This past summer, I visited Liechtenstein and declared it one of the weirdest places I’ve ever been. But after visiting Shetland, I chucked that theory out the window. Liechtenstein is delightfully quirky — the Zooey Deschanel of principalities. Shetland, by comparison, is Bjork laying an egg on the red carpet. I had the time of [...]
HostelBookers has started a new meme in the travel blogging community — 7 Super Shots, encouraging people to share their favorite travel photos in seven categories. I was nominated by my friend Michael of Go, See, Write and I decided to do the meme — with a twist: Cambodia. Cambodia affects me emotionally more than [...]
For my second Portuguese destination, I headed straight to Porto, the largest city of northern Portugal. I didn’t know too much about it — it was a smaller city, apparently very nice, and the ancestral home of port. What shocked me was that Porto was not only beautiful, but astonishingly so. The Ribeira neighborhood of [...]
This week, the theme for #FriFotos is “local.” I could do aBoston photo essay, but I’ve done a much better one before. Instead, I’ll show photos from living like a local around the world. Wherever I travel, I try to live like a local, at least a little bit. I take public transportation. I buy [...]
When I jump-started my full-time traveling, the timing could not have been more fortuitous. Not surprisingly, it was in the middle of an endless New England winter when I decided that I would leave home and head for the heat and humidity of Southeast Asia. Little did I know that the upcoming winter, the one [...]
When I arrived in Lisbon, two things struck me immediately: how beautiful the city was, and how insanely hilly the city was. Like as hilly as San Francisco, only with cobblestones. The more I got to know Lisbon, the more comparisons I drew between Lisbon and San Francisco. It was hilly, of course, but it [...]
If you subscribe to my newsletter, you already heard the news. I’m in Portugal and Spain for five weeks! I just got to Lisbon yesterday and I am already bowled over by this city. It’s incredibly beautiful, remarkably intuitive, and surprisingly affordable. I have no doubt that Lisbon will be one of my new favorite [...]
This week’s #FriFotos theme is “special moments.” A theme that’s open to interpretation, and that I enjoyed as I sifted through my photos. Travel, to me, is special moment after special moment — but some moments rise above all and become the moments you’ll remember decades later. Here are a few of my favorites: The [...]
After an amazing time at Up Helly Aa — from the parades and bar singalongs to the festival of fire to the epic all-night party, it was time to head back to mainland Scotland with our Haggis Adventures crew. We finished our Up Helly Aa experience with a final hazy day in Shetland, exploring the [...]
Up Helly Aa is all about the explosions of fire and burning torches, the parades and Viking songs. What is less known is that it’s ALSO about some legendary after-parties. After the burning of the galley, there are 10 official Up Helly Aa parties around town. These parties last from 9:00 PM to roughly 9:00 [...]
At age 26, I quit my job to travel the world alone. I spent six fantastic months in Southeast Asia and turned my travel blog into a full-time business. Today, I travel full-time, going anywhere that sounds wacky or beautiful or interesting. My goal is to show YOU how you can travel the world on your own -- easily, safely, and adventurously. 
