It all started when I overheard a Tibetan girl in my college mention a place and a celebration huge enough to merit the blessings of His Holiness, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. In love with all things Buddhist, and everything Tibetan, I asked for more information and was told about this refugee centre a few kilometers … Continued
As we traveled around Italy on our honeymoon, one of the places my husband and I planned to visit was Cinque Terre, a collection of five tiny villages along Italy’s west coast. We heard about Cinque Terre from my sister who studied in Italy during college. She loved her visit there and told us we … Continued
To Turkey! I was surprised by the emails and phone calls I had been receiving from friends and family fearing my safety in Istanbul. “Wear a scarf on your head,” they said. “Keep to yourself. Keep your mouth shut,” they wrote. “Tell them you’re from Canada,” they whispered. I was surprised because I’d been there … Continued
When I saw that my law school offered a program to study during the summer in Oxford, England, I was determined to take advantage of that opportunity. I was fortunate to be attending the University of Oklahoma on a needs-based scholarship, but I was willing to borrow money for my first trip abroad. Despite being … Continued
Ibn Battuta once said, “Travel- it leaves you speechless and then turns you into a story teller.” When my feet first touched the ground in Peru, I instantly felt changed. Every single step was culturally enriching, from hiking Machu Picchu, to trekking through the Amazon Forest, to running through the markets of Cusco in the … Continued
Dear Batanes, Kapian capa nu dios Batanes! (Hello Batanes!). First, I write to you as a hopeless romantic. No! Not the kind of I am looking for a happy ever after, waiting for my prince charming. I am in love with your beauty. You are a piece of heaven on Earth. My fascination about you … Continued
Sitting beside the River Ganga, I like to watch, with awe, the continuous flow of this holy river that kisses the banks of the adjoining town of Rishikesh. I have often traveled to this Hindu-dominated, spiritual town, which is located at the base of the largest mountain range in the world i.e. the Himalayas. The … Continued
I remember vividly the first time I heard Avicii’s song “Wake Me Up.” I was riding from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Red River Gorge, Kentucky (The Red) with a bunch of fellow in-coming college students. The song created a new atmosphere in the van, everyone smiled a bit more and happiness seemed more alive. At … Continued
Regrets are a funny thing. The people that I have surrounded myself with influenced the decisions I have made and have caused me the inexplicable pain of making an important choice. Life altering choices. This is how I find myself sitting in the proverbial heart of the United Kingdom. I sit in a glass orb, … Continued
Secret Beach My dreams spread across the sheet, each fragment captured in its own little box: Moraine Lake; the Saskatchewan River Crossing; The Athabasca Glacier; Sunwapta Falls; Maligne Canyon; Tofino; Clayoquot Sound; Ucluelet; Vancouver. I savoured each name on my tongue – some smooth as New World silk, others rough as the cedar bark cloth … Continued