrammer talk with pride about influence. The example she gave? A follower had sent her a photo of her going to the exact same spot that she went and taking the exact same photo – down to the hand jauntily placed atop a straw hat –…
Let’s set the stage: You’re flying over a lagoon with countless shades of cerulean and turquoise, dotted only by a few small islands. The islands are so small that from this height, they almost don’t even look like islands– just ribbons of electric blue paint on the dark blue canvas of the Indian ocean. The…
Growing up in California, it’s easy to take how beautiful the state is for granted. But the longer I’ve been living away from home (11 years now, more than a third of my life), the more I’ve come to appreciate just how beautiful and diverse the state is. With a land mass just about the…
I had never seen a landscape change this dramatically this quickly before, from dusty red rocks straight out of the American Southwest to lush green rolling foothills and steep mountains tipped with snow within the span of a single hour. I must have had my head hanging out of the taxi window nearly the whole drive, like…
As an American with major passport privilege, I always get stressed out when it comes to applying for visas. I’m just not used to it, as my passport allows me to travel to well over 150 countries without a visa or with visa on arrival. So when I jumped on booking a cheap flight to…
I last visited Colombia in 2012, much to the chagrin of my normally quite laidback parents. After all, Colombia has had a hard time shaking its global image as a country ripped apart by drug violence, and shows like Narcos haven’t done much to help its image. Luckily, much of my previously held misconceptions of…
Packing for a trip to Bali is pretty easy, but having spent 6 weeks traveling on this gorgeous island, once in rainy season and once in dry season, I’ve got a few opinions on what you need to bring to Bali. The biggest variable when it comes to deciding what should be on your Bali…
