Friends, Young and Old: Changing Your Perception of What Makes a Friend
Five months ago, I was sitting on the sofa at a friend’s house. I took a sip of my Bloody Mary and then frowned a little, looking around. There were about six of us scattered throughout the living room, sipping drinks and eating a homemade breakfast scramble and chatting. It was your run-of-the-mill friendly Sunday [...]
Nature v. Nurture: On Noise and Dancing
After a year and a half of Peace Corps service in Barranquilla, Colombia, I think I’m closing in on about as “integrated” as I will be. Two things I still find astonishing, however, are the love of noise and dancing abilities of everyone on the coast of Colombia. As a Midwesterner from a small, farm-bordered [...]
To tip or not to tip, that is the question
“To tip or not to tip?” is a question that William Shakespeare was almost certainly never troubled with, but one that might, nonetheless, give us a spot of bother as we travel around the world. I remember reading in a travel guide to the US that you shouldn’t feel pressured into giving tips, even to [...]
Adjusting my ‘friendly-o-meter’
I like to think of myself as being a pretty friendly person — that is to say that I’m approachable, chatty and generally pleasant to friends and strangers alike. While this is in no way a bad thing (in fact, I see it only as a good thing), it has, upon occasion, got me into [...]
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Love or Loathe: A Taste Of Home When Abroad
So ‘travelling solo’ won last month’s poll by a margin, but as some of you pointed out, find the right person to travel with, and your time away can be an enjoyable one. Perhaps! When you’re travelling, though, do you find pleasure in escaping all traces of your home land, or would stumbling across a [...]
Bars Abroad
The room is dim and smoky, and a waitress weaves through the packed tables with bottles and glasses balanced precariously on a tray. Music is playing – it could be anything from the latest Rihanna chart-topper to zitar music. Regardless of the style, the music is loud enough to be heard over dozens of conversations. [...]
Strangers in a Strange Land
It seems to be a universally acknowledged truth that young women traveling alone are always, in some way, in need of assistance. Of course this is based solely on my experience, so maybe I’ve just run into a number of friendly fellow travelers, but I’d be willing to bet that young women are likely to [...]
Nails, Part II
I am in Haiti for the third time. Unlike the first two times, when I traveled here for work, this time I am here for pleasure. Though it’s possibly a stereotype, it’s possibly also true: I may, in fact, be the only white person traveling to visit family. And yet, here I am. My fiance [...]
Begging for the Truth
A young boy with a noticeable skin condition sells boxes of tissues to drivers as they pull up at the traffic lights. He wears a large cap with the peak pulled tightly down, and the way in which he holds his head and lowers his eyes suggests that he is in some way ashamed of [...]
Back to reality – Sydney style
There’s nothing like returning to work after a long holiday to bring you back down to earth with a bump. After spending a month in Indonesia and one week in Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, the holiday is over, the tan is already fading and returning to work has been a shock to [...]
