There’s a huge array of mistakes one can make when traveling, studying, working or volunteering abroad, and many regrets can bubble up after returning home and looking back on your experiences. The majority of them are almost irrelevant, or not worth the worry. The epic failures become great stories, and the real, detrimental mess-ups are lessons for the future. One magical aspect of getting out into the world is that you’re sometimes required to...

Social media has become an inevitable component of the population’s daily existence. The attachment to our social media lives is growing increasingly addictive and is transforming the way we interact physically. People rarely call each other, instead preferring to message through text, chat or employ some other voice-less communication method. Technology has taken us into a new realm where we are able to create the personas that we wish we h...

There is no denying how much technology has changed the way we live, with our dependency on smart phones, the connectivity through the internet and digitized photography. All of these developments have made the lives of travellers much more convenient, but what happens when this cyber simplicity becomes a little more complicated? When we are abroad, fixing a computer or maintaining our photo library can be much more complicated than back at ...

After I graduated from university and taught English in Hong Kong for a year, I backpacked around Western China, and boy, did I learn some hard truths. These truths were recently reinforced by another three-week trip around the region and I am here to share my hard-won gems of knowledge. I came, I saw, I survived, and with my help you will too. This is a remarkably beautiful area with plenty of tasty food to nom (including true Sichuan peppercorn...

One thing you don’t think about when you travel is how often you say goodbye. When you’re on the road, whether you’re going on an around-the-world trip, going on an extended holiday or living abroad, you’re always going to be meeting people and eventually saying goodbye to them.     Relationships are fleeting when you’re on the road. Instant friends form over the tiniest similarities and commonalities. Sometimes these relationships turn...

Whether this is your first time leaving your home country or your twentieth, there is a high chance that you will experience culture shock. Culture shock is the feeling you get when you start to feel frustrated or irritated by all the strangeness of the new country and culture that surrounds you. Contrary to what is implied by the name, culture shock usually does not happen right away. Sure, you will likely be amazed, confused, or excited by...

Leaving the comfort and safety of a place we call home can be intimidating with the prospects of unknown cultures, foreign food and strangers, but it’s not long before we adapt to our new lifestyle and flourish. What many travellers fail to credit is the culture shock of coming home. The sparkle of seeing friends, visiting your old hangout spots and eating at your favourite restaurant is enough to distract you at first but you’ll soon realiz...

Maybe you’ve been living in Southeast Asia as a digital nomad, or perhaps you’re teaching there, studying, or have been traveling there for months or years on end. Whatever your reason for visiting this warm, delicious, beautiful part of the world, you’re sure to identify with the following signs that you’re now a Southeast Asia local:    1) Your day is kind of ruined because your favorite fruit shake stand is closed   2) You ...

When people ask me why I love Thailand, it’s hard to think of reasons why not to love Thailand. I mean, what’s not to love about a tropical paradise with some of the friendliest people in the world? What’s not to love about hot pink taxicabs and colorful tuk tuks? About delicious cuisine and a relaxed lifestyle?  After living in Thailand for nearly one year, I still yearn to return again and again. It’s as if I want to crawl every corner, just to...

Global nomads are an elusive bunch that never seem to sit still. Always on the move to seek out new places, spaces, and experiences, they can be tricky to pin down. If you want to be a part of this lifestyle, prepare yourself. If you are already living the dream, enjoy and hopefully you will find some familiarity.  1. You are always confused about what time it is because of constant jet lag.   2. You have no idea who to root for during ...