In 2006, I went on a group overland trip across Egypt and Jordan. After two weeks in Egypt, we were getting ready to board a ferry from the Sinai Peninsula…
Post-Travel Depression? Here’s What You Can Do
“Home Alone Syndrome” is what I like to call it. You arrive home after a lengthy trip — maybe you’ve been living abroad for a year or two — and…
“Vacation Cutting” — A Terrible Misnomer for Female Genital Mutilation
“Vacation cutting.” I hate that term. Placing the words next to one another is a contradiction. When I think of a “vacation,” my mind wanders into the direction of glistening…
Why You Should Travel with Your Parents
As we rolled into an abandoned desert gas station at 1am, I knew we were done for. To my left, a shirtless trucker filled up while simultaneously puffin’ his cig. To…
That Time I Was Cast as “Some Kind of Asian” in a Bolivian TV Commercial
I’m wearing a polyester chong sam, sitting at the entrance to a dingy Chinese restaurant in La Paz, with cameras and crew nearby and a stylist furiously brushing my hair….
That Time I Got Covered in Human Shit (and Other Travel Scams)
There’s really no words to adequately describe how it feels to be doused in human shit. Disgusting? Yes. Appalling? Of course. Horrifying. Humiliating. (Those last two get closer to nailing…
7 Subversive Women Street Artists You Haven’t Heard of (But Need To)
Why do you travel? Is it to see new things? To experience a new culture? It’s no secret that culture isn’t always housed in a museum. Culture is mixed into…
Vulnerable in Vietnam: Inside An Expat’s Diary
I realized that I’d become accustomed to driving a motorbike in Vietnam once I started daydreaming. As an expat, there’s a certain amount of diligence required to get used to…
How My Blind Father Made Me Truly See the Hagia Sophia
Standing in the gardens outside Hagia Sophia, surrounded by tulips and hundreds of heads beading sweat, my father and I eat fresh roasted chestnuts from a bag. My father is…
Here’s What Happened When I Went from Petting Elephants to Working at a Startup
Expats, foreign exchange students, and long-term travelers know that living abroad can be hard. We often hear about culture shock, how confounding it can be, and how to prepare for…
Going to the Olympics Was My Dream. Here’s Why I Gave It Up.
Over ten years ago, I decided that I would be at the 2016 Olympics. At the time, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to make it there as an…
Blue Hair, Don’t Care: You’ll Never Guess What These Rebellious Grannies are Doing in Portugal
One afternoon, I was walking with a friend from out of town in Alcântara, an old Lisbon neighborhood right beside the river that was once a port for cargo ships….
I Was Shunned in the Country of My Ancestors (or, When Travel Can’t Heal Diaspora)
“Wǒ shì zhōngguó rén,” is what we were taught to recite in costly Saturday Mandarin lessons. But more specifically, “Wǒ shì HǍIWÀI de zhōngguó rén.” This simple phrase was one…
How Moving to Japan Taught Me to Travel Humbly
Most Wanderful women would agree that we should all travel humbly. But what does the word humble actually mean, and what does traveling humbly look like in practice? The word…
I Survived a Panic Attack in a Foreign City; Here’s What to Do if It Happens to You
Raise your hand if you’ve ever experienced anxiety. Me too. December of 2015 was a difficult month for me. At the time, I was living in Tokyo, studying Japanese at…