[I used to think I knew everything…until I found myself stranded in the middle of adulthood with no map and no one to guide me when I got lost. I have learned a lot since then - from how to balance a checkbook to how to sew on a button - and will share my wisdom with you. Every Monday I will be back to teach you how to do something useful, even if it also happens to be completely random. Because, hey, you never know when you just might need to know how to change a tire…or mix a perfect martini.]

Fall Break may be over, but those few glorious weeks of winter vacation are so, so tantalizingly close. And while it’s nice to hang out with your family for a little while, let me guess—you want to get away. Far, far away. Preferably somewhere closer to the equator.
Am I right? Yeah, OK.

Even if a vacation isn’t in the cards right now, odds are you’ll be planning some kind of trip in the future. And at first doing all that planning by yourself (or even splitting it up with friends) can seem overwhelming. There are so many logistics to handle… booking, scheduling, packing, etc.

So why do it yourself? Let me help! Read More »

Some of my favorite weekends and least regrettable hangovers are courtesy of long nights spent playing traveling drinking games. Forget laid back games involving ping pong balls or a deck of cards - I’m talking about mobile, interactive drinking games that get you drunk quick and keep you there all night.

Plus you’ll have some fantastic photos of your sloppy buddies in novelty costumes…for better or worse.

My two favorites are Le Tour De Franzia and Liquid Golf. Here the rules:

If you look online, the Tour has a few variations. Here’s how we do it where I come from:

1. Assemble two or three teams of 10-12 people each. Prior to the event, give each team a color or tell everyone to come in cycling/fitness clothes. Helmets are encouraged (and may very well be necessary by the end of the night).
2. When the whistle blows, each team starts drinking a box of the best boxed wine around: Franzia. You can keep things tame, or get rid of the box for increased excitement. “Slapping the bag,” is half the fun of drinking boxed wine. Heaven knows it doesn’t taste very good. Read More »

It’s that time of year when travel is a major part of our lives. Whether we’re off to backpack in Europe, explore ancient ruins, or just heading home to spend the summer reverting back to the days of our youth and being catered to by Mom, it’s no secret these days that air travel has become increasingly frustrating and difficult as airlines make cuts, flights get cancelled if they aren’t full because of fuel prices, and the cost of tickets rapidly go up.

Needless to say, air travel can be a headache and after a few hellacious experiences of my own, and stories of horrendous experiences from friends and family, I decided to write down a few things I’ve learned in order to better deal with what can be an upsetting and exhausting experience. Read More »

My on-the-road anxieties have been eased by this one important mantra. Call it zen, call it what you will, but there is something utterly freeing about the reality that life is sometimes beyond your control and that you just have to let things go.

An illustration: Back in December, I was on a plane from Bogotá to Quito. A very short distance certainly, but it was the longest journey from point A to point B I’ve ever endured.

In the end, it took me twenty four hours to fly the short 450 mile distance between the two cities. I grew a gray hair of worry that I wouldn’t be able to catch my connecting flight back to Los Angeles, but I certainly learned a great lesson that I now apply to all the impatient moments in my travel career. Read More »

In order to understand the effects of anti-gravity on astronauts, NASA is willing to pay $17,000 to participants in a 120-day bed rest study. As a study subject, you are to be confined to a downward tilted bed for 90 days of this time. That would be quite a rush of blood to the head (literally) and an awful lot time doing meditative yoga, watching T.V., or reading lots of books.

You don’t have to look too far for examples of life with lots of bed rest. There are plenty of people in this world who are, in fact, confined to a bed with paralysis, old age, injury, sickness, or disease. Or, metaphorically speaking, many people in this world who live life without activity or zest. Bed rest, to me, is the polar opposite to traveling. In fact, it’s the exact opposite of life itself.

On the other hand, after four months of lying on a bed I would certainly have the desire and money to travel around the world. But why would I willingly do it if it means 120 precious days of life gone by?

I wouldn’t. $17,000 for bed rest is quite a price to pay for four months of life wasted.

So excuse me while I walk out my door right now and do nothing but soak in my surroundings. One minute of that is worth more than $17,000.

Before I leave the house and head to the airport, I say goodbye to my one true companion: my seven-year-old pug Iris. I give her a big kiss on the cheek and squeeze her until she makes a huffy sound. “I love you, Iris,” I say to her. “You be a good girl.” Then, I give her a treat and, while she chews it, I walk out of sight. I will not be seeing her for a few months, but the reality doesn’t set in until I’m on the plane.

My friends tell me she whines the first few days, wondering where I am, and then she settles into life without me. My substitute for Iris is a plush gray neck pillow that I have brought with me on all my travels for the past five years. I sleep with my substitute and it provides me enough comfort to sustain me for the length of my trip.

Though there can be no real substitute for Iris, as a traveler, I am required to leave her behind — along with many other things. Despite missing these things, there is a profound cleansing that every traveler experiences. The value of an item is measured by its weight, size, and usefulness. The sorting between what will be brought or not quickly informs you of just how little a human really needs to survive life abroad. Read More »

It’s as vivid today as it was when it happened five years ago: Chris and I bodysurfing on an abandoned beach just outside of Acapulco and Stephanie looking at us with wonder from the shore. He and I would get slammed, and slammed again, then come up smiling from sand-filled ear to water-logged ear. Just before going in, we looked out into the vast horizon. The sky was clear blue. There were no clouds in sight. The ocean held us in its wake. Suddenly, we both gasped at the same time: a flying stingray briefly jumped out of the water just fifteen feet away.

“Did you see that?” he asked me.

“That was so cool,” I said.

Christopher Cady was my best friend’s boyfriend. He and Stephanie — like myself — had a real case of wanderlust. With no one else could I share my travel stories and feel completely understood. Only they understood why I would want to attend college in Maine, a continent and ocean away from my home in Hawaii: for the pure challenge and unpredictability.

Steph and I lived vicariously through each other, traversing the globe and telling each other tale after wondrous tale. Their travels brought them from Maine to Mexico to Taos to Central America to Boston, but culminated abruptly in Chamonix one fateful afternoon in January 2004. Chris had prepared an engagement ring before their trip. He didn’t get a chance to give it to her because, despite the storm that was brewing that late afternoon, he took an off-piste route and went missing. Read More »

There are some things you can live with and others you can live without. Seasoned travelers learn to live without, and when they do they often find hospitable people that let them live with. Travelers have the burden of deciding what to take with them and what to leave behind. They carry their lives in bags big and small. Big bags may mean better quality, but also result in a heavier burden. Small bags may mean lesser quality, but more freedom.

There are, of course, activities that require equipment — often heavy or bulky. Fishermen want to bring their own tackle and poles. Surfers want to bring their own boards. Scuba divers want to bring their own regulators. Horseback riders want to bring their own… saddles. Before you try to squeeze your heavy, bulky gear into that small bag of yours, there are just three things you need to consider: Read More »