Imagine trekking through a tropical rainforest in northern Laos, engulfed by the sounds of toads, hawks, and cicadas. It’s raining, but the coverage from the trees keeps you relatively dry as you walk up, up, up the muddy hill. Your guide carries a machete to …

What was originally a one day stint in Chiang Rai turned into a three day stay when I came down with a fever and sore throat. Since Thailand is slightly more medically advanced than Laos, and most of my Laotian itinerary would consist of being …

If you’re expecting a rundown of sights to see and pretty pictures of Bangkok, you’ll be sorely disappointed. I made the decision to stay in Bangkok for another week because I’ve been feeling travel fatigue. What started out as excitement to explore another part of …

After saying goodbye to Allison at Railay, I headed to the next beach over—Tonsai. Tonsai is one of the top climbing destinations in the world, and its vibe certainly reflected it. It’s fairly easy to get to during high season (you can simply charter a …

  We were escaping from the humidity in Chiang Mai when Allison and I finally starting thinking about where we wanted to stay in southern Thailand. We had a flight to Krabi, and our options were: Krabi Town Ao Nang Railay I’m absolutely terrible at …

Animal tourism is a huge issue in Southeast Asia. In developing countries where tourism is often one of the more lucrative ways to make a living, tour operations often overlook the wellbeing of these animals. This is the case with the elephant tourism industry in …

I’ve been playing most of my itinerary fast and loose in recent days, but with each country I visit, I have at least one or two things I want to accomplish. In Thailand, those things were: 1) Visit an ethical elephant sanctuary and 2) Get …

Welcome to wet season. June is a shoulder month, typically marking the end of hot season and the beginning of wet season in Thailand, and for us, it was both hot and wet. My friend, Allison, flew in for a whirlwind week from the U.S., …

My adventure in the Gili Islands began at 6am with an Indonesian man peeking over my top bunk in Kuta. “Excuse me, miss. Miss, your van to Gili is here.” Somehow I had misunderstood the pickup time and rushed to pack all of my things, …

I woke up to the Call to Prayer blasting through the walls of my bungalow. I’m not sure exactly where the mosque was located—in the middle of the island, perhaps—but Gili Air is not a large island, and we heard the entire service loud and …