A MUST MUST MUST have for world travelers. Ever tried to pack for two completely different weather on the same trip? It is the most difficult thing to do while traveling, in my opinion. Though even if you’re not going to places with opposite weather...
With a population of roughly 25,000, Tupiza is known as the “town where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid met their end at the hands of the Bolivian army.” From Uyuni where the salt flats are, many travelers will select the route that goes to the Atacama...
1. Leftlanesport.com Sign up for their newsletter and each day you will receive an update on their new inventories. Great place to find brand and activity specific items such as wetsuits, sports equipments, biking shoes, camping gears, camera bags, etc. I also love their clearance sales,...
Sometimes I forget those days before smartphones were a necessity. Here is a list of my all time favorite apps and web tools to make travel easier even without Wi-Fi. Separated into 3 phases; before, during, and after travel. Before you arrive to your destination…the research phase...
Since October 2013, I’ve been on the road (with a brief two weeks at homebase in between) until May, essentially living out of a backpack the entire time. After my return home with some time to reflect on the journey, I want to thank my...
Thanks to relatives from both my mother and father’s sides, I saw the heart and soul of Taipei as locals would. You may find mentioned of these places online or on travel sites, but they’re not always the most popular (yet) since travelers with shorter...
To tip or not to tip??? I did not have to tip in Colombia, Peru, or Bolivia. Chile was a hit or miss, they wouldn’t say no to it but I didn’t see every passenger tip either. Now Argentina, they will “charge” a baggage fee...
Conclusion as intro After I returned, many friends and family ask about Antarctica and what it feels like to be there. For a while, it was hard to find proper words to describe the experience. Did I feel small? Yes. Was I blown away by its...
Frank S. Todd is the leading world expert on all things penguin, and other birds. I had a question I’ve been wanting to ask during his lectures but since he’s such a penguin lover, I thought I would wait for a better place a time....
The Sami people, who live in the northern tips of Scandinavia and Russia, have as many as 1,000 words for “reindeer.” If any human civilizations were ever established in Antarctica, they would easily have twice as many words to describe the blues in Antarctica. The blues...
Leopard seal Silence was one of the many tranquil sounds we heard as the zodiac drifted to the rhythm of the icy cold water. The leopard seal, indifferent to our presence, was dreaming peacefully on an electric blue floe. Her tail twitched from time to...
Whether it’s backpacking or luggage wheeling, these are some of the essentials that I find extremely helpful and necessary for any travelers. Packing cubes At first I thought it seemed redundant to have a bag within a bag. But it’s proven time and time again...
If you have traveled to another country that have different plugins than your own, you might have encountered something like this — That’s right…one outlet for a handful of electronics. Here’s the great things about Belkin’s SurgePlus 3 Swivel Charger, it has three extra outlets, two USB outlets,...
How it all began After college (almost a decade ago *gasp*), thanks to the support of my parents and also some of my own savings, I was fortunate to have the chance to travel to Asia for four months (though mainly China). That was the...
From Uyuni, one can take a train or bus directly to Villazon, or stop by Tupiza and take a bus to Villazon. The bus station was only 15-20 minutes walk to the border immigration office. Along the way there were countless shops and stalls full of...
Another thing about traveling is…since you’re likely to be out for the whole day, you need something to carry your stuff plus supplements. But a backpack is not the most accessible or cling-able carrier (you know how it is in those crowded markets). Check out...
Returned from the pampas as new wo/men who conquered the river, we get one night of rest in town to prepare for the march into the Amazon jungle the next day. We came across a hole in the wall restaurant and got ourselves more than...
Why the Amazon again, after all the mosquitoes, sweat and tears from the last trip to the Amazon, one might ask? There’s only one answer to that. Because I had some of the the best and worst times throughout this trip in the Amazon. Plus...
To cut to the chase, here’s what one needs to do to get pass that line between Peru and Bolivia: Step 1: If you hold a US passport, be sure to have pristine US dollars of $135 or more (in case they reject any). Between...
Most often seen spelling is Titicaca but while we were there, the locals spelled it as Titikaka, so that’s what I’ll go with. In the morning we were picked up by the tour van for a two days one night trip on Lake Titikaka. The...
Between Cusco and Puno lies an eight hour bus ride. After a day to recover from the tiresome trek to Machu Picchu, we were ready to head off into the next destination — Puno. A city known as the must stop for Lake Titikaka (Titicaca). Lake...
Woke up at 4 AM to eat breakfast before we head up to the almighty Machu Picchu with our newly joined group,which consisted of Annie, me, the three California girls, one Irish couple and one Australian couple. All of them except for us, decided to...
Day Dos To wake up at 4 AM is almost natural when one goes to bed at 8:30 PM. Unless you had been chugging coca tea all day and have the caffeine kick in not when you needed it, but when you sleep. With roughly...
You need at least two days to acclimate, so it says on the tour brochures online and everywhere. Not true! I think I needed a week to acclimate. But two days we stayed, in Cusco, the starting point for nearly all Machu Picchu treks. Our...
Traditionally, the closest sandboarding location is Ica, which is about 4 hours from Lima. However, with a bit of luck, a new area much closer to Lima now offers sandboarding as well. We found Sandride Sandboarding Lima online and booked for a day trip. It...