I'll take you in my backpack

2/15/18 (Image taken from Google) Once you find your passion you should absolutely NEVER EVER stop chasing it! NEVER. For no one. And with that being said, I finally have booked a trip that should have happened MANY years ago but (thanks airline assholes) didn't...so now it absolutely will be...Nepal here I come! Probably about 10 years ago I booked a flight (I was living in the US then) it had a less than 24 hour layover in India, I did my research and if in transit with less than 24 hours you don't need a visa for India. I searched several sites and the embassy. Because I didn't want issues. Travel day arrived and I went to the airport my bags packed ready to go to Nepal and go on the adventure of a lifetime. The airline wouldn't let me board because I didn't have a visa for India. I explained several times even showed them online where it said in transit no visa, nothing, they still required me to have a visa despite the fact that I was there less than 24...

12/27/17 Woke up for breakfast and guess who is starting to really warm up to me...Olek! In addition to being pretty playful, he decided to sit down under the table at my feet and when Ogie called for him to leave he refused to move! No plans for today, which is kind of nice after such a packed and busy first week and a half here in Bali. I had sort of just intended to walk into town, maybe stop at a coffee shop (that never happened) and then get a pedicure and keep walking around and just do whatever. I walked into town and stopped at a shop that had beautiful fabrics in the window. There was a sweet older woman in the shop, probably 2 feet shorter than me. Nannook was her name. She was so helpful and obviously wanted me to buy something. I initially wasn't going to buy anything in Bali, but after wearing Sarongs for the majority of the trip I thought maybe a pretty sarong (that I could convert into a scarf) would be a neat thing to take back. Nannook then started showing ...

12/23/17 Today was the first day since arriving in Bali (on vacation mind you) that I haven't set an alarm, and it was amazing! Granted I still got up before 7am, but still, it was great to not have that pressure to rush in the morning! Breakfast was later too, making a nice easy start to the day.  Olek made another appearance for breakfast, this time coming right up to me and letting me pet him. Ogie told me that Olek likes to play with people and will bite, not hard, but that he will bite. He hasn't tried that one yet with me. Perhaps he's warming up to it. After breakfast it was time to venture off through the neighborhood and into downtown Ubud. While I've done this drive a million times with Made, I've never actually done the walk. I'll say, it's sort of scary in the car, and it's extra scary without that protective shell around you. There aren't sidewalks, there are lots of curves, cars and motorbikes come flying around corners with t...

12/18/17 This morning started off with another delicious breakfast, not going to lie, it's kind of wonderful having someone prepare breakfast for me. I could probably get used to this. In addition Nyoman brought some delicious "cookies" that were more like puff pastries with some sort of filling that he described as sugar and pineapple. It was sort of like a thick jelly and was very tasty! After breakfast it was time to start the day's adventures. First stop was Mt Batur. This is a UNESCO World Heritage site (which I actually didn't even realize until I saw it on a sign on the way there. I also didn't realize that the volcano had erupted pretty recently. 2000 something, I can't remember the year that Nyoman said, but there are very visible signs of it on the landscape, clear markings of where the lava flowed. He also indicated that many people trek this volcano to catch the sunrise. At first I was like, yeah don't put me down for that, then after...

You've followed me on my journey through parts of Thailand and a quick jump over to Cambodia, now how would you like to help me plan my trip for next summer?! Like a choose your own adventure, except, choose Laura's adventure :) Unless you want to come too then come on, let's be vagabonds together! I'd like to take a month (ish) next summer, rather than the 18-20 ish days I had this summer...so there you have it. No real parameters (please don't get me locked up abroad or infested with disease)...one minor stipulation is that I would like to spend more time in Thailand seeing more of the islands (perhaps Pattong, Koh Tao, etc) I'd also like to see Vietnam. Post suggestions in the comments and I'll start making a list. As the time gets closer I'll have a final listed posted here where people can help me choose :) This is going to be fun!