Category: adventure

• Unstoppable appetites in our 48 hour stay on the Little Red Dot

  Isn’t it amazing that there’s such a place on earth that’s only about 270 square miles in size (yes, this includes all the reclaimed land), can’t really grow much of anything because the whole island is a rock, is home to about 5 million people and has more than 3,000 restaurants? That’s approximately 11 restaurants…

• On an island on a lake in a volcano on an island

  Coffee, volcanoes, civil war, orangutans, epic surfing and the epicenter of the 2004 tsunami make Sumatra a well-known island in Indonesia. However, it is not very popular with tourists (yet) probably because of the lack of infrastructure and fear of something going down in Banda Aceh where most of the violence occurred several years ago.…

• Tropical intrigue

  Hard at work in paradise Our first mistake was to fly from Colombo to Maldives on the first Friday of Ramadan. Maldivians take their religion seriously and not only is there no food for sale anywhere during the day but no ferries run between the islands either. For a country made up of thousands of tiny…

• High on Ceylon tea

  It was hard to leave Arugam Bay. The warm ocean water, the chill surfer vibe, excellent food at Ram’s and delicious breakfasts at Happy Panda kept us there for as long as we could push it. Eventually though, we knew we needed to start heading inland because we had spent nearly three weeks on Sri…

• Bus rides through mine fields

  Enjoying coconuts on the train We chugged out of Colombo on one of Sri Lanka’s British colonial era trains. The track wound its way North through bright green rice paddies and coconut plantations. The leg space was generous as Asian transportation options go. We were serenaded by vocal toddlers and lulled into semi-consciousness by the…

• 22 hours in Dubai, 16 hours of eating like maniacs

  A one hour long urban hike to Terminal 1 at 2 AM (don’t ask) and an incredibly uncomfortable “nap” at the arrivals hall at the Dubai Airport until 6 AM was a very rough welcome to the city. We were cranky. We were tired. We were not so excited about being in Dubai for 22…

• Chillin’ like a villain in East Africa’s version of paradise

  Zanzibar, the perfect place to escape from it all! Spending 3 months in land-locked countries (Nepal, Ethiopia) made us realize we really missed the ocean. Feeling worn down and exhausted, we booked a last-minute flight from Ethiopia to Zanzibar. We splurged and went against our quasi-scientific budget. Oh well, sometimes we just have to treat…

• Nile blues and mountain highs

  The source of the Blue Nile It was a bitch getting out of Addis Ababa. Because it was the week of [Coptic] Easter all the buses were booked in literally every direction. “Want to take a bus to Bahir Dar? Not til next Thursday.” “How about Harar?” “Sorry, booked til Friday.” “Do you have buses that…

• Living out of a backpack, minimalist style

  How to pack for long-term travel: the ultralight version 2 people, 6 months, 7 countries Hopefully by now you’ve read our post on how to leave everything behind, hop on a plane and go have the experience of your life (If you haven’t, it might be a good place to start!).   Now- congratulations! You’ve booked your…

• “What the %&*$ are you going to go do in Ethiopia?”

  We drank about five a day Who doesn’t love the smell of roasting coffee? When you order coffee in Ethiopia, the green beans are roasted in front of you before being hand-ground and prepared. Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee and their coffee remains the best in the world. When you smell roasting coffee, butchered…