Category: Sabbatical Series

• 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…

• How to pay nothing in banking fees while travelling abroad

  Plastic is a lot lighter CapitalOne and Charles Schwab — WOW! Don’t you hate it when you have to go the extra mile (sometimes literally) to find the ATM in your bank’s ‘network’ to avoid fees? Or how about when you’re traveling and you have to take out as much cash as possible because credit…

• 10 days and 180KM of whitewater rafting on the Karnali River in Nepal

  Going from mountain goats to ‘leave it to beavers’! Rafting down the spectacular and remote Karnali river in western Nepal  Our 33-day trek was amazing and after a week-long rest in Pokhara, we were ready for more adventure. This time, however, we wanted to give our legs a break so we opted for a 10…

• The Himalayan weight loss plan

  Rhododendron madness After a two-week journey through the ancient Kingdom of Lo, we returned to the relative civilization (i.e.hot showers and non-instant coffee) of Kagbeni, a small town in the Lower Mustang region. Although civilized, we practically evacuated out of our room that night because there a kerosene leak that had been going on for…

• So this is what life was like two thousand years ago…

  “I raise my head and see a red illuminated EXIT sign and as my eyes adjust I see tigers, cavemen with long spears, cavewomen wearing strategically modest skins, wolfish dogs. My heart is racing and for a liquor-addled moment I think Holy shit, I’ve gone all the way back to the Stone Age until I realize that…

• Into the wild

  Finally out of the city! After the thick urban haze of Kathmandu, we were really excited to get out of the city and start trekking through the Himalayas. We had found ourselves a fantastic local guide named Karma Mustangi (you can contact him at karmakurt@hotmail.com to organize your own adventures) and a super cool porter…

• How to afford a 6-month globe-trotting sabbatical

  “What is that feeling when you’re driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? It’s the too-huge world vaulting us, and it’s good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies.” -Jack Kerouac, On the Road Dreaming of escaping the rat race to…