Egypt has more to offer than just exquisite buildings filling your mind with wonder and ancient fantasy. It also has gorgeous scenery, a sort of famous river, an expansive desert, and mouth watering food that is so fresh and garlicked to perfection.
What would you like to do in Egypt? Ride an ATV around the Giza Pyramids and weave in and out of the streets, eat a street vendor falafel that will change the way you think about falafels? How about spending two days in the desert exploring a volcano, collecting crystals …
The moment I landed in Cairo, I knew I had landed somewhere very special. The dusty streets lined with various shades of browns and grays had managed to hypnotize me into a state of awe and out of place wonder. Was that really a camel on the side of the road? Are those sheep going to be okay walking into traffic like that? Speaking of traffic, where are the traffic lights and stop signs?
Uruguay is right next to Argentina, and many people living abroad in Buenos Aires get their tourist visas renewed by popping over to Uruguay via one hour ferry ride. Turns out, it’s a lovely day trip to this little port city, and worth the space in your itinerary.
The air here, it really does taste good. It tastes like tango music and far away memories of when the economy wasn’t as volatile, like the Malbec that we drank every single night with dinner, like the dulce de leche that exists in every single sweet thing here. For five days I walked the city with my flight attendant travel gals, Val and Alex, falling in love with the subtle beauty that lingers when you reluctantly leave it.
I encourage anyone wanting to visit Paris to take a look at Montparnasse Cemetery; some of the tombs here are phenomenal pieces of artwork, carvings of longing and reluctance to leave the Earth, of romantic attachment, of family bonds that were broken too soon. It’s nice to be undistracted by the hustle of the city without having to leave it.
Cuba was a place I didn’t think I’d ever get to go, a forbidden destination when in school, this world trapped in time, a secret that Americans weren’t allowed to be privy to. When we were able to go, I jumped at the chance to visit.
Havana is beautiful and sad, a city of color and despair, with decaying buildings right in front of you and a gorgeous art museum next to you. It’s a city in repair, time paused for half a decade, restricted from tourism. It’s also a joyful place, with gorgeous beaches and an authenticity that isolation can bring.
Do you have those friends who you all share a specific kind of weirdness that nobody else quite understands? That is how I feel about the three of us; originally sharing our awkward adventures as expats in Seoul back in 2012, we slid back into our similar roles of quirky antics easily enough. Its magic to find friends who fall into place like a comforting hammock chair.
Italia! La mia amore! I and have fallen helplessly in love with you and your many personalities sequestered into cities and regions. You’ve shown me hot, flashy Roma, romantic yet admittedly decaying Venezia, and you even let me experience the magical Sardinia by the sea, but you have been keeping a well guarded secret from me. I have only recently been introduced to your quiet but somehow irresistibly handsome brother Bologna...
The art museums here are world class and filled with treasures, but sometimes you need a museum to give you a little more than beautiful paintings and ancient mummies. Sometimes you need to dive into a fantasty world with you as the star of your very own spy movie. What is your alias? Where are you going? Who are you fighting for? What are you going to wear?
Staying healthy while traveling is not easy; for anyone who regularly and routinely exercises at their gym after work, or wakes up at 5:30 every morning to run a quick 5K, travel can mess with your body if you're unable to exercise the way you are accustomed to. Even if it's just a weekend trip somewhere, it's a time to try new foods, go ahead and get that dessert, and relax, skip the run because you're on vacation and deserve a break.
No matter your fashion style, there's something to find in Seoul to wear. They tend to range on the smaller size, however, so the slightly larger, bustier, or taller females might not find luck in the dressing room. I am considered petite in America but some of the dresses would barely fit me! Many of the clothes are 'One Size', which is code for : sorry American girls, this store isn't for you and your big knockers.
The last time I went to Korea, I made sure I went on a quick diet so there would be space for my food babies I'd inevitably have when I had to leave.
Seoul is one of those places that is a sensory experience; the sounds of clinking soju glasses, the smells of Korean BBQ and spicy gochuchang marinating meats, the constant cuteness everywhere, the sights of trendy and irreverent fashion boutiques. Taste though, has got to be one of the most memorable senses.
One of those trips had concluded, the kind of Las Vegas layover that you expect to be filled with a workout and a lot of sleep but instead ends up being a fun crew that found last minute tickets to see Ricky Martin in Las Vegas. Yes, that Ricky Martin. He's still just as sexy, and still can shake his bon bon while wearing glitter from head to beautiful toe.
New York and I were never supposed to fall in love, but there we were, romancing at 2,000 feet above the skyscrapers and the Hudson river, the night illuminating the hum of a city alive with promise of .... something.
Especially in the winter, when the crowds are slimmer, Iceland gives a new appreciation of the planet and the raw beauty that is still waiting to be discovered. I had heard before going that Iceland resembled the moon, and was looking forward to this trip. Who doesn't want to go to the moon?
While Iceland did not remind me of a dusty rock satellite in the slightest, it did have the strangeness of a different world
On this magical night of possibilities, every single costume idea imaginable could be sighted. Front street and all the bars attached to it attracted all characters, superheroes, mythological creatures, and creative interpretations of concepts like 50 Shades of Gray and the Kardashian sisters.
