I can't knock the feeling that as a child, I was cheated in my education of the history of the world.
Read MoreVirupaksha temple sits at the end of one of the main thoroughfares in Hampi, India
Stories about finding your heart and soul around the world.
Filtering by Tag: tropical
Hauling in a boat after a day at sea, sunset view from my favorite hangout on Palolem beach
The value of mapping what you know + Beach life in Goa, India
I've grown to love late night arrivals. A blanket of darkness wraps around everything keeping it secret until morning's unveiling. There are so many unknowns that come with travel: Will this new bed have bugs in it? Will I die in a rickshaw? Will there be toilet paper? All that is unfamiliar dawns the next day. Ok, maybe not all, but at least you get to see where it is that you've landed.
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Watching the sun set from beneath palm trees at a peaceful yoga ashram in Kerala, India
Meditation, culture, & yoga: Ashram life in Southern India
My foot is asleep. No, I take that back. My entire leg is asleep. A numb tingling sensation that reminds me of childhood gymnastics shoots upwards through my body. I have been sitting cross-legged in silent meditation, wrapped in the darkness of early morning for satsang (sanskrit for in the company of the "highest truth") since 6:00AM. Given my current inability to feel my legs, I'm not sure things are quite so enlightening right now.
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Dragon Lounge, Lou's masterpiece of a house
Dragon Lounge, life as art in Bali
We left the autumn crisp weather of the north and crossed into tropical heat and humidity south of the hemisphere. If South Korea felt like work, busy and booked daily with lots of sightseeing, places to go and people to meet, Indonesia feels slow and relaxed.
I know it sounds crazy, but this is the first real down time we've had in awhile. Packing up all our belongings, renting the house, and actually planning the logistics of leaving the US for a year were often overwhelming and stressful, not to mention a huge life adjustment. Being on the move vagabond style isn't an easy comfortable vacation. Survival basics in an unknown place become a lot more challenging to figure out. Every day we have to be concerned about where we'll sleep, what we'll eat, and how we'll transport somewhere, all in an unfamiliar culture, location, and language while on a budget. I know this is just the beginning and I'm definitely not complaining, but I'm glad to have some time to slow down and catch up with old friends.
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Poolside in Punta Cana
Bubble worlds & private water parks in Dominican Republic
During the second half of our visit to Dominican Republic, we leave the nest of the festival and decide to check out the famously crystal clear beaches on the east coast. We've already seen Santo Domingo, where Columbus first set up camp in the New World, and some of the mountains and tropical forests in the north. So we rent a car and head towards Punta Cana, known for its "all-inclusives" (as in resorts).
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Colorful Dominican house
Cacao plantation or bust, road tripping in Dominican Republic
We are driving north towards San Francisco de Macoris from the capital, Santo Domingo.
Little vignettes of this third world country blur through my mind as we speed along. I am groggy, blinking away sleep, but curious. I have never been here before.
Three little black kids pump water into big blue plastic jugs from a well, five small boys play baseball alongside the road on a dirt patch, a man rides a horse with rope reins, goats pick through garbage in the ditch, a cow rummages for food in a dumpster, four men sit at a card table playing dominos. Wooden carts selling coconuts, banana bunches, and white eggs dot the roadside. Garbage is scattered everywhere. These scenes register in my brain a few seconds delayed, we are driving so fast. It seems cliché, like something I've seen in National Geographic, but it's real and right before me.
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