Travel Journal
Personal reflections, challenges, and musings about my travel experiences.
Helpful Travel Resources
Carry-On Travel Packing List
Minimalist Travel Packing List
Best Minimalist Travel Backpacks
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Living in China: What Life is Like as an Expat (Pros & Cons)
Last Updated: August 8, 2025 Living in China, whether residing in an uber-modern city of ten million in the far east or a bustling mega-city of 16 million, sounded absurd. With everything I previously knew about China coming from stereotypes and media stories, I was curious. Is China a good place to live? Could China … Read more
Osaka’s Street Food: 12 Street Eats in Japan’s Kitchen
Last Updated: August 23, 2024 I heard it repeatedly — for a taste of Japan’s very best food, I had to sample Osaka’s street food. And in Osaka, street food in the Dotonbori neighborhood was the best-of-the-best. As a foodie, I clearly had no choice, so I booked a hotel in Dotonbori and set out … Read more
Minimalist Travel Packing List: Gear Nerd Essentials (2026)
Last Updated: January 16, 2026 Creating your own minimalist travel packing list is quite simple, actually: Choose a suitable bag that you can carry onto an airplane Fill it with clothing, gear, and other travel essentials Leave everything else behind By doing so, you’ll experience the world feeling light as a feather, unbothered by the … Read more
Traveling Sucks (Sometimes): My 12 Worst Travel Stories
Last Updated: August 25, 2024 Traveling sucks sometimes, it’s a fact. Life on the road has the tendency to unravel and spiral out of control when we least expect it. I’ve watched helplessly as my backpacking trips have turned to chaos. I’ve run out of money and become stranded hundreds of miles from home. I’ve … Read more
5 Days in Hong Kong: Highlights of My Itinerary-Free Trip
Last Updated: August 7, 2025 My spur of the moment trip to Hong Kong was born from a late-night conversation with a travel-hungry friend 10,000 miles away. It was a wild, impulsive, and indelible adventure; a chance journey that wasn’t really meant to take place, but played out perfectly nonetheless. Our five-day meet-up was a … Read more
Chengdu Street Food Marathon (32 Snacks, 10 Hours)
Last Updated: August 10, 2025 Was I really going to eat 32 different types of Chengdu street food in just one day and live to blog about it? A gluttonous marathon to challenge both my stomach and self-control? Why would I risk such a culinary overload? There have got to be more relaxing ways to … Read more
My 10-Day Vietnam Motorbike Road Trip (Route + Itinerary)
Last Updated: August 7, 2025 My plan for Vietnam never involved a motorbike. It also didn’t involve riding that motorbike 1600 kilometers for 10 straight days with someone I had just met. Crashes, break downs, and wrecked itineraries – those weren’t part of the plan either. I wasn’t supposed to get caked in mud, freeze … Read more
Fostering Cats: Kittens Have Taken Over Our Apartment
Last Updated: August 15, 2025 Thinking of fostering cats? Read about my experience taking care of dozens of cats while I lived in China with my girlfriend. Spoiler alert: They were adorable. I awoke before sunrise this morning to the frantic skittering of little paws sliding across the slick laminate floor of my apartment in … Read more
Braving Tepito: My Trip Inside Mexico City’s Infamous Barrio
Last Updated: July 12, 2024 “Don’t go there. You’ll get robbed.” This was the popular advice given to me by taxi drivers and hostel managers when I asked about Tepito, Mexico City’s most notorious neighborhood. I’m usually great at listening to advice from locals, but this particular day I decided to keep asking until I … Read more
Travel Savings 101: How to Stash Money for Long-Term Travel
Last Updated: August 8, 2025 In my late-20s, I was a travel-hungry restaurant worker with $31,000 in debt and nothing in my savings account. I spent my days working an increasingly frustrating job, and I was unsure if I’d ever lead a life that inspired me. What I wanted was to wander the earth freely … Read more