How to choose a destination: Tips to consider before travel
Sometimes it’s hard to choose a travel destination. Say you have only two weeks’ vacation, and you want to get the most out of it. Here’s some advice.
Asia Travel
Sukhothai Historical Park in Thailand
Sukhothai Historical Park was the capital of Siam centuries ago. Read all about what to see in this UNESCO site in central Thailand.
How to visit Haedong Yonggungsa Temple (Busan)
Haedong Yonggungsa Temple may be the most beautiful temple in South Korea, unusual because it is right on the coast instead of on a mountain.
Chinese Temples in Bangkok
Chinese Temples in Bangkok, Thailand, are different from traditional Thai temples. With plenty of photos to help you choose which to visit.
13 best temples in Bangkok, Thailand
This extensive list of Buddhist temples in Bangkok, Thailand includes advice to help you choose and plan your visit.
Mardi Gras around the world – and Mardi Gras food!
Mardi Gras around the world has morphed into a range of different pre-Lenten celebrations. Read here about how different countries celebrate!
28 Practical Tips for Women Traveling Alone
Truly practical advice for women traveling alone. Tips for sleeping, eating, socializing and lots more travel advice for solo female travel!
Sapporo Snow Festival: A Winter Wonderland in Hokkaido, Japan
Read here about the annual Sapporo Snow Festival, Hokkaido, Japan, where you can see hundreds of amazing snow and ice sculptures.
Exploring the Brunei rainforest: Ulu Temburong
The Brunei rainforest in Ulu Temburong National Park was probably one of the most – to use the cliché – off-the-beaten-path places I’ve ever been. Especially when you consider there’s no actual “path” to get there! Brunei, a tiny country on the north coast of Borneo, is surrounded by Malaysia on three sides and the…
Hongik University Street: 6 best things to see
Note: This article is a guest post by Jimmy and Tah from Divert Living. Hongik University Street, also known as Hongdae, is one of the most famous streets in Seoul. It’s a neighborhood that is known for its amazing youthful atmosphere and underground cultures that appeal to a huge footfall of tourists from every nook…
10 Must-Visit Singapore Film Locations Seen in Crazy Rich Asians
The following guest post was written by Emily Pham. I’ve added comments in italics here and there. If you are a movie lover – even if you have not seen it – you must have heard the buzz about the movie Crazy Rich Asians. It is based on a best-selling book with the same name…
What to do at Changi Airport, Singapore?
The following is a guest post written by Cathy Carter. I’ve added comments in italics here and there. Singapore’s Changi Airport offers numerous striking views as you wait for your next flight. The airport is considered to be one of the greatest globally. Some of the captivating things you will find during a stopover at…
Visiting Turtle Sanctuaries in Malaysia (and elsewhere)
When we booked a stay at Lankayan Island, off the east coast of Malaysian Borneo, our intention was a little rest and relaxation and a little diving. That’s all. What we didn’t think about was visiting turtle sanctuaries or seeing sea turtles hatching. Yet the turtle sanctuary on Lankayan became a highlight of our trip….
Gomantong Cave in Borneo: A warning
Bat guano, cockroaches and other grossness. That’s what awaits you at Gomantong Cave in Borneo. A standard stop on the adventure tourism circuit in Sabah, the eastern part of Malaysian Borneo, Gomantong Cave is near enough to the popular river boat rides on the Kinabatangan River to make a relatively short detour. So that’s what…
Lankayan Island Resort in Malaysian Borneo
Slowly surfacing from a deep sleep, I gaze up at the dim outlines of the canopy above us, draped with a white mosquito net. A sliver of gray light peeks through the gap in the curtains to my right, the direction of the sunrise. I listen to the pre-dawn noises: a chaos of bird calls…
Bitemojo app Singapore food tour: a review
Bitemojo food tours are not like other food tours. That’s not to criticize other food tours, mind you. I love learning about a place’s particular customs and foods. Bitemojo tours are different, though, in that they don’t include a tour guide. Instead, the tour is led via Bitemojo app, which leads you from “bite” to…
Impressions of Mumbai from my first time in India
When I told people I was going to Mumbai, the most common comments I heard were in the form of warnings: “It’s unbearably crowded and noisy,” and “Be careful what you eat; you don’t want to get Delhi belly!” Yes, Mumbai is crowded and noisy, but I wouldn’t say it’s unbearably so. As a matter…
Mumbai Sightseeing: 11 sights in 1 afternoon
After our tour of a Mumbai slum – see this post from last week about the Dharavi slum tour – my colleague and I spent the afternoon visiting some of the more popular tourist destinations in the city, led by our guide, Jitu, from Reality Tours. Here is my take on Mumbai sightseeing: 11 sights,…
Is a Dharavi slum tour a good idea?
