I love giveaways as much as I love travel. This is my chance to give back to you, loyal reader! I want you to enjoy China as much as I did, so I’ve partnered with some awesome sponsors to give away this travel package for two! I’ve personally experienced Guilin and Zhangjiajie and now I…
This woman is the owner of a thriving coffee farm in Bali. I took her picture before I knew that. I simply saw her cooking over a hot stove and was intrigued by her face and her work. I’m glad I found out who she is. I’ve written about being an eco-conscious traveler, but this is about the sting…
I have a love affair with Bali, which is not to say I’m blind to its unpleasantries (traffic, peddlers, densely populated). My first visit to Bali was a quickie — three whirlwind days filled with kleptomaniac monkeys, blackened temples, and a volcano. My second visit allowed me 10 days at leisure to really soak up…
I didn’t visit every destination on my 2015 bucket list this year, but that’s just fine. I’m more interested in quality travel than in quantity. This is perhaps why I don’t travel full-time. I grounded myself for six months (!) to work on my first documentary film. I’m glad to report I’m almost done… And…
It was far past sunset and we were traveling to our B&B in the round mountains of Guilin, China. It was too late to be traversing the Li River legally, but that didn’t stop the confident driver of a small, motorized bamboo raft. We had seen the hump-shaped mountains on the dusky drive from the airport. Having just been wowed…
If you ever wanted to live inside a Maxfield Parrish painting, then book the next flight to China. Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is simply one of the most ethereal places on Earth. These staggering karst spires inspired the film “Avatar” and you have to see them in person to see…
I’ve traveled throughout Asia, but China is its own beast. Having just spent 2.5 weeks in China, I compiled a list of the most important travel tips for smooth travel. See photos of China’s “Avatar” Mountain and posts about Shanghai and Guilin, as well as a travel film. Visa Required Don’t even think about getting…
Films often inspire my travels. I saw “Avatar” when it came out in 2009. Despite the obvious inspiration in the film, that wasn’t what moved me to visit China’s floating spires at Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. It was actually another film, a documentary, about BASE jumpers. BASE jumpers are those crazy people in squirrel suits who…
Tucked away on a narrow hillside road is the charming No. 5 Valley B&B in Yangjiajie, China. The B&B is just 2 km from the breathtaking national park that inspired the movie “Avatar” with its mystical mountains. No. 5 Valley was constructed in July 2015 and is the B&B for R&R — a rural idyllic…
It’s not every day you see a man lying face down in a ditch with blood trickling down his head. Next to him an old woman wailed in despair. Three or four men crowded around but didn’t touch the man whom I could see was still breathing. We were being driven in a car past…
