Many years ago we took our daughter out of public middle school and sent her to a local evangelical Lutheran private school. It was the least expensive of the several private schools in the area and was well-regarded. Seventh grade had been scary year, as middle school years often are. The last straw was when … More Voluntourism Done Right (and Wrong)
I thought I made up this title, but, alas, it is a book, a gay hotel, and probably many other things I have never seen nor read. I used to call it Sodom and Gomorrah, but Babylon Bangkok has a better ring to it. Besides, there is a newish Netflix series—Babylon Berlin—that is very well … More Babylon Bangkok
by Phil Deering This is chapter three of a three-part post. In Chapter 1, I told the story of a 2007 trek during which I encountered a one-room school in the highlands of the north of Vietnam. When I learned the school had been destroyed in a landslide I decided to raise the money and … More My Three Cups of Tea: Chapter 3 and end
In chapter one, guest blogger Phil Deering told the story of a 2007 trek during which he encountered a one-room school in the highlands of the north of Vietnam. When he learned the school had been destroyed in a landslide, he decided to raise the money and ensure it would be used for a new … More My Three Cups of Tea: chapter 2
Guest blogger Phil Deering [photo courtesy of Mike Holtby, 2008, Flower Hmong child doing homework] Three Cups of Tea tells the story of an elite mountain climber who, injured and lost, stumbles into a tiny village deep in the Hindu Kush. As he’s nursed back to health, the author sees girl children of the village … More My Three Cups of Tea: chapter 1
Have you wanted to visit Vietnam? Have some of your friends already visited Vietnam and commented how beautiful it is? Yes it is! And more. I have visited three times and my husband, five times. If you are an American and under 60, you may not know how complicated our relationship with Vietnam has … More Getting More Out of Your Visit to Vietnam
Today’s post is by guest blogger and friend Linda Feltes. Linda Feltes is a team leader with Xperitas (formerly Global citizens Network) She has ten years experience co-leading groups on cultural immersion travel trips in the US and abroad, in addition to her fulltime job with the State of Minnesota. I learn something new every time I leave … More Why Travel Outside the US (If you are an American)
The first time my husband and I went to Vietnam, he found a travel agent working through an agency near Hanoi run by Vietnamese nationals. Unlike many low resource countries, Vietnam, having fought many wars against colonialists and won, has developed a tourism industry that is run by and employs nationals. Our guide Thanh was … More Dalat, Vietnam: The Niagara Falls of Vietnam, and a breath of fresh air for tourists
One Saturday in August 2007, while in Phnom Penh once again for work, I decided to go to the Russian market, which was the best covered market for tourist shopping according to the guides. It was pretty far away from my hotel, so I planned to take a moto down there in the morning. Just … More Spirits, Strange Ancient Men, and Widows
I may have been a straight A student, but I can’t hold onto a purse or passport to save my life. “Easily distracted”, I say. No matter, it seems that either through my good karma, a guardian angel, or the kindness of strangers, I have sailed through one potential catastrophe after another while traveling abroad. … More A Ditz in a Foreign Land
Other states, other lives, other souls 