Archive for the ‘Staying There’ Category

All About the Anzac

The first time I’d heard the word “Anzac,” it was used to describe a delicious, chewy cookie made from rolled oats, granulated sugar and shredded coconut. So, imagine my delight when I arrived in Sydney and learned that Australians have an entire holiday dedicated to Anzac, celebrated...

June 4th, 2007 | Australia, Hotels & Resorts, Parties, Festivals & Events, Tours & Attractions | Read More

Lost in New Zealand: The South Island

While New Zealand’s North Island plays host to the bulk of its population, many people believe that its Southern sister provides far more in the way of stunning natural settings, atmospheric small towns and brag-worthy adventure activities. Amused by the sibling rivalry and excited to indulge our...

May 28th, 2007 | Adventure Travel, Backpacking & Trekking, Car, City Travel, Fitness & Workouts, Food & Wine, Hostels, Lost Girls RTW Adventure, New Zealand, Spa & Beauty | Read More

That’s (Not) the Ticket!

The morning of our flight to Myanmar dawned very, very early. We were all bleary eyed and exhausted, having stayed up most of the night trying to track down Dad and Nadine’s missing baggage (a quick call to the Bangkok airport revealed that their suitcases were still half a world away). According...

April 27th, 2007 | Asia, Family & Kid Travel, Getting There, Hotels & Resorts, Lost Girls RTW Adventure, Myanmar, Planning, Thailand | Read More

What the Phuket?! A Glimpse at Thailand’s Sex Tourism Industry

Nearly every backpacker we’d spoken with in Thailand vehemently recommended we skip Phuket in favor of one of the islands that hadn’t been choked to death by concrete and commercialism. Unfortunately, having not done enough advanced word-of-mouth research, we’d already advised Beth...

March 7th, 2007 | Hotels & Resorts, Lost Girls RTW Adventure, Thailand | Read More

Bargain Basement Dubai

In the last decade, Dubai has become a red-hot destination for ex-pats eager to make an overnight fortune and spend it just as quickly. Boasting the world’s only seven-star resort, the world’s largest indoor ski slope, the world’s highest number of shopping malls per capita and soon-to-be...

December 18th, 2006 | Food & Wine, Health & Safety, Hotels & Resorts, Lost Girls RTW Adventure, Shopping & Style, Spa & Beauty, United Arab Emirates | Read More

Just Say ‘Om’

The Lost Girls found a secret hideaway in Diani Beach on the coast of Kenya: Shaanti Holistic Health Resort and Retreat. Set on a white sand beach overlooking the Indian Ocean, it’s an oasis of calm. Yoga and meditation classes are offered daily on an outdoor platform, Ayurvedic facials and massages...

December 15th, 2006 | Hotels & Resorts, Kenya, Lost Girls RTW Adventure, Spa & Beauty, Spiritual Travel | Read More

A Monkey Stole My Mango!

We seem to have a little problem with the animals of the world stealing our stuff. Well, more accurately, Holly’s stuff. First there was the kinkachu in the Amazon that bit holes through her wallet and nearly made off with her shiny new camera. Then, in the Diani Beachalets, a pretty balsy monkey...

December 15th, 2006 | Hotels & Resorts, Kenya, Lost Girls RTW Adventure, Wildlife & Animals | Read More

Love for Sale

As someone who managed to learn depressively little about international geography during my formative years, I barely knew that Kenya had a coastline, let alone a gleaming ribbon of icing white sand and its own rhinestone speckled stretch of Indian Ocean. We hadn’t planned to follow up our recent...

December 5th, 2006 | Health & Safety, Hotels & Resorts, Kenya, Lost Girls RTW Adventure | Read More

A Kenyan Wake-Up Call

When I opened my eyes at daybreak this morning, a humongous, beady-eyed white monster was standing on my chest, staring back at me. “Ahhh!!!” I screamed, hurtling my covers across the room. “Bah-GAWK!!” shrieked the monster as it scurried away in a tornado of feathers. “Oh...

October 10th, 2006 | Kenya, Lost Girls RTW Adventure, Staying There, Volunteering & Giving Back, Wildlife & Animals | Read More

All Roads Lead to Mellow Yellow!

Most of the time on trips like ours, bad luck and bumps in the road are simply a matter of chance. But sometimes life will throw out so many signs pointing in one direction, and for better or worse, we’d be fools not to follow them. Such was the case recently in Brazil. Before touching down in...

September 14th, 2006 | Backpacking & Trekking, Brazil, Hostels, Hotels & Resorts, Lost Girls RTW Adventure | Read More