Happy 2018! I hope you have begun the new year with a sense of hope and excitement for what is to come. I can’t help but reflect on the ways that traveling to new places really has transformed me more than anything else in life. Being somewhere unfamiliar leaves me to depend on and know myself more deeply, and to step into the person that I am always aching to be. Someone who feels a real sense of possibility and wonder at every turn, even …
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My first major excursion in Japan was to (of course) see Mt. Fuji.  I love hiking and backpacking, so I was bummed to learn that the main climbing season had just ended due to monsoons. It normally lasts from mid-July to mid-September, so try to visit then! I was only able to hike around the 5th Station, about an hour’s bus ride up the mountain and 2300 meters above sea level. There were actually a lot of shops and some restaurants up there, which I thought …
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I backpacked a 30 mile loop in Desolation Wilderness with some friends. We found some absolutely GORGEOUS lakes, part of what the wilderness area is well known for. The sit in granite basins carved out from the last ice age. When we were ready to set out on our hike, we stopped in at the park office to get our permit. Strangely, the park rangers actually tried to talk us out of completing the hike! Maybe they just have too many hikers come in unprepared …
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1. Trekking in the Himalayas View of the Annapurna Mountains from Poon Hill, shortly after sunrise This one’s obvious. I trekked in the Annapurna Mountain Range. If you do, definitely try the Poon Hill sunrise trek from Ghorepani, to watch sunlight literally wash over a Himalayan panorama. The most famous treks most visitors do are the Annapurna Circuit or Mt. Everest Base Camp. 2. The capital city, Kathmandu Some pesky macaques lounging in Kathmandu — don’t let their innocent looks fool you!  Odds are you’ll fly into …
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My most recent big trip was to check out Japan for the first time. My boyfriend Alec spent a full month there, and I was able to swing two weeks away from my office job to join him. It was his fourth time in Tokyo – the most populous metropolitan area in the world. So by the time he met me at baggage claim in Haneda International Airport, even though I had barely planned past that moment, I felt unconcerned; Alec would be my tour …
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So I love camping just about anywhere!  When I was growing up, my Dad would take my brother, sister, and I camping…in our backyard. Haha. Nothing too adventurous, but still tons of fun. I’ve since been camping on beaches, in deserts, on mountains, and in this case, in the jungle. Read on about how epic jungle camping is. My tent set-up in El Yunque Rainforest of Puerto Rico 1. The sounds of the forest literally sing you to sleep The rain forest is fillled with …
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