I adore Southeast Asia — and I especially treasure my favorite places in this part of the world. But not every place captured my fancy, though I found something to love about every place I visited. Here are my picks for the most overrated places in Southeast Asia: Koh Phi Phi, Thailand Koh Phi Phi was [...]

Well, yesterday, you heard about the things I did RIGHT in Southeast Asia.  And whether or not you enjoyed that list, be serious…you couldn’t wait to hear about the stuff I did WRONG. Grab the popcorn. Here we go — the things I did WRONG in Southeast Asia! I didn’t take my passport when the [...]

Now that it’s been a few months since I’ve left Asia, I’ve been able to take a step back and view my travels with a more objective eye. Though I had some setbacks, I did well on this trip. Here are the things I did RIGHT during my six months in Southeast Asia: I was [...]

There’s not a lot to do in Pakse, Laos. It may be the largest city in the region — but we’re talking about one of Asia’s least developed countries.  While it’s a great jumping-off point for exploring the Bolaven Plateau by motorbike, the city itself isn’t that exciting. Sometimes, you need to make your own [...]

It was New Year’s Day and I was in Bangkok with my friends Chris, Jon and Mona. After our wild New Year’s Eve celebration the night before, we were taking it easy, grabbing some food on our favorite street corner. And then this guy sat down next to us. It was Bradley Cooper’s double. Clearly, [...]

Southeast Asia is home to some of the best beaches in the world, and some of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen. Unlike my favorite places in Southeast Asia, I’m going to rank this list — I’ll list my top three beaches in Southeast Asia, and everything else is an honorable mention. My favorite [...]

Since coming home — and even before coming home — I’ve been asked one question more than any other: “What was your favorite place?” I could never narrow it down to one! To me, my destinations are like my children — I could never say I love one more than all the others! That said, [...]

Back when I wrote about the songs I heard most often in Southeast Asia, there’s one song that always got an enthusiastic reaction: Wonderwall. Lots of songs get people excited.  But Wonderwall elicits something else — genuine affection.  When Wonderwall comes on, it feels like it’s still 1996 and it’s the hottest song on the [...]

It was my fifth visit to Bangkok in the past six months, and I didn’t intend to stay for long. I had planned to finish my time in Thailand with a day trip to the ancient city of Ayutthaya before heading down to Koh Phangan for the Full Moon Party. Well, if you’ve been reading [...]

Celebrating Songkran in Bangkok was one of my favorite adventures during my six months in Southeast Asia. And while it’s incredibly hard to get good photographs while everyone is throwing water at you, I managed to get a few good shots.  Here are my favorites. Flowered shirts, water guns and the back of a pickup [...]