As travelers, we’re always on the lookout for the perfect bag. It might not be perfect for everyone, but to find the “perfect for me” bag is like hitting the jackpot. Is the TravelMore Jetpack perfect for me? Find out in this review!
Once upon a time in Kandy, I met three French people and we went on a road trip to climb a small mountain. Here’s how I got there, a brief guide to Adam’s Peak and what it was like!
This weekend marks the start of the tryout season for club teams in my sport of ultimate. Commonly known as ultimate Frisbee (but for trademark reasons officially “ultimate”), this is a pretty intense sport that has dreams of someday being a part of the Olympics.
Featuring full field 7 on 7 gameplay, this is the sport I’ve played for nearly 16 years now. Time and experience doesn’t mean I’m spared from nerves and butterflies, but if I can travel the world solo, then I can do this!
Me at the top of Lion Rock Fortress in Sigiriya, Sri Lanka
Sometimes where you live determines the standard of living you can afford. It can be a harsh reality, or something you deal with and plan for.
Over the last 5 years, I’ve lived in 3 of the most expensive cities in the world: New York, Singapore and London. Although salaries are generally higher in these cities to match the cost of living, if you are a poor student like me then you still need to be a bit careful with your money. Here’s what I learned from living in some of the most notoriously money-sucking cities of the world.
Snow covered Riverside Park in New York City
Australia, the land down under, the outback, Oz.
It’s a wonderful place.
But it can break your bank if you aren’t careful.
I escaped winter in the North and spent all of December 2016, and a week in February 2017, in Australia. I had 5 weeks total of glorious summer there and here’s the breakdown of the money I spent.
Eating while on the road can be tricky if you want to try to eat healthily. It might be even harder to stick to some dietary restrictions. I started low FODMAPs in early 2016, and it has helped me with anxiety, bloating, and other related health problems. I knew that traveling while avoiding certain foods would be difficult, but I had a general plan going into it.
My gut issues started in 2012, after have a few incidents where I needed to take antibiotics (one of which may have been Lyme disease). I didn’t really understand what was happening to my body, or what the other symptoms were such as fatigue and brain fog. Eventually, I stumbled upon the nutritional research on FODMAPs.
The Wilpattu National Park in the Northwest of Sri Lanka does have a lower chance of seeing leopards, but may be a good option for a safari if you are near the airport in Negombo/Colombo or near Anuradhapura in the cultural triangle.
Wilpattu National Park was established in 1938, and has an estimated leopard population of at least 50 individuals that were surveyed by camera traps. The park boasts many natural lakes, some that have quite an eerie feel to them.
I got back onto United States soil 2 days ago, and I’m happy to be back despite all of the craziness of Trump. I was ready to be home again, and I was ready to be with family again. Really, I was ready for my trip to end, and I don’t feel bad about that.
It wasn’t that my trip was going badly. On the contrary, my trip was going as well as I could have hoped! I wasn’t running out of money, and I wasn’t getting tired of seeing new places. Wonder was still at least somewhat abundant, although I was starting to feel a little lackluster about some aspects of travel.
Me at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
I spent 3 days in Ella, and luckily had a little bit of good weather even though it was raining nearly every day at the time. Though I didn’t get to do a whole lot because of the weather, I did get to relax and decompress. There are plenty of things to do in Ella Sri Lanka to take up a few days, even if you just do one major thing per day.
Ella is a small hill town that has expanded in popularity in recent years. A Sri Lankan I met on the bus to Ella there asked me why so many tourists like it. I think it is a combination of a pretty good location, not too big, good options for accommodation (that has only multiplied), chill vibes, and good restaurants. It’s a village that somehow was more ready to serve foreigners and so has become a hotspot. It’s also along a well-known train line for scenic hill country views.
View from Mini Adam’s Peak in Ella, Sri Lanka
The dust has settled on the submission of my PhD thesis, and now I can think back on this whole process. I left to travel 5 days after handing in my PhD, to give myself physical and mental distance from it all.
As I’m writing this in a hipster cafe in Phnom Penh, it feels a little surreal. Did I really do that?
Climbing hills: this one is the Lion Rock Fortress in Sigiriya, Sri Lanka (2.5 weeks post hand-in)
Hey, I'm Chewy! I'm a science journalist currently living in New York. I'm an introvert who likes to see new things and learn. Here I write about my travels and musings about food, places and cultures. Check out my photos, reviews, and random thoughts!
