New Blog and Helpful Links

 The word count limits on Instagram are getting really annoying and most of my posts are ending up in the comments so I'm just going to copy everything starting from Asia and put it on here. This will make it easier to find specific destinations for people who want recommendations. The chaos of my travel Instagram account will remain and the writing is horrible quality bc I have to do enough good-quality writing for school already.

I've said this quite a bit on my travel Instagram, but if you're new: I'm very much not into influencer stuff so most of what you see is not very aesthetic and is just a brain dump of my experiences (or stream of consciousness of my opinions). A lot of traveling isn't glamorous so I try to be as authentic as possible, but I do occasionally leave out some experiences that would infringe on my privacy or the privacy of others. I started a separate travel account on Instagram awhile ago for two main reasons:

1. I was getting a lot of questions about travel and specific destinations from family and friends so it's a lot easier for me to write it all down at once and share it.

2. I like having one place to keep track of my travels and look back on them in a picture + text format.

My travel style has evolved significantly over the years, but my main interest is nature and outdoor recreation. I do enjoy brief stops in cities and towns, especially for good food and culture. After many years of lots of domestic travel and visiting all 50 US states, I have begun to focus on international destinations, with Asia being my first major international trip. I've veered more towards going off the beaten path recently and have found that very rewarding experiences have come from this.

Here are some links to reference documents I've created that I often refer people to:

To-do List for International Travel

Backpacking Gear Guide

Itinerary Template

International Travel Packing List

Backpacking Packing List

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCT Info and FAQ Answers

Image
Not so shockingly, there are lots of questions when you undertake something like the PCT!  Here are a few answers to FAQs, plus some general background info on the trail, in addition to many of my own thoughts and opinions: Thru-hiking Thru-hiking refers to hiking point to point, without looping or retracing your route back to where you started. Thru-hikes are typically lengthy by definition. The Pacific Crest Trail is a lengthy for a thru-hike but not the longest out there. My first thru-hike was the Trans Catalina Trail (TCT) in 2023, which is about 40 miles. During PCT training, I completed the Nakahechi Kumano Kodo route in Japan (a little over 40 mi) and Tyler and I completed the West Highland Way in Scotland (around 100 mi). Tyler hiked around 200 mi on a route of the Camino de Santiago (I was injured so I did not). In addition to full thru-hikes, we also hiked sections of the AZT and multi-day loops/out and back trails. Other very well-known thru-hikes in the US include: App...
Read more

Fiji Layover

Image
  I was pumped for my 18 hour layover in Fiji but after looking into transit from the airport, I found that the taxis were very expensive and scammy. After my recent travel days in Malaysia I decided I really didn’t want to deal with that, and local buses seemed way too unreliable and difficult to figure out (after being there, can confirm I never would have figured them out)…so I ended up deciding not to withdraw any cash and to just walk to the closest beach…which ended up being on a private island where season 5 of Love Island USA was filmed. Security tried to kick me off the island but I made up a really elaborate lie and they let me stay but the beach was not very nice and I mostly just laid in the sand and read to pass the time (was also being watched by a camera the entire time). The hour long walk from the airport (and back) was kinda cool tho, bc I got to walk through a local neighborhood and had pretty views during the morning golden hour
Read more

Tokyo, Japan

Image
  Notes from the journal: • Tyler and I took an overnight Flix bus from Vegas to Union Station in LA and then took public transit to LAX • We did our first of many preparations for airport weigh ins by putting on jackets and putting heavy items in pockets so we looked like the Michelin Man :) we checked in at the counter and found out we were unfortunately not sitting together for the 12 hr flight but we both had aisle seats and Tyler was sitting directly behind me • I was exhausted from the all-nighter so I took a nap at the gate and when Tyler woke me up to board I swear to god I have never been more disoriented in my entire life…I thought we had a kid named Tyler?? So I started panicking and asking where Tyler was, which obviously confused Tyler and then I asked if we had a kid and he said no, so I don’t know what that was but it was a hell of a way to wake up • Took off around 10:30 am on 5/13 and landed around 2:30 pm on 5/14 5/14 • Went through customs, did an ATM withdrawal,...
Read more