About

At Emu Bay Beach on Kangaroo Island

Hi! My name is Chewy. Actually, that’s my nickname, which I got while playing my sport of choice. I’m traveling when I can, usually solo, and now based in New York City. Welcome to my blog, Chewy Travels!

Apparently, I’m very much a typical millenial traveler. The main things I can ascribe to are thinking of myself as an explorer, choosing Airbnb over hotels, cities over beaches, big adventure and nature. Also, not only do I have a valid passport, I got it with double the number of passport pages!

An introvert and a graduate student, I was based out of Singapore and London from 2013 through 2016, traveling when I can. New Yorker through and through, I try to keep an open heart and an open mind. I’m now back in New York as a science journalist after finishing my PhD in 2018.

Here you’ll find musings about my travels, thoughts about culture and place, and delicious food. Mmmm, delicious food… I want to learn about other people and places, and to think about what my tiny role on this earth might be in the short amount of time I have. I named this blog Chewy Travels as a bit of a double meaning: I (aka Chewy) travel and these travels are often chewy because food is a big part of my travel.

My journey so far

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Me at five years old in Hong Kong

This photo of me is from when I was 5 on my first trip ever! (Apologies for the poor quality photo…I will scan these eventually.) My parents brought our whole family to Shanghai and Hong Kong, where they are from or spent a lot of time growing up. As an Asian American, I often think about race issues when I travel and when I come home to the US.

There are very few things I remember from that trip, but I remember the feeling of excitement of being somewhere totally new, meeting people I had no idea existed, and experiencing different food and culture. My next big trip wasn’t until I was a senior in college to return to China for a summer study abroad program. I’ve been trying to travel as much as possible since then!

 

Having thoughts in Venice

Having thoughts in Venice


I try to stick to a pretty tight budget. Check my Travel Plans page for more details!

If you are looking for more Travel Tips, I’ve got some on this site but if I haven’t covered it yet, shoot me a message.

On a train from Ella to Kandy in Sri Lanka

Traveling by train in Sri Lanka

Random things I’ve done

I like to try new things, sometimes related to dance or the outdoors. A few of the things I’ve done at some point:

I hope to add to this list while on my travels!

Languages

I grew up in New York City, and consider myself Chinese American. I’ve had the opportunity to learn the Shanghai dialect growing up, and Mandarin in school. I’ve spent some time learning Japanese and Spanish as well, and hope to level up in those languages. I used Duolingo for Italian for a trip to Italy, and also for Spanish for a conference in Spain in 2015.

Check out this blog for language inspiration!

Some of my favorite posts on the blog

Learning lessons as an adult

Tumbling in the waves of Sri Lanka

Unemployed and not (completely) depressed about it

Sweet 16 years of ultimate

Gentrification is turning me into a bitter old lady

Two awesome weeks: best places to visit in Sri Lanka travel guide, video highlights, budget and tips

Guest posts on other blogs

An Ode to the Garlic Rice of the Philippines on Epicure & Culture