Have you ever seen the movie “Slumdog Millionaire”? Privileged Westerners like me are curious about slums like the one in that film. We want to know how people live, how they deal with adversity, how they ended up in a slum, and how we can help. At the same time, we don’t venture on our…
Elephanta Island Travel Guide: 7 things to know before you go
I strolled down the path, vaguely glancing at the market stalls on either side. My small bag hung on my back and I clutched my phone in one hand. With the other, I swung a plastic bottle of water loosely, half-full, by its neck. Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you click on one…
Surviving the roads in Nepal: a guest post
The following is a guest post by my husband, Albert Smith, about his experiences on the roads in Nepal last fall. [Beneden is de oorspronkelijke Nederlandse versie] My son and I are on our way back from a football [soccer] match between FC Groningen and AZ. We’re in a good mood: Groningen has won a…
Trip of a Lifetime: Bloggers Pick their Must-See Destinations
For this collaborative post, I asked fellow travel bloggers about their idea of a trip of a lifetime: If a person who’s never traveled far from home asked you to name the one place they should visit on their one-and-only trip ever, what would you say? I got so many different answers! I’ll start with the…
Tokyo, Anime, and My Son
Disclosure: The following is a sponsored post; I received payment for writing it and including a link. All opinions, however, are my own! My 17-year-old son, Robert, is not a traveler. That’s not to say that he hasn’t traveled, however; we’ve dragged him along with us on vacations all his life. Rather, he just isn’t…
A Free View of Tokyo from Tokyo City Hall
The classic destination for a big view of Tokyo is Tokyo Tower, which looks like a cross between a communication mast and the Eiffel Tower. What stopped me from visiting it was the cost: ¥1200 (€8 or $9) to go to its main deck at 150 meters (492 ft) and ¥2800 (€19 or $21) fee to reach…
A Tourist to the DMZ
I’d read about visiting the DMZ a number of times before I arrived in Seoul. DMZ stands for the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea, which is anything but demilitarized. It’s a wide strip of no-man’s-land that embodies the tension between these two countries, still officially in a state of war. Outside of that…
Two Seoul Neighborhoods: Ikseon-dong & Bukchon Hanok Village
Two Seoul Neighborhoods: Buckchon Hanok Village contains many hanoks, but it has a completely different feel to it than Ikseon-dong Hanok Area.
Suwon’s Palace and Fortress
Suwon, South Korea, a city with more than a million inhabitants, is a separate city from Seoul, but it’s been swallowed up in the post-Korean War urban sprawl, so that it’s in the same metro system. Getting to Suwon from the center of Seoul involves a very long metro ride: more than an hour, and…
Seoul Tower Without a Date
Seoul Tower, perched on Namsan Mountain above Seoul, is visible everywhere, looking like some sort of 70’s version of the future. Built back in the 70’s for radio and television, it was and still is a communication tower. However, it’s also a destination for tourists and locals: a thing to do on a free weekend afternoon….
Physical Therapy, Korean-style!
On my recent trip to South Korea, my left arm began to hurt. I dismissed it as a muscle ache, probably from carrying my luggage up and down metro stairs. Little by little, though, it got worse. I couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t find a position in which my arm didn’t hurt. When my arm started…
Six (!) Seoul Palaces
Seoul is home to six different royal palaces, each built by or for a different king. Beautifully crafted and opulent, some are more intact and authentic than others. Authentic? The five older ones all include at least one tale of complete or partial destruction. All were burnt to the ground during the Japanese Invasion in the last decade…
Mr. Toilet House? A Toilet Museum in Suwon, South Korea
The big gold-colored statue of a turd right next to the entrance was enough to tell me that Mr. Toilet House, the toilet museum in Suwon, South Korea, wasn’t going to be a disappointment! Mr. Toilet House Believe it or not, “Mr. Toilet House” is the popular name for the Toilet Culture Museum in Suwon,…
Traveling by Train in Japan: 8 tips
For those of us who do not know Japanese, traveling by train in Japan can be a bit daunting, to say the least. Here are some tips for Japan travel that will allow you to negotiate the Japanese rail system, including reading signs, without knowing any Japanese at all. Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links….